Somewhere out there, in the darkness, a black wolf is feeding.

Book blurb

Since Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, 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 Québec. 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.

My thoughts

I just had to read this before reading the next book ‘Miss Wolcott’s Ghost’ for the blog tour. However, not unusually with me this year, time slipped away! So here I am catching up with my posts.

The Black Wolf is the 20th book of the Gamache/Three Pines series and is very much tied in with the previous book The Grey Wolf so whilst you could read as a standalone I would strongly recommend reading both in order. Obviously, the whole series is, in my opinion, well worth reading and the development of characters and stories would benefit reading from the first book, Still Life, through to the most recent Miss Wolcott’s Ghost but wherever you begin I think and hope you will enjoy this series.

Now, back to The Black Wolf after the end of The Grey Wolf it would appear that the emergency was over but Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has a niggling doubt that won’t go away and it is the continued existence of a new threat, or rather the whole of the threat seemingly dealt with, that plays on Armand’s mind and makes him continue to investigate. However, it must be done quietly and carefully in order not to give anything away to whoever might be involved.

After The Grey Wolf Armand was injured and is now considered to be less than he was. He lost his hearing, is confined to Three Pines while he recovers and now appears to be no longer as able as he was. Armand is happy to maintain this view. To seem to be happy that the danger is over and less able than he was.

So, the investigation goes on. Meanwhile Chief Inspector Gamache and his close colleagues Inspectors Isobel Lacoste and Jean Guy Beauvoir set up a working space in the Three Pines church basement with all the evidence they have, which isn’t much, and try to find who The Black Wolf really is. Not knowing who they can trust, realising that the corruption must have reached through to those who have great power, authority and influence Gamache, Lacoste and Beauvoir work tirelessly to find out what has yet to happen and who is responsible.

Deputy Prime Minister Marcus Lauzon has been tried and convicted but is he The Black Wolf? If not, then who is? Of course, Lauzon is not innocent he was involved at a high level and rightfully convicted of crimes but is he still orchestrating another devastating attack on Canada? Who is at large pulling the strings?

Going through the notebooks of a murdered biologist, Charles Langlois, a cryptic map of Québec with strange arrows crossing into Vermont, and a haunting warning left by the Grey Wolf: “In a dry and parched land where there is no water”.

Their investigation takes them to the forests of Canada, some of which have been devastated by wildfire, to cryptic clues and a body, back to Three Pines, to Montreal and to a uniquely positioned library on Canada’s border.

They will find organised crime, high officials and a plan that would make Canada a better place for many thousands of people desperate to take control of Canada’s vast natural resources.

Louise Penny’s incredible foresight (given what took place after the book had been finished) and understanding of what is happening in the world regarding the wildfires, climate change, the possibility of an attack from the countries in the south who will need to get ahead of it and make a move sooner rather than later is astonishing.

The Black Wolf is more than a crime fiction story it is a warning that no single nation should attack another in order to gain those resources for itself but that we work together in order to protect and share the natural resources of the world. Whether that is possible given human nature and our innate desire to protect ourselves and our own resources, perhaps understandably, is yet to be fully tested. The alternative is, as this story shows, very bleak.

The Black Wolf is a chilling, intricately woven story that takes the reader on a tense, beautifully paced thriller that has all the elements of a great crime fiction murder mystery and amps up the stakes with a terrifying twist of a plan that will bring appalling consequences for millions of people, for the countries involved and ultimately for the world.

Note: If you have not read The Grey Wolf or it’s been a while I suggest rereading or if not possible take a look at what Jackie at Beyond the Book wrote in her summary of it.

Here are my thoughts on The Grey Wolf.

Book: Purchased

Information

Published: Hodder and Stoughton | 28th Oct 2025 | Hardcover | ISBN-13: 9781399730570 | 384 pp

Buy: Hodder and Stoughton | Amazon | Hive | Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Your local bookshop | Your local library

Author: Louise Penny is the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Gamache series. Still Life, the first of the series, won the CWA John Creasey Dagger in 2006. A recipient of virtually every existing award for crime fiction, Louise was also granted the Order of Canada in 2014 and received an honorary doctorate of literature from Carleton University and the Ordre Nationale du Québec in 2017. She lives in a small village south of Montréal.

Further information/follow

Louise Penny: website | on Facebook

Books
Chief Inspector Gamache Mysteries | Three Pines Series

The Grey Wolf | A World of Curiosities | The Madness of Crowds | All the Devils Are Here | A Better Man | Kingdom of the Blind | Glass Houses | A Great Reckoning | The Nature of the Beast | The Long Way Home | How the Light Gets In | The Beautiful Mystery | A Trick of the Light | Bury Your Dead | The Brutal Telling | A Rule Against Murder | The Cruelest Month | A Fatal Grace | Still Life

Hangman (Chief Inspector Gamache and set in Three Pines – literacy novella) published by Grass Roots Press (Amazon)

Coming Soon!

“After the resounding success of THE BLACK WOLF (it was the #1 book in North America, debuting at the top of the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, and other fiction bestseller lists), I’m thrilled to tell you there is another Gamache on the way.” Louise Penny

The 21st book in the lives of Armand, Jean-Guy, Clara, Myrna, Ruth et al is called MISS WOLCOTT’S GHOST. It will be set in Three Pines and published on October 20th 2026. You can pre-order it now. Pre-order links are available on this page.

Other books

The Last Mandarin (with Mellissa Fung) | STATE OF TERROR (with Hilary Rodham Clinton)