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www.louisepenny.com. Louise Penny (born July 1, 1958) [1] CM OQ is a Canadian author of mystery novels set in the Canadian province of Quebec centred on the work of francophone Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. Penny's first career was as a radio broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
- Overview
- Education and CBC career
- Three Pines and Armand Gamache
- Books in the series
- Other activities
Louise Penny, (born July 1, 1958, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Canadian author of the best-selling mystery series that features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. Incorporating elements of a cozy mystery, the character-driven books are carefully plotted whodunits that explore such universal themes as love, friendship, loss, and r...
Penny’s parents were money managers. From a young age, she wanted to be a writer, and while growing up she read classic mystery authors such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. She studied radio and television arts at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University; Bachelor of Applied Arts, 1979) and later joined the Canad...
Encouraged by Whitehead, Penny quit the CBC in 1996 in order to write a novel. However, after struggling for five years to pen “the greatest historical novel ever,” she decided to try her hand at mysteries. According to Penny, she stopped writing for an imagined reader and instead focused on what she would like to read. She thus created characters whom she would befriend, and Armand Gamache was largely inspired by her husband. Not the typical world-weary and troubled detective, the cerebral Gamache is compassionate and kind. In addition, Penny based the book’s setting on her town of Knowlton, Quebec, Canada, and the surrounding area. After finishing the mystery, however, she was rejected by numerous publishers. Then in 2004 she submitted the book for the Debut Dagger award, a British crime-writing contest for unpublished works. Penny went to London for the ceremony, and, although her work placed second, she found an agent.
Still Life was published in 2005. The book centres on the death of a beloved former teacher in Three Pines, a quaint village outside of Montreal. Gamache and his team—including his second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir—soon realize that what appears to be an accidental death is murder. During the search for the killer, they meet an assortment of memorable villagers: married artists (Peter and Clara Morrow), a psychologist-turned-bookstore-owner (Myrna Landers), a cantankerous poet (Ruth Zardo), and a gay couple who own the local bistro and bed-and-breakfast (Gabri Dubeau and Olivier Brulé). During his investigation, Gamache discovers dark secrets while developing a fondness for Three Pines and its inhabitants.
A commercial and critical success, Still Life launched a hugely successful series. A number of subsequent books feature murders in Three Pines or nearby. However, even when the crimes are set in more distant locations, the quaint village and its residents are central elements of the novels as is the inherently decent Gamache, who eventually moves to Three Pines with his wife, Reine-Marie Gamache. While intricately constructed, the mysteries are, at their heart, character studies of flawed but sympathetic people. As Penny once noted, “Writing about murder doesn’t interest me.…I’m interested in what characters do and how they struggle.”
The series earned various accolades, including numerous Agatha Awards, and it sold more than 10 million copies in North America. A miniseries based on Still Life aired in 2013. Later books were the basis for the TV show Three Pines (2022– ), which starred Alfred Molina as Inspector Gamache.
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Penny typically released an Inspector Gamache book every year. She also wrote the companion novella The Hangman (2010) for a Canadian literacy program for emerging adult readers.
•Still Life (2005)
•Dead Cold (2006; also published as A Fatal Grace [2007])
•The Cruelest Month (2007)
•The Murder Stone (2008; also published as A Rule Against Murder [2009])
•The Brutal Telling (2009)
Penny teamed up with American politician Hillary Clinton, a former first lady and secretary of state, to write State of Terror (2021). A geopolitical thriller, it features a female protagonist and draws on Clinton’s experiences in government. The book received largely positive reviews and was a bestseller.
Louise Penny can turn the most clichéd of scenes - informing relatives of a death - into electrifying drama…reminiscent of Thomas Harris at his finest. Gamache is a fascinatingly complex protagonist; we'll see a version of him in the Amazon Prime series Three Pines, scheduled for December.
Here we are. Michael and I were together for 22 years and married for 20. He was the inspiration for Armand Gamache. Kindly, thoughtful, generous, a man of courage and integrity, who both loved and accepted love. He developed dementia, and died peacefully at home in September 2016, surrounded by the love he'd put into the world for his 83 years.
- Still Life (2005) In Louise Penny's captivating mystery, "Still Life," Chief Inspector Armand Gamache unravels the secrets and lies hidden beneath the idyllic surface of Three Pines, a quaint Canadian village, following the mysterious death of a beloved resident and amateur artist.
- A Fatal Grace (2006) In "A Fatal Grace," Louise Penny crafts a chilling mystery that takes readers to the picturesque village of Three Pines, where a glamorous Christmas celebration turns deadly.
- The Cruelest Month (2007) In "The Cruelest Month" by Louise Penny, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache investigates a murder that occurs during a seance in the quaint village of Three Pines, unveiling dark secrets that threaten to tear the community apart.
- A Rule Against Murder (2008) In Louise Penny's "A Rule Against Murder," Chief Inspector Armand Gamache finds himself entangled in a web of family secrets and deadly intentions at a remote lakeside inn, where a friendly summer retreat turns into a harrowing battle for justice.
Louise Penny Author - Official site. The order of the Gamache books, from first to most recent, is: Still Life, A Fatal Grace/Dead Cold (same book, different title), The Cruelest Month, A Rule Against Murder/The Murder Stone (same book, different title), The Brutal Telling, Bury Your Dead, A Trick of the Light, The Beautiful Mystery, How the ...
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Oct 12, 2012 · LOUISE PENNY is the author of the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (seven times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to ...
