Book 1

Still Life

by Louise Penny

Published 5 September 2005
'Three Pines is made up of good people, but one of us is festering.' The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines - a place so free from crime it doesn't even have its own police force. But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets...

Book 2

A Fatal Grace

by Louise Penny

Published 2 October 2006
From the author of STILL LIFE comes the second novel featuring the irresistible Chief Inspector Gamache...The falling snow brings a hush to Three Pines -- until a scream pierces the air. A spectator at the annual Boxing Day curling match has been fatally electrocuted. Heading the investigation, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache unravels the dead woman's past and discovers a history of secrets and enemies. But Gamache has enemies of his own. As a bitter wind blows into the village, something even more chilling is sneaking up behind him!

Book 3

The Cruellest Month

by Louise Penny

Published 1 January 2007
It's Easter, and on a glorious spring day in peaceful Three Pines, someone waits for night to fall. They plan to raise the dead! When C. I. Gamache of the Surete du Quebec arrives the next morning, he faces an unusual crime scene. A seance in an old, abandoned house has gone horrifically wrong and someone lies frightened to death. For in idyllic Three Pines not all is as it seems. Toxic secrets lie buried, and something terrible has finally clawed its way out. And even Gamache has something to hide. One of his own team is preparing to betray him. But who is it? And how far will they go to ensure Gamache's downfall?

Book 4

A Rule Against Murder

by Louise Penny

Published 1 January 2007
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, Louise Penny's wise and engaging '21st-century version of Hercule Poirot' ("Publishers Weekly", starred review), is looking forward to celebrating his wedding anniversary at the remote, luxurious Manoir Bellechasse. The only other guests are members of the Finney family - rich, cultured, and respectable - who have arrived at the height of summer to unveil a slightly startling memorial to their late father.As the heat wave gathers strength, it's surprising when Peter and Clara Morrow, from the well-loved village of Three Pines, turn up at the family gathering - but much more of a shock when old secrets and buried resentments turn out to be only a prelude to murder. As Gamache's holiday becomes a busman's anniversary, he learns that the seemingly peaceful lodge is a place where visitors come to escape their past, until that past catches up with them. Agatha and Anthony Award-winning author Louise Penny breathes brilliant new life into the classic drawing-room mystery.

Book 5

The Brutal Telling

by Louise Penny

Published 9 September 2009
An ingenious and riveting mystery of murder, revenge and a cold-blooded killer, this is the internationally bestselling author's finest yet. In the heart of the forest, two men sit at midnight, haunted by fear of discovery. In a few hours' time, one of them will be dead, his secrets following him to the grave...When C. I. Gamache is called to investigate a murder in a picturesque Three Pines, he finds a village in chaos. A man has been found, bludgeoned to death, and there is no sign of a weapon, a motive or even the dead man's name. Gamache and his colleagues, Inspector Beauvoir and Agent Isabelle Lacoste, start to dig under the skin of this peaceful haven for clues. They slowly uncover a trail of stolen treasure, mysterious codes and a shameful history that begins to shed light on the victim's identity -- and point to a terrifying killer...

Book 6

Bury Your Dead

by Louise Penny

Published 28 September 2010

The multi-award-winning novel from worldwide phenomenon and number one New York Times bestseller Louise Penny, and the sixth book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series

As Quebec City shivers in the grip of winter, its ancient stone walls cracking in the cold, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache plunges into the strangest case of his celebrated career.

A man has been brutally murdered in one of the city's oldest buildings - a library where the English citizens of Quebec safeguard their history. And the death opens a door into the past, exposing a mystery that has lain dormant for centuries . . . a mystery Gamache must solve if he's to catch a present-day killer.

Steeped in luscious atmosphere, brimming with the suspense and wit that have earned Louise Penny a massive global following, BURY YOUR DEAD is an ingenious suspense novel.

'Penny's best book to date . . . A stunner' Stephen Booth

'A cracking storyteller, who can create fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves


Book 7

A Trick of the Light

by Louise Penny

Published 30 August 2011

In the green depths of spring, morning breaks on a woman splayed in a bed of flowers - her eyes wide, her neck broken.

Her death is a mystery; so is the woman herself. But as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team peer into the dark corners of the victim's past, they expose a secret that rots at the very heart of their community - a secret that will implicate someone they've trusted for years. And as Gamache knows too well, in the flickering shadows of death, the truth may be just a trick of the light.


Book 8

The Beautiful Mystery

by Louise Penny

Published 28 August 2012

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Crime Novel
Winner of the Macavity Award for Best Crime Novel
Winner of the Agatha Award for Best Crime Novel

The award-winning novel and eighth book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, from worldwide phenomenon and number one New York Times bestseller Louise Penny.

Hidden deep in the wilderness are the cloisters of two dozen monks - men of prayer and music, famous the world over for their glorious voices. But a brutal death throws the monastery doors open to the world. And through them walks the only man who can shine light upon the dark deeds within: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache.

Who among the brothers has become an angel of death? As the peace of the monastery crumbles around him, Gamache finds clues in the divine, the human . . . and the cracks in between.

Ingenious, gripping, and powerful, The Beautiful Mystery is the most outstanding novel yet from international bestselling phenomenon Louise Penny.


Book 9

How the Light Gets in

by Louise Penny

Published 1 July 2013

The number one New York Times bestseller

A DETECTIVE

As a fierce, unrelenting winter grips Quebec, shadows are closing in on Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department and hostile forces are lining up against him.

A DISAPPEARANCE

When Gamache receives a message about a mysterious case in Three Pines, he is compelled to investigate -- a woman who was once one of the most famous people in the world has vanished.

A DEADLY CONCLUSION

As he begins to shed light on the investigation, he is drawn into a web of murder, lies and unimaginable corruption at the heart of the city. Facing his most challenging, and personal, case to date, can Gamache save the reputation of the Surete, those he holds dear and himself?

Evocative, gripping and atmospheric, this magnificent work of crime fiction from international bestselling author Louise Penny will stay with you long after you turn the final page.


Book 10

The Long Way Home

by Louise Penny

Published 1 August 2014
At first enjoying a peaceful retirement, former Quebec homicide detective Armand Gamache reluctantly agrees to help a neighbor search for her missing estranged husband and teams up with two former colleagues on a search that reveals the workings of a psychologically damaged mind.

Book 11

The Nature of the Beast

by Louise Penny

Published 25 August 2015
Hardly a day goes by when nine-year-old Laurent Lepage doesn't cry wolf. His boundless sense of adventure and vivid imagination mean he has a tendency to concoct stories so extraordinary and so far-fetched that no one can possibly believe him.

But when Laurent disappears, former Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true.

So begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. And what Gamache uncovers deep in the forest leads back to crimes of the past, betrayal and murder, with more sinister consequences than anyone could have possibly imagined . . .

From number one bestseller Louise Penny comes an ingenious, powerful and page-turning novel that will hold you in its grip until the final page.

Book 12

A Great Reckoning

by Louise Penny

Published 30 August 2016
"When an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes. Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. To an old friend and older adversary. It leads the former Chief of Homicide for the Sûreté du Québec to places even he is afraid to go. But must. And there he finds four young cadets in the Sûreté academy, and a dead professor. And, with the body, a copy of the old, odd map. Everywhere Gamache turns, he sees Amelia Choquet, one of the cadets. Tattooed and pierced. Guarded and angry. Amelia is more likely to be found on the other side of a police line-up. And yet she is in the academy. A protégée of the murdered professor. The focus of the investigation soon turns to Gamache himself and his mysterious relationship with Amelia, and his possible involvement in the crime. The frantic search for answers takes the investigators back to Three Pines and a stained glass window with its own horrific secrets. For both Amelia Choquet and Armand Gamache, the time has come for a great reckoning. #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny pulls back the layers to reveal a brilliant and emotionally powerful truth in her latest spellbinding novel."--

Book 13

Glass Houses

by Louise Penny

Published 29 August 2017
Book 14

Book 14

Kingdom of the Blind

by Louise Penny

Published 27 November 2018
Read by the series reader Adam Sims.

The entrancing crime thriller featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, from number one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny

******

'A wonderful addition to a fantastic series' ELLY GRIFFITHS
'This gloriously shocking book grips from the very first page' DENISE MINA

When Armand Gamache receives a letter inviting him to an abandoned farmhouse outside of Three Pines, the former head of the Surete du Quebec discovers that a complete stranger has named him as an executor of her will. The bequests are so wildly unlikely that he suspects the woman must have been delusional - until a body is found.

But it isn't the only menace Gamache is facing. The investigation into the events that led to his suspension delves deeper, and he takes increasingly desperate measures to rectify previous actions. As he does, Gamache begins to see his own blind spots - and the terrible things hiding there . . .

_____________

Praise for the award-winning Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series:

'One of the most interesting detectives in crime fiction' The Times

'Fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves

'Wonderfully satisfying' Kate Mosse

'Louise Penny is one of the greatest crime writers of our times' Denise Mina

'Supremely satisfying' Observer

'Gamache has become to Canada what Hercule Poirot is to Belgium' The New York Times

'The series is deep and grand and altogether extraordinary . . . Miraculous' Washington Post

Book 15

A Better Man

by Louise Penny

Published 27 August 2019
Read by the series reader Adam Sims.

A Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Year 2019

Gripping and full of suspense, A BETTER MAN is the spellbinding new crime thriller from New York Times number one bestseller, Louise Penny

******

'She makes most of her competitors seem like wannabes' THE TIMES
'Louise Penny is one of the greatest crime writers of our times' DENISE MINA

The air is unbearably tense as Armand Gamache returns to the Surete du Quebec for his first day of work since being demoted from its command to head of homicide.

Amid blistering personal social media attacks, Gamache sets out on his first assignment. He has been tasked with finding a missing woman, but while he leads the search for Vivienne Godin, Three Pines itself is threatened when the river breaks its banks, and a province-wide emergency is declared.

As the waters rise, a body is discovered - and the victim's distraught father contemplates a murder of his own. Gamache is a father himself, and is haunted by a question . . . what would he do, if his child's killer might walk free?

_____________

Praise for the award-winning Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series:

'Gamache has become to Canada what Hercule Poirot is to Belgium' The New York Times

'The series is deep and grand and altogether extraordinary . . . Miraculous' Washington Post

'Fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves

'Supremely satisfying' Observer

Book 16

All the Devils Are Here

by Louise Penny

Published 1 September 2020
'She makes most of her competitors seem like wannabes' THE TIMES

'Louise Penny is one of the greatest crime writers of our times' DENISE MINA

Louise Penny's much loved hero confronts a dark plot lurking beneath the elegant facades of Paris - lose yourself in the breathtaking new crime thriller by the #1 bestselling author
___________________

On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather for a family dinner with Armand's godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. But the evening ends in horror when Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Armand is convinced is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on an elderly man's life.

When a strange key is found in Stephen's possession it sends Armand on a desperate search for the truth that will take him from the top of the Tour Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives.

And as Armand begins to uncover the secrets his godfather has kept hidden for decades, he finds himself ensnared in a web of lies and deceit that threatens to destroy everything - and everyone - he holds dear.

For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide . . .
__________________

Praise for the award-winning Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series:

'Gamache has become to Canada what Hercule Poirot is to Belgium' The New York Times

'The series is deep and grand and altogether extraordinary . . . Miraculous' Washington Post

'Fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves

'Supremely satisfying' Observer

Book 17

The Madness of Crowds

by Louise Penny

Published 24 August 2021

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache returns to Three Pines in #1 New York Times bestseller Louise Penny's latest spellbinding novel

You’re a coward.

Time and again, as the New Year approaches, that charge is leveled against Armand Gamache.

It starts innocently enough.

While the residents of the Québec village of Three Pines take advantage of the deep snow to ski and toboggan, to drink hot chocolate in the bistro and share meals together, the Chief Inspector finds his holiday with his family interrupted by a simple request.

He’s asked to provide security for what promises to be a non-event. A visiting Professor of Statistics will be giving a lecture at the nearby university.

While he is perplexed as to why the head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec would be assigned this task, it sounds easy enough. That is until Gamache starts looking into Professor Abigail Robinson and discovers an agenda so repulsive he begs the university to cancel the lecture.

They refuse, citing academic freedom, and accuse Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice. Before long, Professor Robinson’s views start seeping into conversations. Spreading and infecting. So that truth and fact, reality and delusion are so confused it’s near impossible to tell them apart.

Discussions become debates, debates become arguments, which turn into fights. As sides are declared, a madness takes hold.

Abigail Robinson promises that, if they follow her, ça va bien aller. All will be well. But not, Gamache and his team know, for everyone.

When a murder is committed it falls to Armand Gamache, his second-in-command Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and their team to investigate the crime as well as this extraordinary popular delusion.

And the madness of crowds.


Book 18

A World of Curiosities

by Louise Penny

Published 29 November 2022