Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • A World of Curiosities

  • Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 18
  • By: Louise Penny
  • Narrated by: Adam Sims
  • Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (153 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
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.
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.
A World of Curiosities cover art

A World of Curiosities

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

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

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

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

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.

Listeners also enjoyed...

A Man Lay Dead cover art
The Key cover art
Hidden in Snow cover art
The Dentist cover art
Say It With Poison, Mitchell and Markby Village, Book 1 cover art
The Viaduct Killings cover art
Fatal Isles cover art
The Murderer's Son cover art
DCI Yorke Boxset cover art
The Infirmary: A DCI Ryan Mystery (Multicast Drama) cover art
When Christmas Comes cover art
Rites of Spring cover art
The Landscape of Death cover art
Crime on the Fens cover art
The Sisters cover art
Her Sister's Bones: An Absolutely Gripping Crime Thriller cover art

Summary

Book 18 in the acclaimed and number one-bestselling Three Pines series featuring the beloved Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Soon to be a major TV series.

It's spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.

But something has.

As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators' lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they've arrived in the village of Three Pines.

But to what end?

Gamache and Beauvoir's memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother's murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?

As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.

As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there's more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.

In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache's home.

©2022 Louise Penny (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

'Electrifying drama ... the bodies pile up, the intensity and horror are reminiscent of Thomas Harris at his finest. Gamache is a fascinatingly complex protagonist ... The way Penny explores the meaning of this line from Auden's Twelve Songs: VIII - "There is always another story, there is more than meets the eye" - makes it one of her very best' BOOK OF THE MONTH, THE TIMES

'Penny delves into the nature of evil, sensitively exploring the impact of the dreadful events she describes while bringing a warmth and humanity to her disparate cast of characters that, unusually for a crime novel, leaves you feeling better about the world once you've finished' BOOK OF THE MONTH, OBSERVER

'Bestseller Penny's virtuoso 18th novel featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Québec Sûreté ... blends nuanced characterization with nail-biting suspense ...This tale of forgiveness and redemption will resonate with many' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

What listeners say about A World of Curiosities

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    124
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    127
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    115
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

Another great book

Yet another fantastic book by Louise penny roll on the next book can't wait

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

Five big Stars!

Totally gripping from start to finish. Loved the characters, the plot, the twists and turns, the time-shifts and the writing. Never confusing but always intruiging, with the answers tantalising just out of reach until very near the end. Even then, there's an excellent several-way split as to who's the main perpetrator. A definite cut above!

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 really good story

I have loved the whole series. This story as previous ones is gripping, interesting and very well performed. Thank you

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Another Brilliant Story From Louise Penny

I have read all of these books and enjoyed all of them. Louise Penny never disappoints.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great narration but the story is average

As previously the narrator is excellent and manages to go give all the players their own voice & bring out characters. The story lets it down somewhat being the tired “serial killer targets hero with outlandish plot” trope that deserves to die as horribly as some of the victims. Well told but unnecessary.

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

Amazing

I loved this book! How Louise penny keeps coming up with such fabulous tales is beyond me, this was so compelling and clever! I love the development of the key people in 3 pines village. And look forward to 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

Wonderful!

Louise Penny never disappoints and Adam Simms’ narration is just perfect. One of my favourite series, with a wonderful cast of characters.

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

Absolutely brilliant

Louise Penney had done it again and it is the best story ever. It flips backwards & forwards in time and ties up a lot of loose ends. I hope this isn’t the last book in the series though I fear it will as it will be difficult to beat and would make a suitable conclusion.

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

Oh. My. Gosh.

If you have anything else you should be doing, work for example, just don't start reading/listening to this book.

I haven't been able to focus on anything else for two days while I was listening to it on Audible.

It's magnificent, mind-boggling, intense and shudder-making.

My mouth just dropped open on a couple of occasions and even now I've finished it and really should be doing something at my desk, the story is going around and around in my head.

There are tripwires, blind alleys, mis-directions and twists.

Most of all there is trust, faith and the superb connection between Louise Penny's characters.

The narration is always excellent on the Gamache books.

Now I just have to wait another two years 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

Fantastic!

We absolutely loved this book, the latest in the best mystery series, with beautifully developed characters and an excellent reader.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!