The Grey Wolf

When Arrmand Gamache’s day off is interrupted by persistent phone calls from an adversary, he knows something is not right. This is followed by a break-in at his Montreal apartment, and an urgent meeting request from someone he has never met. The information this person provides is sketchy, and Gamache struggles to connect all of the dots. But connect them he does, and soon determines that Montreal is threatened by a terrorist plot. Identifying the perpetrators, finding them, and bringing them to justice requires effort on a global scale. This is further complicated by the need to involve only his two most trusted team members in order to keep a lid on the threat.

Reading this nineteenth book in the series, I was struck by how it has show more evolved over time. The early novels were classic murder mysteries set either in Montreal or the quiet village of Three Pines. But Three Pines couldn’t be both a quiet village and the murder capital of Quebec, so the books gradually took on more complex plots set in other locations. This has worked well for the most part, and is strengthened by the ongoing character development of Gamache, his family, and other key members of the Sûreté du Québec. Sometimes I long for the simpler days, but I can’t resist reading each new installment. show less

It starts with a ringing phone that shatters the calm of Three Pines. Before too long, Chief Inspector Gamache is facing a series of unexplained, and seemingly inexplicable, incidents ranging from a break-in at his Montreal apartment in which only a coat is taken, a meeting with a strange young man to return the coat, torn pieces of a recipe that makes no sense, some ostensibly mafia-related murders in the regions that also make no sense - and all that is before Gamache begins to realize that he is no longer sure who he can trust in his own organization…. I adore Louise Penny and her Gamache series, which on one level is a police procedural series, but in reality is an extended meditation on the ways in which we humans love and show more destroy one another, and how only the power of love can save us from the dark places. Long-time readers of this series will be delighted to have the opportunity to encounter Armand, Reine-Marie, Jean-Guy, Isabelle and the villagers once again; fist-time readers must start with Book One (“Still Life”) and proceed from there because you cannot just pick up this book (the 19th) and hope to understand it without knowing the previous stories too. And, upon reading The Grey Wolf, if you find its story terrifying (it is), pity real people like me who live in Montreal….Super-highly recommended! show less

Armand’s peaceful morning is shattered by a relentless phone caller. Eventually, he shouts an obscenity into the phone. This out-of-character response startles his wife. But soon even more bizarre occurrences threaten their lives. Indeed, before long, thousands of lives could be in jeopardy. It becomes a case of knowing who can be trusted and who can’t. Old friends may not be true friends, old enemies may become friends, and new acquaintances may not live long enough to be anything other than a mystery. This well crafted thriller takes readers from Three Pines through Quebec and across borders. Even as Gamache frantically races the clock to prevent a catastrophic event, readers will frantically flip pages until the end of the story. show more It’s another fine addition to this marvelous series. show less

I have found over the course of this series that these novels are hit and miss for me. I personally like the novels that are more character driven and are about Three Pines (i.e. The Brutal Telling and A World of Curiosities are two of my favorites), rather than her Political/Cultural focused novels, like this one and The Madness of Crowds.

But, the deal breaker for me on this one was the new narrator used on the audiobook version. While I know Frank Cosham will always be the voice of Three Pines and Inspector Gamache in my book, Robert Bathurst was an excellent replacement and did a wonderful job with the series. This new narrator, Jean Brassard was a huge disappointment! His narration is halting, his pitch several octaves higher than show more Cosham or Bathurst. The voices he uses for Gamache and Ruth Zardo are so off the mark I had to speed them up to get through them. It really took away from the book.

So overall I have to give it 2 stars, and if this narrator does the next book, I may have to abandon the series altogether. show less

In the last post I commented on the fact that I thought Penny was the master of subverting cozy crime. She has more than one trope: closed, tight-knit community in Three Pines; someone who understands people, Inspector Gamache and love. She has all of these in abundance.

What Three Pines offered was comfort in an ever-changing world. It offered a place at the table, it offered company and acceptance. And croissants.

It offered a hand to hold.
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Can you think of anywhere more wonderful to live?

But what Penny is also very good at is evil and finding it in places where you wouldn't expect it so here we have monasteries and the higher echelons of government with a catastrophe about to happen. Of course, Gamache and his team are the ones to show more stop it.

An abbot in the monastery told Gamache a story about everyone having two wolves inside them. A grey one for good and a black one for evil. They constantly fight to be top dog but the one that wins is the one that you choose to feed, and in this story it is the grey wolf. However, the book leaves us set up for the second in the series which will be called Black Wolf.

A significant element of the story is who we choose to trust if there is anyone to trust. Several of the characters appear to be one thing and then end up as the other - or do they? Presumably Black Wolf will resolve these issues where we are left undecided at the end of Grey Wolf. What we don't know is how the closely guarded recipe for Chartreuse is connected to a terrorism plot to contaminate the water supply.

It all starts seemingly innocently with a phone call to Gamache that he refuses to answer and a burglary to his apartment with, it appears, nothing taken. However, a few days later one of his coats is returned to him with mysterious notes inside the pockets. And so we sweep down, down into the pits of confusion and dead ends to try and find out more, ending with political intrigue. In this book, Penny manages what she used to do which is sweep from the domestic and comforting to the global and distinctly uncomfortable in a few paragraphs.

I think this is Penny back to her usual. Her last couple of novels were not as good, for very obvious reasons, but this is her back in the swing of it. show less

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 show more 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. show less

This was the scariest, but most confusing Inspector Gamache mystery that I've read, and I've read them all. Penny really upped her game and focus for this thriller. Three Pines is only at the edge of the story. And apart from his team, who could Gamache trust?

I feel like saying, "oh no, Louise, go back to the cozy mystery setting of Three Pines." But of course the writer must write what they choose to write. But the idea of someone within government doing something profoundly evil to so many people in order to gain power, well, it's a little too close to the truth for comfort.