★ 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.
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