The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

(10. - 1253.) The Grey Wolf by
Louise Penny - A lazy August Sunday morning in the Gamache backyard with Armand and Reine-Marie reading their respective sections of the newspaper is interrupted by repeated calls. Finally, Armand answers and, to the surprise of myself and Reine-Marie, for he is not a rude man, he says “Go to hell” and ends the call. 

The alarm in their pied-à-terre goes off in Montreal. It turns out an old jacket of Armand’s has been taken. It is then returned to the Sûreté Headquarters with two notes. One is a request to meet Gamache and the other a list of herbs and spices.

The meeting involves an apparently homeless man. The conversation is filled with his evasions. Gamache senses the man is brave.

It is a confusing and murky situation for the Gamaches and the reader.

The plot takes Gamache and his team into a huge conspiracy.

I love the Gamache series but not every book in the series.

The Grey Wolf includes all the elements I do not think work well in the series. 

I had to suspend disbelief for too much of the book. 

The return to the Gilbertine monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups was as unconvincing the second time as it was the first time in The Beautiful Mystery. 

Having the Abbot cryptically disappear from the monastery was not credible.

The Grey Wolf adds a second monastery, Grande Chartreuse in France, the motherhouse of the Carthusian Order. I did not find convincing how that monastery was entangled in the plot.

The book has an apocalyptic theme. Gamache and his team are struggling to prevent an attack upon the Montreal water system. The consequences are portrayed as devastating for world order. 

Earlier in the series in The Nature of the Beast there was a desperate search for the plans to build a supergun to prevent Armageddon.

I did not find a plot involving the fate of the world credible in either The Nature of the Beast or The Grey Wolf 

Even earlier in the series was a conspiracy involving senior members of the Sûreté . I found it a distraction. While the current conspiracy includes police officers which makes them directly relevant to the story their roles did not feel right to me.

It is hard to write a convincing conspiracy that threatens world stability. The conspiracy in The Grey Wolf was shrouded with such shadows that it was hard to assess the conspiracy. A more modest conspiracy in All the Devils Are Here was much more believable.

My image of Gamache is not as a super hero. I cannot see him as a larger than life personality on a desperate mission to save the world. From the short lived series Three Pines the actor, Alfred Molina, is my image of Gamache. He is a man of courage and conviction but not Superman.

I think the books where, as here, the characters who live in Three Pines play an insignificant role are at a disadvantage. I see a good reason why they are bit players in The Grey Wolf. The residents of Three Pines create a special atmosphere that is ill-suited to a plot saving the world from catastrophe.

I am always disappointed when the characters who live in Three Pines have little role. I acknowledge that several of the books set outside Three Pines are outstanding books.

In the nature of the story and the pacing The Grey Wolf is a thriller not a mystery. It has a Hollywood climax. A double digit body count confirms it is a thriller. If you like American thriller fiction Penny has written an excellent book. She drives the narrative skilfully.

Penny appears to have two sides to her writing. One side involves serious credible stories solved by intelligence. The other side has non-credible stories with great drama and significant violence. Mysteries v. thrillers.

I wish she would create a different series for her thriller plots with a new lead, an aggressive intensely physical man of action, rather than inserting Gamache into a role that is wrong for him.

I hesitated to write this review. I have not been this negative about a previous book in the series. I appear to be in a distinct minority lamenting The Grey Wolf. After reflection I decided my comments were more than just personal frustration.

It is with considerable trepidation that I approach The Black Wolf. Will it also cast Gamache as a super-hero?

****

Penny, Louise – (2005) - Still Life; (2006) - Dead Cold (Tied for 3^rd Best fiction of 2006); (2007) - The Cruelest Month; (2009) - The Murder Stone (Tied for 4th Best fiction of 2009); (2010) - The Brutal Telling; (2011) - Bury Your Dead (Best Fiction of 2011); (2011) - A Trick of the Light; (2012) - The Beautiful Mystery (Part I) and The Beautiful Mystery (Part II); (2013) - "P" is for Louise Penny - Movie Producer and Review of the Movie of Still Life; (2013) - How the Light Gets In; (2014) - The Long Way Home; (2014) - The Armand Gamache Series after 10 Mysteries - Part I and Part II; (2015) - The Nature of the Beast (Part I) and The Nature of the Beast (Part II); (2016) - A Great Reckoning - The Academy and Comparisons and The Map; (2016) - Louise Penny and Michael Whitehead Holding Hands; (2017) - Glass Houses - Happiness and Unhappiness and Getting the Law Wrong; (2019) - Kingdom of the Blind and Irreconcilable Dispositions; (2019) - A Better Man; (2020) - All the Devils are Here and Relationship Restaurants in Fiction and Real Life and Reading of the Marais Simultaneously; (2021) - The Madness of Crowds and Responding to Evil and Considering "People"; (2021) - Three Pines - The Amazon Prime Series; (2022) - Season One of Three Pines; (2023) - A World of Curiosities and Do You Believe in Goodness; (2023) - Surprise Cancellation of Three Pines Series; Hardcover

A Capital Mystery Anthology edited by Bernadette Cox and Mike Martin

(44. - 1287.) A Capital Mystery Anthology edited by Bernadette Cox and Mike Martin - The Crime Writers of Canada and the Capital Crime Writers have organized a volume of 21 short stories by Ottawa writers with all the stories set in Ottawa and area.

I have modest overall knowledge of Ottawa geography but familiarity with downtown and Parliament Hill.

Set in mid-winter, the Ottawa setting along the Rideau River has the dominant role in the opening story by Barbara Fradkin, Cold Shock.

The writing of “emerging author” A.E. Pittman is “influenced by his life experiences as a lawyer and a police officer”. He provides an interesting story on the break-in of a bookstore in The Sparks Street Sapper. Why would someone break into a bookstore? There were no rare valuable books in the store.

Café Amore by Adrienne Stevenson features two women, Deborah and Sophie, who have turned their “red-brick Victorian townhouse on Somerset” from an establishment where the customers could get extra services upstairs to a supper club. They hire a burly ex-cop from Vancouver as Head Waiter / Bouncer. Threatened by poison pen letters with exposure of their past the trio, in a clever marketing ploy, start naming their dishes with a sexy theme - “Sultry sausages … Flirtatious flaming figs … Ribald mushroom risotto … Lewd lamb chops … Cock-a-leekie”. In real life I have been in Mamma Teresa, an Italian restaurant on Somerset.

Brenda Chapman has an interesting story about a pregnant woman, her government lawyer husband and his brother just released from prison. There is a clever twist at the end I did not see coming.

I found The Roaring Lion by Gary Coffin the most intriguing story. It is set in the famed Chateau Laurier Hotel. Private detective Carver is examining the famed Churchill photo taken by Yousuf Karsh that was stolen from the hotel and recently recovered. Carver develops a fascinating story about the photo.

I found Ruby Urlocker’s story, Crazy About Him, moving, even haunting. Lucy, a young woman in the Schizophrenia Recovery Program at Ottawa’s Royal Hospital, is doing her best to cope with schizophrenia. The whole story is narrated by her sending the reader deep into her mind. Looking into her psyche is absorbing and deeply unsettling.  

In Not All Polar Bears are Created Equal by Elizabeth Hosang a clever criminal scheme involving mishapen animal figurines unravels through a late night alcohol fueled shopping excursion on the net and an alert dog from a police K9 unit. 

In classic Canadian crime fictional style guns play little role in the book and there are no double digit body counts.

As with most short story collections I found several very good and others average. Overall it is a strong collection of stories. 

I was impressed how each story is deeply connected to its physical setting in Ottawa.

The cover is brilliant and perfect for the book.

I was surprised that it was mainly the stories of the lesser known writers that appealed to me.

I would be glad to read another anthology from the Capital Crime Writers. I am sure there is much more creative mystery and mayhem to read about in Ottawa.

Letter to Gail Bowen on the Joanne Kilbourn series and Our Relationship

After reading The Solitary Friend I wrote to Gail Bowen. My letter is below. Last night she replied with a lovely note with the promise of a fuller response.

**** 

Gail

When I read that The Solitary Friend will be the second last book in the Joanne Kilbourn series my mind took me back over the 30 years I have been reading the series. (A copy of my review follows this letter.)

After reflection I decided to write to you about the series and our relationship before the final book. Most often a retrospective is after the end of a series but it is my blog and I am writing my summing up after the second last book.

The first, Deadly Appearances, had the greatest impact upon me. It was the first mystery I had read that was set in Saskatchewan. I was captured by how you depicted our province and our people. As with every other Saskatchewan reader of that era - it does set some perspective on series longevity that I think of the book as from a different era - I instantly recognized that Andy Boychuk was inspired by our former Premier, Roy Romanow. 

The second, Murder at the Mendel, provided the most graphic image of the whole series in the painting by Joanne’s friend, Sally Love, which featured in the words of my review “100 portrayals of genitalia from the lovers of her life”. That painting always reminds me that your characters are real with sexual experiences important within their lives.

As the series went on I was caught up in the life of Joanne and her family. 

While I love Joanne my favourite character is Zack. After 50 years in the law how could I not most appreciate a distinguished Saskatchewan litigator. His enjoyment practising law is refreshing. I am weary of fictional lawyers unhappy in the profession.

I thought The Gifted was brilliant in exploring the immense artistic talent of Taylor at 14 while Joanne and Zack agonize over her relationship with the 19 year old Julian.

In Kaleidoscope I was introduced to the phrase “collateral good” referring to an unexpected good event from a bad situation.

Something has surprised me in every book. I would not have thought heritage poultry could be so interesting until I read What’s Left Behind.

Personally, Sharon and I often think of visiting you and Ted and sharing a meal at your home. The hospitality of the two of you was wonderful.

Because of your recommendation to Dave Carpenter I was asked to write a chapter in Volume Three of a Literary History of Saskatchewan on crime fiction in our province. I focused on five writers - yourself, Anthony Bidulka, Nelson Brunanski, Suzanne North and Alan Bradley.

In my analysis of Saskatchewan I noted several common characteristics. 

Of the different series all but Suzanne’s series make family an important part of the stories.

The sleuth of each series is an optimist.

Every sleuth respects the Rule of Law. There is not a vigilante among them.

Possibly most striking in the fictional crime world, none of the sleuths of the Saskatchewan five have ever killed anyone.

I will be sad when the last Joanne Kilbourn book is published. I have never felt the series was becoming stale or predictable. I had hopes that you would continue the series until you were 90 like P.D. James. I have enjoyed all of the books in the series.

This letter will be my 33rd post on my blog about your books and yourself. You join a few writers - Anthony Bidulka, Louise Penny, Michael Connelly, John Grisham and Jacqueline Winspear - with a comparable number of posts.

Maybe the best indicator of my regard for your books is that you have appeared 5 times on my annual Bill’s Best of Fiction which is more appearances than any other writer.

Anthony Bidulka came to the Melfort library last year. He responded to my introduction with his customary wit and deft comments, noting that some years before I had said he was Saskatchewan’s second best mystery writer after yourself. In my subsequent post to the evening at the library I said I was amending my assessment to say the two of you are Saskatchewan’s best crime fiction writers. I remain convinced that you and Anthony are the best.

As you are already crowned “The Queen of Canadian Crime Fiction” I have thought about a Saskatchewan title for you. Royals often have multiple honourary titles. “The Co-Greatest Writer of Saskatchewn Mysteries All Time” seemed too awkward. I thought “Saskatchewan’s Egalitarian Wordsmith” was pretentious. “Saskatchewan’s Most Honourable and Most Excellent Mystery Author” rolled on too long. “The Almighty Saskatchewan Crime Writer” struck me as blasphemous. “Saskatchewan’s Proletarian Mystery Master” was apt. I kind of liked “Saskatchewan’s Mistress of Mystery”. I thought “Saskatchewan’s Woman of Mystery” could work. “Her Eminence of Saskatchewan Crime” was interesting. I considered adapting the J.S. Wordsworth phrase for you - “Gail is committed to what we desire for ourselves, we wish for all”. None felt quite right. I decided upon a personal title - “Gail: A great writer and a great friend”.

Should you be able to respond to this letter I will post the reply.

All the best to you, Ted and your family.

Bill

****

Bowen, Gail – 2011 Questions and Answers with Gail; 2011 Suggestions for Gail on losing court cases; The author's website is http://www.gailbowen.com/ - (2011) Deadly Appearances; (2013) Murder at the Mendel; The Wandering Soul Murders (Not reviewed); A Colder Kind of Death (Not reviewed); A Killing Spring (Not reviewed); Verdict in Blood (Not reviewed); (2000) - Burying Ariel (Second best fiction of 2000); (2002) - The Glass Coffin; (2004) - The Last Good Day; (2007) – The Endless Knot (Second Best Fiction of 2007); (2008) - The Brutal Heart; (2010) - The Nesting Dolls; (2012) - "B" is for Gail Bowen; (2012) - Kaleidoscope and Q & A on Kaleidoscope; (2013) - The Gifted and Q & A and Comparing with How the Light Gets In; (2015) - 12 Rose Street; Q & A with Gail Bowen on Writing and the Joanne Kilbourn Series; (2016) - What's Left Behind and Heritage Poultry in Saskatchewan Crime Fiction; (2017) - The Winners' Circle; (2018) - Sleuth - Gail Bowen on Writing Mysteries / Gail the Grand Master - Part I and Part II; (2018) - A Darkness of the Heart and Email Exchange on ADOH; (2020) - The Unlocking Season; (2021) - An Image in the Lake and The Fourth "F" is Forgiveness; (2023) - What's Past is Prologue and  and Law Matters in What's Past is Prologue; (2023) - The Legacy; (2025) - The Solitary Friend; Hardcover