The novel begins on a summer morning in the small Canadian village of Three Pines. Clara Morrow observes Armand Gamache sitting on a bench, reading a book with a bookmark in it and then closing it before he reaches the marked page. Clara has noticed Armand doing the same thing every morning and has tried to ask him about what he is reading. He has, however, politely avoided answering her question.

Meanwhile, Gamache has noticed Clara coming to sit with him on the bench and suspects there is something she wants to discuss. Gamache has recently retired from his role as Chief Inspector of Homicide in the Province of Quebec and come to live in the peaceful village with his wife, Reine-Marie, and their dog Henri. He finds that “the stronger he got, the more he valued the structure. Far from being limiting, imprisoning, he found his daily rituals liberating” (4). Clara does indeed have something she wants to ask Gamache but has been hesitating. She does not want to disrupt his newfound peace. Gamache gently asks Clara what is on her mind.