All the Devils Are Here
by Louise Penny
Gamache's godfather is attacked in Paris, uncovering a conspiracy that reaches into the highest levels of French and Canadian society.
Review
Louise Penny does something bold with her sixteenth Gamache novel: she leaves Three Pines entirely. The story unfolds in Paris, where Gamache and his family are visiting his beloved godfather, Stephen. When Stephen is brutally attacked, Gamache finds himself investigating on foreign ground without his usual authority or resources.
The Paris setting gives the series a jolt of fresh energy. Penny writes the city with obvious affection and deep familiarity, from the grand boulevards to the quiet residential streets. But this isn’t a tourist’s Paris; it’s a city of old money, hidden power, and dangerous secrets buried beneath centuries of civilised veneer.
The conspiracy Gamache uncovers is genuinely ambitious in scope. Corporate malfeasance, environmental destruction, and institutional corruption intertwine in ways that feel depressingly plausible. Penny builds the threat methodically, each revelation raising the stakes until the danger feels overwhelming.
Family takes centre stage in ways the series hasn’t explored before. Gamache’s relationships with his godfather, his children, and Jean-Guy are tested by the investigation, as secrets emerge that challenge everything he thought he knew about the people closest to him. The emotional stakes rival the physical ones.
Penny handles the shift to thriller territory with impressive assurance. The pace is faster than a typical Gamache novel, the danger more immediate and physical. But she never sacrifices character for plot — every action sequence is grounded in the relationships and moral framework that define the series.
The absence of Three Pines is felt throughout, and Penny uses this displacement to illuminate what the village means to Gamache and to the reader. Home isn’t just a place of safety; it’s where your moral compass is calibrated. Away from it, the right path is harder to find.
Stephen himself is a wonderful creation — cultured, sharp, full of surprises, and harbouring decades of secrets. His relationship with Gamache adds genuine emotional depth, and his predicament gives the investigation a personal urgency that carries the reader through the book’s more complex plotting.
An ambitious departure that proves the series can thrive outside its comfort zone. Penny expands her canvas without losing the humanity and moral seriousness that make these books exceptional.