How do you hide a tank in the woods? Louis Penny's latest book, The Nature of the Beast, hides a gun bigger than a tank. The first one to find it is nine year old Laurent. But no one believes him. He's always imagining fanciful stories. Then Laurent is found dead. At first, it looks like he fell off his bike and hit his head. However, Inspector Gamache, now Monsieur Gamache because he's retired, sees that it doesn't make sense. If Laurent was thrown off his bike, then he landed wrong. Besides, where is his ever-trusty stick, that was his constant companion? This was no accident; it was murder.
It turns out that the beast of the world's biggest gun, was really hidden in the woods. Laurent was telling the truth and he was killed before he could lead people to it.
This is how the story begins. There is another murder--the niece of the gun's creator. She didn't understand the how or where of the gun, but she held the secret blueprints.
We also meet a convicted, sociopathic, killer, locked away for life, in a Canadian prison. He hid the blueprints and wrote a play, full of hints about the gun.
To add to the suspense, the press has learned of the hidden gun and is going to release the information. That means that the quiet village of Three Pines will be overrun with curious seekers of the phenomenon. Quickly, just in time, Gamache and Jean-Guy put the puzzle together.
It's not as simple as I've related it. It's much better.
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