Content Warning: The source material features depictions of traumatic injury, gun violence, and misuse of opioids.

The work opens with a flashback to a significant case in the career of Armand Gamache, head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec. Gamache is anxious as he leads a tactical team. The group is rescuing a young agent, Paul Morin, who has been taken hostage in connection with a factory raid. At this stage, however, Penny has not informed the reader what has led Gamache there or whom Gamache is reassuring over his headset. Just as Gamache “realize[s] he’[s] made a mistake,” the narrative shifts to the present day: a few months later, in another location entirely (2).

In the present day, Gamache is in Québec City, visiting his mentor, Émile Comeau, to recover from an unspecified trauma likely related to the opening scene. Gamache’s wife, Reine-Marie, bids them both farewell and leaves Gamache their beloved German shepherd, Henri.

The two men and the dog set out for breakfast. Gamache reflects that this is his first trip to the city for his own recuperation, rather than to assist his mentor with physically demanding household tasks.