Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Madness of Crowds

  • Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 17
  • By: Louise Penny
  • Narrated by: Adam Sims
  • Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (119 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Madness of Crowds

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

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
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.

Summary

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
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

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

What listeners say about The Madness of Crowds

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    90
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    95
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    77
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

All will be well

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing as always.

Reading these books feels like coming home. The comfort and joy these books brings are immeasurable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another exceptional Inspector Gamache boom

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Swept along from first word to last

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent, topical, thought-provoking

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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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

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 :)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Masterly!

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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So Relevent

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love love love these books

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Delightful and insightful conversation between Louise & Adam

Love love love the conversation between Louise and Adam at the end! Thank you both for taking the time to do that. Madness is great and the first post-pandemic book I’ve read treating these important and challenging topics in the ever delightful world of three pines and Gamache!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!