‘Wow, wow, wow! This book is thrilling from start to finish, constantly evolving and twisting and so brilliantly written’ ‘Another excellent Gamache novel from Louise Penny … timely, topical and prescient’ ‘Penny’s writing is as literary and elegant as ever, and as usual this book packs the punch of a heart-stopping thriller’ ‘6 stars if I could. To say I adore this series, is an understatement. With that, comes the excitement of a new book but also the worry of will it live up to the previous books? And I apologise for ever worrying that, Louise, because somehow you manage to raise the bar every. single. time.’ ‘Louise Penny has the ability to make each of the characters so real the reader can visualise them, along with some really excellent scene setting, especially in Three Pines, which has become a real village in the minds of her readers’ Somewhere out there, in the darkness, a black wolf is feeding.Since Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sret du Qubec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montral, they’ve believed the case was closed.But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there?Still recovering from wounds received in stopping the first attack, Armand is confined to the village of Three Pines, leading a covert investigation from there. He must be careful not to let the Black Wolf know he has recognized his mistake. In a quiet church basement, he and his senior agents Beauvoir and Lacoste, pore over what little evidence they have. Two notebooks. A few mysterious numbers on a tattered map of Qubec. And a phrase repeated by the person they had called the Grey Wolf. A warning:In a dry and parched land where there is no water.Gamache and his small team of supporters realize that for the Black Wolf to have gotten this far, they must have powerful allies, in law enforcement, in industry, in organized crime, in the halls of government. And from the apparent peace of his little village, Gamache finds himself playing a lethal game of cat and mouse with an invisible foe who is gathering forces and preparing to strike.’A wonderful, multi-layered novel: all the established characters are there for lovers of Three Pines, but it’s also a political thriller, an exploration of friendship and betrayal, and a celebration of kindness’ANN CLEEVES’It’s not difficult to see why Penny and her fans have come to regard Three Pines as a refuge in a chaotic and alarming world’SUNDAY TIMES