The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

I purchased The Grey Wolf the when it was first published back in November, and this beauty has been tempting me ever since from my reading nook. But then time got away from me, and it wasn’t until just after Christmas and all was quiet, that I finally (finally) got to start this latest Louise Penny.

If you’re new to this blog, or not aware of Louise Penny – you can read more about her wonderful Three Pines series on this blog – just do a search with her name.

If you haven’t yet read this series (this is now number 19) please, please read them in order — starting with Still Life.

From the book’s blurb:

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.

Doesn’t that just make you want to dive right it? It sure did for me — and dive in I did.

After the mysterious phone call, Gamache is called to Montreal, where the alarm has gone off in his city pied-à-terre. He is puzzled, finding nothing missing except his coat. Soon the Chief Inspector is led on a rat race that includes his stolen coat, a cryptic message, the murder of a biologist, and his missing, most vital notebooks.

Gamache and his team soon uncover a plan to poison Quebec’s drinking water, and as they dig deeper, they start to suspect those in positions of power both within government and the Sûreté, and they soon realize they don’t know whom they can trust.

As Gamache and his team race against time to solve the case, the leads take them to numerous locations from Three Pines to Montreal, then to isolated coastal monasteries, Rome and beyond. All their investigations lead to the assembling of a troubling conspiracy — one that includes politicians at the very top of Canadian government, old wounds are opened, and characters and places from the previous Three Pines novels are re-visited.

I’m going to force myself to stop here – don’t want to give anything away, but I will disclose that I really appreciated Ms. Penny’s research for the background of The Grey Wolf. I learned much about the liquor Chartreuse and its top secret recipe. There are fascinating insights into the Catholic Church and the Carthusians and Dominican monks. Oh and I learned a new French phrase ‘Sauve qui peut’ translates roughly to ‘save whoever can’ or ‘every man for himself’.

Ms. Penny delivers another great novel that had me hooked from the opening pages, but I must confess the story line got complicated and slightly confusing — stick with it – as it all comes together in the end.

I’m going to get on my Book Barmy soap-box here: Some fans are displeased that the latest few novels have veered away from the semi-coziness of time spent in Three Pines – I somewhat agree, I too, miss the village and its characters. But I also recognize that Ms. Penny has started tackling serious, thought-provoking subjects with complicated plots and characters. I have to wholeheartedly support what she is doing. Ms. Penny is evolving her craft into new and exceedingly relevant realms — just think how boring it would be for her to write a little-village-based-cozy-mystery series. There are plenty of those out there if that’s what you crave. Plus, I appreciate the little bits here and there of coziness – especially the food; Grilled artisan cheese sandwiches, croissants, and hot chocolate, just to name a few.

If you’re wondering where the title comes from, this quote from early in the book explains:

…a grey wolf, wanted the old man to be strong and compassionate. Wise and courageous enough to be forgiving. The other, a black wolf, wanted him to be vengeful. To forget no wrong. To forgive no slight. To attack first. To be cruel and cunning and brutal to friends and enemies alike. To spare no one. …Which wolf will win, the grey or the black?…The one that I feed.

It is an intricate and gripping story of evil — yet Ms. Penny has the ability to balance the evil with light. Her insight into humanity is what always what satisfies me at the end of each novel and The Grey Wolf does not disappoint.

Here’s a quote that seems most appropriate for today – January 20, 2025…

How easily humans could adjust to darkness. To dark thoughts and darker deeds. Until, finally, the darkness became normal. And they no longer missed, or looked for, or trusted, the light.

N.B. If you haven’t read the previous books in the series, book number nine, A Beautiful Mystery is an essential before reading The Grey Wolf.

There is a sequel planned for later this year — The Black Wolf. Count me in!