CANR
WORK TITLE: Glass Houses
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 7/1/1958
WEBSITE: http://www.louisepenny.com/
CITY: Knowlton
STATE: QC
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
LAST VOLUME: CANR 312
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-world-you-wont-want-louise-pennys-latest-to-end/2017/08/27/eb45069c-82b1-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html?utm_term=.f4200439e8d7
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born July 1, 1958, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; married Michael Whitehead (a physician and pediatric hematologist; died, September 18, 2016).
EDUCATION:Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University), B.A., 1979.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, novelist, journalist, television producer, radio broadcaster. Worked as a journalist, radio host, and documentary producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), c. 1979-96.
AWARDS:New Blood Dagger for Best First Mystery, Crime Writers Association in Great Britain, and Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Mystery, Crime Writers of Canada, both 2006, Dilys Award, Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, 2007, Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and Barry Award, all for Still Life; Agatha Award, Malice Domestic, 2008, for A Fatal Grace; Agatha Award, Malice Domestic, 2009, for The Cruelest Month; Agatha Award, Malice Domestic, Best Mystery Novel Award, Mystery Writers of America, and Anthony Award for Best Crime Novel, all 2010, all for The Brutal Telling; Best Mystery Award, American Library Association, Agatha Award, both 2010, Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel, 2011, all for Bury Your Dead; Anthony Award, and Macavity Award for Best Mystery, both 2013, both for The Beautiful Mystery; Member of the Order of Canada, 2013; Order of Canada, noted for her contributions to Canadian culture, 2017.
WRITINGS
Author of a blog.
SIDELIGHTS
Former broadcast journalist and radio host Louise Penny has become well known as the author of a mystery series focusing on Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec, or Quebec police force. He lives in Montreal but is frequently called upon to solve murders in the picturesque village of Three Pines. Some reviewers have compared Gamache to French writer Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret. “Each delights in great wine, good food and their loving wives, both command the unswerving loyalty of their men, and both can see, clearly and deeply, into the murderous hearts of men,” commented Erna Buffie in an article on the series for Suite101.com. Three Pines, Buffie added, “harbors as much greed, jealousy and betrayal as any big city,” and the setting, the recurring and often quirky characters, and Penny’s plotting combine for “a wonderfully original mystery series.”
“Chief Inspector Gamache was inspired by a number of people,” Penny wrote in an autobiographical essay published on her home page, “and one main inspiration was this man holding a copy of En plein coeur. Jean Gamache, a tailor in Granby. He looks slightly as I picture Gamache, but mostly it was his courtesy and dignity and kind eyes that really caught my imagination. What a pleasure to be able to give him a copy of En plein coeur!”
In the series’s first novel, Still Life, Gamache is called in to investigate the death of Jane Neal, a middle-aged artist and well-loved local, found dead near Three Pines with an arrow through her heart. Since she was discovered near an area frequented by deer hunters, Neal’s death is at first considered an accident. However, Gamache’s investigation indicates that the more likely scenario involves murder. Unfortunately for him, the village of Three Pines contains a multitude of suspects, as a good many of its residents are accomplished archers. Finding a murderer among the generally affable residents of Three Pines will not be easy. Gamache discovers that Neal had recently contributed a controversial painting to a local juried show—observers either loved or hated her primitive-style work. The intensely private Neal had also just announced that she would open her house to the public for the first time in order to celebrate her painting. Her death happened the day of the announcement. Neal’s obnoxious niece Yolande immediately stakes a claim to the artist’s house and does her best to keep the police out. Meanwhile, a will is found, in which Neal leaves everything to Clara Morrow, a married neighbor who had been like a daughter to the aging artist. Gamache persists in looking for clues, not only in Neal’s painting and behavior, but also in the secrets that might be found in her house and among her neighbors.
Still Life won praise from several critics. “Like a virtuoso,” Penny sounds a “complex variation on the theme of the clue hidden in plain sight,” remarked a Publishers Weekly reviewer, while Kliatt contributor Jean Palmer observed that “Penny’s descriptions of the people and the setting are beautifully crafted.” Emily Melton, writing in Booklist, dubbed the novel a “beautifully told, lyrically written story of love, life, friendship, and tragedy,” and a New York Times commentator called Penny “an author whose deceptively simple style masks the complex patterns of a well-devised plot.” A Kirkus Reviews critic concluded: “Cerebral, wise and compassionate, Gamache is destined for stardom. Don’t miss this stellar debut.”
A Fatal Grace, published in England as Dead Cold, is the next book in the series. The story begins with the death of C.C. de Poitiers during a curling competition around Christmastime in Three Pines. A local socialite known as something of a sadist, C.C. worked as a spiritual guide of sorts, attempting to convince others to give up emotion in order to live a more placid existence. Unfortunately, her personality was such that she rarely achieved her goals but was more likely to end up with a highly aggravated client on her hands. Her reputation makes it difficult to narrow down the list of people who might have wished her ill, but Gamache comes into town from Montreal to do just that. He must sort through a number of likely characters, including C.C.’s daughter, who had been abused by her mother all her life, and a local teacher on a spiritual topics whose business C.C. had threatened. It also appears that C.C.’s death might have been linked to the recent murder of a vagrant in Three Pines.
This novel received critical compliments, but some carried qualifications. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that “Penny gorgeously evokes the small-town Christmas mood” but concluded that “the plot’s dependence on lengthy backstory slows the momentum.” David Pitt, writing in Booklist, observed: “Penny is a careful writer, taking time to establish character and scene.”
The third installment, The Cruelest Month, is set at Easter time in Three Pines. As a special seasonal treat, the local bed and breakfast owner decides to hire a Hungarian psychic who is traveling through town to conduct a séance for the locals. Unfortunately, the event backfires in more ways than one. The psychic turns out to be a fraud, neither Hungarian nor able to channel any spirits from beyond the grave, making the séance a resounding failure. However, the townspeople who have participated decide to meet for a second attempt, this time at the deserted Hadley house. Something happens at the second séance that no one is expecting, however, and one of the participants drops dead of fright. Gamache is called to determine whether there was foul play. This proves to be a difficult case, as the chief inspector is thwarted at every turn by the residents and their secrets, and also by some of his officers, who have a grudge against him. A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked of the book: “Penny produces what many have tried but few have mastered: a psychologically acute cozy.”
The next novel in the series, The Murder Stone, was published in the United States as A Rule against Murder. This installment finds Gamache and his wife spending their anniversary at their favorite inn, Manoir Bellechasse. The inn is also hosting a large family reunion. After a staff member finds one of the guests dead, crushed by a statue that toppled from its pedestal, Gamache takes on the case.
Some critics commented favorably on the novel’s setting as well as Penny’s plotting skills and prose style. Andy Plonk, writing on the Mystery Reader Web site, noted that “Penny has a superb command of the English language. She is able to evoke images in the minds of her readers such that it is easy to imagine what her characters look like as well as the characteristics of the log cabin type inn where the story takes place.” Plonk concluded: “This is a novel that can and will be enjoyed by a variety of readers and is on a par with the first in the series.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked that the novel “will keep fans salivating in anticipation, savoring each delectable morsel and yearning for more.”
The Brutal Telling, the fifth novel in the series, brings the reader back to Three Pines, where Gamache has been called upon to solve the murder of a hermit who lived in a remote cabin in the woods full of priceless antiquities. According to a reviewer on the Blogcritics Web site, “the characterization in the book is rich; it feels like Penny has written full biographies of each character in the book, along with details of how they interact with other characters.” The reviewer also noted that “Penny has woven subtext, red herring, and truth together into a plot as rich as any tapestry hanging on the wall.” Reviewer’s Bookwatch contributor Gloria Feit noted that “the village residents are drawn with this author’s usual fine hand, their distinct and quirky personalities vividly presented.”
The sixth installment, Bury Your Dead, finds Gamache not in Three Pines but in Quebec City, a 400-year-old walled metropolis. He is haunted by guilt feelings over the outcome of the case detailed in The Brutal Telling, and he is recuperating from physical injuries as well. On leave in the city at the time of its winter carnival, he visits a longtime friend and mentor and immerses himself in research at the Literary and Historical Society. He becomes involved in a murder investigation, though, when another patron of the historical society, who dabbled in archaeology, is found dead in the building’s basement. The man had been obsessed with finding the body of French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who founded Quebec City in 1608. Champlain died in 1635, and his burial place is unknown. Gamache comes to believe that the mystery of Champlain’s whereabouts is related to the death of the researcher. A third mystery figures in the novel when Gamache decides to reopen the case from The Brutal Telling, as he thinks he has arrested the wrong man. He sends one of his deputies to Three Pines to look into the matter.
Several reviewers found Bury Your Dead a compelling story in a fascinating setting. “Louise Penny’s portrait of Quebec City is as lovingly detailed and evocative as anything she has written, and her control over this intricate blending of history and mystery is absolute,” related H.J. Kirchhoff in Toronto’s Globe & Mail. The novel, Kirchoff added, “demonstrates once again that she is in the first rank of crime-fiction writers in Canada, or indeed, in the world.” A Publishers Weekly commentator praised Penny’s characterizations and plotting, noting her “ability to combine heartbreak and hope in the same scene.” New York Times Book Review contributor Marilyn Stasio did not care for the revisiting of the case from The Brutal Telling, saying it “undermines the much more interesting central narrative.” Denver Post critics Tom and Enid Schantz, however, welcomed this aspect of the novel. “The mystery was far from over at book’s end, and its shocking final solution here is brilliantly conceived and executed,” the reviewers observed. Bill Ott, writing in Booklist, called Bury Your Dead “the best yet” in the series, as “Penny hits every note perfectly in what is one of the most elaborately constructed mysteries in years.”
In A Trick of the Light, wrote Globe and Mail reviewer Margaret Cannon, “we are returned to the perfect country village: lilac-scented air, superb cuisine at the local auberge, a wonderful bookstore and congenial, interesting people for conversation. It is, of course, Three Pines, the paradise in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, where one can find peace and a kind of perfection, at least until murder rears its head … again.” The story opens with the dramatic success of new artist Clara Morrow’s showing at a major Montreal venue. “The day after the showing, back in Clara’s garden in Three Pines,” declared a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “Lillian Dyson, former critic … lies dead of a broken neck.” “Penny shows how the tight structure of the classical mystery story can accommodate a wealth of deeply felt emotions,” Ott stated in Booklist.
“Penny writes very well of the village and of flowers, food, furniture, painting, gardens and landscapes; hers is a fluid, graceful prose. She’s also skilled at presenting the complex relationships her characters become enmeshed in,” explained Patrick Anderson in the Washington Post Book World. In A Trick of the Light, Anderson added, “Penny writes eloquently about the glories of art and scathingly about greed, pettiness and jealousy among artists.”
Gamache’s adventures proceed in The Beautiful Mystery and How the Light Gets In. The latter tale follows Gamache as he deals with corrupt supervisors and a deteriorating homicide department. Most of his friends on the force have retired or quit. The remainder are incompetent or indifferent. Then Constance Ouellet, an old woman who was a child star, is killed. Struck in the head by a lamp, Constance was the last surviving member of a famous set of quintuplets. But such fame was decades ago; the woman is no longer recognizable, she had no great wealth, and there’s no motive for killing her. The death leads Gamache deep into Three Pines’s underbelly, and the quirky idyllic town is idyllic no more. “Penny impressively balances personal courage and faith with heartbreaking choices and monstrous evil,” a Publishers Weekly critic noted. Ott, writing again in Booklist, seconded this opinion, asserting: “Penny has always used setting to support theme brilliantly, but here she outdoes herself, contrasting light and dark, innocence and experience, goodness and evil.” According to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “it’s Three Pines, with its quirky tenants, resident duck and luminous insights into trust and friendship, that will hook readers and keep them hooked.” Commending the novel further in the Washington Post Book World, Maureen Corrigan stated that “Penny’s voice—occasionally amused, yet curiously formal—is what makes the world of her novels plausible. … [She] has written a magnificent mystery novel that appeals not only to the head, but also to the heart and soul.”
The Long Way Home opens as Gamache retires from his post in Montreal and takes up permanent residence in Three Pines. Despite his retirement, Gamache continues to rely on his investigative skill, this time using them to find a friend’s missing husband. Clara and her husband, Peter, have just completed a trial separation, and Peter is supposed to return to Three Pines so the couple can consider their options. When Peter fails to show up, she turns to Gamache. The inspector then turns to his former assistant, Guy Beauvoir. The pair learn that Peter went to Europe before heading to Toronto and then to the St. Lawrence River. The trail goes cold from there. Is this the first case the great Gamache cannot solve?
“The emotional depth accessed here is both a wonder and a joy to uncover,” a Kirkus Reviews critic noted, adding that The Long Way Home “culminates in one breathless encounter.” Ott, writing again in Booklist, was also impressed, and he called the novel “another gem from the endlessly astonishing Penny.” Charles Isherwood wrote in his New York Times Book Review assessment: “Readers who have been devouring this popular series will be happy to encounter its inhabitants again. … Penny’s characters evolve through the series, as life batters them and scars take longer to heal. As the weight of his burden has become increasingly difficult to bear, Gamache has found it less easy to keep the violence of his professional relationships from infecting his worldview.”
Gamache struggles to relax into his retirement in The Nature of the Beast, and he is considering a new job or a new town. Still, when a nine-year-old boy is murdered, Gamache doesn’t hesitate to lead the investigation. The boy was beloved by the Three Pines community, though he was known to tell fantastical stories. In his last story, the boy told town residents that he’d found a missile launcher in the forest. The story turns out to be true, which means the victim was a witness, and someone wanted to keep him quiet.
Booklist correspondent Ott lauded the story, advising that The Nature of the Beast is “a compelling mystery that leads to an exciting but tantalizingly open-ended finale.”According to a Kirkus Reviews critic, “Penny is an expert at pulling away the surface of her characters to expose their deeper—and often ugly—layers, always doing so with a direct but compassionate hand.” Echoing this sentiment in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Robert Croan remarked: “The plot and its implications are indeed serious, but Ms. Penny tells her story with a light-handed deftness that allows events to move swiftly.”
In an interview posted on the Getting Medieval Web site, Penny discussed why she decided to write mysteries: “I actually had planned to write the best book ever, and win the Nobel Prize. Surprisingly, I then suffered writers block for five years and watched Oprah and ate gummi bears instead. Then I looked on my bedside table and saw all those Golden Age mysteries. Books by Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers and Josephine Tey. The books I actually read. And it came to me in that instant. I would simply write a book I would like to read. And that’s what I’ve done ever since. Each book is for me.”
In a biography on her home page, Penny stated: “There are times when I’m in tears writing. Not because I’m so moved by my own writing, but out of gratitude that I get to do this.” She concluded: “What a privilege it is to write. I hope you enjoy reading the books as much as I enjoy writing them.”
In 2016, Penny published A Great Reckoning, the twelfth Armand Gamache novel, which finds the former chief inspector taking a new job as commander of the Surete Academy training young cadets. He is charged with rooting out corruption at the school known for churning out bad cops. Gamache has his eyes on Serge “the Duke” Leduc, the number two at the academy. Leduc is soon found dead with an old map Gamache knows well. First found in a bistro in Three Pines, the map became a curiosity and was given to Gamache as a gift. His connection to the map and to Leduc makes him a suspect. Helping him find the real killer is the dead professor’s protégée, the tattooed and pierced young Amelia Choquet. They begin to suspect that some of the students may be involved.
In the Washington Post Book World Online, Maureen Corrigan commented: “The main narrative branches into more complicated patterns until all questions are resolved in a spectacular climax that cross cuts between story lines. The chief moral question that permeates the many subplots of A Great Reckoning is the vexing one of what elders owe to the young under their care.” Writing in Kirkus Reviews, a contributor noted: “Young, learning minds are precious things, and Penny is here to make us aware of the evil out there, eager for a chance to mold—and poison—them. A chilling story that’s also filled with hope.” According to Bill Ott in Booklist, “Gamache fans will be thrilled by the way this installment unlocks some of the series’ enduring questions.” Ott added that “the main plot offers a compelling mystery.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer called Penny’s series remarkable and commented on A Great Reckoning saying, “This complex novel deals with universal themes of compassion, weakness in the face of temptation” as well as despair and cynicism.
Penny’s next book is the 2017 Glass Houses, an August 2017 LibraryReads pick. The story finds Gamache as Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec. One cold November day, a strange figure dressed in a long black robe and hood enters Three Pines and remains standing still on the village green for months, becoming a fixture in the town. According to a Spanish legend, he could be a Conscience come to propel someone to do the right thing. Gamache believes it could be for him. Suddenly in the hot summer, the figure is gone and a dead body appears in the church basement. Gamache is testifying at a murder trial and doesn’t fool the judge when he speaks unconvincingly about who he thinks the murderer is. He must deal with consequences from the victim’s wife and from his own son-in-law, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, who is second-in-command on the case.
The residents of Three Pines join with “Gamache’s loyal investigative team [to] help propel the plot to an exciting, high-stakes climax,” noted a writer in Publishers Weekly. Writing in Kirkus Reviews, a contributor praised the book saying: “A meticulously built mystery that follows a careful ascent toward a breaking point that will leave you breathless. It’s Three Pines as you have never seen it before.” Bill Ott observed in Booklist that “Three Pines is a sublime metaphor for the precariousness of harmony wherever we find it,” and that Penny’s installments of the too busy to retire Gamache “one of the most entrancing fictional worlds in popular literature.” Faithful reader and reviewer Maureen Corrigan commented online at Washington Post Book World, “Along with the usual attractions, this latest entry offers an intricately braided plot and a near apocalyptic climax. (How many times can Penny conjure up such boffo endings for her novels?)”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2006, Emily Melton, review of Still Life, p. 38; March 15, 2007, David Pitt, review of A Fatal Grace, p. 30; January 1, 2009, Judy Coon, review of A Rule against Murder, p. 54; October 15, 2009, Bill Ott, review of The Brutal Telling, p. 24; July 1, 2010, Bill Ott, review of Bury Your Dead, p. 6; January 1, 2011, Joyce Saricks, review of Bury Your Dead, p. 60; June 1, 2011, Bill Ott, review of A Trick of the Light, p. 44; July 1, 2012, Bill Ott, review of The Beautiful Mystery, p. 28; July 1, 2013, Bill Ott, review of How the Light Gets In, p. 38; July 1, 2014, Bill Ott, review of The Long Way Home, p. 41; July 1, 2015, Bill Ott, review of The Nature of the Beast, p. 39; June 1, 2016, Bill Ott, review of A Great Reckoning, p. 49; June 2017, Bill Ott, review of Glass Houses, p. 58.
Bookseller, August 26, 2005, Ruth Masters, review of Still Life, p. 11.
Denver Post, November 28, 2010, Tom and Enid Schantz, Bury Your Dead, p. E15.
Globe & Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), May 4, 2010, “Quebec Writer Wins Third Agatha Award,” p. R3; November 10, 2010, H.J. Kirchhoff, “History, Mystery—and Proof She’s a Pro,” p. R6; September 16, 2011, Margaret Cannon, “This Peaceful, Murderous Village.”
Hamilton Spectator (Ontario, Canada), December 24, 2010, “Don Graves’ Top 10 Canadian Mysteries of 2010,” p. G2.
Kirkus Reviews, May 16, 2006, review of Still Life, p. 500; January 1, 2008, review of The Cruelest Month; November 15, 2008, review of A Rule against Murder; September 15, 2009, review of The Brutal Telling; August 15, 2011, review of A Trick of the Light; August 1, 2012, review of The Beautiful Mystery; April 15, 2013, review of How the Light Gets In; August 1, 2014, review of The Long Way Home; July 15, 2015, review of The Nature of the Beast; June 15, 2016, review of A Great Reckoning; June 15, 2017, review of Glass Houses.
Kliatt, November, 2006, Jean Palmer, review of Still Life, p. 53.
Library Journal, February 1, 2011, Mary Knapp, review of Bury Your Dead, p. 35; August 1, 2012, Marlene Harris, review of The Beautiful Mystery, p. 64.
New York Times, July 23, 2006, review of Still Life.
New York Times Book Review, October 17, 2010, Marilyn Stasio, “Final Movement,” p. 30; August 28, 2014, Charles Isherwood, review of The Long Way Home.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 6, 2015, Robert Croan, review of The Nature of the Beast.
Publishers Weekly, May 1, 2006, review of Still Life, p. 40; March 12, 2007, review of A Fatal Grace, p. 40; November 10, 2008, review of A Rule against Murder, p. 34; August 17, 2009, review of The Brutal Telling, p. 48; August 2, 2010, review of Bury Your Dead, p. 33; July 4, 2011, review of A Trick of the Light, p. 42; June 18, 2012, review of The Beautiful Mystery, p. 37; June 10, 2013, review of How the Light Gets In, p. 55; May 23, 2016, review of A Great Reckoning, p. 46; June 26, 2017, review of Glass Houses, p. 154.
Reviewer’s Bookwatch, January 1, 2010, Gloria Feit, review of The Brutal Telling.
Time, August 20, 2015, Sigrid Estrada Louise Penny, “Bestselling Mystery Writer Louise Penny Discusses Her New Novel.”
Washington Post Book World, September 5, 2011, Patrick Anderson, review of A Trick of the Light; August 25, 2013, Maureen Corrigan, review of How the Light Gets In.
ONLINE
Blogcritics, http://blogcritics.org/ (April 11, 2012), Warren Kelly, review of The Brutal Telling.
CrimeSpace, http://crimespace.ning.com/ (April 11, 2012), Larry W. Chavis, review of The Brutal Telling.
Fantastic Fiction, http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ (April 11, 2012), bibliography of Louise Penny.
Getting Medieval, http://www.getting-medieval.com/ (April 11, 2012), author interview.
Jenn’s Bookshelves, http://www.jennsbookshelves.com/ (April 11, 2012), review of Bury Your Dead.
Lesa’s Book Critiques, http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com (April 11, 2012), “Louise Penny at the Poisoned Pen.”
Louise Penny Website, http://www.louisepenny.com (June 7, 2016).
Ms. Bookish, http://msbookish.com/ (April 11, 2012), Belle Wong, review of Bury Your Dead.
Mystery Reader, http://www.themysteryreader.com/ (April 11, 2012), Andy Plonka, review of A Rule against Murder.
Suite101.com, http://www.suite101.com/ (April 11, 2012), Erna Buffie, “Louise Penny—The Armand Gamache Mystery Series.”
Washington Post Book World, https://www.washingtonpost.com/ (August 31, 2016), Maureen Corrigan, review of A Great Reckoning; (August 27, 2017), Maureen Corrigan, review of Glass Houses.
OTHER
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation transcripts, April 30, 2008, “Louise Penny up for Best Crime Novel Award”; April 23, 2009, “Linwood Barclay, Louise Penny Touted for Best Canadian Crime Novel”; February 20, 2010, “Quebec’s Louise Penny Shortlisted for Agatha Mystery Award”; May 3, 2010, “Louise Penny Wins Agatha for Best Mystery.”*
Louise Penny
LouisePenny2.jpg
Louise Penny in 2009
Born July 1, 1958 (age 59)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation Novelist
Nationality Canadian
Education Bachelor of Applied Arts
Alma mater Ryerson University
Period 2005–present
Genre Mystery fiction
Notable works Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series
Spouse Michael Whitehead
Website
www.louisepenny.com
Louise Penny CM (born 1958) is a Canadian author of mystery novels set in the Canadian province of Quebec centred on the work of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. Penny's first career was as a radio broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After she turned to writing, she won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha Award for best mystery novel of the year five times, including four consecutive years (2007–2010), and the Anthony Award for best novel of the year five times, including four consecutive years (2010–2013). Her novels have been published in 23 languages.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life and career with CBC
2 Literary career
3 Honours
4 Movie adaptations
5 Works
6 References
7 External links
Early life and career with CBC[edit]
Penny was born in Toronto[1] in 1958.[2] Her mother was an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction, with a particular liking for crime fiction,[3] and Louise grew up reading mystery writers such as Agatha Christie, Georges Simenon, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Michael Innes.[3]
Penny earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Radio and Television) from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University) in 1979.[4] After graduation, at age 21, she embarked on an 18-year career as a radio host and journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.[5] At the start of her broadcasting career, Penny took postings at locations far from friends and family, and to help deal with feelings of loneliness and isolation, she increasingly turned to alcohol. At age 35, she admitted to an alcohol problem, and has been sober since.[6] Shortly afterward, she met her future husband, Michael Whitehead, head of hematology at Montreal Children's Hospital,[7] on a blind date.[6]
Literary career[edit]
After her marriage, Penny left the CBC to take up writing. She started a historical novel but had difficulty finishing it, and eventually switched to mystery writing.[6] She entered her first novel, Still Life, in the "Debut Dagger" competition in the United Kingdom, placing second out of 800 entries.[6] The novel won other awards, including the "New Blood" Dagger award in the United Kingdom, the Arthur Ellis Award in Canada for best first crime novel, the Dilys Award,[8] the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel in the United States.
Penny continues to write, garnering major crime novel award nominations for almost every one of her novels and subsequently winning several of those awards.[8]
Her work features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of the homicide department of the Sûreté du Québec.[9] The novels are set in the province of Quebec but feature many hallmarks of the British whodunit genre, including murders by unconventional means, bucolic villages, large casts of suspects, red herrings, and a dramatic disclosure of the murderer in the last few pages of the book.[10]
In 2009, Penny helped to launch a new award for aspiring Canadian mystery writers, the Unhanged Arthur for Best Unpublished First Novel.[6]
Penny currently lives in Knowlton, a small village in Quebec's Eastern Townships about 100 km from Montreal.[1] Her husband Michael died on September 18, 2016.[11]
Honours[edit]
In 2013, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to Canadian culture as an author shining a spotlight on the Eastern Townships of Quebec".[12]
Movie adaptations[edit]
For several years, Penny resisted selling the TV or movie rights to her books, afraid of losing creative control of her characters.[13] However, when approached by PDM Entertainment and Attraction Images and offered a position as executive producer during film production, she changed her mind and agreed to sell them the rights to her first two novels.[13] Still Life went into production in the fall of 2012, with British actor Nathaniel Parker cast as Chief Inspector Gamache.[13] The movie aired on CBC TV in 2013.[13]
Works[edit]
Main article: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache
Still Life (2005) – Winner of the New Blood Dagger award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Dilys Award,[8] the 2007 Anthony Award, and the Barry Award
A Fatal Grace (Alternate title: Dead Cold)[14] (2007) – Winner of the 2007 Agatha Award[15]
The Cruelest Month (2008) – Winner of the 2008 Agatha Award;[1] nominated for the 2009 Anthony, the 2008 Macavity Award, and the 2008 Barry Award
The Murder Stone (A Rule Against Murder in U.S.) (2009) – Nominated for an Arthur Ellis Award[16]
The Brutal Telling (2009) – Winner of the 2009 Agatha Award,[17] and the 2010 Anthony Award
Bury Your Dead (2010) – Winner of the 2010 Agatha Award,[18] the 2011 Anthony Award, the 2011 Macavity Award, the 2011 Arthur Ellis Award,[19] and the 2011 Nero Award
A Trick of the Light (2011) – Nominated for a Macavity,[20] an Anthony Award,[21] and an Agatha Award[22]
The Hangman (2011) – novella
The Beautiful Mystery (2012) – Winner of the 2013 Macavity Award for Best Mystery[23]
How the Light Gets In (2013) – Nominated for an Edgar Award[24] and an Agatha Award[15]
The Long Way Home (2014)
The Nature of the Beast (2015)
A Great Reckoning (2016)
Glass Houses (2017)
I live outside a small village south of Montreal, quite close to the American border. My husband Michael and I have long had dogs, all golden retrievers. Bonnie, Maggie, Seamus, Trudy and now Bishop. Some came as puppies, some were adopted as adults. All beloved.
Michael and I were together for 22 years and married for 20. He was the inspiration for Armand Gamache. Kindly, thoughtful, generous, a man of courage and integrity, who both loved and accepted love.
He developed dementia, and died peacefully at home in September 2016, surrounded by the love he'd put into the world for his 83 years.
So now it's Bishop and me. But we're far from alone. We have the village, and all our friends including My Assistant Lise, and the indomitable, happy spirit of Michael. And, of course, the company of Armand, Clara, Ruth, Gabri and Olivier et al.
I came to writing later in life. I was well into my 40's before STILL LIFE, the first Gamache novel, was published. I am deeply aware of how lucky I am to be writing, and published, and enjoying success. And believe me, I am enjoying it. It would be such a shame not to appreciate such a gift.
Before being published I was a journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. But Michael's support allowed me to quit work to write.
He was not only the inspiration for the books, but he made them possible.
If you'd like to know more about our lives, and the life of the books, you can go to the archive of monthly newsletters.
I'm so glad you've discovered Three Pines. I'm so glad I did.
Is it important to read the books in order?
Well, it's not essential. Each book is written to be self-standing, and most newcomers to the series have no difficulty picking up on issues that are explored in more depth in past books. Indeed, it's vital to me that readers know the characters have pasts, and the particular book they're reading is part of a continuum - a glimpse at their lives at that moment. If anything from the past is important, I'll explain it. Otherwise, some issues are alluded to, but only as a means of showing the characters have lives.
Having said that, there is a strong, and growing, character development arc throughout the books. I think of the books as having
two streams - one is the plot - the crime. The other is the personal life of the characters. The first will, for the most part, be
contained in a single book. The character development, though, gets deeper and deeper across the series.
The short answer? It's not necessary to read previous books - but it is recommended.
What is the order of the books?
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
As you can see, some books have different titles. The first listed is for the US, the second is for the UK and Commonwealth, including Canada.
Why do some books have different titles?
It's not ideal - that's for sure. The publishers in the US and UK felt, in some cases, that the title just wouldn't work for their
readers. It wasn't done for extra money, or to annoy, or as any sort of scheme. It was done purely because they felt their title was
better, for the book and the market. And titles, whether I like it or not, are quite important - especially for readers new to a series. It
can turn people off, or draw them to a book.
What is your book The Hangman?
The Hangman was written for a literacy campaign, for emerging adult readers. It's a novella, and while it features Gamache and is set in Three Pines it is not really part of the series.
How do you decide on the cover for your books?
I wish I could take credit for them, but cover design just isn't my forte. Happily, the publishers have whole departments for that. When they come up with one they like, they'll send it to me and ask what I think. I first look to see how big my name is, and whether it's correctly spelled. The rest is gravy. Actually, I'm kidding. I know how vital a great cover is - what an advantage it is to having people pick up the book in the store, especially people unfamiliar with the series. A great cover can make the success of a book (clearly the content must be good too) - and a poor cover can terminally handicap a book. A poor cover can be many things, from just cheap and derivative, to misleading. Some covers are simply there to grab attention, but have nothing to do with the book, or even the tone of the book. That is never a good direction to take. But I'll stop going on and on about something I knew very little about, and hand it over to David Rotstein. He's the Art Director at my US publisher - Minotaur Books. Here's how he came up with the cover for THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY.
In some of the books, Chief Inspector Gamache tells new agents the four sayings that can lead to wisdom - four sentences his own mentor taught him. What are they?
I was wrong
I'm sorry
I don't know
I need help
Are the books Being and Loss referenced in your first novel available in English? I have not been able to locate them and would like further information about obtaining them if available?
Those are books I made up - but they're inspired by the book, Becoming Human by Jean Vanier.
Is Bean a boy or a girl? (A RULE AGAINST MURDER / THE MURDER STONE)
I left it intentionally without an answer - leaving it up to you to decide. And underscoring that the most important question, and one the Morrows fail to ask is: Is Bean happy?.
Which book mentions Gamache's wedding prayer?
It's in Bury Your Dead.
Does Three Pines exist? Where can I find it?
Sorry to have to tell you that the village only exists on the page, and in your imagination. But it is inspired by the communities I know in Quebec's Eastern Townships. Knowlton, Sutton, North Hatley, Georgeville - to name a few.
How do I sign up to receive your newsletter?
Click here if you wish to join my mailing list, we only require your name and email address and never pass this information onto anyone else. My Newsletter is sent out on the 1st of each month.
What does FINE stand for?
I'm FINE stands for -
F**ked up
Insecure
Neurotic
Egotistical
Do you have bookclub questions for the Armand Gamache books?
We have some discussion questions that you might find helpful. Just click the book titles below to download them.
Book club questions
A Great Reckoning
The Nature of the Beast
The Long Way Home
How The Light Gets In
The Beautiful Mystery
A Trick Of The Light
Bury Your Dead
The Brutal Telling
A Rule Against Murder / The Murder Stone
The Cruelest Month
A Fatal Grace / Dead Cold
Still Life
Do you have directions to visit your husband Michael's memorial bench in Central Park?
If you'd like to visit Michael, and relax in his peaceful, bright presence, click here to view the map and walking directions.
Series
Chief Inspector Gamache
1. Still Life (2005)
2. Dead Cold (2006)
aka A Fatal Grace
3. The Cruellest Month (2007)
aka The Cruelest Month
4. The Murder Stone (2008)
aka A Rule Against Murder
5. The Brutal Telling (2009)
6. Bury Your Dead (2010)
6.5. The Hangman (2010)
7. A Trick of the Light (2011)
8. The Beautiful Mystery (2012)
9. How the Light Gets In (2013)
10. The Long Way Home (2014)
11. The Nature of the Beast (2015)
12. A Great Reckoning (2016)
13. Glass Houses (2017)
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Collections
Still Life / A Fatal Grace / The Cruelest Month (2014)
The Chief Inspector Gamache Series Books 1-3 (2015)
The Chief Inspector Gamache Series Books 4-6 (2015)
The Chief Inspector Gamache Series Books 7-9 (2015)
The Chief Inspector Gamache Series Books 1-10 (2015)
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Awards
Agatha Award Best Novel winner (2007) : Dead Cold
Anthony Awards Best First Novel winner (2007) : Still Life
Barry Awards Best First Novel winner (2007) : Still Life
Dilys Awards Best Book winner (2007) : Still Life
Agatha Award Best Novel winner (2008) : The Cruellest Month
Agatha Award Best Novel winner (2009) : The Brutal Telling
Anthony Awards Best Novel nominee (2009) : The Cruellest Month
Barry Awards Best Novel nominee (2009) : The Cruellest Month
Macavity Awards Best Novel nominee (2009) : The Cruellest Month
Agatha Award Best Novel winner (2010) : Bury Your Dead
Anthony Awards Best Novel winner (2010) : The Brutal Telling
Dilys Awards Best Book nominee (2010) : The Brutal Telling
Agatha Award Best Novel nominee (2011) : A Trick of the Light
Anthony Awards Best Novel winner (2011) : Bury Your Dead
Dilys Awards Best Book winner (2011) : Bury Your Dead
Macavity Awards Best Novel winner (2011) : Bury Your Dead
Agatha Award Best Novel winner (2012) : The Beautiful Mystery
Anthony Awards Best Novel winner (2012) : A Trick of the Light
Dilys Awards Best Book nominee (2012) : A Trick of the Light
Agatha Award Best Novel nominee (2013) : How the Light Gets In
Anthony Awards Best Novel winner (2013) : The Beautiful Mystery
Macavity Awards Best Novel winner (2013) : The Beautiful Mystery
Agatha Award Best Novel nominee (2014) : The Long Way Home
Agatha Award Best Contemporary Novel nominee (2014) : The Long Way Home
Dagger Awards Best Book nominee (2014) : How the Light Gets In
Agatha Award Best Contemporary Novel nominee (2015) : The Nature of the Beast
Anthony Awards Best Novel nominee (2015) : The Long Way Home
Macavity Awards Best Novel nominee (2015) : The Long Way Home
Agatha Award Best Contemporary Novel winner (2016) : A Great Reckoning
Anthony Awards Best Novel nominee (2016) : The Nature of the Beast
Barry Awards Best Novel nominee (2017) : A Great Reckoning
Macavity Awards Best Book nominee (2017) : A Great Reckoning
ABOUT
LOUISE PENNY is the #1 The New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of twelve Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has been awarded the John Creasey Dagger, Nero, and Barry Awards, as well as two each of the Arthur Ellis, Macavity, and Dilys Awards. Additionally, Louise has won five Agatha Awards and five Anthony Awards. She lives in a small village south of Montréal. You can follow Louise on Facebook, find her on Goodreads, and visit her official website.
Glass Houses
264.26 (June 26, 2017): p154.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Glass Houses
Louise Penny. Minotaur, $28.99 (400p) ISBN 978-1-250-06619-0
Bestseller Penny's taut 13th novel featuring Chief Supt. Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec (after 2016's A Great Reckoning) opens at a murder trial in a Montreal courtroom. Judge Maureen Corriveau, who's trying her first homicide case, suspects that something is wrong with Gamache's testimony and the conduct of the Chief Crown Prosecutor. As for Gamache, who was the arresting officer in the case, he "knew perfectly well who the murderer was. He was just a little afraid that something would go wrong. And a particularly cunning killer would go free." Flash back to the recent past, when an ominous costumed figure starts to appear regularly on the green of Gamache's home town of Three Pines. The subsequent discovery by Gamache's wife of the murder victim in the local church leads to the unearthing of some disturbing, long-buried secrets that affect the entire community. The familiar, sometimes eccentric, denizens of Three Pines and Gamache's loyal investigative team help propel the plot to an exciting, high-stakes climax. Agent: Teresa Chris. Teresa Chris Literary Agency. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Glass Houses." Publishers Weekly, 26 June 2017, p. 154+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA497444248&it=r&asid=cc21fa0be54f5ade8b7003be986f97a8. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A497444248
Penny, Louise: GLASS HOUSES
(June 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Penny, Louise GLASS HOUSES Minotaur (Adult Fiction) $28.99 8, 29 ISBN: 978-1-250-06619-0
A dark, still figure, wearing long black robes and a hood, appears on the charming village green of Three Pines, a small Quebec town; though at first it seems scary but harmless, it turns out to be something much more sinister. The strange figure's appearance coincides with a Halloween party at the local bistro, attended by the usual villagers but also four out-of-town guests. They are friends from the Universite de Montreal who meet for a yearly reunion at the B&B in Three Pines. But this event actually happened months ago, and village resident Armand Gamache, now head of the Surete du Quebec, is recounting the story from the witness stand in a courtroom suffering from oppressive summer heat. Gamache's testimony becomes narrative, explaining how over the course of a few days the masked man grew into a fixture on the village green and morphed slowly into an omen. Gamache's son-in-law and second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, is asked to research the "dark thing's" back story after one of the B&B guests, a journalist, mentions that the figure reminds him of story he did on an old Spanish tradition, that of the "debt collector." It becomes clear, as Gamache relays the events leading up to murder, that "someone in the village had done something so horrific that a Conscience had been called." But did the dark thing come for a villager or for one of their guests? Conscience is an overarching theme in Penny's latest, seeping into the courtroom narrative as Gamache grapples with an enemy much larger than the dark thing, a war he took on as the new Chief Superintendent. His victory depends on the outcome, and the path, of this murder trial. While certain installments in Penny's bestselling series take Gamache and his team to the far reaches of Quebec, others build their tension not with a chase but instead in the act of keeping still--this is one such book. The tension has never been greater, and Gamache has sat for months waiting, and waiting, to act, with Conscience watching close by. A meticulously built mystery that follows a careful ascent toward a breaking point that will leave you breathless. It's Three Pines as you have never seen it before.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Penny, Louise: GLASS HOUSES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA495427977&it=r&asid=25c0e9d3ae1adbc4b1f0296513bb36d9. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495427977
Glass Houses
Bill Ott
113.19-20 (June 2017): p58.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
* Glass Houses. By Louise Penny. Aug. 2017.400p. Minotaur, $28.99 (9781250066190); e-book (9781466873681).
The heroes of crime-fiction series have a real problem with retirement--even Armand Gamache, who ought to have it nailed. He gets to retire in Three Pines, the off-the-grid Quebec village where the horrors of modernity are held mostly in abeyance (the occasional murder aside). And, yet, Gamache just can't stay off the grid permanently. Now he's agreed to become chief Superintendent of the Surete du Quebec, the province's top cop. It's just like Gamache to jump on a sinking ship, and that's what the Surete looks like, with the all-powerful drug cartels seemingly in full control of the province. But Gamache has an audacious plan to change that: a rope-a-dope scheme that will either cut off the cartel monster's head or leave the chief in a jail cell. And let's not forget Three Pines, where a hooded black figure has taken up residence in the village green, just standing there, staring. The gang at the bistro is nonplussed at first, then downright panicked after the figure (or someone wearing its outfit) is found murdered in the basement of the church on the green.
It's at this point that Penny's devotees must make a leap of faith: accept that weird stuff keeps happening in Canada's Brigadoon in the face of all probability, or close the damn book and call this whole Three Pines thing off. But if we did that, if we failed to see that Three Pines is a sublime metaphor for the precariousness of harmony wherever we find it, we would be forced to walk away from one of the most entrancing fictional worlds in popular literature, not to mention parting company with a lead character whom we all--young 01 old, male or female--long to be like when we grow up. No, thank you. Let's call the calling off off right now.--Bill Ott
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Penny has a permanent spot on that enviable short list of writers who combine unwavering quality with mega-sales.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Ott, Bill. "Glass Houses." Booklist, June 2017, p. 58+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA498582726&it=r&asid=31ca3613bf701e6651b4c3d60abe70db. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A498582726
Penny, Louise: A GREAT RECKONING
(June 15, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Penny, Louise A GREAT RECKONING Minotaur (Adult Fiction) $28.99 8, 30 ISBN: 978-1-250-02213-4
Within a police force, some members must be trained in the science, and art, of solving murders. But does this training create people highly capable of committing them?In Penny's 12th Gamache novel, the former chief inspector takes up a new post. He's not back to active investigating--not after finally having the chance to heal in the Quebecois village of Three Pines. But he can't pass up the chance to complete his yearslong fight to end corruption within the Surete. By taking the job as commander of the Surete Academy, he can clean the rot from its wealthiest source--the impressionable minds of cadet trainees. But Gamache makes a questionable decision in choosing to fight fire with fire. He decides to keep the most corrupt staff member, Serge "the Duke" Leduc, the former No. 2 of the Academy. Gamache's choices verge on madness when he announces he will also bring on Michel Brebeuf--the original domino to fall within the Surete--as an example of how corruption can ruin you. In his lessons, Gamache invites his cadets to internalize these mottos: "Don't trust everything you think"--words for bettering their minds and investigative skills--as well as "a man's foes shall be they of his own household," from Matthew 10:36--words of warning for what they may face ahead. These lessons become all too relevant when the Duke is found murdered and it's clear the murderer is one of them. And then a copy of an old map is found at the crime scene, the same map Gamache is using as an exercise with four cadets he has brought under his wing and into his home (one lost soul in particular, freshman Amelia Choquet). Gamache is forced to accept that Leduc's grip on the Academy isstronger and more suffocating than he thought possible. Is the household he has vowed to protect more unsafe than ever before? Young, learning minds are precious things, and Penny is here to make us aware of the evil out there, eager for a chance to mold--and poison--them.A chilling story that's also filled with hope--a beloved Penny trademark.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Penny, Louise: A GREAT RECKONING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA455212633&it=r&asid=5f48abd826766833391514608c6feae2. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A455212633
A Great Reckoning
Bill Ott
112.19-20 (June 1, 2016): p49.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
* A Great Reckoning. By Louise Penny. Aug. 2016. Minotaur, $28.99 (9781250022134); e-book, $14.99 (9781250022127).
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Chief Inspector Gamache has a new gig: he's been appointed head of the Surete Academy du Quebec and is tasked with cleaning house. The police school has become a seedbed for corruption, devoted to turning out bent cops. The inspector, of course, has a multilayered plan for ridding the school of its multiple malignancies, but before he can begin surgery, the chief offender is murdered, and Gamache himself becomes the leading suspect. Naturally, Penny finds a way for her plot to curlicue back to Three Pines, the remote village where Gamache now lives and whose idiosyncratic denizens provide much of the series' appeal. This time the hook is a map found in the walls of the local bistro--not just any map but a cartographic curiosity that may be the only map ever made of Three Pines. So how does a copy of that map find its way to the bedside table of the murder victim? And does its presence further implicate Gamache?
Once again Penny displays her remarkable ability to serve equally well both series devotees and new readers (if there are any of those still to be found). Gamache fans will be thrilled by the way this installment unlocks some of the series' enduring questions: Why is Three Pines off the grid? Why do we know so little about Gamache's past? At the same time, the main plot offers a compelling mystery and a rich human drama in which no character is either entirely good or evil, and each is capable of inspiring empathy. "Evil," as Gamache notes, quoting Auden, "is unspectacular and always human."--Bill Ott
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A first EsJ printing of 500,000 copies will ensure that at least the first wave of Penny readers get their hands on her latest as quickly as possible.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Ott, Bill. "A Great Reckoning." Booklist, 1 June 2016, p. 49+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA456094130&it=r&asid=b5e3efa45ebc71d9e0b8f0546f684a06. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A456094130
A Great Reckoning
263.21 (May 23, 2016): p46.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
* A Great Reckoning
Louise Penny. St. Martin's, $28.99 (400p) ISBN 978-1-250-02213-4
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The lyrical 12th entry (after 2015's The Nature of the Beast) in bestseller Penny's remarkable series, which has won multiple Agatha awards, finds former Chief Insp. Armand Gamache coming out of retirement to clean up the corrupt Siirete Academy du Quebec. When an old-map is found hidden in the wall of a bistro in Three Pines, the remote village in which Gamache and his wife live, the locals treat it as only an interesting artifact. But Gamache uses the mystery of the map's origin to engage the interest of four cadets at the academy who are in particular danger of going astray. When someone fatally shoots Serge Leduc, a sadistic, manipulative professor, a copy of the map is found in Leduc's bedside table, and suspicion falls on the four cadets and Gamache himself. As the story unfolds, a web of connections, past and present, comes to light. This complex novel deals with universal themes of compassion, weakness in the face of temptation, forgiveness, and the danger of falling into despair and cynicism over apparently insurmountable evils. Author tour. Agent: Teresa Chris, Teresa Chris Literary Agency. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"A Great Reckoning." Publishers Weekly, 23 May 2016, p. 46. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453722477&it=r&asid=f1c4c5e4417aeb0d991c7167321fc45b. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A453722477
You won’t want Louise Penny’s latest to end
By Maureen Corrigan August 27
Every August for the past few years I’ve read the latest Armand Gamache detective novel by Louise Penny. And, every August for the past few years, I’ve been ruined for reading other books until the spell of Gamache dissipates a bit. It’s not that all of Penny’s mysteries are great; some are merely good. All of them, however, are infused with an idiosyncratic tone and worldview — fiercely moral though sometimes cruel and filled with poetry, eccentric characters and a reassuring sense of community. Finishing a Gamache novel always feels to me like being expelled from a somewhat more shadowy incarnation of Winnie-the-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood.
That feeling is intensified whenever a story takes place, as “Glass Houses” does, in Three Pines, the remote Canadian village where Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, have a house. “Glass Houses,” the 13th in the series, is one of the great Gamaches. Along with the usual attractions, this latest entry offers an intricately braided plot and a near apocalyptic climax. (How many times can Penny conjure up such boffo endings for her novels? By my count, she’s come up with three, but I may be forgetting an apocalypse or two.)
“Glass House” by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
On the first page of “Glass Houses,” Gamache is already in the hot seat — in more ways than one. It’s high summer in Old Montreal and Gamache, who is now the chief superintendent of the Surete du Quebec, is sweating in the witness box in the stifling Palais de Justice. He’s being questioned about a murder that took place in Three Pines the previous autumn. Under interrogation by the chief crown prosecutor, Gamache describes a Halloween costume party held in the village’s Bistro (the scene of many a meal of boeuf bourguignon and red wine shared among the Gamaches and village regulars such as Myrna the bookstore owner and Ruth the mad poet and her companion, Rosa the duck).
[Review: Louise Penny’s ‘A Great Reckoning’]
Reminiscent of the climactic scene of Edgar Allan Poe’s immortal tale “The Masque of the Red Death,” the Bistro Halloween party comes to a hushed halt when a macabre figure appears, cloaked in heavy black wool robes, black mask, gloves, boots and a hood. At first, some of the villagers think the stranger is dressed as Darth Vader. Then, Gamache recalls, “a space opened up around the dark figure. It was as though he occupied his own world. His own universe. Where there was no Halloween party. No revelers. No laughter. No friendship.” When asked what he thought it was, Gamache replies: “I thought it was Death.”
Of course, Gamache was right.
Before “Glass Houses” concludes — with that aforementioned near apocalyptic finish — that stranger will be identified as wearing the costume of “The Cobrador,” or debt collector. The Cobrador is a centuries-old Spanish figure whose job it is to follow deadbeats and silently intimidate them into settling their bills. The Cobrador who materializes in Three Pines, however, is a more sinister version of the traditional character: He collects debts of conscience, not cash. Another intersecting story line deals with both the current opioid epidemic and a disturbing role that the otherwise tranquil village of Three Pines played during Prohibition.
Enough. Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series.
Louise Penny (Jean-François Bérubé)
No other writer, no matter what genre they work in, writes like Penny. Her sentences are usually short and her paragraphs often a few brief sentences long. Her characters are distilled to their essences. The stylistic result is that a Gamache mystery reads a bit like an incantatory epic poem. Here, for instance, is a passage introducing Isabelle Lacoste, whom Gamache has promoted to be his successor as head of homicide:
“Gamache had hired Lacoste a few years earlier, at the very moment she was about to be let go from the Surete. For being different. For not taking part in the bravado of crime scenes. For trying to understand suspects and not just break them.
“For kneeling down beside the corpse of a recently dead woman and promising, within earshot of other agents, to help her find peace. . . .
“Instead of responding to the critics, as some within her division had begged her to do, Lacoste had simply gone about her job.
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“And that job, she knew with crystalline clarity, was indeed simple though not easy.
“Find murderers.
“The rest was just noise.”
It takes nerve and skill — as well as heart — to write mysteries like this. “Glass Houses,” along with many of the other Gamache books, is so compelling that, for the space of reading it, you may well feel that much of what’s going on in the world outside the novel is “just noise.”
Maureen Corrigan, who is the book critic for NPR’s “Fresh Air,” teaches literature at Georgetown University.
Read more: 17 thrillers and mysteries worth toting to the beach (maybe not all at once)
GLASS HOUSES
By Louise Penny
Minotaur. 400 pp. $28.99
Review: Glass Houses by Louise Penny
JOHN VALERI
Glass Houses by Louise Penny is the 13th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, which shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience—a court that supersedes all others (available August 29, 2017).
Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny returns with Glass Houses—the highly anticipated 13th book in her award-winning, convention-defying Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. The resident of a small village south of Montreal, Penny—who received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian literature earlier this year—is a six-time Agatha Award winner and has also received a CWA dagger; her last Gamache book, A Great Reckoning (2016), was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Once again, she is on the cusp of literary transcendence.
Darkness has come to Three Pines. On a cold November day, the tranquility of a lazy morning is shattered when a mysterious cloaked figure—later revealed to be a “cobrador,” or debt collector—descends on the village center and refuses to leave. While this entity makes no overt threat, its sinister intent is palpable, sparking outrage and suspicion among the community. Despite his own unease, Armand Gamache is loath to take action; after all, no laws have been broken. Still, the threat of death lingers in the air:
An invisible moat had formed around the man. The village had slowly ventured out and gone about its business. Though a wide circle was circumscribed around him, beyond which no one went.
No children played on the grass and people walked faster than usual, averting their eyes as they passed by.
As the story opens, Gamache—now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec—is on the witness stand. He is being questioned by Chief Crown Prosecutor Barry Zalmanowitz; there is a clear undercurrent of antagonism that blights their interactions and hints at something … untoward. It’s highly unusual for a prosecutor to take such a combative tone with his own witness, which elicits the curiosity of the spectators and the scrutiny of the judge. This heated exchange mirrors both the oppressiveness of a scorching summer (a subtle juxtaposition to the chill of the cobrador’s autumnal appearance) and the internal tensions that have about reached their boiling point. Adding to the inherent drama is the unveiling of an image depicting “the dark thing”:
In contrast to the bright, sunny summer day beyond the courtroom window, the day in this photo was overcast. Gray and damp. Which made the fieldstone and clapboard and rose brick homes, with their cheery light at the windows, all the more inviting.
It would have been an image of extreme piece. Sanctuary even. Would have been but wasn’t.
In the center of the photo there was a black hole. Like something cut out of the picture. Out of the world.
Behind the crown attorney there was a sigh. Long, prolonged, as life drained from the courtroom.
It was the first look most of them had had of the dark thing.
Despite our knowledge that a murder has occurred, Penny tantalizingly withholds the names of the victim and the accused until approximately halfway through the book. Instead, she intersperses the courtroom theatrics with flashbacks to its preceding events (as well as each day’s aftermath), introducing a cadre of characters—including the village’s quirky but lovable regulars as well as a handful of newcomers and vacationers—that all have some bearing on what has come to pass. This is a brilliant manner of drawing out suspense and also a clever way to cast light on the circumstances that have resulted in such a spectacle. Indeed, it is soon evident that there is more on trial than an alleged murderer: Gamache’s own conscience is awaiting judgment.
To reveal specifics would spoil a sublime reading experience. What can be said is that the ramifications of this case reach far beyond one incident of violence. In fact, the very future of the province is at stake. Since his promotion, Gamache has garnered a false image of incompetence through his team’s failure to make high-profile arrests. While this opinion is preferable to the obvious corruption that blighted his predecessors, it is one that can be tolerated for only so long. A few trusted allies, including Jean Guy-Beauvoir (Gamache’s second in command and son-in-law), have been made privy to the pivotal endgame, which remains largely unknown—even within the department. Consequently, a point of no return is imminent.
Glass Houses is a poignant meditation on power, privilege, and responsibility. Louise Penny continues to challenge expectations, achieving a character-driven bounty that should easily meet, if not exceed, anticipation. Though Three Pines is a relatively insular backdrop, it is not impervious to external influences; accordingly, this story’s crimes and collusions—and the contemplations they necessitate—speak to universal issues that are both immediate and resonant within our very own world. Penny offers much to ponder, but the ultimate moral may be this: There cannot be salvation without sacrifice. Fortunately, Gamache remains an unfailing, if conflicted, champion of justice in its broadest sense.
John Valeri
There’s a bit of Nancy Drew in Louise Penny’s masterful ‘A Great Reckoning’
By Maureen Corrigan August 31, 2016
The plot of Louise Penny’s 12th Chief Inspector Gamache novel, “A Great Reckoning,” involves the discovery of an intricate old map that’s been stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, the village in Quebec where Gamache and his beloved wife, Reine-Marie, keep a house. The map, unearthed during a renovation, depicts the route to the village of Three Pines, but it’s off in strange ways — there’s a snowman in the upper right corner, holding up “a hockey stick in triumph” and pointing to a curious pyramid in another section. There’s an element of Nancy Drew here, but Penny, as ever, has something more ambitious in store.
"A Great Reckoning" by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Gamache has solved many mysteries throughout his 30-odd years as an investigator, but there’s a mystery about the Gamache novels themselves that has long remained unsolved: that is, what to call them? Just try describing the Gamache series to an uninitiated reader and you’ll be flummoxed. These are not “just” suspense stories, police procedurals or crime novels. They’re certainly not cozies, despite their intermittent change of scene from the streets of Quebec to the quaint village of Three Pines.
[Women, stop apologizing for reading ‘women’s novels.’ That includes you, Hillary.]
The Gamache novels are sui generis; they can only be described in adjectives, not categories. The series is deep and grand and altogether extraordinary. Although individual novels have featured plots about mass murderers and serial killers, they’re always infused with wit and compassion; they’re as much spiritual investigations into the nature of evil and divine mercy as they are “entertainments.” Indeed, Gamache and his trusted colleagues strike me as having more in common with Chaucer’s questing pilgrims than they do earthbound investigators like, say, Michael Connelly’s retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch or Ian Rankin’s Edinburgh Detective Inspector John Rebus.
When “A Great Reckoning” opens, Gamache has just stepped into his new post as chief superintendent of the police academy. Gamache accepted the job to find the source of corruption within the academy: Idealistic cadets are being warped into brutish police officers, quick to intimidate and even terrorize the population. In an attempt to reach out to four first-year cadets who seem particularly vulnerable, Gamache gives them each a copy of the riddling map and challenges them to crack its secrets.
Soon, an even more crucial question about the map arises when a copy is found in the bedroom of a professor who’s been murdered at the academy. That professor, Serge Leduc, had been demoted by Gamache when he assumed command. Given their antagonistic relationship and the curious discovery of the map, Gamache becomes something of a “person of interest” in Leduc’s murder.
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The author Louise Penny (Jean-François Bérubé Photographe)
This is but the skimpiest sliver of the plot of “A Great Reckoning.” As always in the Gamache series, the main narrative branches into more complicated patterns until all questions are resolved in a spectacular climax that cross cuts between story lines. The chief moral question that permeates the many subplots of “A Great Reckoning” is the vexing one of what elders owe to the young under their care. The curious map, which turns out to have connections to World War I, calls to mind the carnage of that war and the young men that so many villages like Three Pines lost. Then there are the cadets at the academy who’ve been led into danger — both moral and physical — by some of their superiors. One cadet, in particular, draws out Gamache’s protective instincts. A sullen goth named Amelia, she’s tricked out with tattoos and body armor. Here’s how one of Gamache’s concerned colleagues regards the cadet: “The rings and studs, like bullets. A girl pierced and pieced together. Like the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. Looking for a heart.”
That tossed-off description of Amelia is a stand-alone poem. In addition to all her other many gifts, Penny is a beautiful writer. “A Great Reckoning” is one of her best, but I think that pretty much every time I finish a Gamache mystery . . . or metaphysical exploration, or whatever the heck these miraculous books are.
Maureen Corrigan, who teaches literature at Georgetown University, is the book critic for the NPR program “Fresh Air.”
Read more:
Book World review: ‘How the Light Gets In’ by Louise Penny
A spy tale so real that Israel censored it: ‘The English Teacher’ by Yiftach Atir
A GREAT RECKONING
By Louise Penny
Minotaur. 389 pp. $28.99
Review: A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
KATHERINE TOMLINSON
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny
A Great Reckoning by New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny is the 12th mystery featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, set in the town of Three Pines. It is nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Novel.
“Every mystery is not a crime. But every crime starts with a mystery.”
In its modern use, the word “mystery” refers to “something that is difficult or impossible to explain.” However, centuries ago it was used in the theological sense to describe a “secret thing, a mystical truth with hidden meaning.” Louise Penny’s novels have always had that ancient touch of “mystery” in them, and in this latest book featuring Armand Gamache, the story’s complex interplay of murder and morality once again mixes with themes of judgment and mercy.
Two sides of a single coin—it is both a blessing and a curse that former inspector Armand Gamache can see both sides at once. He sees this dichotomy everywhere, even reflected in the snowy landscape of Three Pines, the small Québec town Gamache calls home. Up late in the study of the comfortable house he shares with his wife Reine-Marie, Gamache realizes it’s snowing, and as the first flakes of the season fall, he thinks:
And the gray November would be transformed into a bright, sparkling wonderland of skiing and skating. Of snowball fights, and snow forts and snowmen, and angels made of snow that had fallen from the heavens.
It’s a gentle image and a lovely thought, but like many things in this story, what’s light on the surface hides a much darker heart. By the next morning, the flip side of a simple snowfall is revealed.
The flurries had stopped in the night, leaving just a thin layer barely covering the dead autumn leaves. It seemed a netherworld. Neither fall nor winter. The hills that surrounded the village and seemed to guard it from an often hostile world themselves looked hostile. Or, if not actually hostile, at least inhospitable. It was a forest of skeletons. Their branches, gray and bare, were raised as though begging for a mercy they knew would not be granted.
Three Pines is a refuge for Gamache, a place to hide and heal. But, he has always known—as has Reine-Marie—that this is just a temporary retreat from the world and that his work—like God’s—is never done. Now that he only limps when he is tired and the tremors no longer make his hands clumsy and the livid scar on his face does not seem quite so remarkable, Gamache is ready to take the next step on his journey, his Pilgrim’s Progress.
Out of many job offers, the former homicide inspector has accepted a position as the new commander of the Sûreté Academy—an opportunity he believes will allow him to bring an end to the systemic corruption in the police force, sweeping it clean the way Jesus chased the money lenders from the temple, an event chronicled in Matthew 21:12. But, as Gamache makes clear to the young cadets in his care by quoting from another part of Matthew, “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
That very thought is at the root of Gamache’s conflict as the story opens and he agonizes over the application of troubled Amelia Choquet, someone his predecessor has already rejected as being an unfit candidate for the Academy. On the surface, Amelia seems an unlikely choice, but Gamache is not so sure. Where others see the skull beneath the skin, he sees the soul beneath the heart. That ability to see the possibility of redemption in everyone, no matter how dark their deeds, is also behind other decisions Gamache makes, including his controversial hiring of a man who was brought down by his own actions, a disgraced cop who was once his best friend.
By inviting Michel Brébeuf back into his “house,” Gamache is holding open a door for redemption as well as providing his students an example of the moral ruin he has become. It’s an act of grace, but Gamache has made poor choices before, and even those closest to him are left wondering if the decisions he’s making in his new role are mistakes. Those who have never liked him point to his choices as proof he is not the man he appears to be.
Sylvain Rancoeur has always declared that Chief Inspector Gamache was a weak man who hid it well behind a thin face often mistaken for wisdom.
“His one real talent is fooling others into believing that he has talent,” the head of the Sûreté had proclaimed more than once. “Armand Gamache, filled with integrity and courage. Bullshit. You know why he hates me? Because I know him for what he is.”
But, nothing—as Gamache would be the first to admit—is that simple, and there is always more to a man than his surface suggests. So when a bad man meets with a moral reckoning, it is up to the former homicide investigator to look beneath the obvious and to both solve the mystery and discern the “hidden meaning” beneath the obvious crime.
There is another crime here, one that has resonated in Gamache’s life since childhood. How that crime fits into the present story is part of the “mystery” at work here, and it is bittersweet and beautiful—much like A Great Reckoning.