The question is why?  Why was Gamache asked to provide security at a small university over the Christmas holidays for an unscheduled speaker?   After accepting the task which is well below his paygrade, why is he feeling so manipulated?  What does someone want to achieve?

Set in a post-COVID pandemic world, lockdowns are over and many have survived while thousands, especially seniors in long-term care have died in Quebec; but people are ready to move on and they want to enjoy the start of a new year, even if it is bittersweet. Suddenly, events at the unscheduled lecture take a dramatic turn, and now, the homicide team has gathered to find the truth.  In the small fictional town of Three Pines in Quebec, fresh snow has fallen, the Christmas lights glimmer, and friends yearn to gather together for comfort.  Yet, despite the attempts at holiday cheer and reunions, evil lies coiled and ready to strike.  Who will be the target?

THE MADNESS OF CROWDS is the aptly titled latest mystery by award-winning and internationally recognized Louise Penny and is the 17th book in her acclaimed Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series.  This fascinating series has been primarily set in the small hidden fictional village of Three Pines, vividly inhabited by a rich set of characters with their own talents and backstories.  Normally, each of Penny’s books can be a stand-alone mystery; but in my opinion, THE MADNESS OF CROWDS may be a bit of a tough slog for readers new to the series.  The story definitely has much more meaning and is more understandable if a few of the earlier books have been read first.

I have long been a fan of Louise Penny, have relished and loved all her previous books as having grown up in Quebec, I am fully aware of the nuances and dark stories that form her plots. While I fully admire how Penny fearlessly integrates current social issues into her novels and lets the light shine through the cracks, THE MADNESS OF CROWDS feels almost too overpacked with moral dilemmas and social justice issues at the expense of further character development and action in the police investigation which gets bogged down in all the various scenarios needing to be considered.

First, despite Gamache’s senior and longstanding position in Homicide, he is asked to provide security at a small Quebec university over the Christmas holidays.  Querying this turns out the guest speaker, Professor Abigail Robinson from British Columbia proposes to highlight with her statistical analysis the potential need for culling population growth for economic recovery.  While some argue academic freedom, this is a highly sensitive topic for many in the story and its overtones personally affect Gamache’s family because his daughter and son-in-law's daughter has Down Syndrome. 

Other issues that surface as Haniya Daoud the Sudanese Nobel Prize nominee comes for a visit to Three Pines. Her backstory of what she had to do in order to survive in the Sudan also brings forth more moral dilemmas. Some are comfortable with her, others are not, yet all wonder “why she is really there?”

Meanwhile, Reine-Marie highlights the dilemmas associated with death and related sorting of possessions and documents as she strives to help a friend organize her mother’s things after she died.  This in turn surfaces a widely known, but hidden secret in Quebec concerning the past treatment of psychiatric patients at a McGill University-related facility, with an unknown link to a local resident. Still, despite the abundance of past secrets and horrors, Penny keeps building up the suspense while providing some release with the theme of "all will be well".

While opinions on the novel will vary, there is definitely much to appreciate at many levels in THE MADNESS OF CROWDS as Gamache and team pursue their investigation with its perplexing situations involving both the past as well as the present.  Penny’s many fans are also sure to appreciate the return to Three Pines and anyone who likes a solid investigation story is sure to be intrigued to find out what controls THE MADNESS OF CROWDS!