Louise Pennyová je autorkou bestsellerovej série o komisárovi Armandovi Gamacheovi, ktorá sa opakovane umiestňuje na popredných priečkach rebríčkov. Jej diela sa vyznačujú hlbokým vhľadom do ľudskej psychiky a zložitosti medľudských vzťahov, často zasadených do malebných quebeckých dedín. Pennyová majstrovsky prepája napínavé zápletky s prenikanými úvahami o vine, odpustení a zmysle komunity. Jej jedinečný štýl a schopnosť vytvárať živé postavy ju zaraďujú medzi najvýznamnejšie súčasné autorky detektívnych románov.
Detektívny román inšpirovaný piesňami Leonarda Cohena a kanadskou históriou od päťnásobnej držiteľky prestížneho ocenenia Agatha Award. Louise Penny sa nechala inšpirovať jednou z najbizarnejších kanadských rodín, ako aj napätím medzi Québecom a zvyškom krajiny. Paralelným príbehom vyšetrovania záhadnej vraždy je situácia s rozpadajúcim sa tímom hlavného inšpektora, ktorý sa po nevydarenom policajnom zákroku ocitá v troskách. Dá sa zachrániť akýkoľvek vzťah, keď sa zdá, že nikto okrem vás už o to nestojí?
Ak sa tvorivá vášeň zmení na ničivé šialenstvo, každý je schopný spáchať zločin. Maliarka Clara to vie veľmi dobre, a preto sa zdesí, keď jej manžel nepríde na dohodnutú schôdzku po ročnom odlúčení. Peter, ktorého tak milovala a ku koncu nenávidela, je nezvestný a možno aj mŕtvy. Inšpektor Gamache si síce užíva zaslúžený odpočinok v prekrásnej kanadskej dedine Three Pines, ale Clara ho uprosí, aby po Petrovi začal pátrať.
Na pozadí očarujúcej kanadskej prírody sa krok za krokom, stránku za stránkou rozvíja príbeh o temných hlbinách ľudského srdca. Od prvej chvíle tušíme zločin, ale je to vražda? Alebo ešte niečo omnoho horšie? Autorka drží čitateľa celý čas v neistote – a potom nám ukáže, čoho je schopný ten najzvrhlejší človek.
The 16th novel by #1 bestselling author Louise Penny finds Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec investigating a sinister plot in the City of Light On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand’s godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on the elderly man’s life. When a strange key is found in Stephen’s possession it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from the top of the Tour d’Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded, works of art. It sends them deep into the secrets Armand’s godfather has kept for decades. A gruesome discovery in Stephen’s Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized. Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own past. His own family. For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide.
'Makes most of her competitors seem like wannabes' THE TIMES There is more to solving a crime than following the clues. Welcome to Chief Inspector Gamache's world of facts and feelings. One cold November day, a mysterious figure appears on the village green in Three Pines, causing unease, alarm and confusion among everyone who sees it. Chief Superintendent, Armand Gamache knows something is seriously wrong, but all he can do is watch and wait, hoping his worst fears are not realised. But when the figure disappears and a dead body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to investigate. In the early days of the murder inquiry, and months later, as the trial for the accused begins, Gamache must face the consequences of his decisions, and his actions, from which there is no going back . . . Ten million readers. Three pines. One inimitable Chief Inspector Gamache. 'One of the greatest crime writers of our times' DENISE MINA
'Outstanding' THE NEW YORK TIMES 'No one writes evil like Louise Penny' ANN CLEEVES There is more to solving a crime than following the clues. Welcome to Chief Inspector Gamache's world of facts and feelings. As Quebec City shivers in the grip of winter, its ancient stone walls cracking in the cold, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache plunges into the strangest case of his celebrated career. A man has been brutally murdered in one of the city's oldest buildings - a library where the English citizens of Quebec safeguard their history. And the death opens a door into the past, exposing a mystery that has lain dormant for centuries . . . a mystery Gamache must solve if he's to catch a present-day killer. Millions of readers worldwide. One inimitable Chief Inspector Gamache.
The New York Times Bestseller 'Stellar . . . With her smart plot and fascinating, nuanced characters, Penny proves again that she is one of our finest writers' (People Magazine) In the green depths of spring, morning breaks on a woman splayed in a bed of flowers - her eyes wide, her neck broken. Her death is a mystery; so is the woman herself. But as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team peer into the dark corners of the victim's past, they expose a secret that rots at the very heart of their community - a secret that will implicate someone they've trusted for years. And as Gamache knows too well, in the flickering shadows of death, the truth may be just a trick of the light.
"It's spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge. But something has. As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Surete du Quebec investigators' lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they've arrived in the village of Three Pines. But to what end? Gamache and Beauvoir's memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother's murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt? As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up. As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there's more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge. In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache's home."-- Front jacket flap
"What happened here last night isn't allowed," said Madame Dubois. It was such an extraordinary thing to say it stopped the ravenous Inspector Beauvoir from taking another bite of his roast beef on baguette. "You have a rule against murder?" he asked. "I do. When my husband and I bought the Bellechasse we made a pact....Everything that stepped foot on this land would be safe." It is the height of summer, and Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache are celebrating their wedding anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. But they're not alone. The Finney family—rich, cultured, and respectable—has also arrived for a celebration of their own. The beautiful Manoir Bellechasse might be surrounded by nature, but there is something unnatural looming. As the heat rises and the humidity closes in, some surprising guests turn up at the family reunion, and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body. It is up to Chief Inspector Gamache to unearth secrets long buried and hatreds hidden behind polite smiles. The chase takes him to Three Pines, into the dark corners of his own life, and finally to a harrowing climax.
'Ingenious and unexpected' GUARDIAN 'One of the most interesting detectives in crime fiction' THE TIMES There is more to solving a crime than following the clues. Welcome to Chief Inspector Gamache's world of facts and feelings. When Chief Inspector Gamache arrives in picturesque Three Pines, he steps into a village in chaos. A man has been found bludgeoned to death, and there is no sign of a weapon, a motive or even the dead man's name. As Gamache and his colleagues start to dig under the skin of this peaceful haven for clues, they uncover a trail of stolen treasure, mysterious codes and a shameful history that begins to shed light on the victim's identity - and points to a terrifying killer... Millions of readers worldwide. One inimitable Chief Inspector Gamache.
