Penny purposely keeps the victim and the accused secret for much of the novel, reflecting the disoriented experience of grief and moral uncertainty. Characters and Internal Strife Go to product viewer dialog for this item. Glass Houses

The novel alternates between a sweltering July courtroom trial in Montreal and the cold November that led to it.

To destroy a drug cartel bringing fentanyl into Canada, Gamache risks his career and his soul, leading to a climax where he must consider perjury in a court of law to achieve a higher justice.

Now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, Gamache is no longer just solving local murders; he is fighting a war against the opioid epidemic.

Unlike earlier, cozier mysteries, this book is unsettling, mirroring the "darker" place Penny was in while writing, shortly after her husband's death. Deep Themes and Analysis