Fiction Pick of the Week: The Beautiful Mystery

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny 2012

Louise Penny is back with book eight in the Chief Inspector Gamache series (but a hint to readers, start at the beginning of this wonderful series with its recurring cast of characters).  In her appealing personalities and charming settings, she has created a unique and irresistible venue for a uniquely Canadian mystery series.  Add to that a sensitive exploration of our everyday strengths and failings, tempered by a sharp but affectionate sense of humour, and the world of Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector for the Surete du Quebec, becomes a sure-fire winner.   In this latest installment, a death at an isolated monastery takes Gamache out of his customary Montreal and into the backwoods of Quebec, where the monks have, for centuries, been custodians of the barely-surviving art of the Gregorian chant, known as The Beautiful Mystery.   But the tensions and controversies in this closed community make Gamache begin to wonder what really lies underneath the veneer of brotherhood, as long-buried secrets begin to emerge. In the process, Penny’s own fascination with plainchant has shed light on this little-known musical form, and she has done for Gregorian chant what Dorothy L. Sayers did for the art of English bell-ringing.