When I created this blog I planned to write something, no matter how brief, about each book I read. it seemed like a doable goal at the time but in recent years I’ve found that I don’t always have the time/energy to write a review or I’m still processing my reaction to the book. I might jot down some thoughts but then run out of time or steam so I put the review to one side. And then it never gets written and my list of unreviewed books gets longer … and longer … and longer.
In an effort to catch up I’m going to try writing some mini reviews.
So here goes….
The Grey Wolf is the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny’s series featuring Chief Inspector Gamache, head of homicide for the province of Quebec. I came across these books by accident while on a work trip to Michigan and they sustained me through many nights in dull hotel rooms.
The last few titles in the series were of mixed quality but with The Grey Wolf, Penny appears to have returned to her previous form.
The plot is characteristically complex with multiple events that are seemingly unconnected. An intruder at Gamache’s apartment; a list of ingredients used to make Chartreuse liqueur; the death of a volunteer at a shelter for the homeless. And then a murder. The result is a cracker of a story about political corruption and a threat to Montreal’s water supply which could kill thousands.
Canada might not be the most powerful nation on earth, but power was shifting from weapons to resources. And Canada was resource-rich. Which was tipping the balance of power.
To halt the threat before it becomes a reality, Gamache and his team travel far and wide within Quebec and overseas to the Vatican and a French monastery. The international component hasn’t been popular with many Gamache fans — reviewers on Goodreads were disappointed that the village of Three Pines which has featured so prominently in other novels, takes a back seat in this latest episode.
Three Pines is a wonderful setting and the kind of place I’d love to call home, but in recent books I felt that Penny was just ticking boxes to create the atmosphere. Every scene in Three Pines had to have a description of lunch/drinks at the bistro and every scene with one of the inhabitants, an award-winning poet, had to reference her tiresome duck. It made a refreshing change to see Gamache in a broader context.
Yes you do have to accept that this story has more than a hint of a thriller and also that it goes over the top in making Gamache out to the saviour of the world. But that doesn’t get in the way of a good yarn. There’s a resolution of a sort at the end but more is to come in the next book which is due out in a few months.
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