Kingdom of the Blind is the 14th episode in the Armand Gamache/Three Pines series, set in the Eastern Townships region of rural Quebec, southeast of Montreal and just north of Vermont. For many years, Armand Gamache led homicide investigations for the Surete du Quebec, the provincial police force based in Montreal, and Gamache dealt with crimes that took place in or around the remote village of Three Pines.

Then Gamache retired from the Surete, and he and his wife, Reine-Marie, moved to Three Pines. But his dedication to the Surete has never wavered. We all knew his retirement would not last long. Gamache returned for one semester to head the Surete Academy, where all of the new cadets are schooled. Then he took on a new and even more commanding (and demanding) role: that of Chief Superintendent of the entire Surete du Quebec. But alas! His strategy to thwart crime in the last book earned him a suspension from the office. Admittedly, his tactics were unconventional, but they were quite successful. Six months have passed. What comes next for Gamache?

Well, first of all, it's the middle of winter in Quebec. And residents have to deal with the sleet, the bitter cold and the deep snow (as they have in other books in the series). And for some odd reason, Armand Gamache, Myrna Turner and newcomer Benedict Pouliot have been named as liquidators (executors) for the will of a woman they admittedly didn't know. The whole set-up is shadowy and mysterious: from the way the notary notifies and meets them, to the way the will outlines the estate's assets, to the way the grown children behave at the reading. What is going on here?

And why is our trio involved? Even more questions emerge after someone close to the woman is murdered. Enter the team of Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste to figure out what happened and why. (Isabelle is recovering from the major injury she sustained at the end of the last book. Thanks for asking.) And we're also introduced to agent Lysette Cloutier, whose area of expertise is accounting and finance. After all, this case is all about the numbers.

The other main storyline to follow surrounds the Surete administration itself. It always seems to question whatever Gamache does. He is still under suspension, but one of the major jobs he undertook in the last book is not quite finished. How can he get it done without really being on the force? And what's to become of Amelia Choquet, one of his favorite cadets from the Academy? She had to leave the school suddenly. Given her background, we have cause to worry about her and her safety. It looks as if Gamache is worried about her, too.

Louise Penny gives us some "what-if" scenarios to consider here. What if you were named in a will by someone you didn't know? What if you could solve a big problem for "the many," but only by sacrificing "the one?" What if you make great strides in your job, only to keep coming up against brick walls set deliberately in place by the higher-ups? Some of us can probably relate to the last one, although probably not in the life-and-death situations that Armand tends to find himself in.

Again, readers: Get comfortable before you hit the last 30 pages, because you won't want to move from your seat until you reach the very end.