The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Author: Louise Penny | Language: English | ISBN:
B0071VURHW | Format: EPUB
The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Description
The brilliant new novel in the New York Times bestselling series by Louise Penny, one of the most acclaimed crime writers of our time
No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec, where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate. And they sing. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.”
But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec. There they discover disquiet beneath the silence, discord in the apparent harmony. One of the brothers, in this life of prayer and contemplation, has been contemplating murder. As the peace of the monastery crumbles, Gamache is forced to confront some of his own demons, as well as those roaming the remote corridors. Before finding the killer, before restoring peace, the Chief must first consider the divine, the human, and the cracks in between.
The Beautiful Mystery is the winner of the 2012 Agatha Award for best novel, the 2013 Anthony Award for best novel and the 2013 Macavity Award for best novel.
- File Size: 1273 KB
- Print Length: 384 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312655460
- Publisher: Minotaur Books; Reprint edition (August 28, 2012)
- Sold by: Macmillan
- Language: English
- ASIN: B0071VURHW
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,291 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #5
in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Canadian Detectives - #15
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > British Detectives - #20
in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > British Detectives
- #5
in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Canadian Detectives - #15
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > British Detectives - #20
in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > British Detectives
"The Beautiful Mystery" by Louise Penny is Penny's first book I've read, but it surely won't be the last. It is one of the best written, almost lyrical stories I've read in a long time. Yes, "The Beautiful Mystery" is part of a series of seven previous books starring Armand Gamache, but the book is an excellent novel that transcends its "police procedural" designation and becomes simply a beautifully written novel.
Set in Montreal, Surete Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is sent, along with his aide, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, to a monastery hidden away in the hills and forests well outside the city. A monk has been found murdered in the garden and the head of the monastery - Dom Philippe - has reluctantly sent for the Surete to investigate the murder. But this is no ordinary monastery; the 24 monks living within have taken vows of silence and express their religion through their beautiful Gregorian chants. They had recorded their chants on a CD from which they hoped to earn a modest amount of money to fix up their dilapidated building. The order - the Gilbertines - was actually a renegade religious order who had fled England for Canada 400 years before. (The reader can learn an awful lot of history by reading this book.) But the CD of chants had struck a chord outside the monastery walls and had become a world-wide best-seller. Suddenly a previously obscure bunch of monks were famous for their singing and money, a by-product of their success, had become an issue in the congregation. There was division as the leaders couldn't decide whether or not to seize their success and record another CD of beautiful, spectral music.
But if the Gilbertine monks were caught up in power struggles, so were the members of the Surete sent to work the case.
As a raving fan of Louise Penny and her Gamache novels, I pre-ordered on my Kindle and counted the days 'til delivery.
As a lover of medieval music and particularly Gregorian Chant, I was enamoured with the skillful and clever way she wove the music into her story and even into her actual prose. Really well done. Overall, I enjoyed the read and the story as well.
The frustrating part is that there really are two mysteries (at least) at play in this book--one of which is again left dangling. There is the fascinating mystery of the prior's murder and the many layers of relationship and intrigue within the dynamics of the monastery. Thankfully that one is resolved! On the other hand, there is the ongoing mystery of the factory raid--who leaked the video of the raid, and how its lingering effects shall finally be resolved in the lives of characters whom we love--that is not only left unresolved, but to my way of thinking, uncharacterisically (for Penny) muddled in a clumsy and ham-fisted way.
Perhaps it's the result of my own love for the music, but at times I found myself transported into the situations at the monastery through Penny's prose and her story of the chant's effect in the lives of the characters. When she dealt with the factory raid and the various streams and dynamics related to that story line, I found the writing almost cartoonish. Certainly clumsy and 2 dimensional.
Although I have loved all her novels, this is the first review that I've written. On reflection, I suppose that she had set such a high bar in previous stories, I expected the same high level to be achieved with this novel. In part she does achieve it. "The Beautiful Mystery" story of the prior's murder at the monastery is delivered skillfully.
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