When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the other residents are curious. Curiosity eventually develops into wariness. Rain or snow, the stranger stands motionless, staring into space. From the moment the shadow of the uninvited guest falls on the village, Gamache - the current chief superintendent of the Sûreté du Quebec - begins to guess that the uninvited guest came from the distant past and pursues a dark goal. Gamache does nothing. And what can you do about it? Just watch and wait. And hope that the growing fears do not become reality. But when a figure suddenly disappears and a dead body is discovered, Gamache must find out - has someone collected or paid a debt? A few months later, on a hot July day in Montreal, when the person accused of the crime , stands trial, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with the consequences of the actions he committed that fateful November, because there is no turning back. Not only does the accused appear in court. Gamache's own conscience is also on trial. In Glass Houses, another gripping book, New York Times number one author Louise Penny shakes the foundations of the crime novel to discover what Gandhi called the "court of conscience." Court above all others.