Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, Louise Penny's wise and engaging '21st-century version of Hercule Poirot' (Publishers Weekly, starred review), is looking forward to celebrating his wedding anniversary at the remote, luxurious Manoir Bellechasse. The only other guests are members of the Finney family - rich, cultured, and respectable - who have arrived at the height of summer to unveil a slightly startling memorial to their late father.As the heat wave gathers strength, it's surprising when Peter and Clara Morrow, from the well-loved village of Three Pines, turn up at the family gathering - but much more of a shock when old secrets and buried resentments turn out to be only a prelude to murder. As Gamache's holiday becomes a busman's anniversary, he learns that the seemingly peaceful lodge is a place where visitors come to escape their past, until that past catches up with them. Agatha and Anthony Award-winning author Louise Penny breathes brilliant new life into the classic drawing-room mystery.