The Black Wolf

Penny’s exemplary 20th mystery featuring Chief Insp. Armand Gamache of the Québec Sûreté (after The Grey Wolf) picks up where its predecessor left off, with Gamache and his cohort reeling from the revelation that a conspiracy to poison Montréal’s drinking water was just the beginning of a far-reaching international espionage plot. At the outset, Gamache, along with his deputies Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste, wrack their brains to decipher clues in a notebook left behind by biologist Charles Langlois, who was murdered in front of Gamache before he could reveal the extent of the scheme. Gamache’s determination to avert disaster, and his knowledge that high-ranking government officials might be compromised, leads him to reluctantly seek information from Marcus Lauzon, Canada’s former deputy prime minister, who masterminded the water plot. Lauzon’s scheme involved ceding control of primary industries to Americans, and the more Gamache uncovers, the more he realizes the Americans might hold the key to the case. Penny’s talent for nail-biting suspense and quiet character moments fuse with surprisingly topical subject matter to deliver an unputdownable installment of an ever reliable series. Readers will cheer. (Oct.)