The Cruellest Month

The award-winning third novel from worldwide phenomenon and number one New York Times bestseller Louise Penny It's Easter, and on a glorious Spring day in peaceful Three Pines, someone waits for night to fall. They plan to raise the dead . . . When Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete du Quebec arrives the next morning, he faces an unusual crime scene. A séance in an old abandoned house has gone horrifically wrong and someone has been seemingly frightened to death. In indyllic Three Pines, terrible secrets lie buried, and even Gamache has something to hide. One of his own team is about to betray him. But how far will they go to ensure Gamache's downfall? 'A cracking storyteller, who can create fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves 'Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series gets better with each book' Globe and Mail

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life in Three Pines, finding long buried secrets—and facing a few enemies of his own. With nine books in the series and more to come, this boxed set of the first three books—Still Life, A Fatal Grace, and The Cruelest Month—introduces not only the engaging series hero Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces—and this series—with integrity and quiet courage, but also the spectacular Louise Penny. A #1 New York Times bestseller and multiple award winner, Louise Penny "writes with grace and intelligence" (New York Times Book Review) and "with her smart plot and fascinating, nuanced characters...proves that she is one of our finest writers (People). The acclaimed series is a sensation—there are nearly 850,000 print copies in the US and Canada alone, and it has been translated into 35 languages.

The CWA Dagger-winning first novel from worldwide phenomenon and number one New York Times bestseller Louise Penny, introducing Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines - a place so free from crime it doesn't even have its own police force. But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets... 'Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache of the Quebec police isone of the most interesting detectives in crime fiction' The Times 'A cracking storyteller, who can create fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves

Previously published as The Murder Stone The acclaimed fourth novel in the bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache series, by international phenomenon and number one New York Times bestseller Louise Penny. It's the height of summer, and the wealthy Finney family have gathered at the Manoir Bellechasse to pay tribute to their late father. But as the temperature rises, old secrets and bitter rivalries begin to surface. When the heat wave boils over into a mighty storm, a dead body is left in its wake. Chief Inspector Gamache, a guest at the Bellechasse, finds himself with a building full of suspects. With the hotel locked down, the murderer is trapped. But a cornered predator is always the most dangerous of all... 'A cracking storyteller, who can create fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves 'Impossible to put down' Globe and Mail

Previously published as Dead Cold The award-winning second novel from worldwide phenomenon and number one New York Times bestseller Louise Penny. Winter in Three Pines, and the sleepy village is carpeted in snow. It's a time of peace and goodwill - until a scream pierces the biting air. A spectator at the annual Boxing Day curling match has been fatally electrocuted. Despite the large crowd, there are no witnesses and - apparently - no clues. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache discovers a history of secrets and enemies in the dead woman's past. But he has enemies of his own, and as he is frozen out of decision-making in the Surete du Quebec, he has to decide who he can trust... 'Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache of the Quebec police isone of the most interesting detectives in crime fiction' The Times 'A cracking storyteller, who can create fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves

Startlingly original, these hilariously offbeat storylines blend vivid characters with bleakly comical plots that are both human and uncanny. Each memorable character?including the elderly who take to the streets at night for illegal and cathartic electric scooter racing, a copy editor who suffers brain damage from West Nile virus and is suddenly filled with cannibalistic violence and award-winning minimalist poetry, and Mayor McCheese who visits a sexually repressed British couple in the early 1970s and touches their lives forever?contributes to the collection's unique voice.

Still Life was awarded the 2006 CWA New Blood Dagger for Crime Fiction and the 2006 Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel

The fifth novel in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, from worldwide phenomenon and number one New York Times bestseller Louise Penny When Chief Inspector Gamache arrives in picturesque Three Pines, he steps into a village in chaos. A man has been found bludgeoned to death, and there is no sign of a weapon, a motive or even the dead man's name. As Gamache and his colleagues start to dig under the skin of this peaceful haven for clues, they uncover a trail of stolen treasure, mysterious codes and a shameful history that begins to shed light on the victim's identity - and points to a terrifying killer... 'The best Gamache so far' Globe and Mail 'Ingenious and unexpected'Guardian 'A cracking storyteller, who can create fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' Ann Cleeves