A Journey to Three Pines: a Deep Dive into Louise Penny's Mystery Series
Meredith Monday Schwartz and Roxanna Kassam-Kara
5.0from 45 ratings
- 10
- Episodes
- 45
- Ratings
- Weekly
- Cadence
- 2023
- First episode
About A Journey to Three Pines: a Deep Dive into Louise Penny's Mystery Series
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Detective Armand Gamache. This podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you've read the book before listening to the episode. We'll get into it all: we'll talk about the characters, the settings and dissect the themes in this amazing series of detective fiction. Co-hosts Meredith Monday Schwartz and Roxanna Kassam-Kara will follow a regular episode format, with set segments, so you know what to expect each and every time.
- Publisher
- Meredith Monday Schwartz and Roxanna Kassam-Kara
- Category
- arts · fiction
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 24 Dec 2023
- Latest episode
- 8 Nov 2025
Latest episodes
10 episodes in the feed.
8 Nov 2025
A Journey to Three Pines Episode 10 - The Long Way Home
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you've read the book before listening to the episode. As you've come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. 3:15 - Putting the Book Into Context The Long Way Home by Louise Penny Published Aug 26, 2014 by Minotaur Books 4.07 rating on Goodreads Seasonal setting - Summer Book Awards: Finalist for the Agatha Award for best novel, but did not win, nor win any other awards. Critic Reviews Meredith's and Roxanna's encounters with the book 13:17 - The Setup 11:21 - A Deeper Exploration First paragraph The pacing of the novel How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny Unlikeable main AND side characters No actual murder mystery to solve Prose and plot do not compliment one another. Prose is beautiful. P.92 quote Is there a villain? P.138 quote Portrayal of Ruth P.362 quote Themes: redemption, Clara's arc to confidence, the long way home Canadian elements 1:03:18 - Superlatives Favorite Scenes Character MVP Biggest loser Best food description Is this book skippable? No spoilers this episode! The next book will be The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. November's's IPL is brought to us from Content Bookstore in Northfield, Minnesota. Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business. All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans
17 Jun 2025
A Journey to Three Pines Episode 9 - How The Light Gets In
Hosts Meredith and Roxanna explore Louise Penny's "How the Light Gets In," discussing its dual plots, themes of community and resistance, and subtle use of light and dark, in this interview episode.
25 Feb 2025
A Journey to Three Pines: Episode 8 - The Beautiful Mystery
A deep dive into the Three Pines series from Louise Penny. In this episode, we discuss book 8 in the series: The Beautiful Mystery.
10 Sept 2024
A Journey to Three Pines: Episode 7 - A Trick of the Light
A deep dive into the Three Pines series from Louise Penny. In this episode, we discuss book 7 in the series: A Trick of the Light.
1 Jun 2024
A Journey to Three Pines: Episode 6 - Bury Your Dead
1:56 - Putting the Book Into Context Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny Published Sept. 28, 2010 by Minotaur Books 4.36 rating on Goodreads Seasonal setting - Winter Book Awards: Anthony Award for Best Novel in 2011, The Agatha Award, The New Blood Dagger Award, The Arthur Ellis Award, The Barry Award, and the Dilys Award Critic Reviews Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book 7:20 - The Setup 16:22 - A Deeper Exploration Setup and first paragraph The pacing of the novel The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny Quebec vs American History Anglophone vs. Francophone history and culture Themes: “bury your dead”, “with time” P.345 - Not everything buried is actually dead. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny One bit of lightness in the entire novel Location, Location, Location Relationship between Beauvoir and Ruth Zardo Who leaked the video? Enneagram Corner The Ending 1:14:36 - Superlatives Favorite Scene Character MVP Biggest loser Best food description Favorite Quote No spoilers this episode! The next book will be A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
22 Mar 2024
A Journey to Three Pines - Episode 5: A Brutal Telling
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode. As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. 3:45 - Putting the Book Into Context The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny Published Sept. 29, 2009 by Minotaur Books 4.20 rating on Goodreads Seasonal setting - Autum Book Awards: Anthony Award for Best Novel in 2010 Critic Reviews Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny 10:50 - The Setup 16:22 - A Deeper Exploration Setup and first paragraph First paragraph hooks the reader so completely Reminds Meredith of the Vera series by Ann Cleeves The pacing of the novel The deliberate pulling away from the “quaint village mystery” Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree Quality of writing itself - if it could be written as a whole series in today’s publishing Themes: human behavior, conscience, Thoreau’s Walden, contentment, fathers p.172 quote about conscience p. 298 quote about happiness p.175 quote about Walden P. 495 quote about fear and contentment The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny Side plot with Jean-Guy and the notes left by Ruth Zardo The Oddness Factor (is usually in superlatives but gets talked about early in this episode!) The Ending 1:15:31 - Superlatives Biggest Flaw Character MVP p. 403 Favorite Character Biggest loser Best food description Fear Factor 1:29:47 - Within the Series Is this book skippable? Favorite Quote (gets asked after the skippable portion so I added it here for time stamp sake) 1:34:08 - SPOILERS AHEAD HERE Next episode’s read: Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon (https://amzn.to/3yiYU8r) Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. March’s IPL is brought to you by our anchor store, An Unlikely Story. Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website (https://currentlyreadingpodcast.com) | Email (mailto:currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com) | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Roxanna (https://instagram.com/roxannathereader) | Kaytee (https://instagram.com/notesonbookmarks) Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!
24 Dec 2023
A Journey to Three Pines: Episode 4 - A Rule Against Murder
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode. As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. 2:40 - Putting the Book Into Context A Rule Against Murder (https://bookshop.org/a/79394/9780312614164) by Louise Penny Publication date (2009) 4.21 rating on Goodreads Seasonal setting - Summer Book Awards: Crimewriters of Canada Award for Excellence in 2009 Critic Reviews Alternate Title: The Murder Stone Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book 9:25 - The Setup 8:46 - A Deeper Exploration Setup and first paragraph Perfect prologue - sets us up for Manoir Bellechasse, but then chapter 1 goes back to Three Pines shortly An entire family of characters we as readers cannot really root for Mic drop moments Flimsy mystery, great building of suspense The pacing of the novel Quality of writing itself - last major action scene Themes: Rest, oppressive heat, paradise lost, prisons, things being unnatural, bravery in vulnerability The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny Still Life by Louise Penny Character Development - Gamache’s misstep 57:08 - What Do We Need to Know? History within the book as it pertains to reality The Oddness Factor 1:07:11 - Superlatives Biggest Flaw Favorite Quote Character MVP Biggest loser Best food description 1:22:37 - Within the Series Is this book skippable? Setting the foundation 1:23:34 - SPOILERS AHEAD HERE Easter eggs to future books Next episode’s read: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon (https://amzn.to/3yiYU8r) Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. December’s IPL will be a yearly recap from us, so we can give our beloved Indies a break for the holidays! Trope Thursday with Kaytee and Bunmi - a behind the scenes peek into the publishing industry All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the special insights of an independent bookseller The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | (https://instagram.com/maryreadsandsips)Roxanna | Kaytee The Show: Instagram | Website (https://currentlyreadingpodcast.com/) | Email (mailto:currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com) | Threads Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!
24 Dec 2023
A Journey to Three Pines: Episode 3 - The Cruelest Month
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode. As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading. 1:56 - The Set Up The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (one L simply due to demographic of readers? Please don’t fight me over this!) 3:05 - Putting the Book Into Context Publication date Seasonal setting - Spring, around Easter Book Awards: Agatha Award for Best Novel in 2008, Nominated for: The Anthony Award, The Macavity Award and the Barry Award for Best Novel of 2008 Critic Reviews Alternate Title: Cruelest vs Cruellest - that’s the only difference dependent on geographic location of publishing. Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book Currently Reading Season 5: Episode 45 w/Ezeekat 8:46 - A Deeper Exploration Setup and first few paragraphs A seance as the driving source of the mystery Still Life by Louise Penny One note character in Madeline/lack of care for her as a character Gamache not introduced until chapter 9 Pg. 69 - Make note for future reads Gamache as a father and grandfather figure versus an inspector The pacing of the novel Quality of writing itself Themes: Regeneration, Resurrection and its unpredictability, jealousy, equanimity, grief, platonic love, Character Development - Gamache’s Pride, Beauvoir The Fear Factor 55:58 - What Do We Need to Know? Village of Three Pines - The Hadley House, Hazel’s House A Fatal Grace (https://bookshop.org/a/79394/9780312541163) by Louise Penny Homes as a driver for the plot/characters The Oddness Factor Gamache’s accented English 1:06:00 - Superlatives Favorite scene Character MVP Biggest loser Best food description 1:16:32 - Within the Series Is this book skippable? Setting the foundation Favorite quote *Does the reading of passages take you out of the conversation or help enhance it? Let us know at the socials below! Next episode’s read: A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny No Spoilers this episode! Connect With Us: Please note the change in Meredith’s Instagram handle. This was recorded prior to the change. Meredith is @meredithmondayschwartz on Instagram Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram Roxanna is @roxannatheplanner on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast.com @currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading
24 Dec 2023
A Journey to Three Pines: Episode 2 - A Fatal Grace
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode. As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading. 2:02 - The Set Up A Fatal Grace (https://bookshop.org/a/79394/9780312541163) by Louise Penny 3:34 - Putting the Book Into Context Publication date (mentioned that it is the last book pre-iPhone which comes into play later) The rating is higher on Audible than Goodreads, speaking to the quality of narration. Seasonal setting - Winter Book Awards: Agatha Award for Best Novel in 2007 Critic Reviews Release date confusion Alternate Title: Dead Cold (Canadian title), TV Show on Amazon Prime titled this episode “Whiteout” Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book 9:37 - A Deeper Exploration First few paragraphs Still Life by Louise Penny Gamache is not introduced until chapter 8 Immediate body shaming of CC’s daughter by CC herself The Oddness Factor P.148 highlighting the oddness of the murder The Canadian Perspective Exploration of art used in A Fatal Grace The pacing of the novel The Villagers and the Village itself Themes: Three Pines as a place of respite, Introspection and the acceptance of oneself, Light and Dark The comparison of CC, Peter and Clara Morrow Vulnerability and authenticity at superpowers Lack of small children belonging to main characters The Fear Factor 46:57 - What Do We Need to Know? Village of Three Pines - The Bistro, The Hadley House How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny Enneagram Corner Introduction to Arnoult 1:00:22 - Superlatives Biggest flaw or disappointment Fat shaming and appearance shaming Favorite scene Character MVP Biggest loser Best food description Favorite quote 1:20:44 - Within the Series Setting the table Favorite quote Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny A Trick of the Light (https://bookshop.org/a/79394/9781250007346) by Louise Penny Next episode’s read: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny No Spoilers this episode! Connect With Us: Please note the change in Meredith’s Instagram handle. This was recorded prior to the change. Meredith is @meredithmondayschwartz on Instagram Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram Roxanna is @roxannatheplanner on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast.com @currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com
24 Dec 2023
A Journey to Three Pines: Episode 1 - Still Life
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode. As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes. Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped except for broad sections, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. 3:50 - The Set Up Still Life by Louise Penny 4:40 - Putting the Book Into Context Louise Penny’s age at publication Publisher rejection Seasonal settings and Canadian Thanksgiving Book Awards: CNA New Blood Dagger Award, Arthur Ellis Award, Dilys Award, Anthony Award for Best First Novel The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny Glass Houses by Louise Penny How did it sell Meredith and Roxanna’s first encounters with the series No other titles for this volume (but many do have alternates!) 12:17 - A Deeper Exploration First few paragraphs Louise’s writing style and character introduction Our first meeting with Gamache Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn The Oddness Factor Diagnosing the end Exploration of human nature Overarching themes Still Life and Still Lives Pacing Is this is a cozy? 50:50 - What Do We Need to Know? Village of Three Pines Canadian History 59:28 - Superlatives Biggest flaw or disappointment Language around LGBT characters and large bodies Favorite scene Best food description Character MVP Biggest loser Favorite foods 1:12:23 - Within the Series Pivotal or skippable Favorite quote 1:16:03 - Stop to Avoid Spoilers for Other Books How it Fits within the series Recurring visuals Ruth’s poetry Connect With Us: Meredith is @meredith.reads on Instagram Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram Roxanna is @roxannathereader on Instagram - This is NOT what it says in the episode. She got locked out between recording and drop day! currentlyreadingpodcast.com @currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram currentlyreadingpodcast@gmail.com Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading
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- 45 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 34 / 100
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