The hidden threat may be worse than the known threat

By Ande Jacobson

The Grey Wolf is the nineteenth mystery novel in Louise Penny’s Gamache series. This one is a little different than some earlier in the series in that it’s really part one of a two-part story that completes in The Black Wolf. That’s not to say that the story isn’t a complete one on its own because it is, but the hook into the next book after the current case is resolved is more direct than Penny usually provides. Armand Gamache leads his Sûreté du Québec Homicide division team on a case that poses an immediate threat of monstrous proportions. The bigger problem for Armand is that he doesn’t know who he can trust, so he keeps the details tight only known to a very small, fully trusted cadre of himself, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Isabelle Lacoste, i.e., he and his co-deputies. As often happens with Armand, he’s approached by someone with a secret that isn’t fully shared, but peaks his interest. Before the source, a young biologist with a history of drug use, can fully share, he’s killed by a car right in front of Armand almost taking Armand with him. The case then gets even more frustrating and urgent bringing back some contacts from the past including the Abbot from the remote monastery, Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups. There are also some unexpected relationships that are slowly revealed.

Conspiracies abound, and it’s up to the trio to sort fact from fiction and figure out what’s really happening before the crisis hits. The crisis they are trying to avert is one that could cost millions of lives – the poisoning of the Montréal metro area’s water supply. The conundrum is how and why. The biggest problem is that they cannot warn anybody for fear of setting off a sequence of events they can’t stop. Armand even keeps some of the details from his wife, Reine-Marie, the one person with whom he normally shares everything.

The investigation pulls the trio in multiple directions and to multiple countries sending Isabelle to Europe and Jean-Guy to the U.S. while Armand focuses on the Canadian piece of the investigation. All of the pieces are tightly related turning up several surprising links across disciplines and geographical regions.

Penny tackles modern threats that are very realistic. The apparent government corruption, greedy interests, climate change dangers, and a very real terrorist concern of the western world all come into play. At first, the crisis resembles eco-terrorism, but it later becomes clear that there’s far more in play even though some of the players aren’t clued in to the real reasons for the effort. Some actors claim and even believe they are pursuing a noble cause to save humanity and the planet despite the sacrifice they wish to inflict on others. The darker part of the story ties Canadian corruption with U.S. corporate interests, something that is highly illegal per Canadian laws and feeds the greed of a few at the expense of the many if the poisoning plot is allowed to come to fruition. Given the state of world affairs and particularly the building crisis in the U.S., this book may hit a little close to home for some readers who are squeamish about art imitating reality.

Penny is adept at revealing just enough to further the investigation without tipping readers off so that the resolution is both surprising and comes as the crisis reaches a fever pitch though not without numerous losses and injuries. Armand is seriously harmed but not killed giving him more scars and the need to recover once again. Others are less fortunate, but the resolution gives readers a short respite before the cliffhanger is dropped at the very end. It’s best to read this book and the next one in rapid succession even though they were released a year apart.

The most unsettling aspect of course is the cliffhanger when it’s discovered that despite a satisfying conclusion to the case, the trio suddenly learns that they missed something and have no idea what that might be. After all, what could be worse than trying to poison a major metropolitan area’s water supply ensuring that millions would die? And given the losses, arrests, and convictions, who could be behind the new threat whatever it may be?

Those are questions for the next book though. This one races along, provides some beautiful scenery through the various venues encountered, and uncovers some hidden family secrets between the suspects. It all supports the adage that the world has gotten smaller over the years despite the amount of ground that must be covered. With the improvements in communication and transportation, it’s hard to find a place that is fully remote, although they find a few places that come close to full isolation when they visit a new (to them) hidden monastery and a remote Canadian village they hadn’t previously encountered.

Penny gives readers a good sense of the locations involved in the story. This is a book that can truly immerse a reader in places they’ve never been yet make them vividly come alive. A reader can almost feel the wind off the water of the little village, smell the fragrant blossoms of the foliage near the hidden monastery, and hear the traffic in the U.S. Capitol. And Three Pines is never out of mind as it is the home base this time given the need for secrecy. Armand doesn’t trust his official office or most of his Sûreté colleagues. Three Pines reminds readers that there are unspoiled places where people care about one another. It’s not perfect, and it’s certainly had its share of chaos over the years. Even so, there’s a certain comfort there. It’s home to Armand and Reine-Marie, and a second home to their children and grandchildren. A safe place despite the obvious dangers of the world at large.

The other thing that plays heavily throughout the book is the tug of good and evil. The grey wolf and the black wolf are symbols of this, something that Armand tells Jean-Guy about when they visit the Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups monastery in search of the Abbot. Dom Phillippe had told Armand the story of the two wolves when they first met earlier in the series, and it stuck with him. It’s also where the title of this book and the next come from. The grey wolf is wise and courageous, the black wolf is vengeful and cruel. Everyone has these elements inside themselves, and the one that survives is the one that is fed and nurtured.