The Madness of Crowds

*** THE NEW YORK TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER ***

''Enthralling ... With beautifully drawn characters, this is crime writing of the highest order'' DAILY MAIL

''A satisfying and multi-layered mystery, in Penny''s excellent series'' IRISH INDEPENDENT

''Louise Penny is on peak form ... a grown-up, timely thriller that considers the nature of cowardice ... merges the personal and professional life of her detective with equal skill and wit'' THE TIMES

''A great sense of place and characterisation ... very much a book that will make you think'' SHOTS

When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is asked to provide crowd control at a statistics lecture given at the Universit¿e 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