Madness of Crowds

It all starts innocently enough, between Christmas and New Year's Day, as the residents of Three Pines enjoy the winter festivities. Armand Gamache must interrupt his family vacation to respond to a seemingly innocuous request. He is asked, as head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, to provide security at a conference at a nearby university – a lecture by a statistics professor. Perplexed, Gamache downplays the event... until he looks into Abigail Robinson and discovers a discourse so dangerous that he implores the university to cancel her speech. Colette Roberge, the chancellor, refuses, citing academic freedom, and accuses Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice. Very quickly, the researcher's strong opinions on the rights of the elderly, people with disabilities, and euthanasia contaminate conversations. Discussions turn into debates, which turn into polemics, then into confrontations. As madness ignites, Abigail Robinson promises that "everything will be fine." Gamache and his associates, however, know that this prediction does not apply to everyone. When a murder is finally committed, it is up to them to investigate the crime and this extraordinary popular frenzy.