The Cruelest Month is the third episode in the Armand Gamache/Three Pines series. The series is set in the Eastern Townships region of rural Quebec, southeast of Montreal and just north of Vermont. Armand Gamache works for the Surete du Quebec, the provincial police force based in Montreal, and he often investigates crimes that occur in or around the remote village of Three Pines.

Three Pines has a character all its own. It's the kind of place that many of us would like to find for ourselves. It's separated from mainstream civilization and is surrounded by natural beauty. It seems like an inviting and idyllic paradise. Its residents know and care about one another. And yet, these are modern, knowledgeable -- and okay, a bit eccentric -- people who still face regular challenges, as we all do. The trouble is that they now seem to have more murders per capita than the number you would expect to find in a small town. As a result, the people who live here are getting used to greeting Gamache and are even helping him and his team with their investigations.

Now, we already know that this is a unique bunch of adults. But all of a sudden, they get the odd idea of holding a seance. On Good Friday, they hold an impromptu one at the bistro. It is less than wonderful. But why not conduct one in a more authentic and even scarier place, like in the old and empty Hadley house up on the hill? This is exactly what these folks do three days later, on Easter evening. Led by outsider psychic Jeanne Chauvet, the group members gather in a circle of candlelight in one of the bedrooms. Jeanne calls in the spirits. And before you know it, Madeleine Favreau drops over dead, while sitting in the room with all of the rest. Had she actually been scared to death? Or was some unseen outside force at work here?

Enter Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, along with his ever-amusing second-in-command Jean Guy Beauvoir and detail-oriented agent Isabelle Lacoste. Local agent Robert Lemieux has also appeared to help out. The provincial police must investigate not just the events of the night of the seance, but also the backgrounds and personal lives of Jeanne Chauvet and Madeleine Favreau. And they can consider what information and insights they can glean from the usual group of villagers, too. Certainly, they will figure out what happened and identify the perpetrator. Is it a resident of Three Pines, though?

"The Arnot case" still lingers in the background of the Surete administration. Now we become privy to some of the actions of former official Pierre Arnot. Pay attention here, readers, because this will not be the last mention of this incident. The Quebec police force has a long memory, and you must, too.

This setting and this set of characters are so appealing that we want an excuse to spend more time with them, here on their home ground. We get hints of more to know about Gamache, about Clara and Peter Morrow, and about many of the other usual characters. Then we also get more insights into the way the Surete operates, or the way it doesn't. If you stick with the series, you may be able to get all of your questions answered. Eventually.

The Cruelest Month is admittedly not the strongest title in the series, but this trend will change big time in the next two books to follow. And if you thought this April was cruel to the Three Pines residents and to Armand Gamache, then you won't even believe what happens in A Better Man, book 15 in the series, when another April turns out to be far worse. Far worse. But don't you dare jump ahead! Just keep on reading these books in chronological order. You won't regret it.