I feel the same way about this poor village that I feel about Midsomer. Surely, by now there cannot be a single person left alive? Yet the bodies just keep piling up and the pages keep disappearing.

I think this was my favourite book so far in this series, which is hard to say because they have all been really good books with tight plots and interesting characters. The characters in this novel are lovable and make you care about them early on and the author does a great job building up the tension in the story so that you have no choice but to keep reading.

Being unable to solve the mystery right away meant I was eager to keep turning pages and putting the clues together. I never got bored reading this or wished that it would hurry along. This is a great series for anyone who loves mysteries and wants to immerse themselves in another place.

Definitely recommended to anyone looking for an exciting book with a lot of different threads. I enjoyed it.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

GLASS HOUSES
LOUISE PENNY


MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PUBLISHER St. Martin’s Press
PUBLISHED August 29, 2017

GLASS HOUSES is an intriguing mystery with an intricate plot and endearing characters that coalesce into a compelling dilemma of conscience for Quebec’s lead investigator.


SUMMARY
A shadow has fallen over the the quaint village of Three Pines near the Canadian and US border, not far from Montreal. A hooded figure in a black robe stands on the village green for days, seemingly harmless, but standing there, day and night and watching. Villagers are scared and fear a menacing purpose, and yet Armand Gamache Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, who lives in Three Pines can do nothing, the robed figured was breaking no laws. And then suddenly the figure disappears, and a body young tourist is found in the basement of the local church. Gamache must determine both the motive and the killer. Months later, as the trial for the alleged killer begins, Gamache much face his own conscience for untenable actions that he set in motion during the investigation.


REVIEW
I totally enjoyed my first LOUISE PENNY novel. Even though GLASS HOUSES is the thirteenth book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, the read was entertaining, enlightening and fun, without making me feeling as though I had come in at the end of a movie. The Three Pines setting is picturesque, and each of the characters are endearing, with the exception, of course, of the mysterious masked figure standing on the village green. I adored the Three Pines community spirit and how many of the village residents played an intregal role in the story.

GLASS HOUSES is a gripping mystery, with a psychological aspect to it, and an intricate plot that includes intriguing courtroom drama. The novel’s overarching theme is a compelling dilemma of conscience. Gamache is facing a battle with something much larger than the just hooded black figure, and he is willing to put his career and his life on the line for it.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Louise Penny gives the reader a fast paced, deep novel with unexpected twists and turns. She's not afraid to tackle corruption, drugs, politics and greed in her novels and this one is no exception. Gamache is now the Chief Superintendent of the Surete du Quebec and he's the current prosecution witness in an important trial.

This blends timelines as we start in the current day trial and move back and forth between it and the incident causing the defendant to be charged with a crime. As always, Three Pines features strongly in the novels and Penny uses a lot of symbolism throughout the book. It also tackles a lot of current issues. as indicated earlier.

She's also not afraid to put her characters in dangerous situations. All of her characters, as you'll know if you've read previous books. No one is safe.

Just another great entry in the series. I feel like it's going to come to an end soon. There's only so many places Gamache and Jean-Guy can go from here. BUT I need to know how things turn out for all of them so there has to be a book 14.

Classic Inspector Gamache. Love the tiny Canadian community of Three Pines? Love the quirky characters that live there? Love the way Louise Penny describes a winter so cold, you'll break out the teapot in August? Then you'll thoroughly enjoy this newest Inspector Gamache mystery!

Louise Penny is a marvel. As a reader I love her characters, her wonderful setting, her intricate plots. As a writer I appreciate her characterization, her clear and individual voices, the quirks and flaws and utter humanness of people who endear. As a thinker I often stop to ponder her insights into the human condition. I do not devour her books in the way that I do other favorite authors. A Louise Penny novel deserves to be savored; and Glass Houses is no exception. While the latest tome has less to do with familiar characters, our favorites are still present -- in Three Pines, in the Bistro, in the Surete. Penny plays with time in this one, deftly taking us from present to past and back again sliding from one season to another, revealing slowly and keeping us guessing. Then in the last chapters, she sends us into a whirlwind. What a fantastic read, and what a masterful hand -- as always.

Glass Houses is an example of Louise Penny at the height of her wondrous form. Do not mistake her for a straight-up cozy mystery writer. Penny sets a totally un-cozy, ominous tone from page one. And yet all that is happening is that our beloved characters continue to live their lives pursuing their daily chores and interests. Then hell comes to the village green. Spellbinding.

Louise Penny is not my favourite mystery writer, in fact, sometimes I feel her stories are a bit too precious and manipulated.
However, i like Glass Houses a lot. Three Pines has come to seem like a cozy safe haven; Gamache, a patient Martin Beck-like character.
Recommended for crime aficionados.

This is the 13th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. Armand Gamache had retired as Chief Inspector of the Surete du Quebec as that agency was going through a turbulent period. Massive corruption had been uncovered in the agency and Gamache was asked back as the Chief Superintendent of the Surete to help restore integrity to it.

The province of Quebec had been reeling from a massive opium and fentynol epidemic with people dying of overdoes daily. Drugs were being transported across the border to the US. So Gamache and his team concoct a plan to uncover the heads of the US and Canadian cartels involved in getting the drugs from Canada to the American market.

While this plan is being developed, a group of 4 college friends come for their annual reunion to the quiet village of Three Pines that is home to Gamache and his family. The Village is off the beaten path but very close to the Vermont border.

The 4 friends arrive on Halloween and soon thereafter a creature wearing a mask and black clothing appears on the Village green and stands silently while staring at the local bistro all day. This goes on for a few days with no indication of what the creature wants. Then one of the visitors tells Gamache of the Spanish custom of the cobrador. The cobrador follows a debtor around in an effort to shame the debtor into paying his debts.

Since the creature is not breaking any laws, Gamache cannot force him to leave. However one morning a few days after the cobrador arrived, Gamache's wife, Reine-Marie, discovered the dead body of one of the visitors in the basement of the village church. The cobrador had disappeared but the dead woman was dressed in that costume.

Someone is tried for the murder and the story moves between the trial and the occurrences leading up to the murder. Gamache is the chief prosecution witness and narrates the story under questioning by the Chief Crown Prosecutor of Quebec.

This story will delight Louise Penny fans and new readers alike. She skillfully crafts a complex tale that involves Spanish history as well as early 20th century Quebec history.

I don't know how it's possible, but Louise Penny has outdone herself. Absolutely loved this Gamache mystery; I would love to live in Three Pines and sit in front of the bistro's fireplace with Armand and Reine-Marie. I don't want to reveal details, but suffice it to know that the battle between good and evil continues, with the emphasis on conscience. A must read for fans of this series, and if you have not read the series, start at the first one.

The book opens with Armand Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Surete, in a stand in the courtroom as a witness for the prosecution of a unnamed defendant. The story moves between the courtroom and the events leading to a murder that occurred in Three Pines eight months before. While the residents of Three Pines are present in this book, they are not the predominant characters of the story. There continues to be some of the humor and witty dialogue between characters that is seen in other books in the series, but Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir are clearly the main protagonists. The story is a very tightly written psychological suspense thriller that kept me guessing until very near the end.

Not as strong as the last volume of the series, but that was a tough act to follow! (And my personal favourite).
The author had me wondering just how Gamache was going to get out of his predicament. She is not afraid to tackle the big issues. I will be very happy to continue to promote Louis Penny and the Three Pines mysteries. This is now my go-to mystery series. Thank you for the sneak peek and I look forward to next year's installment!

Another well written absorbing story about Three pines. She just gets better and better and the stories get more and more intense.

When a masked, black-robed figure arrives in the (almost) idyllic village of Three Pines and maintains a silent vigil on the village green, unease grips the residents. When the mysterious visitor is found murdered in St. Thomas's chapel, Chief Superintendent of the Quebec Provincial Police, Armand Gamache sees the resulting trial as a means to eradicate the "modern-day Black Death" caused by drug trafficking along the U.S./Canadian border and risks his career and integrity as well as thousands of lives, including those of all the people in Three Pines.

Another great read by Louise Penney. I love recommending her to customers. Once I sell Still Life, I have them hooked!

"Glass Houses," like so many of Louise Penny's wonderful books, is about light. The first ray shines through a tiny aperture to show a sweltering courtroom. Penny widens the lens, flashing back to the human conscience that visited Three Pines, dredging up the guilty secrets of all our favorite characters and winding up dead. The murder trial remains in focus but it's the intrigue going on behind the camera that lies at the heart of this meticulously told, suspenseful story.

(I got this as a pre-pub.) If you've read any of the Inspector Gamache series, you'll know the oomph of the story is not the crime but the discovery of the feelings that led to it. This is told in two timelines, the past and the present, and dives deep into intentions, hard ethical choices, and how we live with the consequences.
The mystery isn't quite as mysterious as other novels in the series, but the tension that travels through all the tendrils of the plot was wonderful.
Familiar characters abound, but I'm most happy that Jean-Guy continues to develop depth without being a Gamache-clone. And Ruth is still Ruth, and she is just FINE.
As always, poetry, art, food and philosophy weave throughout the story - a feast for the mind and the senses. Louise Penny never fails to use her magic to make wood pulp and ink (ones-zeroes-and-e-ink in my case) transform into a village populated with complicated characters, each with a story to tell. Put this one in the "win" column for sure.

I admit I have developed a strong relationship with Armand Gamache. And all the others. I've read all the books. Some twice. One three times. I've visited Quebec City and walked where Gamache walked and ate where he ate. I was excited to get the latest ARC. I read it in 2 days. On my phone. (Don't ask) If this sounds obsessive than I admit it. But let me be clear that Penny's characters are drawn with such warmth and quality that the reader will long to rest in the calm goodness that is Three Pines. And that is saying a lot for murder mystery after murder mystery. Keep 'em coming, Louise Penny.

Absolutely gripping. Did not want to put it down, but had to several times because it was so intense. A well written thrilling ride!

This is the darkest and the most interesting in this series. I could not put this down as the story is suspenseful and the ending, unexpected.This is a different kind of mystery in which conscience plays the major role.

Louise does it again! Penny is a maser of the genre, giving equal weight to the murder and the characters it affects. The novel is steeped in the comfort of Three Pines - I can almost smell the baguettes from Sarah's Boulangerie! Penny takes a different tact this time, setting the bulk of the novel during a court case and flashing back to the crime and investigation (all the while obscuring the identity of the murderer). Gamache's stubborn integrity is at times admirable and others frustrating, but in the end he works towards the greater good.