06/26/2017
Bestseller Penny’s taut 13th novel featuring Chief Supt. Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec (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.)

Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.” —PEOPLE

“Louise Penny wrote the book on escapist mysteries.” —The New York Times Book Review

“You won't want Louise Penny's latest to end….Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series.... It takes nerve and skill — as well as heart — to write mysteries like this.”

—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

“Ms. Penny has a gift for linking the mundane to the mythic. Steadfast, civilized and grimly determined, Gamache becomes a heraldic figure, as brave and cunning as the hero of an Icelandic saga, and the contemporary evils he battles have apocalyptic overtones....[With a] cinematic finale, in which the book’s well-laid and carefully sustained suspense is at last released.” —Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

“Outstanding....On all counts, ‘Glass Houses’ succeeds brilliantly, full of elegant prose, intricate plots, and—most of all—Penny’s moving, emotionally complex hero and his circle of friends and colleagues.”

—The Seattle Times

“Penny—whose books wind up on Best Novels of the Year lists, not 'just' Best Mysteries—is a one-woman argument against literary snobbery....Top notch....Penny is a master of the slow burn, with readers only seeing the final pattern as everything is set aflame.” —Christian Science Monitor

“In the most intriguing installment yet….Louise Penny deftly combines crime and punishment, a timeless avenger and a dark exploration of the conscience….A great and twisting tale, as we’ve come to expect from the previous 12 Gamache novels, but also an exploration of moral judgments, mental frailty and the eerie notion of reckoning: We all must pay our debts…A profound story.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Penny's latest is one of her best ever. From the very first page, when Gamache begins his testimony in a court case, the reader is riveted....I couldn't stop reading. This is the perfect holiday weekend book.”

—Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail

“Gamache will face life-changing questions about the nature of guilt and innocence and the thin blue line separating law and conscience, leaving the reader contemplating these conundrums well after the final page has been turned.” —BookPage (Top Pick in Mystery)

“With grace and insight…Penny has pushed the boundaries of the genre with each novel, and ‘Glass Houses’ takes them still further. With an intricate and intelligent storyline, cherished characters, a setting that cries out ‘come live here’ and a terrifying climax, she produces another stellar literary novel. And she does so with compassion, decency and love as she depicts evil, exalts courage and neither flinches nor preaches as she confronts moral ambiguities—and the health and sickness within each soul.”

—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Louise Penny steers the complex plot… to a white-knuckle ending….If it is conceivable for Penny to top herself, she has done so in this soul-searching, psychologically insightful journey into each of her memorable characters.” —Bookreporter.com

“The tension has never been greater…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.”

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Three Pines is a sublime metaphor for the precariousness of harmony wherever we find it...one of the most entrancing fictional worlds in popular literature.” —Booklist (starred review)

“The award-winning Penny does not rest on her laurels with this challenging and timely book. Though touched by the evils of the outside world, Three Pines remains a singular place away from time.”

—Library Journal (starred review)

“Penny’s poetic style of writing and her deeply realized characters, with their mix of flaws and heroism, make her novels irresistible….Penny delicately explores the tension of an officer who may be sworn to uphold the law, but who feels compelled to do something else, in a fascinating novel that is sure to appeal to a variety of readers—whether they typically enjoy mysteries or not.” —ShelfAwareness

“An exciting, high-stakes climax.” — Publishers Weekly

10/01/2017
Penny's (The Brutal Telling) latest begins in an unusual way—after the crime and with Armand Gamache on a Montreal witness stand. Gamache, while not on trial, is at cross-purposes with the prosecution. The rest of the intricately and beautifully written novel continues with flashbacks to Three Pines and forward to the present in Montreal. Penny uses a hilarious Halloween costume party and an ancient legend to set the scene for murder. She succinctly examines age-old social and philosophical issues—this time the question of "conscience" takes the forefront—in every aspect, from white lies to mass murder. Robert Bathurst beautifully expresses the mood and tenor of all of Penny's characters and themes. Listeners have a treat in store through a discussion between Penny and Bathurst at the end of the last disc—don't miss it! VERDICT For devotees of the series and for those new to the magic, this 13th visit to Three Pines represents those elements most of us crave—safety, belonging, security, and friendship—despite a bit of murder and mayhem. ["Penny does not rest on her laurels with this challenging and timely book": LJ 7/17 starred review of the Minotaur: St. Martin's hc.]—Sandra C. Clariday, Cleveland, TN

★ 07/01/2017
In the 13th book in Penny's popular "Chief Inspector Gamache" series (after A Great Reckoning), Armand Gamache is now the head of the Sûreté du Québec, which seems to be a sinking ship heading for an iceberg. Switching back and forth from an October murder scene in the village of Three Pines to a trial in a steamy summer courtroom in Montréal, the tale of a region devastated by drugs unfolds. Gamache and his team have a plan to save their beloved province, which may not succeed and will almost certainly result in the destruction of their careers. In Three Pines, the residents go about their lives, but no one is safe from the threat as both the tension and the action build. Fans of the series will be glad to encounter Ruth and her duck Rosa, Clara the artist, and Gamache's loved ones, Reine-Marie, Jean-Guy, and Annie. VERDICT The award-winning Penny does not rest on her laurels with this challenging and timely book. Though touched by the evils of the outside world, Three Pines remains a singular place away from time. [See Prepub Alert, 3/21/17.]—Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY

In his third narration of Louise Penny's popular Three Pines series, Robert Bathurst emphasizes the humanity and compassion of Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache. Throughout the series, the character has reflected an exceptional benevolence, disavowing the macho cop stereotype. However, the events in GLASS HOUSES challenge Gamache's conscience unlike any of the previous audiobooks, with Bathurst prying open the hero's heart and soul and laying it bare for listeners to experience at a visceral level. Bathurst's interpretations for several of the other characters are so similar they tend to blend together, so listeners will need to pay close attention to know who is speaking, especially in large group scenes. But the focus of this story is Gamache's moral struggle, and Bathurst nails it. J.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

★ 2017-06-06
A dark, still figure, wearing long black robes and a hood, appears on the charming village green of Three Pines, a small Québec 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 Université de Montréal 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 Sûreté du Québec, 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 Québec, 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.