This is the thirteenth in the Gamache series by Louise Penny. This one is told from two different timeframes. The first is as Gamache is a witness in a trial held during the heat of July for a murder that occurred in Three Pines in November. The story then unfolds with the events leading up to and after the murder. A cloaked figure in black appeared on the the public green of the quaint village in Quebec. The figure stands on the green and doesn't move which makes everyone in the village curious and then later unsure and wary of this strange visitor. The figure has not threatened anyone and has not committed a crime so Gamache does not take any action against it. Gamache is now settled in Three Pines with his wife and has been made the Chief Superintendent of the Quebec police force. So who is this strange figure in black? Could he be a mysterious "cobrador"â a personage originating in Spain who tries to force a moral debt by playing on someone's conscience? And is this person responsible for the murder that was committed in the basement of the small village church? And how does this all relate to the drug cartels in Quebec and their smuggling operations into the U.S.?

This was another very compelling read from Penny. I have now read all the books in the series up to and including this one and will be looking forward to the remaining novels that I hope to finish reading sometime in the New Year. Great series!

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