Quotes From "A Fatal Grace" By Louise Penny

You know for sure Jane would be annoyed she gave you all her money and you’re not even enjoying it. Should have given it to me.’ Myrna had shaken her head in mock bewilderment. ‘I’d have known what to do with it. Boom, down to Jamaica, a nice Rasta man, a good book–’‘ Wait a minute. You have a Rasta man and you’re reading a book?’‘ Oh, yes. Each has a purpose. For instance, a Rasta man is great when he’s hard, but not a book.’ Clara had laughed. They shared a disdain for hard books. Not the content, but the cover. Hardcovers were simply too hard to hold, especially in bed.‘ Unlike a Rasta man, ’ said Myrna. . Louise Penny

She put her hands together and Saul hoped she wasn’t about to say–‘ Namaste, ’ said CC, bowing. ‘He taught me that. Very spiritual.’ She said ‘spiritual’ so often it had become meaningless to Saul.‘He said, CC Das, you have a great spiritual gift. You must leave this place and share it with the world. You must tell people to be calm.’ As she spoke Saul mouthed the words, lip-synching to the familiar tune.‘ C C Das, he said, you above all others know that when the chakras are in alignment all is white. And when all is white, all is right.’ Saul wondered whether she was confusing an Indian mystic with a KKK member. Ironic, really, if she was. . Louise Penny

Nice hair.’ Olivier turned to Clara, hoping to break the tension.‘ Thank you.’ Clara ran her hands through it, making it stand on end as though she’d just had a scare.‘ You’re right.’ Olivier turned to Myrna. ‘She looks like a frightened doughboy from the trenches of Vimy. Not many people could carry off that look. Very bold, very new millennium. I salute you.’ Clara narrowed her eyes and glared at Myrna whose smile went from ear to ear. Louise Penny

When someone stabs you it's not your fault that you feel pain. Louise Penny

Now here's a good one:you're lying on your deathbed. You have one hour to live. Who is it, exactly, you have neededall these years to forgive? Louise Penny

I often think we should have tattooed on the back of whatever hand we use to shoot or write, 'I might be wrong. Louise Penny

The bistro was his secret weapon in tracking down murderers. Not just in Three Pines, but in every town and village in Quebec. First he found a comfortable café or brasserie, or bistro, then he found the murderer. Because Armand Gamache knew something many of his colleagues never figured out. Murder was deeply human, the murdered and the murderer. To describe the murderer as a monstrosity, a grotesque, was to give him an unfair advantage. No. Murderers were human, and at the root of each murder was an emotion. Warped, no doubt. Twisted and ugly. But an emotion. And one so powerful it had driven a man to make a ghost. Gamache's job was to collect the evidence, but also to collect the emotions. And the only way he knew to do that was do get to know the people. To watch and listen. To pay attention, and the best way to do that was in a deceptively casual way in a deceptively casual setting. Like the bistro. Louise Penny

Don't mistake dramatics for a conscience. Louise Penny

He'd shoved his toque and mitts into the sleeve of his parka when he'd come in the night before, and now, thrusting his right arm into the armhole, he hit the blockage. At a practiced shove the pompom of the toque crowned the cuff followed by his mitts, like a tiny birth. Louise Penny

There are generally three parties to child abuse: the abused, the abuser and the bystander. Louise Penny