I'm so glad you've discovered the Armand Gamache books!

I'm thrilled to be able to tell you that the next book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series is called HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN and will be published August 27th! I can hardly wait for you to read it, and hope you feel the same way! Indeed, you can now pre-order it from your local bookstore or online. Not a bad idea since book 8, THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, has gone into its ninth printing - and counting. We're now planning the tour for HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN. I'll let you know the stops as soon as it gets firmed up. Always such an exhilarating time.

Some of the Advance Readers Copies (ARCs) of HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN have gone out and we just learned that the prestigious (and very critical) Kirkus Review has given it a rare starred review! Here's an excerpt from what they said:

….luminous insights into trust and friendship, that will hook readers and keep them hooked.
Kirkus Starred Review



Just received the amazing news that THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY has won the Agatha Award for Best Mystery in the US! The award was given out in Washington, DC and as you can imagine, I was and am over-the-moon.

To add to the excitement, the nominations for the Anthony Awards have come out and THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY has been shortlisted for Best Crime Novel! Here's the complete list of nominees. Congratulations everyone.

Dare Me - Megan Abbott [Reagan Arthur]
The Trinity Game - Sean Chercover [Thomas & Mercer]
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn [Crown]
The Beautiful Mystery - Louise Penny [Minotaur]
The Other Woman - Hank Phillippi Ryan [Forge]

The Anthony Award winner will be announed at Bouchercon, in Albany, NY, in September. Hope to see you there.

I was so happy to see the success of THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY. Thanks to you it debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list and hit all sorts of other lists internationally. Here's a sampling -

New York Times #2
NPR #2
The Globe and Mail #6
Independent Booksellers #2 (US)
Independent Booksellers #1 (Canada)
USA Today
(includes all books, fiction/non-fiction/paperback and hardcover)		 #12
Vancouver Sun #1
Macleans Magazine #3
Publishers Weekly #3


What a joyous time, and one I owe to you. Thank you for supporting, embracing, and spreading the word about the Gamache books! If you can keep doing it, I'd so appreciate it. THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY has also received some wonderful reviews. Here are some of them:

New York Times
"Penny writes with grace and intelligence about complex people struggling with complex emotions. But her great gift is her uncanny ability to describe what might seem indescribable - the play of light, the sound of celestial music, a quiet sense of peace."

People Magazine (Editor's Pick, 4 out of 4 stars)
With enormous empathy for the troubled human soul—and an ending that makes your blood race and your heart break—Penny continues to raise the bar of her splendid series.

The Globe and Mail
....It’s a stirring, thought- provoking read, less a matter of whodunit than a relentless questioning of why any of us do anything. The Beautiful Mystery...stands as a powerful literary novel in its own right...

Booklist
"An entire mystery novel centering on Gregorian chants (whose curiously hypnotic allure is called the “beautiful mystery”)? Yes, indeed, and in the hands of the masterful Penny, the topic proves every bit as able to transfix readers as the chants do their listeners.... P. D. James, of course, has made a career out of taking her sleuth, Adam Dalgliesh, into closed worlds to investigate murders, and while Penny follows that formula, she layers her plots more intricately than does James, this time adding an entire contrapuntal plot concerning Gamache, Beauvoir, their relationship, the secrets each conceals, and the demons each continues to fight....Of course, there is always something mammoth roiling away beneath the surface of Penny’s novels—but this time the roiling is set against the serenity of the chanting, producing a melody of uncommon complexity and beauty."

Publishers Weekly
"Excellent....a captivating whodunit plot, a clever fair-play clue concealed in plain view, and the deft use of humor to lighten the story's dark patches. On a deeper level, the crime provides a means for Penny's unusually empathic, all-too-fallible lead to unearth truths about human passions and weaknesses while avoiding simple answers."

Kirkus Review
"....remarkably penetrating and humane. The most illuminating analogies are not to other contemporary detective fiction but to The Name of the Rose and Murder in the Cathedral."

Library Journal
"...This heart-rending tale is a marvelous addition to Penny’s acclaimed series."

Adelaide Advertiser
"Hallelujah. Amid the formulaic dross that makes up so much current crime fiction, gems can be found ****"




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Now, let me tell you a little something about it...

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY is set in a remote monastery in Quebec. The monks have chosen a life of splendid isolation, of quietude. To contemplate nature and God. To commune with the Divine, without distractions. They've taken a vow of silence, and their days are filled with near complete peace and quiet, with the exception of the services that highlight their monastic day. The Divine Office. The simple services are sung in chants so old they predate written music. Plain chant. Gregorian chant. Singing the word of God in the voice of God. Their chanting is so mesmerizing, so glorious that the little recording they made to raise money has become a sensation.

But while the monks might choose not to speak, there are other ways to communicate. And lately a battle, fought in near silence, has shattered their community. And led to murder. When Chief Inspector Gamache and Inspector Beauvoir, of the Sûreté du Québec, arrive they enter a cloistered and secretive community. Shut off from the outside world. They meet men trained to conceal how they feel and what they think.

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY is about the plain chant at the heart of their monastic life and the power of that music to inspire and corrupt. But Chief Inspector Gamache soon discovers something else, hiding in the silence. Tyranny.

Gamache and Beauvoir are faced with an unsettling question. Was the monk murdered by the tyrant, or because he was the tyrant?

In the great silence of the monastery, Gamache and Beauvoir come face to face with their own truths, and their own tyrants. While so many are kneeling down, Gamache must discover if he has the courage to stand up. To speak up.

I hope you like THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY. I'm so looking forward to you reading it!

On the audio book front, Ralph Cosham is again reading THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY and the publishers, Macmillian Audio has produced an excerpt. Click here to hear it.

More great news - THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY has won an Earphones Award from AudioFile.


Exciting news - GAMACHE / BURY YOUR DEAD guided tour of Quebec City is now available. We've been working with a top walking tour company in the venerable old city, Tours Voir Quebec, and are very happy to endorse this. The good people of the Literary and Historical Society (Morrin Centre) are also onboard. It's available in either English or French. Here's the link. Bon voyage et Vive Gamache!




Wonderful news for A TRICK OF THE LIGHT. It has won the Anthony Award for Best Crime Novel in the US! I'm thrilled - could not be happier. What a great honour.



For more information and news on the Gamache books, just click here and go to the Books page.






I'm often asked two questions: should the books be read in order? And, what is the order?

Both excellent questions. At the risk of appearing to want you to buy more books let me say that while it's not necessary to read them in any particular order (they're designed to be self-standing) there is quite a strong character development arc. I think you'd enjoy the books even more if read in order.

Now, here's the order, from the first to the most recent:

STILL LIFE
A FATAL GRACE / DEAD COLD
THE CRUELEST MONTH
A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER STONE
THE BRUTAL TELLING
BURY YOUR DEAD
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY

Some of the books have different titles, as you might have noticed. The publishers did this not, as you might suspect, to be annoying but because they genuinely feel their readers respond to different titles. I hope it's not too confusing.



And finally, a small note about the themes in my books. They're inspired by two lines from a poem by WH Auden, in his elegy to Melville. Goodness existed, that was the new knowledge/his terror had to blow itself quite out to let him see it.

How powerful is that?



My books are about terror. That brooding terror curled deep down inside us. But more than that, more than murder, more than all the rancid emotions and actions, my books are about goodness. And kindness. About choices. About friendship and belonging. And love. Enduring love.

If you take only one thing away from any of my books I'd like it to be this:

Goodness exists.




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