The Grey Wolf: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, Book 19)

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 20,467 ratings

Price: 17.71

Last update: 01-10-2025


About this item

"Brassard's accents—whether French Canadian, Italian, or continental French—create indelible characters. His performance lets us feel Reine Marie's warmth and Armand's affectionate nature, and he adds an additional layer to surly Ruth and her potty-mouthed duck. Exciting and entertaining."—AudioFile (Earphones Award winner)

The 19th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Grant E. Beggs
    5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait… and 2025 can’t come soon enough
    Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2024
    Louise Penny’s latest offering, *The Grey Wolf*, reads like a delightful puzzle that would intrigue even the most discerning sleuth. Set in the quaint village of Three Pines, it draws readers into a world where charm and menace intertwine, reminiscent of the best in classic mysteries.

    At the heart of this tale lies a chilling murder, the intricacies of which unfold with a deftness that would make Hercule Poirot himself nod in approval. Penny excels at crafting a narrative rich with red herrings and unexpected revelations, maintaining an atmosphere of suspense that grips from the very first page. Her characters, each painted with a fine brush, exhibit a depth that invites both suspicion and empathy, embodying the myriad complexities of human nature.

    As the story unfolds, the reader is treated to the sharp wit and keen observations that are hallmarks of the genre. Penny’s prose flows with an elegance that evokes the best of Golden Age crime fiction, combining intrigue with an insightful exploration of morality and human connection. The dialogue crackles with a subtle humor that enlivens the dark undercurrents of the plot.

    In The Grey Wolf, Penny invites us to contemplate not only the motives behind a heinous crime but also the profound bonds that unite the inhabitants of this seemingly idyllic village. It is a tale that lingers in the mind, a testament to Penny’s status as a master storyteller in the tradition of Agatha Christie. Readers will find themselves eagerly awaiting the next twist in this captivating series.
  • Glynn Young
    5.0 out of 5 stars A series of unrelated events portends disaster
    Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2024
    It starts as a series of seemingly unrelated events. Two unrelated people are killed, hundreds of kilometers apart, in the exact same execution style. An elderly visitor leaves a bottle of terrible-tasting liqueur at the bistro in Three Pines. An old coat belonging to Armand Gamache, head of Homicide for Quebec’s Surete, is stolen from his Montreal apartment, and then returned. In a pocket is a list of spices, and a single word – water. Then a young man, an activist for an environmental group, meets with Gamache – and run over in a car inches away from Gamache himself. The driver is later founded murdered.

    Gamache and his team, Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste, will soon learn that they are dealing with a planned terrorist act, designed to destabilize the government, institute a dictatorship, and involving officials at almost the very top of Canada’s political leadership. They will travel to remote monasteries, the Vatican, Washington, D.C., and a remote fishing village in Labrador, desperately trying to determine what’s planned and when.

    “The Grey Wolf” is the 19th novel in the Armand Gamache series by Canadian author Louise Penny. It’s a gripping, creative fast-paced story, with an ending that keeps the reader on the edge of his seat to the very end. And while it does its predecessor novels proud, very little of the story involves Gamache’s home village of Three Pines and its collection of unusual residents.

    What it does have, however, is the promise of the next installment in the series. Because with a grey wolf, there is a black wolf.

    Penny’s Inspector Gamache novels have been bestsellers in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. She’s received numerous awards, including a Crime Writers Association Dagger Award and the Agatha Award, and she’s been a finalist for the Edgar Award. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. She lives near Montreal.
  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating. Terrifying.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2024
    This one is not for the faint of heart. It’s beautifully written as we expect of this brilliant author. It has our favorite people and food descriptions that invariably make me hungry. It has beautiful descriptions of the Canadian landscape.

    But it comes to close to a reality that may be the real future of my country, the USA. Don’t read this one if you’re the nervous type. The description given by the American general of the country that unfolds after a domestic terrorist attack on a single drinking water treatment plant is too easy to envision.

    Anyway, my hat’s off to you, lady. But it often is.
  • Sara L. Cannon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Novel
    Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2024
    Penny has done it again! She’s brought together Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his wonderful, fully characterized and humanly conflicted crew to solve another heinous and unbelievably serpentine crime just in time. She populates her novel with swirls of mostly believable mysteries within mysteries, plots and nuanced characters. But most importantly she maintains the deep humanity and professionalism of her most important, noble and endearing character, Armand Gamache himself. Reading her novels means not only going for an exciting ride, but reaffirms my hope that good usually triumphs in the end, at least in her fictions.

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