All the Devils Are Here by Louise PennyAll the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny
Narrator: Robert Bathurst
Series: Inspector Gamache #16
Published by Macmillan Audio on September 1, 2020
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 13 hrs 59 mins
Format: Audiobook
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four-half-stars

The 16th novel by number-one best-selling author Louise Penny finds Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec investigating a sinister plot in the City of Light

On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand’s godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on the elderly man’s life.

When a strange key is found in Stephen’s possession it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from the top of the Tour d’Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded works of art.

It sends them deep into the secrets Armand’s godfather has kept for decades.

A gruesome discovery in Stephen’s Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized.

Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own past. His own family.

For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide.

I’ve read every one of Louise Penny’s Three Pines series. I loved the quirky village residents, the small-town setting, and the intricate, well-plotted mysteries. I like Gamache as a main character and and appreciate his thoughtfulness and calmness. Granted, some of the books I’ve enjoyed more than others. All the Devils Are Here is somewhere in the middle of the pack. The mystery was well-done and I enjoyed getting to know more of Gamache’s family. I missed some of my favorite people though.

All the Devils Are Here is set in Paris, where Gamache’s children now reside. Gamache’s son-in-law, friend, and former protege, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, has also relocated to the city and is working for a private engineering company. Of course, Reine-Marie has come to the city with Gamache, and we also get to meet his billionaire godfather Stephen Horowitz. The action begins when the elderly Horowitz is hospitalized after a car deliberately hits him. Not long afterward, a body turns up in Stephen’s apartment and Gamache takes on the case himself, in part because he’s not sure he can trust the local police. From there, the action accelerates until the entire family is caught up in a sprawling web of greed, murder, and corruption. This time around it’s a mystery with global repercussions, but Penny still manages to keep the focus on the characters and their relationships.

I enjoyed the setting and the descriptions. The writing is good and the plot is well executed. There are several twists and turns, and I apprectiated the overall happy ending. It is a bit more of a thriller than a whodunit, but it worked for me.

About Louise Penny

LOUISE PENNY (born 1958), a former CBC radio journalist, is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of fourteen Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has been awarded the John Creasey Dagger, Nero, Macavity and Barry Awards, as well as two each of the Arthur Ellis and Dilys Awards. Additionally, Penny has won six Agatha Awards and five Anthony Awards, and has been a finalist for an Edgar Award. She lives in a small village south of Montréal.

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