I still can't believe at book # 15 I'm still enthralled with this series . Once again I think this was an excellent story. You get to the end and start to rush to read because you want to know what really happens. But don't do it. slow down to capture ALL the information ...you'll need it for the next book!!! If you love the series, this will not disappoint.

A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel: Chief Inspector Gamache/Three Pines Series, Book 15, Louise Penny, author; Robert Bathurst, narrator
I love Louise Penny’s books about Inspector Gamache and eagerly await each new novel. This fifteenth novel does not disappoint. The main character, Inspector Armand Gamache is a man whose integrity and humility always stand him in good stead. He lives in Three Pines with his wife Reine Marie and all of the other quirky inhabitants of their idyllic Canadian village. Their antics and interactions endear themselves to the reader. Gamache is always thoughtful and patient and never arrogant or authoritarian. He always shows respect for those he commands and instructs. Though he was demoted because of his last investigation, when he went rogue to stop a massive drug drop on society, which involved many injuries and the deaths of many agents, he is now ready to return, even though it is in a lesser capacity.
Although his son in law, Jean-Guy, used to work for him, Armand is humble and has swallowed his pride and will now work for Jean-Guy, surprising those in charge who eagerly sacrificed him, ignoring the fact that his effort saved untold numbers of addict’s lives. They did not wish for Armand to return. Social media is alive with criticisms of him, and hateful comments about Armand abound, because no one really understands the sacrifice he had made to capture the major drug dealers who were willing to supply addicts with deadly drugs. His enemies have doctored videos, and put the hateful images online, in order to make people think he is a monster who kills irreverently, rather than a measured man of quiet temperament who believes in justice, above all.
In this next novel in the life of Inspector Armand Gamache, a pregnant woman, Vivienne Godin, has gone missing and one of the agents in the Sûreté du Québec has been contacted personally by the father of the missing woman and has been begged to investigate her disappearance. The agent, coincidentally, is her Godmother. Because Vivienne is married to an abusive husband, her father grew worried when she never showed up at his house. She was supposedly hoping to escape from the clutches of her husband, who beat her. When she did not arrive safely at her father’s home, her dad began to worry. Soon it was discovered that she even left her dog behind. Fred was going to be shot by her worthless husband, but Armand rescued him.
At the same time as this investigation is taking place, the spring thaw has turned very dangerous, threatening catastrophic flooding of the nearby river. It is raining which isn’t helping matters much, since if the dams break, it will be disastrous. Ice jams are piling up, and the river is rising higher than it ever has before. The neighbors begin to sandbag the banks of the river hoping to prevent the worst from happening. Still, it may not be enough. Gamache’s ususal strength of character serves him well and carries him through the following few days. He faces his detractors and weathers every storm.
There is a great deal of misdirection in the book and the reader will be suspecting many people of murdering Vivienne, but probably not the one who actually committed the crime! Several of the characters experience crises of character and are forced to look inside themselves to examine their motives and actions. The reader is forced to examine their own feelings when it comes to the idea of just how far a parent will go to find justice for a crime that takes the life of a child.