What to Read if You’re Out of Louise Penny Books

We’ve rounded up suggestions from “Three Pines” super fans

Hi friends,

This is our last installment of this volume of Notes From Three Pines. We’re kicking around some ideas for 2023 — so you’ll likely hear from us again in the New Year.

For our final post, we asked our contributors to suggest books they think Louise Penny fans will enjoy. Please offer your own recommendations in the comments. As a special treat, commenters will be entered to win a copy of one of Amy Tector’s mysteries!

Happy holidays!

—    Elizabeth and Aya

Borderline Truths by Maurice Crossfield

In her essay, Amy recommended Crawford’s previous book, The Granby Liar, writing “ This is an excellent mystery set in a grittier 1980s Eastern Townships. If you want your Townships a little darker, check out this first book in what Crossfield calls his “Townships Noir” series.” And now there’s a sequel!

The Cork O’Connor Mysteries by William Kent Krueger

"As a native Minnesotan, I was immediately drawn to William Kent Krueger's "Cork O'Connor" series set in a small town in northern Minnesota. O'Connor is part Irish, part Anishinaabe Indian and battles not only his inner demons, but also the real life evils that find their way into his community. There are 19 books and counting, all of which are delightfully bingable. Krueger is as close as it gets to Penny in the detective series world, in my humble opinion."  — Jeremy Anderberg, Read More Books

Dirk Francis’s books

These are really a throwback recommendation: I love the mysteries by British author Dick Francis for their strong sense of place and brilliantly decent heroes. Francis was a very successful steeplechase jockey before he retired and became a best-selling author. He wrote 42 thrillers, mostly set in the exhilarating — and, apparently, perilous — world of horse racing (although he does explore other subcultures in fascinating detail).

His heroes are all thrust into dangerous circumstances and compelled to become amateur detectives in their quest to Do The Right Thing. They're handsome, but not intimidatingly so, resourceful, plagued by integrity, charming, and gentlemanly. Francis rarely repeated characters, but there are two 'mini-series' within his output that I strongly recommend. There are four books featuring Sid Halley: Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, and Under Orders. He is a hero for the ages and may be able to fill the Gamache-shaped hole in your heart.

The other stand-out jockey-turned-sleuth is Kit Fielding, star of Break In and Bolt. My all-time favorite Dick Francis is The Edge, which is sort of a Canadian Murder on the Orient Express that features a murder mystery party aboard a train rattling through the Canadian Rockies. — Mel Joulwan, Strong Sense of Place (Read Mel’s full review of The Edge here).

The Verifiers by Jane Pek

The Dublin Murder Squad Series by Tana French

Jane Pek’s The Verifiers zeroes in on tech, dating, the immigrant experience and of course a mystery. At first glance, there’s not a lot in common with Three Pines and the cozy village with its dark secrets but The Verifiers is tackling huge issues of privacy, individuality, and love-- and does it all with a fun nod to lit nerds. Sounds a lot like Gamache, no? Fans of serial stories will be happy to learn Pek is currently working on a sequel. I’m hoping the characters build into the kind of extended family we experience in the Gamache series. 

Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad books are thrilling, and eerie and tackle the demons of history: whether they’re the detective’s personal monsters or a housing bubble in Ireland. Like Penny French has a knack for a sense of place. Unlike Penny’s, most of the books jump around from character to character which might be a nice change for some readers after 18 books from the same point of view. Despite often unpleasant atmospheres and flawed narrators I would still grab a cup of tea or a pint with most of the Murder Squad, French just has a knack for making you invested in her characters.  — Aya Martin Seaver, Can You Stand Her

The Foulest Things by Amy Tector

 The Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries by Julia Spencer Fleming

Because I can’t help myself, I’m suggesting two books/series.

First, The Foulest Things by Notes From Three Pines’s own Amy Tector features an archivist attempting to solve a historical mystery that’s having a very real — and deadly — effect on her own life. Don’t take my word for how good it is. Here’s what Louise Penny said about The Foulest Things: “With twists and turns, action and dashes of humor, The Foulest Thing is a literary joyride.”

Second, Julia Spencer Fleming’s series, featuring an Episcopal priest, Clare, and a smalltown police chief, Russ, in an upstate New York town are atmospheric (get ready to feel the cold), tightly plotted and character-focused. The first book features one of the best first sentences — “It was a hell of a night to throw away a baby” — that I’ve ever read. — Elizabeth Held, What To Read If

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Notes from Three Pines is a short-run newsletter run through Substack celebrating and exploring Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache books. Love Gamache or Ruth’s duck Rosa? Reply to this email, leave a comment or email notesfromthreepines@substack.com.

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