A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
⭐ A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny — Book Review with Spoilers
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5 out of 5 stars — started strong, but that ending…)
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Detective Series, Crime Fiction
Sequel to: Still Life (and yes, you should read that one first)
👉 Buy A Fatal Grace on Amazon
⚠️ Spoiler Alert!
I’m about to break down all the twists, turns, and the big reveal — so if you haven’t read A Fatal Grace, go grab it first and come back when you’re ready!
📌 A Fatal Grace — The Setup
Welcome back to Three Pines, where the people are quirky, the food is delicious, and murder happens more often than you’d expect for such a charming little village.
In this sequel to Still Life, our beloved Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is back to solve a new crime — the shocking death of CC de Poitiers, an outsider who managed to make everyone in town hate her in record time. Seriously. CC is awful — mean to her husband Lyon, cruel to her daughter Crie, and just generally the worst.
CC meets her dramatic end during a holiday curling match (yes, curling) — she’s electrocuted right there on the ice, in front of a crowd. Wild, right? Gamache starts digging, and we quickly realize everyone had a motive.
🔎 A Fatal Grace — The Twists and Turns
As Gamache investigates, we get:
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The Three Graces — three sweet elderly women who adored Crie and despised CC.
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Lyon, CC’s husband, who she humiliated constantly.
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A colorful cast of artists — photographers, writers, singers, painters — because art drama is essential in Three Pines.
Then: a second murder! Another woman turns up dead, upping the stakes and making us all lean in closer.
Throughout all this, we get Gamache’s dry wit, some genuinely funny moments, and a ton of artsy references that I loved. On the flip side? The religious themes and connections? A bit yawn-worthy for me.
🕵️ A Fatal Grace — The Big Reveal (Here’s Where It Got Weird)
Okay, so here’s the deal. The book builds this brilliant, tangled web of suspects. For most of it, I was convinced it was going to be a group effort. Gamache even considers that The Three Graces killed CC together, which made sense. But nope — the final twist is that Crie, CC’s own daughter, is the killer.
The logic? CC was electrocuted because she was wearing metal boots, and the killer had to know about the boots. The only two people who knew? Lyon and Crie. Lyon was ruled out, so Crie it is.
💥 But here’s what bugged me:
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We’re told it couldn’t be a one-person job… but it was?
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Couldn’t Crie have worked with The Three Graces? That would’ve made more sense!
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The Three Graces confess to protect Crie — and then try to kill themselves?? Why so fast? Couldn’t they wait to see if their plan worked?
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Everyone hates CC — would The Three Graces have even been locked up for long? And Crie apparently won’t be.
It just felt way too far-fetched at the end. I went from totally hooked to scratching my head.
💬 Final Thoughts on A Fatal Grace
This was so close to being a 5-star read for me. The atmosphere? Perfection. The mystery? Gripping. The humor? A delight. But the ending just didn’t stick the landing.
Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5 out of 5 stars)
📚 If you liked A Fatal Grace, try these next:
✅ Still Life by Louise Penny — Start at the beginning of the series!
✅ The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman — Funny and cozy, with clever twists.
✅ The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith — Wholesome detective fun with heart.
📝 Final Verdict
A Fatal Grace has that signature Louise Penny charm and brilliance, but the ending left me unconvinced. Still, I’d absolutely recommend it for the cozy mystery lover — just be ready for a twist that might have you side-eyeing the last few chapters.
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