“The Black Wolf isn’t just Louise Penny’s 20th Gamache novel, it’s one of her best mysteries to date” — Ryan Steck, The Real Book Spy and Author of Gone Dark
(Note: This is a condensed version of a review posted to The Real Book Spy’s Substack. To stay up to speed on all things mystery & thriller, and to see the longer, but still spoiler-free version of this review, along with other additional exclusive content, please follow our Substack here.)
#1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny’s beloved series hits twenty books—and doesn’t miss a beat. Picking up where The Grey Wolf left off, this chilling and at times prophetic thriller finds Inspector Gamache just as he realizes the domestic terror plot he risked everything to stop was only the beginning.
(Note: if you’ve not read Penny’s The Grey Wolf, it’s worth mentioning that this book may be hard to follow, as it’s a direct sequel that picks up only a few weeks after those events.)
Gamache, still recovering from the injuries he sustained in Penny’s last outing, has privately retreated to the quiet refuge of Three Pines. But as his body heals, Gamache’s instincts and gut, both of which he’s honed over a long career with the Sûreté du Québec, tell him something bigger is hiding in the shadows. And no matter how hard he tries, peace remains elusive, prompting the famed investigator to start digging.
As it turns out, the domestic terror plot he thought he dismantled (in the last book) was only the first act in a much deeper conspiracy—one that reaches into law enforcement, government, and organized crime. Armed with only two notebooks, a tattered map, and the haunting phrase “In a dry and parched land where there is no water,” Gamache must work covertly with his trusted colleagues Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste to uncover the truth before catastrophe strikes again.
But that’s easier said than done.
Soon, Gamache is tested in ways he never could have imagined, and he finds himself in an intricate, tension-laced chess match with an unseen enemy—the titular Black Wolf—whose reach and influence extend farther than anyone imagined.
Across twenty novels, Penny has transformed the Gamache series from a cozy village mystery into something more expansive and daring—a fusion of psychological suspense, political thriller, and moral allegory. In many ways, The Black Wolf is the fruit of that evolution. While some longtime fans may miss the gentler puzzles of Still Life or the slow-burn style of A Rule Against Murder, Penny’s ambition here is rather extraordinary, as she writes about the modern condition, and how fear spreads faster than truth, how loyalty and integrity can become acts of rebellion, and how a single choice can tip a nation toward chaos or redemption.
And therein lies the magic of Penny’s latest.
It isn’t just the scope of its plot that makes The Black Wolf so powerful, but Penny’s ability to weave the philosophical with the procedural. She writes with charm and empathy, turning political intrigue into a meditation on moral courage. Gamache, as ever, stands as a beacon of decency in a corrupt world—a man who believes, despite everything, that good will prevail if enough people stand for it.
The question, then, really… is how many people will get on their feet?
While no doubt a milestone worth celebrating, The Black Wolf isn’t just Louise Penny’s 20th Gamache novel, it’s one of her best mysteries to date—a heart-stopping story about misinformation, corruption, and courage, as Penny masterfully blends moral wisdom with nail-biting suspense, proving once again why Gamache is the beating heart of modern crime fiction.
Book Details
Author: Louise Penny
Series: Inspector Gamach #20
Pages: 384 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1250328175
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Release Date: October 28, 2025
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor in addition to running TRBS. He is the author of FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” LETHAL RANGE, OUT FOR BLOOD, GONE DARK, and TED BELL’S MONARCH. For more information, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and BookBub. For even more content and book news, subscribe to The Real Book Spy Substack!