Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've read many of the wonderful reviews this book has received, but I must respectfully disagree. I think this is by far the weakest of Louise Penny's books. I realize that the 'supergun' did exist in the Canadian forests during the Cold War, but I found the constant discussions about this weapon very dull. Details about the gun, its invention and inventor filled page after page of the novel, and I found myself skimming just to get through all this unnecessary background information. I craved more news about Penny's wonderful characters: How were Armand and Reine-Marie adjusting to life in Three PInes? How was Clara coping with the loss of her husband? Please tell me more about Ruth and Myrna, Gabri and Olivier. I read Penny's books to catch up on these old friends, and my curiosity was not satisfied with this novel.There was some character interaction, but it mostly dealt with the supergun, and I just couldn't get excited about that. At all. I will still be first in line to order the next installment of the Three Pines stories. Until "The Nature of the Beast" I had never been disappointed by Louise Penny's stories. I'll be back for more.