Fans of Detective Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries can look forward to the August 17th installment of the series. 24 with “the madness of the crowds”. Since the first “Still Life” was published in 2005, Penny’s cozy mystery world populated by residents of Three Pines, a snowy but warm-hearted town in Quebec, has made friends around the world as the books have spread. Translated into 23 languages, plus Quebec French.
here, then, are the louise penny books in order. Titles include both those from the United States and alternative titles from other countries.
You are reading: Louise penny books in chronological order
Publication order of inspector gamache’s books
1. still life (2005) 2. dead cold / a fatal grace (2006) 3. the cruelest month / the cruelest month (2007) 4. a rule against murder / the murderous stone (2008) 5. the brutal tale ( 2009) 6 Bury Your Dead (2010) 7. A Trick of the Light (2011) 8. The Beautiful Mystery (2012) 9. How the Light Comes In (2013) 10. The Long Walk Home (2014) 11. The Nature of the Beast (2015) 12. A Great Reckoning (2016) 13. Houses of Glass (2017) 14. Kingdom of the Blind (2018) 15. A Better Man (2019) 16. All the Devils Are Here ( 2020) 17. the madness of crowds (2021) 18. a world of curiosities (2022)
publication order of inspector gamache short stories/novels
- the executioner (2010)
independent novel publication order
- state of terror (2021) – co-written with hillary clinton
anthology publication order
- the best american mystery stories 2018 (2018)
about penny loise
louise penny, born in toronto, received a bachelor of applied arts in radio and television from ryerson polytechnic institute, now ryerson university, and was a journalist for the canadian broadcasting corporation. During this time, Ella Louise faced some personal problems with alcohol and eventually turned to writing after meeting her husband, Michael Whitehead. Ella Louise didn’t start out with mystery writing, she initially wrote a historical novel.
It took him three years to write his first book and a couple more to find a publisher. Since then, as she will reveal a look at Louise’s penny books in order, she has gifted fans of hers with a new one almost every year. of her characters, she “had to love them. I created a town where I would live, populated with characters I would befriend and a main character I would marry,” she told the New York Times in 2018.
chief inspector armand gamache books in order
inspector gamache is the head of the homicide department of three pines, quebec. he is the chief inspector of the sûreté du québec, the provincial police of the province of quebec in canada. Finish Louise’s penny books in the following order.
book 1: still life
The first Louise Penny Book mysteries cast three pines and their residents as one, Jane Neal, shockingly the victim of a crime in this friendly town. the locals think the death was an accident, but gamache is alert to signs of the culprit. Along the way, readers meet Madame Gamache, the town’s bookstore and B&B owners, and her famous mad poet, sharp-tongued and secretly compassionate Ruth Zardo.
This book was so successful that it won several awards, including the Barry Award, the New Blood Dagger Award, the 2007 Anthony Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, and the Dilys Award.
book 2: deadly cold / fatal grace
A spectator at a boxing day curling match is electrocuted with no witnesses. while gamache hunts down the killer, he too faces dangerous enemies in la surete du quebec, setting up a dynamic that will play out in future novels.
book 3: the cruelest month
See Also: Top 10 books about growing old | Books | The Guardian
It’s springtime at Three Pines, but the title and its game in t.s. Eliot’s work hints that something brutal is afoot. A visit to the old Hadley house, a murder, and the demons of his own haunting gamache create a play of dark and light, death and rebirth.
book 4: a rule against murder / the murder stone
In the world of gamache, even the most enchanting settings have sinister undertones. In Penny’s third novel, the Chief Inspector and his much-loved retired librarian wife, Reine-Marie, visit the lakeside Manoir Bellechasse to celebrate an anniversary. however, the hotel guests have secrets and a mystery arises.
book 5: the brutal narration
A mystery that touches closer to Three Pines, the B&B village and her former lover Olivier, again has literary references, including a cobweb-like “ouch” from Charlotte woven into a web. Gamache follows clues to uncover the truth about Olivier, who along with Ella’s life partner Gabri runs the bistro that is the source of much solace and comfort food for the town’s residents.
book 6: bury your dead
The scene switches to Quebec City in this winter mystery, which involves a discovery in a historic library during the winter carnival. Chief Inspector Gamasche’s colleague (and future son-in-law) Jean Guy Beauvoir unravels the threads to crack this case.
book 7: a trick of the light
at three pines, artist clara morrow’s garden is where a body, that of lillian dyson, is found immediately prior to clara’s solo show in montreal. Is death related to the artists gathered to celebrate?
book 8: the beautiful mystery
near quebec, a cloister of monks lives deep in the woods, growing vegetables, making chocolate, and singing beautiful music. when their choirmaster is found dead, gamache and beauvoir visit him to find out who wanted to permanently silence the monk.
book 9: how the light enters
penny’s next novel includes a musical reference again, in this case to leonard cohen’s “anthem”. Cohen, a fellow Canadian, reportedly gave him penny royalties to quote the song and, to his surprise, didn’t charge him. Christmas time is the setting, but Gamache feels pressure in both Quebec and Three Pins, where bookstore owner Myrna Landers turns out to be more than she seems.
book 10: the long way home
gamache is brought back into the world of three pins artists in “the long way home”. Clara Morrow’s husband, Peter, is missing.
book 11: the nature of the beast
a missing child, his scary stories. Which ones are to be believed and which ones will lead Gamache to his safe return to his parents in Tres Pinos? Nine-year-old Laurent Lepage is known for crying over death, murder, aliens, and other strange occurrences. until he disappears. inspector gamache has the task of finding the boy.
book 12: a great reckoning
See Also: Make An In-Game Book with Pictures | The Official RPG Maker Blog
“a great reckoning” brings the former three pins homicide chief back to the sureté du québec, where four young cadets and a dead professor stir up trouble. Cadet Amelia Chocket is a puzzle. a computer genius, she is also a misfit. Was Gamache right in advising her, or was her confidence misplaced?
book 13: glass houses
Few things could be as unnerving as a person who takes a stand and just stands there, day and night, through wind, sleet and snow, but that’s what gamache faces at Tres Pinos . the aftermath of the eerie vision drives gamache back to the sûreté to wrestle with her conscience. a mysterious figure haunts the city until a body is discovered.
book 14: kingdom of the blind
myrna landers is back in one of penny’s most innovative puzzles. Gamache and Landers have both been named executors of a will in Three Pines, and neither has heard of the deceased. Meanwhile, in Montreal, an opioid crisis leads to a crisis for the sûreté, and a dark and memorable turning point for gamache that will play out both in real life and in many social media dramas.
book 15: a better man
As gamache and beauvoir struggle to compose themselves, another homicide takes precedence. a flood, meanwhile, threatens to engulf three pine trees.
book 16: all the demons are here
Death seems to follow gamache even as he and his family gather in paris to visit his godfather, billionaire stephen horowitz. When Horowitz gets stuck in traffic, a mystery is set in motion that will unleash the gamache family dynamic. Will he heal them or tear them apart?
book 17: the madness of the crowds
Another cozy winter in Three Pines, with hot chocolate bistro, fireplaces, deep snow skiing and sledding. the gamache family is reunited for a vacation together, until a visiting professor turns out to be someone with socially repugnant ideas. gamache is assigned to provide security. According to Louise Penny’s sneak peek: “Before long, Professor Robinson’s opinions begin to seep into conversations. spreading and infecting. so that truth and fact, reality and illusion are so confused that it is almost impossible to distinguish them. a murder follows.
book 18: a world of curiosities
From Amazon’s description: Nothing is ever quiet at Three Pines. It is spring and Three Pines is resurfacing after the harsh winter. but not everything buried must come back to life. not everything that remains dormant must rise again. but something has. As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir grow increasingly concerned. a young man and woman have reappeared in the lives of investigators at the sureté du québec after many years. they were both young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, broken. now they have reached the village of three pines. “a world of curiosities”, penny’s 18th gamache novel, will be published on November 29, 2022.
other book summaries by louise penny
state of terror
although not part of the inspector gamache book series, a list of louise penny books on order will have another addition in october with “state of terror”. She is teaming up to write the thriller with her friend Hillary Clinton, and it will be published by Simon & schuster and st. martin press. Its plot involves “a Secretary of State and a weakened nation,” according to the New York Times. was released on Oct. 12, 2021.
The book “follows a rookie secretary of state who joins the administration of her rival, a president inaugurated after four years of American leadership who stepped away from the world stage. A series of terrorist attacks throws the world order into disarray, and the Secretary is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a carefully crafted scheme to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in places where it is most likely to happen. what counts the most”, simon & says the schuster website.
See Also: The Bestselling Books of 2012