The novel begins with Chief Inspector Gamache and his officers securing a university venue for a visiting professor's lecture. Scheduled at the last minute, during the winter holidays, expectations were that the event would be sparsely attended, but because the professor, Abigail Robinson, has gone viral for her lectures on the Internet, there is a restless mob trying to squeeze into the building. Dr. Robinson's premise is that euthanasia is the right solution for those whom society can't afford to care for. It looks like half the crowd accept her softly voiced opinion, while half the crowd are outraged. When a gunshot during the lecture almost hits the professor, Gamache is put in the uncomfortable position of having to figure out how a weapon got into the venue when everyone was being checked prior to entry.
A few days later, although the gunman has been caught, someone close to the lecturer is murdered, and it isn't clear whether the murder was a case of mistaken identity or happened as intended.
The novel has a slow start, giving an extended discussion of how the Covid lockdowns affected the people in Three Pines (and elsewhere in Canada), how the vaccine's availability allowed people to joyfully gather again, and finally, description of the intense crowd gathering for this lecture. There is also discussion of the training of police to manage crowds without getting violent themselves. Only once this section is past, and the action gets underway, did I finally relax and know that the Penny I relish is back at the wheel. There are a couple times in this novel when Gamache has a somewhat short fuse, but perhaps that's reasonable, given that he has to protect a professor whose views he finds despicable.
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