I'm so glad you've discovered Three Pines and the Armand Gamache books. I hope you're enjoying reading them as much as I love writing them.

It’s been a long time coming, my friend, but finally after a year hiatus, there will be a new Gamache in 2024. It is called, THE GREY WOLF and will come out in Canada, the US, and the UK on October 29th. I believe you can pre-order now. Not a bad idea, to make sure you get a first edition.

Without spoiling any of the plot, here's a brief description of what Gamache et al are facing.

Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.

That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin THE GREY WOLF, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you", a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list--and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.

Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they’re chasing becomes clear. If they fail the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages.
Including Three Pines.



The previous Gamache book A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES, was released in 2022 and hit #1 in the USA and Canada, making it the top hardcover fiction book in North America! And the TV show, THREE PINES, hit #1 on Prime Video in Canada, the USA and the UK!

More on the TV show later, first the book! Here are some of the accolades:

A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES HAS WON THE AGATHA AWARD FOR BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL IN THE UNITED STATES.
ONE OF WASHINGTON POST'S BEST MYSTERIES AND THRILLERS OF 2022
ONE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S BEST FALL BOOKS
ONE OF AARP'S BEST FALL BOOKS
ONE OF CRIMEREADS' MOST ANTICIPATED FALL BOOKS
ONE OF BARNES & NOBLE'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF 2022
ONE OF BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED NOVEMBER 2022 BOOKS
THRILLER OF THE MONTH, THE LONDON OBSERVER
BOOK OF THE MONTH, THE LONDON TIMES
NUMBER ONE PICK BY LIBRARIANS ACROSS CANADA
LIBRARY JOURNAL'S PICK OF THE MONTH
NAMED A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY IN THE UK

A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES, has
also been nominated for the Anthony Award! Here's the complete list of nominees This makes a wonderful reading list! Congratulations all.

AND…IN A RARE EVENT, ALL FOUR PROMINENT PRE-PUBLICATION JOURNALS HAVE GIVEN A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES A STARRED REVIEW.

Kirkus
"The plotting is complex and the characters as vivid as ever, but the opportunity to watch Gamache and Beauvoir's relationship develop is what makes this one of Penny's best... will have you turning the pages as fast as you can to see how she'll manage to tie everything together."

Booklist
"For Penny, the novel is a narrative tour de force, drawing brilliantly on some dark moments in Québec history and leading Gamache and the residents of Three Pines to a hard-won, thoroughly unsentimental recognition that forgiveness is our most powerful magic.”

Publishers Weekly
" Virtuoso… blends nuanced characterization with nail-biting suspense…This tale of forgiveness and redemption will resonate with many."


Library Journal
"Penny's 18th Gamache novel is intense as the detective digs deep into his own fears. The darkness in this intricately plotted story forces readers to search for contrasting moments of hope."

Christian Science Monitor
"Simply outstanding… Penny's gift for intelligent and transcendent storytelling delivers light, bringing themes of forgiveness and redemption to society's darker moments."

The London Observer
"Penny delves into the nature of evil, sensitively exploring the impact of the dreadful events she describes while bringing a warmth and humanity to her disparate cast of characters that, unusually for a crime novel, leaves you feeling better about the world once you've finished."

The Times
"Extraordinary...It is "a tale of demons and witches, hidden rooms and unexpected saviours", "the folly of assumptions" and the nature of trust and forgiveness. Louise Penny can turn the most clichéd of scenes - informing relatives of a death - into electrifying drama…reminiscent of Thomas Harris at his finest. Gamache is a fascinatingly complex protagonist; we'll see a version of him in the Amazon Prime series Three Pines, scheduled for December. A World of Curiosities is his 18th case, and one of her very best."

Bookpage
"Another superb achievement… Penny weaves together all these narratives - the series of modern-day killings, the decade-old bludgeoning murder and the haunting artwork that has remained shrouded in mystery across the centuries - with a master's deft hand."



Here’s a short description of A World of Curiosities.

It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.

But something has.

As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines.

But to what end?

Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?

As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.

As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there’s more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.

In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache’s home.

As though that wasn't exciting enough, the TV show THREE PINE made its debut on Prime Video on December 2nd! They'll be adding two episodes a week, for four weeks. Left Bank (who make The Crown) is producing the series. It stars Alfred Molina as Gamache, and a raft of wonderful Canadian actors.

Here's the trailer from the series.


I'm sure you are wondering how true it is to the books. There are definitely changes, some I struggle with, but overall I am pleased and relieved. It will be interesting to see what you think.



Lots of exciting things happening. If you'd like to follow along, feel free to either join me on Facebook, or sign up for the newsletter.

There is also the site, Gamacheseries.com, a sort of virtual bistro where we discuss various themes and issues in the series. Among other features we have The Annotated Three Pines, Postcards from Three Pines, and the Cultural Inspirations for Three Pines. The merry minstrel of the virtual bistro, Paul Hochman, takes it one book at a time, and examines the art, literature, poetry, music, philosophy that informs the themes of the series.



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 order (they're designed to be self-standing) there is a strong character development arc. I think of the books as chapters in one longer volume. A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES is chapter 18.

Of course, I encourage you to support your local library as well as bookstore.

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
HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN
THE LONG WAY HOME
THE NATURE OF THE BEAST

A GREAT RECKONING
GLASS HOUSES
KINGDOM OF THE BLIND
A BETTER MAN
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE
THE MADNESS OF CROWDS

STATE OF TERROR (co-written with Hillary Clinton)
A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES
THE GREY WOLF (October 29th 2024)


I also wrote a novella, The Hangman, as part of a campaign for literacy, so that adults could read complex stories, but at an entry reading level. Up until now, they were forced to read children's books. Not really very fun or respectful.

The Hangman is actually one of the books adapted for the TV series.

Another book not in the Three Pines canon is STATE OF TERROR, written with my friend Hillary Clinton. We had a blast scheming and plotting, laughing and then digging deep into some very disturbing and prescient issues. It too hit #1 on the bestseller lists and has been optioned as a film. She and I are both executive producers. More on that as things develop.


A Great Reckoning
The Nature of the Beast
The Long Way Home


As you might have noticed, you can no longer just click through to my Facebook page. Facebook has decided you now need to join. It’s definitely not my doing and I’m very sorry about that.
 
Go to my Facebook fan page for updates and my latest news.









Indie Bound





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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