Reading order
| # | Title | Year | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Still Life | 2005 | Buy |
| 2 | Dead Cold / A Fatal Grace | 2006 | Buy |
| 3 | The Cruellest Month | 2007 | Buy |
| 4 | A Rule Against Murder / The Murder Stone | 2008 | Buy |
| 5 | The Brutal Telling | 2009 | Buy |
| 6 | Bury Your Dead | 2010 | Buy |
| 7 | A Trick of the Light | 2011 | Buy |
| 8 | The Beautiful Mystery | 2012 | Buy |
| 9 | How the Light Gets In | 2013 | Buy |
| 10 | The Long Way Home | 2014 | Buy |
| 11 | The Nature of the Beast | 2015 | Buy |
| 12 | A Great Reckoning | 2016 | Buy |
| 13 | Glass Houses | 2017 | Buy |
| 14 | Kingdom of the Blind | 2018 | Buy |
| 15 | A Better Man | 2019 | Buy |
| 16 | All the Devils Are Here | 2020 | Buy |
| 17 | The Madness of Crowds | 2021 | Buy |
| 18 | A World of Curiosities | 2022 | Buy |
| 19 | The Grey Wolf | 2024 | Buy |
Inspector Armand Gamache is a thoughtful, compassionate homicide detective for the Sûreté du Québec. Unlike the cynical detectives common in crime fiction, Gamache is deeply caring, believes in the fundamental goodness of people, and approaches cases with quiet determination. He’s married to his wife Reine-Marie, and their loving relationship is a recurring anchor throughout the series.
Most of the books are set in Three Pines, a charming village just north of the US border. The village is populated by artists, poets, and eccentrics. Crimes committed here seem shocking because of the peaceful setting. Louise Penny creates a sense of place so vivid that Three Pines feels real, despite being fictional.
The series explores how darkness can hide in even the most beautiful places. Gamache’s motto is that wisdom is learning to call things by their right names - acknowledging evil rather than pretending it doesn’t exist. The books balance cozy village drama with serious crime and emotional depth. An Amazon Prime series adaptation titled “Three Pines” brought the books to television in 2022.