Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Surete du Quebec, has found a peace he'd only imagined possible... Until his neighbour Clara Morrow comes to him for help. Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Having finally found sanctuary, Gamache feels a near revulsion at the thought of leaving Three Pines. Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Quebec.