Louise Penny: The Madness of Crowds, hardback · ‎ 9781529379389, Minotaur US 

(cheaper eBook edition available)

 

Ever since my friend Neva tugged a Louise Penny book in my bag for a long transatlantic flight, I have been a big fan of her writing loving the escape to Canada with Inspector Armand Gamache and his Quebec team.  The Madness of Crowds has a serious subject at heart, something we have all been experiencing during this pandemic, how crowds and opinions can be manipulated often resulting in dangerous movements, in this book’s case euthanasia of the old and handicapped.  Armand Gamache and his team are asked to provide security for Professor Abigail Robinson who is at the head of such a movement. Of course it does not take long before serious unrest and even a murder at Three Pines are the consequences of a speech she held. Louise Penny’s novels are far removed from the currently successful so-called cozy crime fiction although there is always a lot of drinking and eating going on for comfort. They always deal with human conflicts and political issues, are meticulously researched with a great plot that often keeps you guessing till the end which is exactly why I love them.  “The Madness of Crowds” was no different, spent some great reading hours my only critique being that several facts and circumstances were reiterated a bit too much for my taste.