The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

Goodreads: The Grey Wolf

Published: 2024

Series: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #19

Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Pages: 391

Format: Library, print

This is the third book of the Armand Gamache series that I've read (#1, 2, and now #19), and I think it may be the last. Book 19 follows Armand, Jean-Guy, and Isabelle as they hunt down a threat; there's a murder, mistrust, Catholic monks, and political actors... there's a lot going on!

But this book was not for me. I found Penny's writing style to be confusing, as she'd jump between past and present timelines without clear delineation. The prose would also randomly include the thoughts of other characters, and with just a sentence, the entire paragraph would be disrupted. I don't mind dual points-of-view or dual timeline stories, but I found the way Penny presented it to be confusing to read.

I also thought the plot was reaching. Gamache and company are chasing down a threat, to which they have zero evidence. All they have are hunches and gut feelings, and they just keep pushing and hunting as though it's real. That doesn't sound like good policework to me! I think that even a little scrap of evidence from the beginning that they were on the right trail would have made the whole thing so much more believable.

Overall, I can see why some readers would find Penny's books unputdownable. They are fast paced mysteries/thrillers with likeable characters set in Canada, but I will pass on future releases.