
How the Light Gets In
A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, Book 9
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.74
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ralph Cosham
-
By:
-
Louise Penny
About this listen
How the Light Gets In is the ninth Chief Inspector Gamache Novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny.
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." —Leonard Cohen
Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it's a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn't spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him. When Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people not just in North America, but in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo.
As events come to a head, Gamache is drawn ever deeper into the world of Three Pines. Increasingly, he is not only investigating the disappearance of Myrna's friend but also seeking a safe place for himself and his still-loyal colleagues. Is there peace to be found even in Three Pines, and at what cost to Gamache and the people he holds dear?
One of Publishers Weekly's Best Mystery/Thriller Books of 2013
One of The Washington Post's Top 10 Books of the Year
An NPR Best Book of 2013
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
The Hangman
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold November morning, a jogger runs through the woods in the peaceful Quebec village of Three Pines. On his run, he finds a dead man hanging from a tree. The dead man was a guest at the local Inn and Spa. He might have been looking for peace and quiet, but something else found him. Something horrible. Did the man take his own life? Or was he murdered?
-
-
Different for a reason
- By Amazon Customer on 01-12-22
By: Louise Penny
-
State of Terror
- A Novel
- By: Louise Penny, Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Narrated by: Joan Allen
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in, and to everyone’s surprise the president chooses a political enemy for the vital position of secretary of state. There is no love lost between the president of the United States and Ellen Adams, his new secretary of state. But it’s a canny move on the part of the president. With this appointment, he silences one of his harshest critics, since taking the job means Adams must step down as head of her multinational media conglomerate
-
-
Wonderful story and great narration
- By Amazon Customer on 10-14-21
By: Louise Penny, and others
-
The Thursday Murder Club
- A Novel
- By: Richard Osman
- Narrated by: Lesley Manville
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together, they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
-
-
Loved the book but needed better audio production
- By Anne Rivers on 10-29-20
By: Richard Osman
-
The Cuckoo's Calling
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier.
-
-
Unbelievable debut mystery set in London
- By Tracey on 05-26-13
By: Robert Galbraith
-
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
-
-
Multiple Stories Obfuscate Narrative
- By Stephnsea on 08-12-23
By: James McBride
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
The Hangman
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold November morning, a jogger runs through the woods in the peaceful Quebec village of Three Pines. On his run, he finds a dead man hanging from a tree. The dead man was a guest at the local Inn and Spa. He might have been looking for peace and quiet, but something else found him. Something horrible. Did the man take his own life? Or was he murdered?
-
-
Different for a reason
- By Amazon Customer on 01-12-22
By: Louise Penny
-
State of Terror
- A Novel
- By: Louise Penny, Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Narrated by: Joan Allen
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in, and to everyone’s surprise the president chooses a political enemy for the vital position of secretary of state. There is no love lost between the president of the United States and Ellen Adams, his new secretary of state. But it’s a canny move on the part of the president. With this appointment, he silences one of his harshest critics, since taking the job means Adams must step down as head of her multinational media conglomerate
-
-
Wonderful story and great narration
- By Amazon Customer on 10-14-21
By: Louise Penny, and others
-
The Thursday Murder Club
- A Novel
- By: Richard Osman
- Narrated by: Lesley Manville
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together, they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
-
-
Loved the book but needed better audio production
- By Anne Rivers on 10-29-20
By: Richard Osman
-
The Cuckoo's Calling
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier.
-
-
Unbelievable debut mystery set in London
- By Tracey on 05-26-13
By: Robert Galbraith
-
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
-
-
Multiple Stories Obfuscate Narrative
- By Stephnsea on 08-12-23
By: James McBride
-
Tom Lake
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Meryl Streep
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
-
-
So incredibly boring
- By Rhonda Morrison on 08-05-23
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Lincoln Lawyer: Booktrack Edition
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mickey Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers - they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence; it's about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it's even about justice.
-
-
Background music
- By Mark w Nelson on 02-23-21
By: Michael Connelly
-
The Cold Dish
- A Walt Longmire Mystery
- By: Craig Johnson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Introducing Wyoming's Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Dry Bones, the first in the Longmire series, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. Johnson draws on his deep attachment to the American West to produce a literary mystery of stunning authenticity, full of memorable characters.
-
-
Not Your Ordinary Western Novel (Series)
- By Dataman on 09-12-12
By: Craig Johnson
-
Death at La Fenice
- Commissario Brunetti Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Donna Leon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During intermission at the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, a notoriously difficult and widely disliked German conductor is poisoned—and suspects abound. Guido Brunetti, a native Venetian, sets out to unravel the mystery behind the high-profile murder. To do so, he calls on his knowledge of Venice, its culture, and its dirty politics. Along the way, he finds the crime may have roots going back decades—and that revenge, corruption, and even Italian cuisine may play a role.
-
-
Hercule Poirot in Venice...!!!
- By Emil Grancagnolo on 10-09-22
By: Donna Leon
-
An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
-
-
Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
-
-
A great reading of the wrong book
- By P on 11-24-15
By: J.K. Rowling
-
Magpie Murders
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Samantha Bond, Allan Corduner
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the best-selling crime writer for years, she's intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan's traditional formula has proved hugely successful.
-
-
A British Whodunit
- By Sara on 07-24-17
By: Anthony Horowitz
-
Maisie Dobbs
- Maisie Dobbs, Book 1
- By: Jacqueline Winspear
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maisie Dobbs got her start as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton, soon became her patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan’s friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts. The outbreak of war changed everything. Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets out on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive.
-
-
All ‘round tip top
- By nancy M on 01-10-23
-
Lane
- A Case For Willows And Lane, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"So I thought I might take up paragliding. You know, buy one on eBay and just jump off the cliff one morning." Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy, and bored. When she makes those flippant remarks to her son over coffee one Friday, she has no inkling that within a few hours she will be facing the most terrifying situation of her life.
-
-
Good, and hopefully the series will improve
- By Jonathan Berger on 08-06-18
By: Peter Grainger
-
The Final Empire
- Mistborn Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison.
-
-
Prepare for sleepless nights
- By tercia on 10-21-18
-
The Way of Kings
- The Stormlight Archive, Book 1
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
- Length: 45 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the 10 consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor.
-
-
It doesn't get any better than this!
- By Robert on 10-26-12
-
All the Light We Cannot See
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Doerr
- Narrated by: Zach Appelman
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
-
-
Afraid to Write a "Less-Than-Positive" Review
- By Elizabeth on 08-06-14
By: Anthony Doerr
Critic reviews
“Louise Penny's Three Pines mysteries are eminently satisfying due to their imaginative variety. The stories include scenes of Montreal sophistication and gritty crime contrasted with the idyllic setting of Three Pines. There's also literary appeal, quirky humor, and – let's not forget – murder.” —AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner
“Penny writes engagingly whether you're reading her books or listening to them. An argument for the latter is that her characters – not the least being Gamache, the gentle, brilliant, introspective and beleaguered head of the Surete division – are enriched beyond description through the distinctive voice of reader Ralph Cosham” —The Star-Ledger
"Narrator Ralph Cosham moves seamlessly from character to character, adding depth to each; his narration, coupled with a suspenseful writing style, make for edge-of-your-seat listening. Highly recommended for series devotees or fans of literary mysteries.” —Library Journal, starred review
Featured Article: Best Mystery Series—Listens That'll Take You Right to the Crime Scene
While a standalone mystery is great when you're in the mood for a one-and-done, sometimes you want to feed your craving with an entire mystery series—knowing there's a world and characters you can keep coming back to for the satisfaction of solving crimes. With audiobooks, you get the added bonus of sinking deeper into the setting, clues, and suspects as the story is performed for you, so you'll feel like you're alongside detectives, ready to bust a case.
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
How the Light Gets In
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Maynard
- Narrated by: Joyce Maynard
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the death of her former husband, Cam, fifty-four-year-old Eleanor has moved back to the New Hampshire farm where they raised three children to care for their brain-injured son, Toby, now an adult. Toby’s older brother, Al, is married and living in Seattle with his wife; their sister, Ursula, lives in Vermont with her husband and two children. Although all appears stable, old resentments, anger, and bitterness simmer just beneath the surface. How the Light Gets In follows Eleanor and her family through fifteen years (2010 to 2024).
-
-
The story was heartbreaking, but the politics were much too woke.
- By Josh on 05-08-25
By: Joyce Maynard
-
The Hangman
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold November morning, a jogger runs through the woods in the peaceful Quebec village of Three Pines. On his run, he finds a dead man hanging from a tree. The dead man was a guest at the local Inn and Spa. He might have been looking for peace and quiet, but something else found him. Something horrible. Did the man take his own life? Or was he murdered?
-
-
Different for a reason
- By Amazon Customer on 01-12-22
By: Louise Penny
-
The Black Wolf
- A Novel
- By: Louise Penny
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf. But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there?
By: Louise Penny
-
Count the Ways
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Maynard
- Narrated by: Joyce Maynard
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her most ambitious novel to date, New York Times best-selling author Joyce Maynard returns to the themes that are the hallmarks of her most acclaimed work in a mesmerizing story of a family - from the hopeful early days of young marriage to parenthood, divorce, and the costly aftermath that ripples through all their lives
-
-
AA Deeply Felt Story that Sometimes Goes Too Far Afield…
- By Molly on 07-18-21
By: Joyce Maynard
-
State of Terror
- A Novel
- By: Louise Penny, Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Narrated by: Joan Allen
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in, and to everyone’s surprise the president chooses a political enemy for the vital position of secretary of state. There is no love lost between the president of the United States and Ellen Adams, his new secretary of state. But it’s a canny move on the part of the president. With this appointment, he silences one of his harshest critics, since taking the job means Adams must step down as head of her multinational media conglomerate
-
-
Wonderful story and great narration
- By Amazon Customer on 10-14-21
By: Louise Penny, and others
-
Still Life
- Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
-
A rare find
- By Alex on 01-16-15
By: Louise Penny
-
How the Light Gets In
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Maynard
- Narrated by: Joyce Maynard
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the death of her former husband, Cam, fifty-four-year-old Eleanor has moved back to the New Hampshire farm where they raised three children to care for their brain-injured son, Toby, now an adult. Toby’s older brother, Al, is married and living in Seattle with his wife; their sister, Ursula, lives in Vermont with her husband and two children. Although all appears stable, old resentments, anger, and bitterness simmer just beneath the surface. How the Light Gets In follows Eleanor and her family through fifteen years (2010 to 2024).
-
-
The story was heartbreaking, but the politics were much too woke.
- By Josh on 05-08-25
By: Joyce Maynard
-
The Hangman
- By: Louise Penny
- Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cold November morning, a jogger runs through the woods in the peaceful Quebec village of Three Pines. On his run, he finds a dead man hanging from a tree. The dead man was a guest at the local Inn and Spa. He might have been looking for peace and quiet, but something else found him. Something horrible. Did the man take his own life? Or was he murdered?
-
-
Different for a reason
- By Amazon Customer on 01-12-22
By: Louise Penny
-
The Black Wolf
- A Novel
- By: Louise Penny
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf. But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there?
By: Louise Penny
-
Count the Ways
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Maynard
- Narrated by: Joyce Maynard
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her most ambitious novel to date, New York Times best-selling author Joyce Maynard returns to the themes that are the hallmarks of her most acclaimed work in a mesmerizing story of a family - from the hopeful early days of young marriage to parenthood, divorce, and the costly aftermath that ripples through all their lives
-
-
AA Deeply Felt Story that Sometimes Goes Too Far Afield…
- By Molly on 07-18-21
By: Joyce Maynard
-
State of Terror
- A Novel
- By: Louise Penny, Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Narrated by: Joan Allen
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in, and to everyone’s surprise the president chooses a political enemy for the vital position of secretary of state. There is no love lost between the president of the United States and Ellen Adams, his new secretary of state. But it’s a canny move on the part of the president. With this appointment, he silences one of his harshest critics, since taking the job means Adams must step down as head of her multinational media conglomerate
-
-
Wonderful story and great narration
- By Amazon Customer on 10-14-21
By: Louise Penny, and others
If you could sum up How the Light Gets In in three words, what would they be?
You'll laugh and cry and want to move to Three Pines.Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Louise Penny has the remarkable gift of intertwining a true mystery (and in this case two mysteries) with real characters whom she allows you to know deeply. I don't know how she does it, but instead of being an observer you feel as though you are there with them. You feel the brutal cold and smell the acrid sweat and taste the café au lait.I absolutely love her writing style and cannot get enough.
Which character – as performed by Ralph Cosham – was your favorite?
Can't help myself - as much as I adore Gamache, Three Pines would be incomplete without the demented poet, Ruth.Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I found myself laughing out loud during the very first chapter, and was deeply moved by the love Gamache feels for his agents - especially rude Nicole (whom I suspect is partially autistic)Any additional comments?
Please give us more.I never want Louise Penny's books to end!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book involves a complicated plot in which Gamache is apparently (and seriously) working on a tragic case involving the last of the famed Ouellet quintuplets (obviously modeled on the Dionne quints of Canadian history), seeking an answer to the murder of the last surviving of them. This is a compelling and poignant part of the book, in itself.
But Gamache is also simultaneously quietly working on a far bigger case: keeping intact the integrity of the entire Quebec Sûreté and preventing a huge disaster from happening. He knows that he is in personal danger as well--from his superiors that want him gone. By any means. He is never sure whom he can trust, and is always racing against time.
All of the qualites (race against time, the angst of feeling the raw hatred being expressed toward Gamache, the sense of trust and distrust, connections among the Three Pines residents, even the freezing cold of wintry Quebec) are so well characterized that, while my stomach was in a clench for much of the book, I could also almost feel the cold snow that provided the background, and even the fear and kindness that appeared among the characters--keeping the village of Three Pines the central anchor of the whole book.
A very important aspect of the story, is the relationship between Inspector Gamache and his beloved Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from whom he is estranged after a tragedy in a previous book. This theme is interspersed throughout the book, and evokes such emotional feelings in imagining the enormous disaster that has encompassed their closeness, that I found myself almost as concerned about this as the more prominent plot lines in the book.
Louise Penney is just an amazing writer. She has the ability to combine so many elements--of mystery, character development, spirituality, atmosphere, historical interest...I wish I had her ability to use words to praise her work!
And Ralph Cosham! Words fail again to try to describe the magnificent job of narration that he performs. His voice alone evokes the atmosphere of all the books. I've never read one in print--so if the narrator were changed, I would feel the entire work was injured. There is no Inspector Gamache (and for that matter, all the other characters) except that given us by Cosham! I wish I could offer more stars than 5 for his contributions. Penney and Chosham are a perfect team. Highly, highly, highly recommend this book!
Author Penney and Narrator Cosham--perfect pair!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You will not be disappointed
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What made the experience of listening to How the Light Gets In the most enjoyable?
The entire story was well woven and the mystery remained a mystery for a long time.The characters were people I knew from Louise Penny's previous books and altogether, this was a fabulous listen.
What other book might you compare How the Light Gets In to and why?
I had no books to compare this other than Louise Penny's previous books, as her writing style and material are uniquely Canadian. I found this the best listen yet of her books, though I loved the one about the monks.Which scene was your favorite?
I hate picking favourite scenes- just buy the book and listen.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, I actually relished coming back to it over and over again.Any additional comments?
This author is very talented and I am hooked on her! Inspector Gamache is someone I feel I know. I love Rosa the duck and crazy Ruth.The best Penny yet.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great series
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Louise Penny's Best Chief Inspector Gamache Book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So much love for this audiobook!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was the best!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Would you listen to How the Light Gets In again? Why?
This is my most favorite Louise Penny book! Love the characters, nail biting tension and wonderful dialogue. She might be a "penny" but she is worth a fortune to readers/listeners.Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Yes, I have no finger nails left!Which scene was your favorite?
The final battle scenes in Three Pines.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes.Any additional comments?
I have read all her books, this is her best.New favorite book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Plot and execution captured my attention and held it, which can be difficult. Narrator was very good. I learned some French while listening. Bottom line... love it!
First L. Penny Book<br />
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.