THE CRUELEST MONTH
By Louise Penny
St. Martin’s Minotaur
Publication Date: March 2008
Contact: Angela Hayes, 212-446-5104 and
Kathleen Carter, 212-446-5107

Louise Penny’s Three Pines mystery series has earned both wide critical praise and legions of devoted readers since its launch in 2006. The New York Times Book Review called Still Life, “an auspicious debut” and People magazine named it “a rare treat.” Still Life has also earned Penny many prizes, including the prestigious Barry and Anthony Awards, as well as the British CWA Dagger award, Canada’s Arthur Ellis award and the U.S. Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s Dilys Award. Its sequel, A Fatal Grace, was a Booksense pick, was rated one of the best books of 2007 by Deadly Pleasures magazine, and Mystery News raved, “Don’t miss this fine series. It just doesn’t get any better than this.”

Penny’s third novel, THE CRUELEST MONTH, continues her acclaimed series featuring the thoughtful, engaging Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and returns readers to the seemingly bucolic town of Three Pines. The delights of Three Pines have proven irresistible to artists like the perceptive painter Clara Morrow and the half-crazed poet Ruth Zardo; to Myrna, owner of one of Quebec’s finest bookshops; and to Gabri and Olivier, managers of the town’s B&B and bistro. Yet for all its endearing qualities, Three Pines has been the scene of occasional murders. And when an Easter séance in a sinister house leaves one of the participants dead, Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec must curtail a vacation to find out if the victim was frightened to death by a ghost, or if there’s a more corporeal explanation. Gamache must deal with more skeletons in his own closet as some of his Sûreté colleagues would like to see him ruined for jailing his corrupt police chief years before.