The Madness of Crowds, Louise Penny
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The Madness of Crowds
A Novel

Bestseller

Author: Louise Penny

Narrator: Robert Bathurst

Unabridged: 14 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/24/2021


Synopsis

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache returns to Three Pines in #1 New York Times bestseller Louise Penny's latest spellbinding novel

You’re a coward.

Time and again, as the New Year approaches, that charge is leveled against Armand Gamache.

It starts innocently enough.

While the residents of the Quebec village of Three Pines take advantage of the deep snow to ski and toboggan, to drink hot chocolate in the bistro and share meals together, the Chief Inspector finds his holiday with his family interrupted by a simple request.

He’s asked to provide security for what promises to be a non-event. A visiting Professor of Statistics will be giving a lecture at the nearby university.

While he is perplexed as to why the head of homicide for the Surete du Quebec would be assigned this task, it sounds easy enough. That is until Gamache starts looking into Professor Abigail Robinson and discovers an agenda so repulsive he begs the university to cancel the lecture.

They refuse, citing academic freedom, and accuse Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice. Before long, Professor Robinson’s views start seeping into conversations. Spreading and infecting. So that truth and fact, reality and delusion are so confused it’s near impossible to tell them apart.

Discussions become debates, debates become arguments, which turn into fights. As sides are declared, a madness takes hold.

Abigail Robinson promises that, if they follow her, ca va bien aller. All will be well. But not, Gamache and his team know, for everyone.

When a murder is committed it falls to Armand Gamache, his second-in-command Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and their team to investigate the crime as well as this extraordinary popular delusion.

And the madness of crowds.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

Author Bio

Canadian author, Louise Penny, has been very successful in her career of writing mystery novels. The main character of her novels is francophone Chief InspectorArmand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec. She won several awards for her work, including the Agatha Award for five years, and the Anthony Award five times, as well as publication in 23 languages.

Penny's earlier career was a broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting System after her graduation from college. Many times, she had postings booked far from family and friends, so loneliness became a big problem. She turned to alcohol, until age 35 when she admitted her problem to herself and has been sober since.

After accomplishing sobriety, she met her future husband, Michael Whitehead, who was head of hematology at Montreal's Childrens Hospital. They were married for 20 years, and she described him as a man of kindness, thoughtfulness, generosity, and a man of courage and integrity. She lost her beloved husband to dementia in 2016 at age 83. Louise has all of her friends in the village outside of Montreal, along with her golden retrievers to keep her company.

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