It’s been six years since I liked one of Louise Penny’s books as much as I liked Miss Wolcott’s Ghost. Maybe I’m too picky. All the Devil’s Are Here, the 2020 release, was my favorite of her books. The new novel is filled with heart, little-known history, and the beloved residents of Three Pines, along with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache’s team. It has all the elements I appreciate in any long-running series.
Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie are startled awake at 3 AM by a phone call. A terrified voice says only “There’s a body in Lost Nation.” But neither of them have ever heard of Lost Nation. Jean-Guy Beauvoir shows up at their door as their son-in-law, but as soon as the call is traced to a phone registered to C.Morrow, Gamache and Beauvoir become police officers. They sneak into Clara Morrow’s house in Three Pines searching for an invader. By the time they finish the search, their small circle of friends have gathered at the bistro. But, it’s the owner of another bistro at a neighboring town who is able to lead Gamache and his team to Lost Nation and a cemetery hidden in the forest. That’s where they find the victim, dressed in clothes from early in the previous century, with a plant growing up around the body.
As I’ve always said, it’s difficult to review one of Penny’s Armand Gamache books because it would be easy to spoil the book. Gamache’s team searches for a killer, after they identify the person in the vintage clothing. But, it’s a search that leads them to a shocking forgotten event, a multi-million dollar company that provides genealogical assistance, several unrecognized murders, and a woman before her time whose work precipitated multiple crimes while she was forgotten in her own field.
There are new characters and new stories introduced in the book, Will Agent Ferdinand, who is in awe of Gamache and the homicide team, appear in future books? He shows promise for a rookie. The story of Lost Nation and the curse is a fascinating one. There are traces of humor,, with the judge who admires Three Pines, but cannot find it again. And, of course, Ruth and Rosa always add humor, but Ruth’s poetry and her curmudgeonly attitude have become an essential part of the heart of the story over the years. But, side-by-side with the humor is the awareness of death and murder, and the knowledge that someone who was loved and who loved has been lost.
Louise Penny’s writing itself has always sucked me in. When a new book in this series comes out, I plan one day to read it with no distractions. There are sentences that hit me. Two women died in a fiery car accident. “But it would be far from the first time women who knew too much, were too much of a threat, had been put to death by fire.”
While I lightly skimmed the plot, and didn’t spoil the surprises, it’s never a surprise to discover the depth and wisdom in one of Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache books. Miss Wolcott’s Ghost is one of the best.
Louise Penny’s website is https://louisepenny.com/
Miss Wolcott’s Ghost by Louise Penny. Minotaur Books, 2026. 407p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, with no expectation of a positive review.
