The Madness of Crowds - Louise Penny

The Madness of Crowds

By Louise Penny

  • Release Date: 2021-08-24
  • Genre: British Detectives
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 1,916 Ratings
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Description

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller
AARP The Magazine – Recommended Summer Reading
CNN – A Most Anticipated Book of August
Bustle – A Most Anticipated Book of August

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.

Reviews

  • Best Gamache yet

    5
    By susnbro
    Loved this one! It kept me awake at night, and on the edge of my seat until the very last page! Love, love Louise Penny and all her characters.

  • Police procedural with a duck

    4
    By Lucylww
    This is a compelling read—I finished it in a few sittings. Sometimes the philosophical musings wax long, and there are an awful lot of motives as the focus shifts among the changing suspects, but the characterizations are good. The descriptions are excellent, practically a character in themselves, and I got used to—and then learned to enjoy—the truly quirky elements, like the eccentric old poet who goes everywhere with a duck called Rosa. The writing is very good. I recommend this book highly, and it’s a series, so if you like it, there’s more to read. A real plus after a good entertaining time with this engaging book.

  • Too Much Discussion

    3
    By Wehoac
    Love this series but I found this book a bit disappointing. Too much emphasis on the theories surrounding the murder, they seem to go over and over them ad infinitum. Would have enjoyed reaching the conclusion much sooner. Looking forward to her next book, however. One more book and I’ve completed the series. Brava, Louise Penny.

  • Some gift…

    4
    By guido luciano
    How u managed to pull this story together with me threatening to strangle u every inch of the way…I’ll never know. U annoying genius.

  • Not the Three Pines we love

    2
    By Stewart123
    Characterization and fun of the village completely missing in this book. Political and quite dark...and plot hard to follow. I miss the early books! They were a joy and I read one after another. Not the latest ones. This one is probably my last.

  • Another fantastic book

    5
    By travelingty
    I adore this series and always look forward to the next book. This one do not disappoint, just as the others have not. This was probably one of my favorites and I read it way too fast. But I couldn’t put it down! Great work!

  • Hopefully…not too late

    5
    By jannielive
    Even those who love and cherish all the Three Pines characters, with their personalities and foibles, this book hits heart and intellect in so many ways. Our globally shared recent past with the pandemic has bonded or estranged so many. Families torn apart by an sickness far more viral than the treacherous and unpredictable Covid. Even a person I consider a friend mentioned the death of a grandfather with the dismissive: “Well he was old and frail”. Louise Penny always reveals the virtues and flaws we all have and never shies away from revealing the darkness that scurries away from the light.

  • The Madness of Crowrds

    1
    By Julian JP Norwich
    100 pages of good reading packed into 448 pages. The rest is repetitive, unlikely, and disjointed. I wish I hadn’t read it.

  • Wonderful

    4
    By Annette_Warren
    As usual, a very thoughtful book. Louise Penny is one of those writers I trust to connect her stories and characters to parts of me, whether known by me at the time.

  • Disappointing

    2
    By lllkkkddd
    I have loved the Inspector Gramache books. But the last two books were so hard to get into. Now this one is just the worst. Too political. Too critical of the US - just little snide remarks. The characters were blah - just not interesting. I am so disappointed in this series. The plot dragged. In the earlier books I have loved how the characters and the plot all came together at the end. But this book was not an enjoyable read. I had so looked forward to reading it but found myself forcing myself to finish it. Goodbye Inspector. I will remember you and the Three Pines community from your your earlier books. Where was the character development? Where was the descriptions of the food? The weather? Lots of snowflakes in this book but not the feeling of being in Three Pines. I’ll miss everyone.

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