The Grey Wolf is the 19th book in the enjoyable Three Pines series by Canadian author Louise Penny, which follows the story of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his family as he solves crime in the village of Three Pines and across Quebec. Typically, the novels are police procedurals but with The Grey Wolf, the series shifts into a new direction. This is more of a political thriller. Perhaps co-writing State of Terror with Hillary Clinton influenced Louise Penny to do something different with her popular detective.
The book opens in the fictional village of Three Pines, familiar to us in the books and the Amazon Prime series based on them. This community is the heart of the series. Crimes were committed in or near to Three Pines in her early books but Penny began taking her characters to other locales in Quebec over time. The Grey Wolf plot takes Gamache and two members of his homicide team, Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste, around the world, chasing information that could prevent a domestic terrorism incident.
Gamache is struggling with a couple of his investigations for the Sûreté du Québec. There have been two mob-style killings in different areas of Quebec and the only link between the victims is they were murdered in a similar execution style.
These murders are not the only thing puzzling Gamache. He has been receiving phone calls from a political insider who he has butted heads with in the past. Gamache refuses to meet with her and has no idea why she wants to see him. The puzzles do not end there.
The security alarm on the door of Gamache’s Montreal apartment goes off while he’s in Three Pines with his family. The sensors within the apartment were not activated so he assumes it was a faulty alarm. You can imagine Gamache’s surprise when a parcel containing his own jacket is delivered to the Sûreté headquarters.
It is the jacket incident that truly kicks things off and leads to Gamache meeting Charles Langlois, a biologist, who is clearly anxious. He suggests to Gamache that something major is happening, but won’t provide details as he is not sure who he can trust in the Sûreté. Langlois is murdered not long after their meeting.
The tight trio of Gamache, Beauvoir and Lacoste work independently from their colleagues as they investigate Langlois’s murder because of a suspicion that some individuals in the Sûreté may have been compromised. They also conceal details they have uncovered, because Gamache is no longer sure who he can trust.
They discover a catastrophic event has been planned, which turns the story into a race against the clock. They will need to solve the case before the metaphorical bomb is scheduled to go off. The passage of time creates so much tension that you will not be able to put this book down.
You may wonder how Penny will manage to resolve the separate storylines – there is also the indigenous tale that inspired the title to consider. A grandfather tells his grandson about two wolves at war inside everybody. The grey wolf is good, kind and compassionate. He is wise and hopeful and able to forgive others. The black wolf is evil. He is full of anger, greed and resentment. The black wolf is vengeful and cannot forgive. The little boy asks which wolf is winning. His grandfather tells him, ‘The one that I feed.’
The Grey Wolf is a cliffhanger. Some plot lines will be completed, however Gamanche believes there is a black wolf with a need for power who has been spreading fear and hatred, hence there is a follow-up novel entitled The Black Wolf due in 2025. It will be exciting to discover what direction this story about power, corruption and greed will go. In it, hopefully we will see more of the folk from Three Pines, which have given the series its enduring charm.
Another great book about political intrigue is The Last Days of Johnny Nunn by Nick Triplow.
Hodder & Stoughton
Print/Kindle/iBook
£9.99
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
