Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A routine break-in at the home of Sûreté homicide chief Armand Gamache leads slowly but surely to the revelation of a potentially calamitous threat to all Québec. At first it seems as if nothing at all triggered the burglar alarm at Gamache’s home in Three Pines; it was literally a false alarm. It’s not till he receives a package containing his summer jacket that Gamache realizes someone really did get into his house, choosing to steal exactly this one item and return it with a cryptic note referring to “some malady…water” and “Angelica stems.” Having already refused to meet with Jeanne Caron, chief of staff to Marcus Lauzon, a powerful politician who’s already taken vengeance on Gamache and his family for not expunging his child’s criminal record, Gamache now agrees to meet with Charles Langlois, a marine biologist with ties to Caron who confesses to a leading role in stealing Gamache’s jacket. Their meeting ends inconclusively for Gamache, who’s convinced that Langlois is hiding something weighty, and all too conclusively for Langlois, who’s killed by a hit-and-run driver as he leaves. The news that Langlois had been investigating a water supply near the abbey of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups sends Gamache scurrying off to the abbey, where the plot steadily thickens until he’s led to ask how “an old recipe for Chartreuse” can possibly be connected to “a terrorist plot to poison Québec’s drinking water.” That’s a great question, and answering it will take the second half of this story, which spins ever more intricate connections among leading players that become deeply unsettling. One of those rare triple-deckers that’s actually worth every page, every complication, every bead of sweat. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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Penny’s 19th novel featuring Chief Insp. Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec (after A World of Curiosities) is one of the series’ best. The typically even-tempered Gamache is rattled by repeated phone calls from a mysterious stranger one morning while relaxing in the sleepy village of Three Pines with his wife. Shortly afterward, someone breaks into the couple’s Montréal apartment and steals one of Gamache’s old coats, then delivers it to his office at Sûreté headquarters with two anonymous notes inside: one requesting a meeting, the other cryptically listing a series of herbs. Enlisting the help of his son-in-law, Jean-Guy, and fellow investigator, Insp. Isabelle Lacoste, Gamache learns that his pursuer is engaged in a plot that crosses international borders. Splitting up, the three leads cover ground as far-flung as the White House and the Vatican to foil the plot, which forces Gamache to look at old allies with fresh skepticism. Penny pulls off the narrative’s uncharacteristically epic scope without a hitch, swapping fair-play puzzles for pulse-pounding cliffhangers without sacrificing intimate character moments. Gamache’s fans will be eager for his next adventure. (Oct.)This review has been updated to remove a spoiler.

Library Journal
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Numerous phone calls disrupt Armand Gamache's Sunday morning, but he refuses to pick up. As head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, he returns to work on Monday to find the entire department upset about a package that has just been delivered to him. The bomb squad clears it, but the notes and raincoat inside lead to a bigger bombshell for Gamache's team. The contents of the package then draw Gamache and his team to a small café where, even though he's surrounded by police, he can't prevent a murder. Clues left behind by the victim hint at terrorism, compelling Gamache and his closest coworkers to work quietly. He and two trusted officers cross lakes and oceans to stop a terrorist whose target is the country's infrastructure. VERDICT Penny's follow-up to A World of Curiosities plays on readers' fears as she launches a new story arc that is completed in this installment but presents a cliffhanger. It's a frightening novel of duality, of good versus evil, with an allegorical tale for today's world, as only Penny can write.—Lesa Holstine

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie are in their garden in Three Pines enjoying a sunny mid-August morning, but when Armand’s phone rings and an old enemy is calling, the skies darken. The story is complex and intense, and, as always, artfully constructed and lyrically delivered. The only clue Gamache has to start with are two halves of a recipe for Chartreuse, a liqueur made in a remote French monastery, with words scribbled on the back, one of which is “water.” As the pieces fall into place, he realizes he is up against a massive threat to poison the water supply of Montreal. With botulism. Why? The Who? is staggering: Government officials, members of the Sûreté du Québec, and quite possibly the Canadian mafia may be involved, and, oddly, a handful of monks and a nun seem to be inextricably involved. Gamache, the tenacious Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and the resilient Isabelle Lacoste frantically search for answers, including at the Vatican, while a clock ticks steadily in Montreal. It all ends in a deadly shootout at a water-treatment plant. Penny concludes with a cliffhanger revelation. Although the battle may seem won, a war has yet to be waged. Prends garde, Chief Inspector.