The Grey Wolf: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, 19)

“’And right there, over what would be the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, was an asterisk. In bright red ink, like a splotch of blood . . .’”

A phone call. A burglary. A yellow raincoat. A murder.

Brace yourselves for another of Louise Penny’s dark, action-packed thrillers, a novel about love, hate, betrayal and trust.

The Grey Wolf, the Armand Gamache 19th novel, another psychological thriller, delves into the minds and motives of the perpetrators. “He’d tell her what it was like to crawl into sick minds, moving ever into dark caverns until he had the answers he needed. Until he had a killer.” But this time, even Gamache, head of homicide of the Surété du Québec is stumped. Is there anyone to trust? Even his own colleagues in law-enforcement?

A phone call suddenly shatters Gamache’s peaceful afternoon with his wife, Reine-Marie and grandchildren in their garden in Three Pines. “This was the Gamaches’ Sunday ritual. In lives so unpredictable, they found sanctuary in certainty.” Knowing the person on the other line, Gamache finally answers. An unfamiliar voice on the other line wants to meet him at a café in Montreal. Was it a mistake to answer that call? “So much peace. So much to break.” 

Meantime, the police reveal to the head of homicide that someone had broken into his apartment in Montreal. To his surprise, the only missing is an old yellow raincoat. Gamache meets Charles Langlois, the mysterious caller, at a popular café in Montreal. Langlois returns the pilfered raincoat to Gamache and finds a torn note in one of the pockets. It was a list of herbs and spices. On the back is written “Water” and a quote: “Some malady is coming upon us. We wait. We wait.” It’s from T. S. Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral. Charles has no idea of its meaning. And he was not the crook. Somebody gave the item to him. He tells a tale about his work at an environmental mission but can’t reveal any names. Is he telling the truth? Or is he just a rehabilitated druggie?

Suddenly, while standing outside the restaurant, an SUV charges into the cafe, almost hitting Gamache and killing Langlois. His last words before dying are “Famous last words.” The head of homicide is more confused and has trouble on focusing on the facts. Which ones are true? Who is lying? Gamache decides to interview Jeanne Caron, the director of the mission. She tells him that she and Langlois gave tours to dignitaries.

Gamache realizes that Charles may have given him a warning. Someone is planning such a vengeful act against all Canadians that has never been tried before in the history of terrorism. The race is on to stop it. Gamache decides to interview Jeanne Caron, Langlois’ boss at the mission. He accuses Caron of writing letters to the Prime Minister threatening to poison the lakes if she closes the mission. However, Gamache believes Jeanne who swore that the letters were never sent. “No. I was never going to. They’re ravings, that’s all. I was angry and frustrated and scared and broke. And drunk . . . At seven in the morning it seemed insane.”

Armand and Jean-Beauvoir, second-in-command and son-in-law, travel across the continent to a remote a monastery called “Saint Gilbert Between the Wolves.” They are looking for the Abbot, Dom Philippe. They are told that the abbot and another monk, Sebastien, left one day without leaving a note. Jean-Beauvoir and his boss start to search the monastery for clues to the disappearance of the two monks. “What was he missing? A lot, it seemed. . . . It was one of the great dangers for an investigator. Turning guesses into facts. Interpreting slim evidence to fit a convenient theory.”

Beauvoir finds a folded piece of paper inside an old scroll in one of the drawers. “And right there, over what would be the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, was an asterisk. In bright red ink, like a splotch of blood. . . . This, finally was evidence. Of what, he wasn’t sure yet.” Langlois may have hidden his laptop and notes here. It is incredible that anyone would put innocent Canadians in such danger.  The race leads Gamache and Beauvoir to a monastery in France, to Washington, D.C., and even the Vatican. But these clues are confusing. So far, nothing makes sense. The clues that Gamache and Beauvoir lead to a dead end. Are they being misled by their enemies?

Armand becomes frustrated that he may lose this race. He feels responsible when people begin dying. For the first time, the head of homicide begins fantasizing that his colleagues are betraying him. Is it possible that someone inside the Surété is the culprit? Is he losing his mind?

Next, Armand tells his long-time friend, David Lavigne, head of the RCMP, that terrorists are planning an imminent attack on Canadians with chemical or nuclear weapons. When Lavigne shows some doubt, “there’re rumblings out of Rome and Paris, about something, some target in North America. It’s vague.” Gamache leaves the conversation wondering if Lavigne is to be trusted.

At this point, Gamache doesn’t trust himself. Are his suspected enemies real friends or are his true friends betraying him? “Saint Gilbert Between the Wolves”—he learns that there is a legend that a man has a gray wolf and a black wolf inside, tearing him apart. “The grey wolf is wise and courageous enough to be forgiving. The other, a black wolf, wants him to be vengeful. To attack first. Feeds on rage . . . We need to find him, said Jean-Guy . . . but there’s also a grey wolf. We need to find him too,” answers Armand.

As the hair-raising suspense mounts with every action by Gamache and Beauvoir, the reader will be on tenterhooks. Will they save the drinking water? Will they find the perpetrators? Then there’s the stunning and unimaginable end. You will not be able to forget it for a long time afterward.