By Paul Carrier
Almost all of Louise Penny’s wildly popular Armand Gamache mysteries are set in Québec. In The Madness of Crowds, the 17th and most recent entry in the series, the top homicide investigator for Québec’s provincial police force is back on his home turf in the tiny village of Three Pines, Québec, following a sojourn in Paris in 2020’s All the Devils Are Here.
As the new novel opens, Québec has emerged from a pandemic that has many wondering whether the crippled economy can sustain the high cost of the province’s safety net. Enter Abigail Robinson, a statistician who is winning legions of fans for her proposed solution: cut costs by mandating the abortion of imperfect fetuses and forcing the elderly and the terminally ill to be euthanized.
When Robinson’s assistant is murdered during the duo’s visit to Québec, Gamache and his team learn that there may be a link between that crime and tumultuous events in Robinson's family, including the killing of her disabled sister.
Penny’s trademark mix of psychological insight, humor, intriguing characters and a charming setting are on full display here.
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