I've made myself go to reading the Gamache books in print, because I've spent so much time having to go find Kindle copies of the books after listening to the audio so I can really get what happened. For this book, I'm wondering if listening to it might have made it less draggy.

The poignant and interesting parts of this book for me were about Gamache's internal struggles. He

killed his superior in the last book,

and he's trying to find some solace in God and knowledge. I've always thought Gamache would be a person of faith, honestly, and I'd like to see him get there, although I doubt it's where Penny goes with the series. He is open to mystery and the unknown, contrasted directly with Jean-Guy.

To me, this one felt almost like that middle book in a trilogy. You know the subject is important, needed to fill in the gaps and to move forward. But it slogged a little and just wasn't as enjoyable to read as the other books in the series.