Chief Inspector Gamache #19
In the impressive 19th installment of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf, something more than murder is lurking in the darkness. Gamache is at first baffled by a string of seemingly random murders – people with quiet lives and no enemies, killed execution style with no reason for it. The investigation is slow going, likely stalled, and Gamache isn’t sure where to turn next.
However, a meeting with a stranger changes everything. When this man is killed directly in front of him, trying to tell Gamache a final secret, things get set in motion that none of them ever would have expected. Cryptic clues and old faces just lead the inspector further and further down the rabbit hole and put his family, and Three Pines, in jeopardy, alongside maybe even more lives and something bigger than each of them.
As always, Penny is a master of her craft, offering an interesting and complicated story that keeps the reader turning the pages. To me, this one also had a lot of great humor that reminded me why I missed these characters so much. Though the broader cast isn’t in this installment much, it’s wonderful to spend time with Gamache, Beauvoir, and Lacoste. This case allows them to divide and conquer, each solving a piece of a puzzle before coming together to unravel the mystery at the end.
This isn’t the average Three Pines mystery. Gamache finds himself flying all over trying to dig up clues. However, there are plenty of call backs to those who have read the rest of these mysteries. Familiar faces, and some new ones, that make the world richer as Gamache walks through it. Gamache and Beauvoir’s relationship is also tested, and holds strong, again.
One warning is that this particular book ends with more to the story. Though one chapter closes as the book ends, it’s obvious that the mystery runs deeper. That there is more to solve. More people to protect. I eagerly await the next installment to see how it turns out. — Margaret Agnew