kingdom of the blind

Kingdom Of The Blind Louise Penny

synopsis

When a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Still on suspension, and frankly curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder.

None of them had ever met the elderly woman.

The will is so odd and includes bequests that are so wildly unlikely that Gamache and the others suspect the woman must have been delusional. But what if, Gamache begins to ask himself, she was perfectly sane?

When a body is found, the terms of the bizarre will suddenly seem less peculiar and far more menacing.

But it isn’t the only menace Gamache is facing.

The investigation into what happened six months ago—the events that led to his suspension—has dragged on, into the dead of winter. And while most of the opioids he allowed to slip though his hands, in order to bring down the cartels, have been retrieved, there is one devastating exception.

Enough narcotic to kill thousands has disappeared into inner city Montreal. With the deadly drug about to hit the streets, Gamache races for answers.

As he uses increasingly audacious, even desperate, measures to retrieve the drug, Armand Gamache begins to see his own blind spots. And the terrible things hiding there.

KINGDOM OF THE BLIND, has debuted at #1 on both the New York Times and the Globe and Mail bestseller lists - making it the #1 fiction book in North America!

“A captivating, wintery whodunit.”

PEOPLE

"A constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves."

New York Times
Marilyn Stasio

“A spellbinder . . . another outstanding Gamache adventure… ingenious . . . what more could a mystery reader – or any reader for that matter – want?”

Washington Post
Maureen Corrigan

“Penny pulls together an insightful plot that weaves in family feuds, clandestine investigations, undercover cops and a loving look at Three Pines.”

South Florida Sun Sentinel
Oline Cogdill

“Louise Penny’s novels are unique for how seamlessly they straddle the line between charmingly small-town mysteries and big-city police procedurals . . . It’s not to be missed!”

BookPage
Top Pick

“It’s hard to see how Louise Penny can raise the stakes any further for her iconic, fatherly good guy, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, but somehow in each book she does.”

News & Observer

“Brain-teasing puzzles, life-and-death stakes and lots of Three Pines, a magical place where the warmth in the villagers’ hearts thaws the ice on their eyelashes.”

St. Louis Post Dispatch

“Complex onging saga… Wait anxiously for the next installment.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Penny does a splendid job of interweaving those three main plot lines, studding them with several life-threatening scenes that had me holding my breath, and building to a wild finale.”

Tampa Bay Tribune

“Another intricately plotted escapist mystery from Louise Penny.”

PopSugar

“A Louise Penny book… is better than 90% of the books I read… Her books are about love and kindness and people who care.”

Lesa’s Book Critiques

“From small puzzles do large, ever-more excellent ones grown, especially in a Louise Penny novel.”

Seattle Review of Books

“Few mystery writers intertwine the personal lives of their characters with the crimes being investigated more skillfully than Penny does, and she is at her best here, as several key players face turning points in their lives, suggesting that if the past can strangle the present, it can also help clear the way for the future.”

Booklist
* starred review

“Penny is a master at blending the modern evils affecting the big city and hidden secrets of the almost mythical village of Three Pines. Well-known characters return and new faces add richness to a narrative that will keep readers intrigued until the last page.”

Library Journal
* starred review

“Insightful, well-plotted… Penny offers intriguing commentary on the willful blindness that can keep people from acknowledging the secrets and lies in their own lives. Penny wraps up some continuing story lines and sends recurring characters in surprising directions.”

Publishers Weekly

“Penny reveals a deeper vulnerability in the introspective Gamache… The ending is adrenaline-filled....This starts as a small-town mystery and becomes something grander.”

Kirkus Reviews

KINGDOM OF THE BLIND one of Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2018 Picks

BookPage Best of the Year 2018

A LibraryReads Pick for November 2018 A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Winner

One of Amazon's Best of 2018 Picks

Washington Post's 10 Books to Read This November

Audiofile magazine has named Kingdom of the Blind one of the best Mystery & Suspense audiobooks of the year.