If you are looking for all Louise Penny books in order, you have landed on the right page, as you’ll find the ultimate guide to reading all her books in proper order!
Louise Penny has devised the perfect series for voracious readers who love cozy mysteries and crime thrillers! Filled with the elements of family, friends, community, hope, murder, mystery, and contemporary issues like PTSD, drug addiction, and police corruption, her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series excels at crafting a world unlike any other.
It is a mystery series written by Louise Penny, consisting of 20 books, with the first book published in 2005, the latest released in 2024, and one set to be released later in 2025.
The entire series revolves around the life of a police detective named Armand Gamache and how he investigates and resolves the murder mysteries of people in each novel. The series takes place in the imaginary location of Three Pines, a small village in Quebec, Canada.
While plenty of mystery thrillers exist, the absence of violence makes the Inspector Armand Gamache Series unique.
All Louise Penny Books in Order:
There are 20 books in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series at the moment, and the best way to read all of them is in the publication order. Below is a list of all books for your reference:
- Still Life (2005)
- A Fatal Grace (2006)
- The Cruelest Month (2007)
- A Rule Against Murder (2008)
- The Brutal Telling (2009)
- Bury Your Dead (2010)
- A Trick of the Light (2011)
- The Beautiful Mystery (2012)
- How the Light Gets In (2013)
- The Long Way Home (2014)
- The Nature of the Beast (2015)
- A Great Reckoning (2016)
- Glass Houses (2017)
- Kingdom of the Blind (2018)
- A Better Man (2019)
- All the Devil Are Here (2020)
- The Madness of Crowds (2021)
- A World of Curiosities (2022)
- The Grey Wolf (2024)
- The Black Wolf (Expected in Oct. 2025)
Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series in Order:
1. Still Life (2005)
The first book, Still Life, starts with the unexpected death of a 76-year-old retired school teacher named Jane Neal. Ben Hadley, the owner of the local archery club, found Jane’s body.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, along with his second-in-command Jean-Guy Beauvoir, investigates Jane’s mysterious death. After examining the crime scene, the detectives learn that an arrow killed Jane. Inspector Gamache also learns that Jane never allowed anyone to go beyond the kitchen in her home.
Was the killing of Jane an accident or a sinister murder scheme? Why does Jane never let anyone in her house?
2. A Fatal Grace (2006)
It’s somewhere between December 22 and New Year’s Day that a woman named Cecilia “CC” de Poitiers is murdered.
She was electrocuted while watching the annual curling tournament while standing on a frozen lake. No one saw who electrocuted her even though she was in front of the entire village.
Inspector Gamache investigates the case and understands that nothing that appears to be reality is true. With the whole town, CC’s daughter, and her husband hating her, how will the inspector find out about the murderer?
3. The Cruelest Month (2007)
The Cruelest Month focuses on Gabri, a local of Three Pines, who is hosting a séance (a meeting where people try to talk with the dead).
Despite only a few people attending the séance, people enjoyed it. So Gabri decides to host a larger séance at the allegedly haunted Old Hadley House. But things do not go as planned, and a local woman, Madeleine, dies of fright.
Gabri stops the séance and calls the police. Inspector Gamache investigates the case and soon understands that the death was not an accident because someone had drugged Madeleine. Who would be cruel enough to kill someone during spring when nature is blooming?
4. A Rule Against Murder (2008)
Louise Penny’s A Rule Against Murder is the fourth book in the Inspector Armand Gamache series. In it, the inspector and his wife go to the luxurious inn Manoir Bellechasse, situated outside the Three Pines, to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
The rich and respectable Finney Family is also there for their celebrations. Everything is going perfectly until a member of the Finney family is murdered, and Inspector Gamache has to investigate the case.
The victim is found crushed beneath a giant heavy statue. Who has this enormous power to lift such a heavy statue, and why would someone murder someone in a hotel? It’s up to the inspector to find out the truth!
5. The Brutal Telling (2009)
When a body is found in Three Pine’s restaurant, the inspector takes up the case, and the owner of the restaurant, Olivier Brulé, is interrogated.
Inspector Gamache discovers that Olivier’s story is more complicated than he is telling. He also discovers that Olivier has an estranged relationship with his father.
How has this relationship shaped Olivier’s personality? What is Olivier hiding, and aside from him, how many people are the suspects in this case?
6. Bury Your Dead (2010)
Bury Your Dead features Gamache, who is on leave and traveling to the Quebec Literary and Historical Society library to recover from a case gone horribly wrong.
But after arriving at the Historical Society, he finds the body of Augustin Renaud in the basement of the building.
Renaud was a historian obsessed with finding the burial place of Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec. Who murdered Renaud? Will Gamache be able to forgive himself and move on to the next case?
7. A Trick of the Light (2011)
The seventh book, A Trick of the Light, focuses on another murder mystery that Inspector Gamache must solve.
It is Clara Morrow’s first-ever solo show at Musee d’Art. She is happy, hopeful, and nervous. Everyone at the show applauds her arts and abilities. Even her husband, an artist himself, is happy and jealous of her wife. But all of their celebrations end the next day when Clara and her husband find a dead body in their garden.
The dead body belongs to a woman they both knew and have preferred not to talk to for the last 30 years. Why has this woman appeared here dead after 30 years? And who is behind the plot of murder?
8. The Beautiful Mystery (2012)
The Beautiful Mystery takes us to a monastery where around two dozen monks have cloistered themselves to live in peace and focus on their prayers. But tragedy can strike even in this harmonious and serene environment.
Frère Mathieu, the choir leader at the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-Les-Loups, is murdered. The twenty-three music monks are grieving the murder of their leader.
Inspector Gamache has come to this place to investigate the murder of Frère. As the investigation proceeds, Gamache realizes the monastery is not as united as it seems!
9. How the Light Gets In (2013)
How the Light Gets In is set in winter, and Christmas is fast approaching. Myrna Landers’s former client-turned-friend was supposed to meet her, but she did not come and is missing now.
Myrna contacts Gamache regarding this, who starts investigating the case and finds the friend dead in her home, killed by a head blow while packing.
The case became interesting because the victim was the last of the Ouellet quintuplets. She was exploited by a doctor and used by the government. With motives that are running wild but bizarre, Gamache finds himself in an unexpected position.
10. The Long Way Home (2014)
After an unexpected traumatic event in the past, Gamache has decided to retire as the Chief Investigator to live happily with his wife. Clara Marrow, the artist and neighbor of Gamache, seeks help from him.
Clara says that she and her husband, Peter, separated a year ago but had decided to meet on the first anniversary of their separation. Clara says the reunion date has come and gone, but her husband has not. And so, Gamache agrees to help.
He soon discovers various hints and paintings that seem to be about places where Peter might have gone. Will Peter be found? Is he alive or dead?
11. The Nature of the Beast (2015)
The Nature of the Beast is focused on a 9-year-old boy named Laurent, who is known for his extraordinary tales and lies, and no one believes him most of the time.
But when he goes missing, the villagers start to think that one of his tales might have been the truth. Soon, the boy is found murdered after he talks about a monster wielding a gun in the forest. With the discovery that the seemingly tall tale was actually true, the Inspector boards on a mission to investigate the murder of the boy.
While investigating, Gamache discovers a giant missile launcher hidden in the forest. Who killed Laurent, and will Gamache solve the case and live peacefully?
12. A Great Reckoning (2016)
After retirement, Gamache accepted the command of the Sûreté Academy to train future officers. Gamache also keeps Serge LeDuc, a former assistant at the academy. Gamache assigns four students to LeDuc to solve a mystery together. But one of the four students finds LeDuc dead.
LeDuc’s revolver had the fingerprints of Amelia (one of the four students) and Gamache. Now Amelia is missing, and everyone suspects Gamache of the foul act.
Is Gamache a murderer? Where has Amelia gone? Will Gamache’s reputation ever recover after this murder?
13. Glass Houses (2017)
This book focuses on Inspector Gamache after he was appointed the Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Quebec.
He is in the witness box to testify in a murder trial. During the trial, it becomes evident that there is more at stake than anyone could imagine. The judge also senses tension between the Chief Crown Prosecutor and Gamache.
The book switched narratives between the courtroom and last November when the dead body of Katie Evans was found. What is Gamache trying to hide? Who killed Katie Evans? The gripping thriller will change your perspective on crime novels!
14. Kingdom of the Blind (2018)
In Kingdom of the Blind, Gamache has been suspended from his position due to a series of unexpected events. So, when Gamache receives a letter that invites him to an abandoned farmhouse, he becomes curious.
Gamache then discovers that Bertha Baumgartner, a woman he has never met, has named him one of the executors of her will. Soon, Gamache finds the dead body of Anthony Baumgartner, and the inspector also discovers a long-unresolved family dispute.
Who has killed Anthony? Why has Bertha left money for Gamache and other strangers instead of her three children? But these aren’t the only problems the former inspector will face!
15. A Better Man (2019)
A Better Man features Gamache back as the head of the homicide department. Jean-Guy, Gamache’s son-in-law and the current Chief Inspector of Homicide, will start a private job in Paris, so Gamache takes his previous position as the Chief Inspector.
During a meeting, Agent Cloutier informs about Vivienne, a girl who’s gone missing. Vivienne is married to an abusive husband, and while the search becomes chaotic, Gamache can’t help but put all his efforts into finding the missing lady.
But there are floods in the town, and people find Vivienne’s body and her belongings in the water. Did Vivienne drown? Or was she murdered? If she was murdered, who may be the killer? It’s up to Gamache to solve this mystery and bring the culprit to justice!
16. All the Devils Are Here (2020)
Inspector Gamache and his wife are on a trip to Paris, waiting for the birth of their granddaughter. He even meets his godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz.
However, Gamache witnesses Stephen being hit by a delivery truck, and it is very clear that this was not an accident but a deliberate attempt at taking the elderly man’s life. When Gamache finds a strange key in Stephen’s possession, he begins his investigation with his wife and Jean-Guy,
The next day, Gamache and his wife find out that Stephen was living in a suite in a hotel instead of his apartment. In Stephen’s apartment, Gamache finds out the dead body of Alexander Plessner, a person whom Gamache does not know!
17. The Madness of Crowds (2021)
The pandemic is over, and the government has assigned Abigail Robinson the task of analyzing how to achieve national stability.
Abigail presents her idea of euthanasia for the elderly and sick, which shocks Gamache. Because if Abigail’s idea was to be accepted, it meant that Gamache’s Down syndrome-affected granddaughter should be killed.
Riots and clashes start in Canada regarding Abigail’s ideas, and during a University lecture, someone shoots gunfire at Abigail, but Gamache saves her.
Gamache and his detectives discover Abigail’s disabled sister’s death several years ago. Gamache believes that the death was a murder cover-up. What will the events in the book lead to?
18. A World of Curiosities (2022)
The book starts with the murder of a drug-addicted prostitute. She prostituted her children, and when the mother’s health began to weaken, her children murdered her with a brick. The prostitute’s daughter, Fiona Arsenault, confessed and went to jail.
Gamache never believed her because, due to his bizarre personality, he suspected Fiona’s brother Sam to be the murderer. Gamache also sponsors Fiona after he discovers her aptitude for engineering.
But all these kindnesses turn against Gamache as he soon finds himself in a place like no other. Will he be able to solve the case and live his life peacefully?
19. The Grey Wolf (2024)
Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden.
Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.
Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Quebec and across borders.
18. The Black Wolf (2025)
Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it.
A man they called the Black Wolf!
But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache realizes that the horrific plot was just the beginning. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned.
Did he, in fact, arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there? Armand is appalled to think his mistake has allowed their conspiracy to grow, gather supporters, spread lies, manufacture enemies, and feed hatred and division.
FAQ’s about Louise Penny’s Books:
How Many Books Has Louise Penny Written?
Louise Penny has written 20 books in the Inspector Gamache series, a novella titled The Hangman, and co-authored a book, State of Terror.
Will There Be A New Louise Penny Book?
Yes, the 20th book in the Inspector Gamache series, titled The Black Wolf, will be released later this year, on October 28, 2025!
How to Read Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache Series?
The best order to read Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series is in the publication order mentioned above.
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