Enjoyable as always—a trip to Three Pines or surrounds is always welcome, even if it's murder-y. This one felt especially timely with the water issues and domestic terrorism.

The Grey Wolf, book 19 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny, is one of the most page-turning, ambitious mystery novels I have read this year. Get ready to buckle up and hang on for all 432 pages – readers will not regret it!

It’s August in Three Pines, a tiny Québec village, and Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie are enjoying a quiet Sunday in their garden until Gamache’s phone rings. He ignores it, but it continues to ring, and his tension increases, until he answers with anger and hangs up immediately. This is only the beginning of a sequence of bizarre events that Gamache, as head of homicide at the Sûreté, knows are related and are forecasting big trouble. Events like: a missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading “this might interest you”, a scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then, of course, a murder.

Between Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste, the three begin to uncover a most sinister and terrifying plot in the works–a plot far worse than murder. They soon begin to realize that they can only trust each other, and those who were once friends are no longer. Their pursuit to uncover this devastating plot takes them across Québec and across borders, and I was gripping my book so tightly that my fingers ached when I had to put it down.

This story is epic in scope and complex in plot, and while I was anxious to get to the resolution, I had to keep reminding myself to slow down because Louise Penny does not skimp on details on both setting, characters, and clues. The richness of Louise’s writing is so much that I could feel the terror coursing through Gamache as he raced to save millions of lives. I could feel his exhaustion and adrenaline battling each other. Seeing seemingly unrelated clues fall into place made for a breathtaking reading experience. I have always been an Inspector Gamache fan, but The Grey Wolf was one of the best I’ve read. Readers shouldn’t wait to get their hands on this mystery.

Each time bestselling author Louise Penny releases a new installment in her Three Pines Series, it is an exciting event. Readers cannot wait to be wrapped into the warmth of the cozy, hidden village with its unique residents guided by Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector of the Sûreté du Québec. Over the years, Gamache has physically and emotionally been pushed through the wringer, and in the newest mystery, The Grey Wolf (Minotaur), Penny reminds us of the trials and tribulations that he, his friends, and family have suffered during the 20 novels.
The story kicks into high gear when Gamache returns home to Three Pines, and catches a glimpse of an elderly gentleman entering the local Bistro. He recognizes the man, but cannot put a name to his face until an eco-terrorism plot is revealed.
Racing Against Time to Prevent Deadly Plot
The mysterious man was Abbot Dom Phillipe at Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, which was the sight of a prior murder Gamache investigated. Gamache believes the Abbot possesses information which may identify the plot and help prevent its execution.
In the meantime, Gamache is investigating two unrelated gangland-style shootings, and his team co-headed by Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law, and Isabelle Lacoste, are pursuing the leads. The desperate race against time results in an international manhunt to the Vatican, Washington D.C., and isolated monasteries in Canada and France. All roads lead to dead ends, but Gamache wonders if the grisly executions are related to the eco-terrorists.
The plot thickens when a potential whistleblower informs Gamache that he possesses a knowledge of the deadly conspiracy. And muddying the waters, an old political enemy of Gamache’s appears, making him wonder about her involvement in the potential disaster. In his mind, everyone is a suspect, including his boss, and Gamache questions whom to trust, except for Beauvoir and Lacoste. However, all paths seem to return to Abbot Dom Phillipe, who has vanished.
With the clock ticking, Gamache must uncover whether the plot exists, when it will occur, and who is behind it, and why. And whether the attack could have repercussions beyond Canada’s borders.
International Political Thriller
In The Grey Wolf, the wonderful residents of Three Pines, Ruth, Reine-Marie, Myrna, Clara, Olivier, and Gabri, are all but left behind. Penny has reduced them to bit players in the “un-cozy” drama, sacrificing them for an international political thriller as kin to Penny and Clinton’s “State of Terror.”
Also, the book feels like a “greatest hits collection” of the Three Pines series. The book is riddled with flashbacks of prior adventures, slowing the pace of the story, and interrupting the tension of the eco-terrorism plot. It is as if Penny has stitched together prior crises to create The Grey Wolf, which sometimes feels forced. Despite these flaws, the teams’ navigating the labyrinth of the monastic society is riveting, and the revelation of the ultimate conspiracy is deeply satisfying.
In The Grey Wolf, Gamache is a man trapped between good and evil, light and dark, and career and family. And just when readers believe he is too tired, too injured, or too old for the job, he surprises us with his warmth, wit, and intelligence.
The Grey Wolf proves, after 20 novels, that Penny and Gamache remain at the top of their game. And that the world outside of Three Pines is no match for Armand Gamache.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny. As I read the first few pages of The Grey Wolf I instantly felt the same magic I felt when I read Still Life by a then unknown author named Louise Penny. That was 19 books ago, about 15 or 16 years ago. I felt the same, immediate connection to characters sitting around a table simply living life and quietly loving one another. The magic remains as Ms. Penny continues to write about the things most important to each of us and reminds us, with gentle humor and the most perfectly chosen words, what those things are in case we stumble and momentarily forget.