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?
****
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