It’s not all bad. Far, far from it. There’s clarity, the simplicity of living in the moment and knowing what really matters. Kindness. Company. Gentle care. We laugh a lot, and God knows there’s plenty to laugh about. And there are moments of deep peace and contentment.
I have never met a braver man. When diagnosed he told me he wanted to be open about it. To tell people. Not to hide away, ashamed. Afraid of being judged or shunned or embarrassed.
Michael has met his dementia with humor and acceptance. With gratitude for all that he has. While he can barely speak anymore, he smiles all the time, even in his sleep. He loves massages and food and friends. And Bishop, our golden. And he loves me. I can see it every day.
Michael and I have found more kindness since his diagnosis than we ever knew existed. From friends. From strangers. But also from colleagues. From publishers and editors and publicists. From booksellers and librarians. And readers.
Like you.
You can imagine that writing a book in the midst of all this could not be done without help. Physical and emotional.
First among the people who have made A Great Reckoning possible by lifting so many other weights is my assistant and great friend, Lise Desrosiers.
I honestly, Lise, don’t know what I would do without you. I love you.
Thank you to her husband, Del, for coming over when things fall apart. To Kirk and Walter, our first friends out here and foundations in our lives. How many times have you lifted my spirits and actually lifted Michael when he’s fallen? Strong backs, strong hearts.
To Pat and Tony, for caring so deeply and being there over so many years. And for taking care of Bishop when needed! Thanks to Linda Lyall, who manages the website and sends out the newsletter and does so much more.
Thank you to Andrew Martin, my U.S. publisher at Minotaur Books, for removing the deadline from the books and not forcing me to write. Or to tour. For understanding and always sending love to his buddy, Michael. Thank you, Andy. Thank you to Hope Dellon, my astonishing editor, for being a great friend and writing just to see how we’re doing. And for making A Great Reckoning so much better with her notes and insight.
Thank you to Sarah Melnyk, my publicist, for holding the world at bay and not insisting I do anything unless it works for Michael and me. To Paul Hochman, who built the virtual bistro at the Minotaur site, and who knows from experience what we are living.
Thank you to Jamie Broadhurst in Canada, for being a friend first and colleague second.
Thank you to my UK publishers, Little, Brown—and David Shelley and Lucy Malagoni.
To Louise Loiselle, of Flammarion Québec, for stepping back while stepping up.
Thank you to my agent, Teresa Chris, for starting and ending each conversation by talking about Michael.
Thank you to Michael’s incredible caregivers, Kim and Rose and Daniel. Without you, our lives would fall apart. How do Michael and I even begin to thank you for your care, your kindness? Treating Michael as a beloved brother/father/friend. Bless you.
To Dr. Dominique Giannangelo, for always making time for us, in person and over the phone. For being steady and calm and compassionate.
To Tony Duarte and Ken Prehogan and Hilary Book. Hilary, by the way, also provided advice on some legal issues in A Great Reckoning. Thank you, Hilary!
It would be impossible to list all the friends and neighbors who have stood beside us, but let me mention just a few. Lucy and Danny, David and Linda, Joan, Cotton, Wilder, Cheryl, Deanna. Michael’s sister Carol in London. Richard Oliver. Rosemary and Rocky and Honora. And our beautiful, magical new village of Knowlton, Québec. Merci, mes amis.
To Michael’s sons, Michael and Victor, who phone and visit whenever they can. And while their father can no longer tell them he loves them, they see it in his eyes and know they are loved.
And to my family who visit and write, Rob and Audi, Sarah, Adam, Kim, Mary, Charlie and Roslyn.
Every day when I tuck Michael into bed, I bend down and whisper in his ear that he is a wonderful man. Handsome and kind and generous. Brilliant and brave. I tell him how proud I am to be his wife. And that he is safe. And he is loved.
Then, over the past year, thanks to all the people I mentioned here and so many others not mentioned, I’d go into the living room and sit down at the laptop. And be in the company of my other friends. Armand, Reine-Marie, Clara, Myrna, Gabri, Ruth, et al.
I wrote A Great Reckoning with the peace of mind that comes with knowing I too am safe and loved. And not alone.
Noli timere, dear friend.
ALSO BY LOUISE PENNY
The Nature of the Beast
The Long Way Home
How the Light Gets In
The Beautiful Mystery
Bury Your Dead
The Brutal Telling
A Rule Against Murder
The Cruelest Month
A Fatal Grace
Still Life
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LOUISE PENNY is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of eleven previous Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (five times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. She lives in a small village south of Montréal.
Visit her on Facebook or at www.louisepenny.com. Or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Acknowledgments
Also by Louise Penny
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A GREAT RECKONING. Copyright © 2016 by Three Pines Creations, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photograph © Kesterhu/Shutterstock
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following:
Excerpts from “Half-hanged Mary” from Morning in the Burned House: New Poems by Margaret Atwood. In the U.S.: Copyright © 1995 by Margaret Atwood. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. In Canada: Copyright © O. W. Toad. Reprinted by permission of McClelland & Stewart, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited.
Excerpts from “Herman Melville,” copyright © 1940 and renewed 1968 by W. H. Auden; from W. H. Auden Collected Poems by W. H. Auden. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Penny, Louise, author.
Title: A great reckoning / Louise Penny.
Description: First Edition.|New York: Minotaur Books, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016019580|ISBN 9781250022134 (hardback)|ISBN 9781250022127 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Gamache, Armand (Fictitious character)—Fiction.|Police— Quebec (Province)—Fiction.|Murder—Investigation—Fiction.|BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Traditional British.|GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PR9199.4.P464 G74 2016|DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016019580
e-ISBN 9781250022127
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First Edition: August 2016
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