Mysteries: Louise Pennys The Madness of Crowds Review – The Wall Street Journal

At the start of Louise Pennys The Madness of Crowds, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of homicide for the Sret du Qubec, is assigned to oversee security for a polarizing professors lecture at a local college.

Abigail Robinson is a statistician who proposes that the government can ease socioeconomic pressures through eugenics and euthanasia. Gamache reluctantly fulfills his task shadowing her talk, during which a gunman fires (unsuccessfully) at the speaker. Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you? the professor is asked. Well, she says, theres half of Canada, it seems. The following day, another woman, who was perhaps mistaken for Robinson, is found bludgeoned to death in the snow.

The Madness of Crowds is Ms. Pennys 17th entry in her intelligent and emotionally powerful series featuring Gamache. Once again, the author has produced a unique work twining moral issues and absorbing character studies into a challenging murder mystery. There is an abundance of deductive speculation among Gamache and his team, and the brainstorming continues even after the suspects are gathered for a final confrontation. Then, at the very last moment, the chief inspectorin a manner worthy of Aesop, Solomon, Freud or Holmespoints the finger of guilt.

Jack, the 25-year-old title character of Peter Hellers The Guide, isnt looking to save the worldjust his own sanity. Guilt-ridden by the death of his mother in a horse accident and the demise of his best friend in a river mishap, hes retreated into a solitary life centered around fishing. He leaps like a trout at the chance to work as a guide at Kingfisher Lodge, a rustic getaway for the rich and famous that promises boutique fishing at its finest. The first guest entrusted to him is Alison, a popular singer who fishes well and finds Jack charming. He asks himself: What could be better?

Well, it would be nice if the guests and staff werent under camera surveillance, and if there werent off-limits areas where the penalty for trespassing is being shot at. And if Jack didnt find evidence suggesting that his predecessor as guide was murdered. Jack and Alison both wonder: What is Kingfisher Lodge, really? When at last they learn the awful truth, Jack erupts: He wanted to bust whatever was happening here as fast as he could. . . . Barring that, he wanted to kill.

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Mysteries: Louise Pennys The Madness of Crowds Review - The Wall Street Journal