The Madness of Crowds cover art

The Madness of Crowds

Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 17

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

The Madness of Crowds

By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Adam Sims
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The new book in the internationally best-selling Gamache series by 'one of the greatest crime writers of our time' (Denise Mina).

The incredible new book in Louise Penny's number one best-selling Chief Inspector Gamache series.

When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is asked to provide crowd control at a statistics lecture given at the Université de l'Estrie in Quebec, he is dubious. Why ask the head of homicide to provide security for what sounds like a minor, even mundane lecture?

But dangerous ideas about who deserves to live in order for society to thrive are rapidly gaining popularity, fuelled by the research of the eminent Professor Abigail Robinson. Yet for every person seduced by her theories, there is another who is horrified by them. When a murder is committed days after the lecture, it's clear that within crowds can lie madness.

To uncover the truth, Gamache must put his own feelings about the divisive professor to one side. But with her ideas gaining ground, the line separating good and evil, right and wrong, is quickly blurring - especially when the case leads unexpectedly close to home....

Includes a bonus conversation between the author and audiobook narrator Adam Sims.

©2021 Louise Penny (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Crime Crime Thrillers Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Thriller & Suspense Thriller Suspense Murder

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Catching the Wind cover art
Murder and Metaphors cover art
The Dentist cover art
On Hampstead Heath cover art
Ice Blue cover art
Whisky from Small Glasses cover art
A Great Deliverance cover art
A Killer in King’s Cove cover art
Murder at Everham Hall cover art
The Murder Wall cover art
Little Big Man cover art
Mystery on Hidden Lane: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Mystery Novel cover art
Burial Rites cover art
The Paris Architect cover art
An Irish Village Mystery Bundle, Books 1-3 cover art
Her Sister's Bones: An Absolutely Gripping Crime Thriller cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
Wow such a powerful story line. Raw with post covid emotion tangled with previous crimes that even our hero had trouble sorting. The Madness of Crowds is about how individual leaders can start an evil new movement.

All will be well

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
To say I adore these books is an understatement. It’s hard to believe this is book 17 and yet the depth and breadth of the characters that Louise Penny brings to life has developed and matured with the years. I live the way she has woven real events into her books. I was unaware of the murky history surrounding Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron’s ‘research’ at McGill’s Allan Memorial Institute but if even a fraction of it was true, it was a crime against civilians. Similarly the experience of child soldiers in Sudan and their ‘victims’ was harrowing to hear. Cannot recommend more highly and to visit Three Pines again in the future.

Another exceptional Inspector Gamache boom

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have read all the Inspector Gamache novels so diving into book 17 was like returning to visit with a beloved and trusted friend. As always Louise Penny conjures a fictitious world that is firmly located in the contemporary one. I laughed often, became angry and cried. I thought about the issues and broke away several times to research some aspect or other. Of course the book works as a stand alone, but the nuances contained within the relationships of the characters, that have sometimes been hard won in previous books, adds another layer of understanding. Starting from book 1 is definitely worth it.
At the end of the book in audible is an hour long interview between Louise and Adam Simms, well worth a listen.

Swept along from first word to last

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The 17th Gamache book from Louise Penny is set after the covid lockdown period, when lives are being resumed - or not. A statistician offers a ghastly proposal for funding the state health system - compulsory euthanasia of certain categories of people - which seems to be about to gain official support. However there is a murder...

Those who have followed this series will at once understand how devastatingly personal this particular issue is to our heroes. There's an historical unpleasantness also, which ties into the main plot - it is, as usual, a neatly crafted work by this excellent author.

And there's a bonus treat - the last 'chapter' is a conversation between Louise Penny and Adam Sims, about writing.. reading .. all sorts of stuff. I'd no idea that they'd never met - clearly a fun occasion!

Excellent, topical, thought-provoking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’ve smashed thru 17 books over the last 6 months. The narrator does a wonderful job. Hope don’t have to wait too long for the next one :)

Don’t miss the bonus iv at the end between author & narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have now read the entire Inspector Gamache series, with growing pleasure and delight. I love the little group of regular characters, who are so carefully drawn that they quickly seem like real people (or ducks!) and the references to delicious sounding food and breakfast pastries make the books ever more appealing! I love the way her thoughtfully constructed plots that sometimes weave their gentle way from book to book. Louise Penny has now become one of my favourite authors and the mix of her and Adam Sims as her reader are completely perfect, in my little World. Nothing better to knit, cook or relax to, for me!

Masterly!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolutely fantastic. It’s a must read. A book for today. I don’t want to say anything about the book because the reader must discover for themselves about how it will affect you.

So Relevent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Reading these books feels like coming home. The comfort and joy these books brings are immeasurable.

Amazing as always.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
it's is a great book, but darker then most in the series, and darker still if your a parent.
overall a good listen

darker then most

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have finally listened to them all and may have to start from the beginning again. I love the characters the places the humanity of them all. Including the duck. Love Adam Sims narration. A perfect marriage. Please don’t let this be the last one. It made me cry.

Love love love these books

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews