An instant New York Times Bestseller and August 2017 LibraryReads pick!“Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.” —PEOPLE“Louise Penny wrote the book on escapist mysteries.” —The New York Times Book Review“You won’t want Louise Penny’s latest to end….Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls … won’t want Louise Penny’s latest to end….Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series…. It takes nerve and skill — as well as heart — to write mysteries like this. ‘Glass Houses,’ along with many of the other Gamache books, is so compelling that, for the space of reading it, you may well feel that much of what’s going on in the world outside the novel is ‘just noise.’” —Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post
When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.
From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized.
But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied.
Months later, on a steamy July day as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November, from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache’s own conscience is standing in judgment.
In Glass Houses, her latest utterly gripping book, number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. A court that supersedes all others.
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This was my first book by Louise Penny (I know, I’m late to the game!). I wasn’t sure if I’d like it at first, as I’m not really fond of head-hopping and sentences that tend to be abrupt. On purpose. For effect. (Yeah, like that.) But, as I progressed into the story of a strange black-robed figure showing up in Three Pines and disrupting life there, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I truly appreciated how Penny wove together the ongoing trial about who killed the person in the cobrador’s outfit with what happened before (and with the deal Gamache made with the Crown’s prosecutor that’s tied into the murder trial and beyond). I think it was a wee bit drawn out and could have ended about 100 pages sooner, which would have made the book tighter. But, I was still engaged enough to want to give this four stars…and to want to read more of Penny’s work. I like Gamache. I like the secondary characters, for the most part. So, overall, a thumbs up from here!
UPDATE: I re-read this one after I’d started at the beginning of this series, and it made a huge difference to have all the background of the folks in Three Pines and to actually care about them. This time I would rate it five stars, not four. I didn’t remember the whole book in detail, just the story-line about the cobrador, so the ending came as a surprise to me. I’m just glad I liked this one enough the first time around to want to read every single Gamache title by Louise Penny. Now just two left to read before her latest is out in August. Woo hoo!
Amazing story/mystery. Characters and setting continue to be among the best. I loved this book and how Armand’s relationships are now redefined.
This is book twelve, I think, of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. I’m obviously hooked. The whole series is excellent. I hardly finish one before I start on the next. The characters are all, well, characters, and they feel like family. I am particularly fond of the poet, Ruth, whose latest book was titled I’m Fine. You’ll have to read the books to find out what that means–not quite what it seems. It describes me to a T.
Subtle – I never thought I’d decribe a murder mystery this way – but this was like a subtle knife, slowly paring away the flesh to get to the bones of the story. I couldn’t put it down – this is Ms Penny at her very best. Highly recommended!
All about one’s conscience that hearkens back to the 19th century Spanish Cobrador debt collectors. Reine-Marie Gamache discovers a body in the church basement. Great reading in how these two incidents verge in to one story. Almost as good as How the Light Gets In, almost.
I haven’t missed a single book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. They’re all excellent, including book thirteen, GLASS HOUSES. And while you can read each book as a unique stand-alone story, if you read them in order, you get to know your neighbors and actually become part of the village of Three Pines. Author Louise Penny writes in such a way that the reader doesn’t merely look in on a story and its characters, they participate.
I stayed up much too late last night finishing this one. Could not put it down.
Mesmerizing and utterly compelling. Two storylines, crime and trial, past and present, are interwoven so skillfully here that each one intensifies the tension of the other. By the climax the reader is so invested in these characters, the words fall away and the experience is almost immersion in the moment. On the intellectual level, I know how Louise Penny employs omniscient point of view to her great advantage, telling me some things and hiding others, but on the emotional level, I disregard all that because I trust her to deliver not just a story but a full-on, 3-D experience. This book does just that.
Yet another wonderful addition to the Inspector Gamache series which I have been listening to as audiobooks. I am particularly won over by the conversation at the end of the audio recording between Louise Penny and the book’s narrator, Robert Bathhurst. As an author whose first novel just came out in audio, this was a fascinating description of the artistry of audiobook narration, and a fine sense of Penny’s characters and the themes that develop in each of these complex and interesting books.
Louise is one of the best!
I came to Louise Penny late – I had the fortune of doing an author session with her at the Perth Writers Festival a couple of years ago. It was a joy to read a beautifully crafted, well-plotted kind-of-cozee mystery and I have read many more of her books since. They are a little like Agatha Christie with the village setting but then there’s also more than a dash of action and splash of blood. Very vivid, believable characters. Perfect reading for a cold day with a warm muffin at the ready.
Love this whole series!
Such an intense read! I was on the edge several times as Inspector Gamache set his traps and chased the villains. The unusual mixed with the daily grind of the drug trade was a pull for me. Excellent writing and inventive subplots keep me coming back to this series.
Another of my favourite Armand Gamache stories.
Inspector Gamache novels are always a good read.
Always enjoy Louise Penny’s mysteries and characters. I am never disappointed.
This is one of the best mystery books I have ever read.
Once again I found a mystery and read the most recent book…will go back and read from the beginning of the series!
I love Louise Penny and her Armand Gamache series. I’ve recommend her books to many, many friends and they’ve all become great fans of her writing.
Very good Mystery