Review: "The Grey Wolf," Louise Penny

By Paul Carrier

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of the homicide division of the provincial police force in Québec, has investigated his share of murders since author Louise Penny introduced him years ago in Still Life, the first of her 19 novels (to date) in the wildly  popular mystery series.

But in The Grey Wolf, the latest entry in the series, Gamache and his team may be facing a crisis far more catastrophic than solving individual slayings. A potential act of domestic terrorism may be in the works in Québec, and on a scale that could threaten the lives of thousands and create a panic that would trigger a collapse of the social order.

To make matters worse, Gamache suspects that one or more senior officers in the Sûreté du Québec, as the French-speaking province’s police department is known, may be in on the scheme. But he doesn’t know who they are or even if his fear of in-house collaborators is well-founded.

There are twists and turns aplenty as the case unfolds. In fact, the normally restrained and unflappable Gamache quickly loses his temper in the opening pages, swearing at a woman who calls him at home and setting an ominous tone for what is to come.

A biologist who may be able to help Gamache unmask the presumed conspirators is murdered while meeting with him in Montréal. Then his killer is murdered as well. Gamache wonders if those deaths are somehow linked to two seemingly unrelated murders in far-flung regions of Québec.

The top aide to the deputy prime minister of Canada quickly comes under suspicion for possible ties to a terrorist network. And a Catholic monk who may have valuable information for Gamache about the alleged conspiracy disappears from his remote monastery, destination unknown.

The investigation is sufficiently complex that Gamache dispatches his top lieutenants to Washington, Italy and France, all while trying to determine who, if anyone, high up in the Sûreté's chain of command may be complicit in plotting a crime that is almost too heinous to imagine. 

As the shocking climax draws near and time runs short, the plot jumps from one locale to another, heightening the tension on multiple fronts. Gamache and his senior agents are confused and terrified as they seek elusive answers and struggle to avert a disaster that would rock not only Québec but all of Canada.

Perry’s novels always feature a recurring cast of quirky characters who, like Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie, live in the small village of Three Pines, south of Montréal. It’s a rural town so remote that, as Penny notes in some of her novels, it doesn’t appear on any map.

The beloved locals turn up in The Grey Wolf as well, but bonhomie is in shorter supply than usual this time around. For one thing, this novel is not set in Three Pines, as some of Penny's earlier novels have been. And Québec proves to be a dark and dangerous place in The Grey Wolf. When doomsday looms, there is little time for croissants, café au lait and the good-natured banter of close friends.

Penny has announced that her 20th novel — entitled The Black Wolf — is in the offing, with a release date of Oct. 28, 2025. Does the title promise a link between the next entry and this one? The Grey Wolf’s closing lines suggest just such a connection. Time will tell.