Gamache Series Open Discussion
Join us here in The Bistro for a discussion on the entire Gamache series. Feel free to ask or answer any questions about any of the books or the series as a whole.
Photo by Bill Selak; source: Flickr
The Bistro:
Chief Inspector Gamache Books
- Still Life
- A Fatal Grace
- The Cruelest Month
- A Rule Against Murder
- The Brutal Telling
- Bury Your Dead
- A Trick of the Light
- The Beautiful Mystery
- How the Light Gets In
- The Long Way Home
- The Nature of the Beast
- A Great Reckoning
- Glass Houses
- Kingdom of the Blind
- A Better Man
- All The Devils Are Here
- The Madness of Crowds
I’m about halfway through the series and keep reading reference to the factory when. Jean Guy is supposedly left for dead. I can’t remember which book this was in.
The full story is told in Bury Your Dead :)
Hi there I’m just wondering if anyone has managed to figure out how Jacqueline managed to walk through the village and back with the bloody bat (as the implication is that she took it with her then panicked and replaced it) and how she got Anton’s prints all over it? This is an odd omission on Louise’s part, as she is usually meticulous about explaining such crucial plot points in the big reveal!
I have Just finished the last book. I am sad that there is not a “next” to look for.
Somehow I missed what happened to Clara’s husband, Peter. I remember the summer cottage and his family. I think Peter killed a family member. Is he in prison? Does he communicate with anyone?
Peter is last seen in Book 10, The Long Way Home. I am happy to tell you what happened to him but I don’t want to spoil it if you missed that one!
In Glass Houses Stephen Horowitz mentions 3 children, but in Devils it sounds as though he has none. Or did I misunderstand?
In All the Devils are Here, L.Penny on page 438 of Acknowledgments, states “Lessons learned. Children erased.”
Apparently, she felt that listing that Horowitz had three children sort of have too much detail and perhaps limited where she could take the longer storyline. At least that’s how I received it.
So it was an error. You are not mistaken.
Looking for some clarification. The characters of Mark and Carol (son and mother who had the old Hatley House) seemed to completely disappear after Bury the Dead, while Dominique remains. What happened to them, and how did I miss that! Anyone, please?
I wanted to know if the Bistro discussion is still going on. It was wonderful to read the posts and to share the wonder and joy of these cherished books.
I was vacationing in VT years ago on my own and needed a new investigative book to read. I went to the Stowe bookstore and happened upon an intriguing titled book called A Beautiful Mystery. I went back to my hotel and began reading. After the fourth chapter I got back in my car and returned to the bookstore and asked to buy every other book by Louise Penny that they had in stock.
I have been singing her praises ever dance She is a wonder and writes so beautifully!! I cannot wait for her 17th book to come out.
Just started the series, trying to read in order of the story arc. At conclusion of THE LONG WAY HOME, first chapter of A GREAT RECKONING is offered as next in the series. But every story arc I’ve found shows THE NATURE OF THE BEAST as being next in the series. Which one should I read next?
Stephen, The Nature of the Beast is next. A Great Reckoning comes after that.
Wow I love these books, wish I had started sooner in my life. LP is a genius!
I love the book series and I’m reading the Madness of Crowds right now in boiling hot sunny south Florida, it’s taking my mind off the overwhelming humidity reading about the snow and the freezing temperatures. Wish I was in Three Pines now
A little over a year ago my wife and I both discovered Armand and friends and very quickly fell in love. We are now ready to begin book 14 – Kingdom of the Blind. I don’t know what we will do when we catch up with Louise. We have started reading other authors in between each book (to slow us down) but find we can’t wait to get back to Three Pines. Thank you Louise for your wonderful and beautiful story telling and character portraits. Your stories have entertained and enriched our lives. So much so that we decided we needed to visit and see for real the inspirations that created these characters and their surroundings. We are going to do a road trip in November (even though Glass Houses almost made us change our minds about November in Quebec) to visit the “land of Gamache”. Other commitments kept us from doing so sooner. We can’t wait. The Gamache series has definitely been a bright spot to help us get through the pandemic. Thank you again Louise.
Retired in May, read all 17 books this summer. Couldn’t wait for Madness of Crowds to come out in paperback, so I bought the hardcover. Even after re-reading the ending (several times), I remain confused. So I ask this question of those of you who have finished MoC, and will try not to spoil the novel for those of you not yet there – Does Penny actually reveal the murderer, or does it remain unknown. And most troubling, how does she explain the murder weapon being brought to the scene of the crime?
Just wanted to know if the series is clean. How much profanity, sex, etc? Wondering if my 83 year old mother would enjoy them.
There is a decent amount of profanity (I’m looking at you, Rosa), but that’s about it. No sex, some violence but nothing over the top.
Just finished The Madness of Crowds and feel like I’m missing something… Who called Gamache in the opening scene? I remember he was upset and said “you’ll regret this” but did it ever explain who it was?
Whoops wrong title, just finished Kingdom of the Blind