Miss Wolcott's Ghost

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #21

by Louise Penny

Armand Gamache returns!

“There’s a body in Lost Nation.”

“Where?” demands Armand as he scribbles on the pad by his bed.

But the line goes dead before Chief Inspector Gamache can question the caller.

The head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec has no idea where Lost Nation is, or who woke him in the small hours of the morning at his home in Three Pines. What he does know is that the man was terrified.

And so Armand is thrust out of a deep sleep and into the surrounding forests in search of the mythical Lost Nation. And a body.

When he and his team of Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste find both, the situation only grows more bizarre. The unidentified dead man appears to be from an era more than a century old. He’s lying in a long-abandoned cemetery, on top of a grave with a date, but no name.

Adding to the mystery, the early morning call appears to have come from Gamache’s friend and neighbor, Clara Morrow. While she denies any knowledge of it, it becomes clear there is some connection between her, the Morrow family, and Lost Nation.

Soon, Gamache and his team are faced with tracking down not just the legend of Lost Nation, but a lost ship, lost documents belong to an eccentric Victorian botanist, , and a mysterious plant not seen in a century, that might save, or take, countless lives.

As the murder investigation deepens, nightmarish spectres from the past begin to haunt the Sûreté officers, only heightened by the appearance of one of Gamache’s former and now disgraced proteges, with whom he must form an uneasy alliance.

As the ghosts begin to gather, Gamache, Beauvoir, and Lacoste, with the help of Reine-Marie, Clara, and the other villagers of Three Pines, realize that the body on the grave is far from the only death. To solve the crime and avert catastrophe they must look to rancid secrets and old lies no longer dead and buried.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Canada, Thriller, Crime

Audible Audio

First published October 20, 2026

About the author

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 Canadian culture. Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal.

Reviews

[MarilynW · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #21
Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny

I know that Three Pines is not on any map so it's impossible to find for most. But since I began the series from the beginning, years ago, I'd felt like I knew the place, how to get there, and I knew the people. And then the stories got much darker and much more political, with Gamache being the only one who could save the world from the political big bad guys and he wasn't about to tell anyone what he was doing and what he was thinking, but things were so darkly dire because of the rottenness of human kind who didn't think like he thought and I was souring on the series during the latest books. We saw much less of Three Pines and the characters I'd grown to love in the books before this one.

Now I feel like it's been a huge homecoming with this book. To top it off, Alfred Molina, who played Gamache in the short TV series, is narrating this book. I can understand everything he says (except sometimes French words sound like mush to me but that's because of my lack of being able to speak French, that's a me problem). Listening to the story was effortless and fun, especially after seeing Molina as Gamache on TV. There is a slight mention of things maybe turning toward world destroying something or other but you'll have to read/hear the book to see how that works out.

The gang was all here, duck, dogs and humans, we spend a lot of time in Three Pines and I was thrilled. As usual the story is very complex, with lots of moving parts and misdirection, and it takes a team, including some of the citizens of Three Pines, to help to solve what is going on. DeAnn is my constant reading companion for these stories and is the one who got me hooked on Three Pines in the first place, so be sure to check out her thoughts on this latest book.

Published October 20, 2026 by Macmillan Audio

Thanks to my library and Libby for this audiobook.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a while. I wasn’t a huge fan of the last two Gamache books, or of the more recent thriller co-written with Melissa Fung, but with Miss Wolcott’s Ghost Louise Penny has returned to the form that has made me a giant supporter of her work. I’ll never forget the spell put on me by her first novel, Still Life, and that reading rapture was gifted to me again with this book. When I hit the three-quarter mark, I was glued to the pages and didn’t leave my chair.

Readers have come to expect many things from Penny’s novels – a complicated, thoughtful plot; wonderful characters; and a resolution that often leaves a lump in your throat (for this reader, in any case). This book does not disappoint on any of these fronts. Set again in Three Pines, the story focuses in on Gamache, Beauvoir, and another character who appears to be despised by both men. His story is teased out through the book, and I won’t provide a spoiler.

The basics: Gamache gets a panicked phone call in the middle of the night, with a caller saying merely “There’s a body in Lost Nation.” That of course is a sentence to launch a good story and it does. First Gamache has to find “Lost Nation” and when he does find it there is indeed a dead body on top of a grave, and the body has plants growing through it.

The plant is as big a mystery as the body itself. It appears to be a plant thought to be extinct, and with great care (and the help of a botanist) Armand transplants it to his own garden. The plant and the body are linked, but it takes the majority of the novel for Gamache and his team to discover exactly how they are connected. Along the way the team also discovers a marine disaster – worse than that of the Titanic – occurring just two years later. The investigation also involves this tragedy. It’s a real occurrence, and you’ll want to look it up as you read. It’s remarkable that it’s been so forgotten.

To tell much more would be to give away the delights of this plot. Always, the revelations are made via Gamache’s conversations with suspects and other people he encounters during his investigation. In this way, Penny very much reminds me of the great P.D. James, though Penny’s spirit is ultimately a more optimistic one than James’. These conversations and discoveries are the heart of this deeply complex and moving novel.

Penny also gifts the reader with some short visits with her series “regulars” – Reine-Marie, Ruth, Clara, Myrna, Gabri and Olivier, and even Rosa the duck. But for all it’s breadth of storytelling this is a focused book. It’s focused on Gamache’s and Beauvoir’s investigation, as well as their memories of the character despised by them both. This tighter focus makes the novel a very strong entry in this series, perhaps one of my favorites to date.

[Marcie Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝗔𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝟮.𝟬 🔎

An intricate historical mystery with fascinating characters, multiple threads to untangle and some genuinely interesting insights into human psychology. Add a fantastic atmosphere and subtle, intelligent humour woven naturally into the dialogue, and I was completely sold.

Adam Sims's narration was brilliant, with distinct voices and accents that brought the diverse cast to life. And Ruth? Absolutely fantastic.

I never felt lost despite starting with book 21, and the ending tied everything together beautifully. A layered mystery that rewards your attention rather than relying on nonstop action.

Thank you to Louise Penny, Hodder & Stoughton Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.

🎉 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆! 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿 & 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲! 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I say this all the time- Louise Penny’s Three Pines series are the best mystery books of all time. Filled with wonderful characters that have depth, complex mysteries that are wrapped in a cloak of compassion and humanity, I can never get enough of them.They dealt with the mafia and that just doesn’t interest me. So I was thrilled that her upcoming book Miss Wolcott’s Ghost returns to the series roots.

The book opens with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache receiving an early morning phone call from an unidentified and terrified caller proclaiming, “there’s a body in lost nation”. The only problem is that Armand has never heard of Lost Nation. What follows is a scramble to find the body and the mysterious Lost Nation. What Armand and his team uncover is a cemetery located in the mysterious Quebec forest and the body of a man on top of a grave marked with a tombstone with a date but no name. And most puzzling of all is that the body is clad in clothing from another century, but this is most assuredly a recent murder.

This book is classic Penny. A mystery possibly involving one of the inhabitants of Three Pines with ties to the past. Add in a dose of little known Quebec history involving a ship wreck that rivals the tragedy of the Titanic, and the complex puzzle for Armand, Jean Guy and Isabelle to unravel and you have the perfect mystery to cozy up with on a rainy day. Yes, these books have a cozy factor, but they also have an edge and an underlying brutality that lets you know that you are in the hands of a master storyteller. You can read this book as a stand alone and not be disappointed, but if you want to have one of the best reading journeys of your life start at the beginning and read the series in order. But whatever you do please read at least one of these books!
I listened to this one on audio and it was sublime. Narrated by Alfred Molina, who portrayed Gamache in the series, the character is perfectly brought to life. I was transported and it was a magical experience that I highly recommend. Thanks to @netgalley for this audio arc

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louise Penny has returned to her roots, and I am so here for it! I struggled through the last few books, but I sailed through this one! Classic Louise Penny. Great story, excellent character development, and my beloved Three Pines.

[Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome back to Three Pines, that charming, peaceful village (minus the occasional murder) nestled in the mountains of Québec.

Louise Penny's prior books, THE GREY WOLF and THE BLACK WOLF, took us into a far-reaching conspiracy that spoke of world politics and evil intentions. While our beloved Armand Gamache was still intrepid in his determination to protect people from dastardly plots and despicable deeds, we didn't get to spend much time in Three Pines. But even though MISS WOLCOTT’S GHOST returns us to that idyllic locale, there is still so much going on, so many threads to the plot, that trying to do justice to them all is a Sisyphean task.

One of the best parts of Penny's novels, and almost a character in its own right, is Three Pines. It's a magical place that doesn't appear on any map or GPS, and it's difficult to find, but the “right” sort of people end up there --- those who need to be there. And I daresay that most readers, certainly moi, long to move there as well. Gabriel “Gabri” Dubeau and Olivier Brulé are the charming couple who run the bistro, which serves mugs of café au lait and sandwiches with ham, brie and apples. Ruth Zardo is a well-known poet whose favorite word rhymes with her pet duck, Rosa. Myrna Landers owns the local bookstore, and Clara Morrow is the now world-famous artist. And Inspector Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, live in a cottage with a wide veranda and a lovely garden.

The story begins with a phone call in the middle of the night. Someone wakes up Gamache with information that there's a body in Lost Nation. The call is disconnected, and Gamache is flummoxed. He doesn't know who it was, and he has no idea where or what Lost Nation is. Muddling the matter even more, the call originated from a burner phone registered to Clara, who claims to know nothing about it. He and Reine-Marie ask their friends about Lost Nation and try to research it, but to no avail. Ruth mentions that perhaps the couple at Buzz, the bistro in nearby Knowlton, might know about it. They do, and it turns out that it's a real bistro (which I'm guessing will be getting a lot more traffic from fans of the series who flock to Knowlton, where Penny lives).

Lost Nation is a place that is uninhabited in the novel. The cemetery contains tombstones on which the dates stop in the late 1880s. And yes, when Gamache is led there by the bistro's chef and owner, there is indeed a body on top of one of the graves. But the tombstone has no name, just a date. It is made of a different material and faces in a different direction than the other markers. Growing out of and through the body is a strange plant --- one that turns out to be named Miss Wolcott's Ghost.

Penny brings to our attention historical events that otherwise might have passed us by. For example, in another novel, we learn about the shooting of the Canadian engineering students at the École Polytechnique. It led to the passing of gun control laws, and there is a national day of remembrance. Penny continues that tradition here by detailing a tragedy that I'm not going to name in this review as it needs to be discovered during the reading. But it's yet another obscure event that should be known.

In the Acknowledgments, which Penny (and I) advise you not to read until you have finished the book, Penny shares that Miss Daisy Wolcott is based on a very real, brilliant woman.

So this mystery wanders from the wealthy and eccentric Miss Wolcott and her roundabout connection to the tragic event, to the killings of two women over half a century ago, and the current murder that Gamache is investigating.

In this novel are tales of greed and unbridled avarice. But perhaps the most touching element is that Miss Wolcott, who exemplified the difference between male and female explorers, didn't explore simply to find riches. Rather she listened to indigenous people. She noted their stories and thought they were important. There is more that can't be shared, but she truly is one of Penny's most notable characters.

Along the way in this free-rambling mystery, we are treated to Penny's brilliant writing and wry commentary on the history of women. At one point she describes Clara, Ruth and Myrna as they arrive at the cemetery at Lost Nation after an arduous climb: “They looked for all the world like something Mother Nature had birthed. Like the three tall pines. Or the witches from Macbeth. Or the Three Graces. It came to the same thing, Isabelle knew. Witches. Graces. Same women. Just different interpretations.”

Penny mentions the perceived threats from history that certain governments feel and that they sometimes try to erase due to “toxic nationalism and unpleasant truths.” She also spends time studying opposites: bravery and cowardice. It's one thing for an officer to know what is expected in a planned raid, but she points out that we don't know how we'd behave in a crisis. Would we sacrifice our lives to help others escape, or would we succumb to that basic desire to run and live to see another day? She says that bravery isn't a lack of fear; it's how we deal with that fear. Do we run away? Do we face it?

One of the reasons that this series is so delightful and beloved is the sense of belonging, community, friendship and family as we read about Three Pines and its residents. Where one woman goes, the others show up. And after just a bit, Gabri appears with libations and treats. Lemonade and ginger cookies in the summer. Mugs of coffee and tea with hearty soups and sandwiches dripping with melted cheeses in the winter. Sitting in front of fireplaces enjoying the crackle of the logs burning, or sitting outside the bistro and taking in the sunny day, depending on the season. Three Pines is at the heart of these stories. The warm feelings and Inspector Gamache's kind, intelligent and understanding demeanor envelop us inside a sensation of protection. We know he'll keep us safe.

And then we have to close the book and step back into the real world. But at least for several hours or days, we get to live in Louise Penny's world, a better place (except for the murders, of course) and most definitely a more delicious experience through and through.

Reviewed by Pamela Kramer

[The Bookish Elf · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

The phone rings in the Gamache bedroom at 3:17 on a Saturday morning, on the family's private line. A frightened young voice says there is a body in a place called Lost Nation, then the connection dies. When the call is traced, the phone turns out to be registered to Clara Morrow, the painter who lives across the village green, and within the hour her head of homicide neighbour is searching her attic and crawl space in his socks. Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny opens like that: small, local, and odd. After two books spent chasing a conspiracy against the whole country, the twenty-first Gamache novel is a murder in the woods behind home.

What Miss Wolcott's Ghost Adds

The body in the forest cemetery wears a tweed suit cut before the First World War, from a Savile Row tailor whose shop was bombed in the Second World War. The headstone it lies on carries no name, only a carved sprig and a date: 29 May 1914. And growing on that one grave, and through the dead man, is a spiky grey plant that no app can identify.

Readers who know Canadian history may recognise the date. Most of the characters do not. It is the night the Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence after a collision with the Norwegian collier Storstad, taking 1,012 people with her in about fourteen minutes. Penny makes the team's ignorance part of the story: one by one, every investigator and villager asks how they never knew. Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny turns that question into its real subject, which is what a country, a family or a scientific establishment chooses to forget.

What works
The historical braid. A genealogy company, a salvage official's suspicious records, a Victorian plant hunter and a lost settlement converge so neatly that the clues read better on a second pass than the first.
A return to the village at full strength. Ruth and her swearing duck, Gabri's running jokes and the bistro's endless sandwiches are back, and Gamache's hundred-year-old godfather in Ottawa gets the best scene of financial gossip in the series.
The team as a team. Lacoste, Beauvoir, a forensic accountant and an eager rookie each crack part of the case. Gamache listens more than he leads, which suits him.
Courage examined, not assumed. A disastrous raid from the past, told in fragments, gives the book a moral spine about fear, cowardice and second chances.
Where It Gives Ground
Refrains repeat past their welcome. A plea from that old raid, a line from the 1967 recording and Beauvoir's nightmares about the sinking each recur many times. The first few land hard; by the twentieth the effect has worn thin.
The solution is explained more than dramatised. In Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny the endgame is laid out in a long conversation with a prosecutor, re-covering ground the reader already holds, and the culprit gets little inner life.
The middle wanders. A chase through several archives on two continents depends on lucky finds and convenient timing.
The whimsy is thick. Readers who find Three Pines too cosy will find nothing here to change their minds.
Do You Need the Earlier Books?

Partly. Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny is a self-contained case, and the mystery needs no homework. But much of its feeling depends on history: Clara's late husband Peter and his difficult family, Beauvoir's sobriety and marriage into the Gamache family, Lacoste's near death in the bistro. Newcomers can follow it, but they will get far more from Still Life, The Long Way Home and The Grey Wolf first.

Worth Your Shelf

It is long, it repeats itself, and its final explanations arrive in conversation rather than action. Even so, Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny is the most satisfying puzzle she has built in years, and the most moving, because every clue leads back to people the world agreed to forget.

Come for the body in the woods. Stay for the ship nobody remembered.

[Sandysbookaday (on indefinite hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb. Full review to come.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Between the flashbacks, dreams and daydreams of the various characters, I find this incredibly disjointed and almost annoying.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. I loved being back in Three Pines with characters who almost feel like friends after 21 books and many adventures shared together. And I was happy to mostly stay in Three Pines out on the terrace of the bistro, in Gamache's garden, in Clara's studio, and rooted in the Old Train Station of course. But being rooted in Three Pines wasn't enough to make up for some of the issues I have with this story.

First of all, better editing please! The repetition of phrases and flashback scenes was just plain annoying. How did her editor miss this?

And the story bordered on being too convoluted to enjoy. I usually appreciate the complexities and layering that is part of the mastery of Penny and her mysteries, but the excessive # of storylines that branched off the central murder mystery weakened this one.

Overall, it was still a delight to be back with these familiar and much loved characters, and I look forward to the next.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble with this novel; it just did not seem like one of Louise's better works. Quite different from 'The Grey Wolf' and 'The Black Wolf'. To me there seemed to be no intensity. It was ok, but overall disappointing, for instance: all these people repeatedly coming to the crime scenes....seriously?! You don't that in police work.

[Kyle · Rating 2.25 out of 5]

It’s my fault for being gullible and reading glowing advance reviews. This started out as a much-needed improvement in the series and a solid mystery. Then, devolved into flashbacks, torturing the characters because the author has nothing else to do and then, about 3/4 through the books jumps the shark again. I am assuming the author and editors are getting comfortably paid by gullible readers for this to continue book after book.

[Marta]

The last few books in this series cured me of ever wanting to read it again. Clearly the cure didn’t take, so here we are.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

After not having a great time with the previous Gamache novel, it was really nice to read this one, which feels much like an earlier book. (Still not enough of the Three Pines locals, but at least they feel like their normal selves here, if squashed into a Greek chorus as the narrator says at the end.) The world is not ending, the Man™ is not against Gamache, he and his family are not in clear and present danger. Nice! I also enjoyed the mystery and the history that it led to--the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, and a character riffing on Ellen Willmott*, the titular Miss Wolcott.

I enjoyed the better pace of this novel compared to the previous two (though how Gamache has the budget to jet set at will, I don't know; not complaining though!). Gamache seems more back to his usual self and there is surprisingly little to no mention of the previous heinous installment. Usually we have to rehearse the previous novel's events but not this time! Wheeeee for me! I also just enjoyed all of the locations: Three Pines and a mysterious location nearby, France, England, even the big tech company that I feared was going to be Penny's doomscrolling nightmares again, but it wasn't!!! Very cool, actually, even if something that could only work in a book. An IPOed genealogy company that has a legion of private detectives who must spend tens of thousands traveling to find long-lost deceased relatives? LOL. I wish, because I would totally work there. Gamache also has a wee battle of the minds toward the end, and he learns something. Cheers! Finally.

A few issues are still there for me, including the bang-bang-bang very short sentences. At one point, I was mentally highlighting every sentence under 7 words that wasn't dialogue. Or a dialogue tag. Or an italicized thought. Or had a comma. Come on. This is easily fixable. Reading sentence fragments like this is tiring. It's so jerky. Punchy, even. Like a YouTube video. With a jump cut every two seconds. And see the spoilerish rant below.

Penny is out of my bad graces, but she is not yet back in my good graces. She is in my neutral graces. Another good Gamache would do it, but what would really do it is letting Gamache retire!!!!!! Let the man rest! Make the series about Beauvoir or some interloping French detective (Death in Paradise style) if you must, idc. I leave this book in a better mood than the last, I do recommend it to Gamache fans, even if you've given up due to the previous few novels, this will scratch the itch and can be kind of a standalone in the series after the midpoint-ish.

-----

*I didn't love how Penny represented archivists in this aspect of the novel, nor how she made Miss Wolcott's story more misogynistic than Willmott's history. Willmott became a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and was consulted on high-level projects and got tons (tonnes) of honors and awards. Wolcott, on the other hand, was shunned at every turn. Penny shows beaucoup universities turning down Wolcott's papers and seed collection, and the few that did take anything, all misplaced or lost it. Penny, please! Reine-Marie should have thrown a fit about this. There was also the "Big Bad Patriarchy Lost ~Women's Secret Knowledge~" going on. So annoying. I recommend Lucy Allen Goss, who goes as Lucy Writes History on Substack for refutation. Start with "We Are Not the Granddaughters of the Witches You Couldn't Burn." I'm not saying Penny had to make Wolcott exactly like Willmott, but Penny was following the pop-history narrative of Women Were Always Oppressed, Thought Silly, and Were Generally Very Sad Before Our Enlightened Times. It is inaccurate, condescending toward historical women, and a perpetuation of the patriarchal historical narratives that overlooked these women in the first place. I want better!

[Victoria Grant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having read every book in the Gamache series, more than once, I was sooo looking forward to this novel. After all, the Wolf saga was over, the title was intriguing, and I thought we could get back to enjoying a nice cozy mystery. Couldn't we? Nope. This story, while interesting in parts, included a tertiary plot line that, frankly, boggled my brain cells. It was certainly one we could've done without - so the character is a coward? Fine. Just tell us that and get back to the main story. All these mini fast food joint scenes that popped up willy-nilly were extremely annoying and didn't further the main plot.
I think the most disappointing thing for me was I felt the Three Pines character interactions were forced and convoluted...they didn't have the wit, the sparkle, or the warmth that earlier books had, sadly. With her last four or five novels not hitting the mark for me, this may be the last Gamache I read.

[AliceC09 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this latest entry in the Gamache series. In fact, I think I enjoyed it more than the last few. It was a return to a more classic Penny book as opposed to the ones that have incorporated high stakes political drama, with terrorists or international drug gangs as the antagonist. Don't get me wrong, I liked those books too, but I think my favorite Gamache books are those with a more classic mystery. I finished it so fast, and now I can't wait for the next one. Because I'm living in Europe, I was able to get the book earlier than the US publication date, and I raced through it!

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Louise Penny at her finest, a historical mystery with contemporary repercussions and life in Three Pines continues.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The male voice on a 3a.m. call sounds familiar, but Gamache cannot identify it. “There is a body in Lost Nation.” Is Lost Nation in Three Pines? Is it real? Who was that? How did he get my phone number? No more information before the call ended.

Gamache and his team have much to untangle in Louise Penny’s newest mystery, Miss Wolcott’s Ghost, and I loved every moment reading it. When they finally find the body, it is more than a century old, in an abandoned cemetery, and with connections to a mysterious plant and a lost ship. Gamache does a bit of traveling through Canada and Europe to solve this one, but fear not, the Three Pine characters are back.

As always, her latest release is captivating. I highly recommend it.

[Bill Pentland · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had been a while since I read the last Inspector Gamache book. Finally got the long-awaited new one, Miss Wolcott's Ghost, and was immediately transported to the world of Three Pines. I want to live there, in that community, with those different and special people. I want to have tea and pastries at the Bistro. I want to stand in front of Clara's artwork. I want to wander in the gardens. I want to sit on that bench beneath the Three Pines and watch this community.
Miss Wolcott's Ghost is a complicated mystery, built around, like many of Louise Penny's works, actual historic events and real people. Inspector Gamache, woken from a deep sleep in his home in Three Pines, by a phone call. It was a voice he thought he recognized but he knew the person behind that voice was scared, terribly. The voice said, "There's a body in Lost Nation."
That set the ball rolling, which would roll to Europe, to Great Britain, back to Canada. In doing so, mysteries would be slowly revealed, age old mysteries. Once again, all of Gamache's people are there to help. Old friends, comrades. Characters I have become attached to as if I was part of their lives. This is the magic of Louise Penny's wonderful creation. I sincerely hope she doesn't leave this place because I don't want to leave it myself.

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gamache gets an anonymous call in the middle of the night, telling him there was a body in Lost Nation. He and the team find a body in the long-forgotten Lost Nation cemetery. Who is this person? Their search leads them to Reunion, a company that researches genealogy, and the mystery of the Empress of Ireland, a ship that sank and killed many people in the early 20th century, including Daisy Wolcott, a botanist who had made some remarkable discoveries which were dismissed because she was a woman and not affiliated with a university. Greed and dishonesty caused many lives to be lost, but Isabelle, John Guy, and Armand are determined to get justice, albeit belated, for the victims.

[Debbie · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Chief Inspector Gamache receives a call early one morning, 'There's a body in Lost Nation.' But the line goes dead before Chief Inspector Armand Gamache can question the caller. And so the mystery begins as to who the caller was and where this alleged 'body' lies, as Lost Nation is not somewhere the team are familiar with. Jean-Guy and Isabelle join Armand Gamache in his investigation, that also involves their good friend and neighbour, Clara Morrow.

This was a fascinating novel! I loved the coverage of the real life historical event and the way the author has also woven horticulture into the story. This has a complex plot with so much intricate detail, that you really do need to pay attention and slow down a little to take it all in. While the author's stories do centre around murder, they are also so cozy and as she notes herself, they are very much focused on friendship, belonging and decency triumphing over cruelty. Reading these novels always feels like coming home and you can just imagine living in Three Pines.
This is the 21st installment in this series and as always, I recommend reading them in order.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder Books for this gifted review copy.

[birdie · Rating 5 out of 5]

we are so back

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny

The story moves at a steady pace with a complex plot, attention to detail, and well-developed characters. Engaging dialogue, secrets revealed slowly, building tension, and left me yearning for more. I was engrossed from the first page until the last.

Overall, I found Miss Wolcott's Ghost quite enjoyable. A great addition to the Inspector Gamache series. Fans of Louise Penny will not be disappointed. I look forward to more in this series. I highly recommend this good read.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t been a fan of Louise Penny’s forays into international thrillers, so I was glad to be back in Three Pines. A trip to Europe is required for the investigation, but it’s all part of solving the local mystery. And what a strange mystery it is. Who called Armand Gamache in the middle of the night to say “There’s a body in Lost Nation”? What or where is Lost Nation? With the help of locals, Gamache and his seconds, Beauvoir and Lacoste, find an old abandoned settlement, deep in the woods, known as Lost Nation. Sure enough, in its graveyard, there is a grave with no name on it, but a date, and they find a corpse that has been there for some months, though dressed in hundred-year-old clothing.

Solving the meaning of the date on the grave, and finally identifying the corpse, lead the team on a fascinating historical journey involving botany, shipwrecks, and an eccentric heiress. Interspersed with the investigation, three characters recall a years-before violent incident that reverberates in their psyches today, bringing up issues of bravery and cowardice.

I found the mystery engaging, especially the historical aspects that were previously unknown to me. I could have used more participation by the Three Pines locals, but that’s something I’ve been saying for several books now. I’m just grateful that this book sticks with the usual themes of human faults and how they can lead to murder and other tragedies, while love and understanding can heal.

Alfred Molina makes a very good narrator.

[Holly · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Yay, we are back in Three Pines with the whole gang! I enjoyed the reunion with the cast of characters that make Three Pines an interesting place to live ha! This new Penny novel is an intriguing, if not convoluted, fun mystery, especially for those botanically inclined. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and while i had suspicions, I did not figure it out before the reveal ha!

The audio is very familiar because Alfred Molina (Gamache from the tv series) is the narrator. This is a welcome addition for me because I still miss Robert Bathurst who was the quintessential Gamache voice. Way to go Louise Penny, you're back with my faves!

[Mona · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Review of advance copy from Publisher

So grateful for the community that Louise Penny builds! Penny continues to welcome readers to the magical world of Three Pines and its intriguing characters. For avid readers of the series, they will be captivated by a mystery within a mystery, a historical maritime disaster, and a flashback to Gamache’s past that reveals more of his stalwart character. This book also serves as a good entry point for first time readers of the series. I look forward to discussing this intricate plot and historical elements.Definitely one of my favorite titles in this series!

[Steve · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Ah, this book. What a treat. Penny manages to combine two of my favorite things in a novel: an unusual conundrum and some forgotten history. The fact that she's a master of her craft goes without staying and no matter how much I try to slow down and savor each page, I'm compelled to keep going and, inevitably, I find I've finished all too soon. But that's not really a complaint. Heck, I've even secured a copy of Eve Lazarus's "Beneath Dark Waters" so I can learn more about the tragedy of The Empress of Ireland sinking that is used as a key point in this tale.

I'm just going to say, if you're a mystery fan and you're not reading this series, you're totally missing out. The best modern mysteries out there, in my opinion. Agatha Christie would be proud.

[Chrissie Whitley · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Review to follow.

[Cindy D. Roach · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

This book felt like a return to the Gamache books that I fell in love with- a whodunnit with well crafted subplots.

[Miss Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the previous two. We were missing the bistro descriptions!