• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2017 June #1
  *Starred Review* 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 Sûreté du Quebec, the province's top cop. It's just like Gamache to jump on a sinking ship, and that's what the Sûreté 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 or old, male or female—long to be like when we grow up. No, thank you. Let's call the calling off off right now.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Penny has a permanent spot on that enviable short list of writers who combine unwavering quality with mega-sales. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

LOUISE PENNY is the author of the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels (Still Life, A Fatal Grace, and The Cruelest Month). She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (six times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal.