Book Review: The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

It’s been ten years since I read The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. Fortunately, I’ve read a lot of books in those ten years. The mystery was just as fascinating now as it was then. Even more so! It began centuries before when monks had resurrected Plainchant in their music. The written works were disputed and findings suppressed by the Church. Most monasteries had their own books of the beautiful music of Plainchant, but where was the original? 

Being ferried across a quiet lake to a monastery hidden deep in a Québec forest begins another mystery. The boatman was sceptical about all the equipment that Inspector Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir brought with them when he knew that no one was ever admitted to the abbey of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups. Twenty four monks lived within its stone walls constructed by monks escaping the Inquisition centuries before. Behind the heavy oaken door of the monastery was a murder. The musical director and prior, Frére Mathieu, had been found in the abbot’s garden. The abbott recognized the significance of Frére Mathieu’s brutal death and contacted the police. Gamache knew they would be admitted and over the next days investigated all the suspects. All the monks. Gamache and Beauvoir, his second in command and trusted colleague, studied the monastery, looked at plans, attended services, ate with the monks and found the fracture in the community. Only one person interrupted the investigation - the Chief Superintendent of the Surête, Sylvain Francoeur. He arrived unannounced with his own agenda. The friction between Gamache and Francoeur was an old one and was not resolved but escalated. The mystery of the Monastery was solved, but the old friction between Gamache and Francoeur remained. In reading my review of 2014, some members of my book club were unhappy with the book’s ending. I thought some characters were unnecessary, but at this reading I disagree. Each character had his place in the mystery. I have included that review on this post.

I hope to read many more of Louise Penny’s books, several that are on my bookshelves and the many others in the Inspector Gamache series. This re-read held me fast as the Louise Penny told me the history of Plainchants and the monastery, led me down solid stone halls of the monastery, showed me the beautiful music of Plainchants, and the architecture that allowed dancing prisms of light to float through the high windows. 

~~~~~

Review from January 14, 2014

A brutal murder occurs. In a beautiful old monastery deep in Québec.  Not just any monastery, but a closed monastery with a vow of silence. Silence was only broken during services when Gregorian chants were sung. It is in the music that the mystery develops. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Surête du Quebec unravel this mystery. They have come out of their usual community of Three Pines, with completely new characters. The monks and their lives are completely foreign to the two officers, especially to Inspector Beauvoir.

Not all of our book group members were completely pleased with Louise Penny’s novel, missing the characters from Three Pines. A first reader of Louise Penny, the concept of a murder in a monastery was fascinating. Openings to a solution appear and then disappear in the twists and turns that follow the halls and rooms of the old monastery. And, although certain characters seemed unnecessary, I enjoyed this Beautiful Mystery.

“To be honest, the only thing I ever really wanted to be 

was a writer - since I read “Charlotte’s Web” as a child.”

~ Louise Penny

Title: The Beautiful Mystery

Author: Louise Penny

Copyright: 2012

Publisher: Three Pines Creations Inc.

Type: Mystery fiction

Format: Soft Cover

ISBN - 978-0-312-65546-4 (hard cover)

ISBN - 978-1-250-01527-3 (ebook)

ISBN - 978-1-250-03112 (trade paperback)

Undercurrents

Undercurrents

Yachts lined up at the Marina left Shandra with mixed feelings. She worked at the little cafe serving the local Marina’s clients and tourists. She listened to them visit about their sailing experiences, the places they docked, how far they could travel on their yachts. Most of the yachts were not really what she would call a yacht. “You’ve been watching too many Bond movies!”  One of her coworkers frequently gave her a hard time about her opinions. On one hand she wanted desperately to just leave work, climb aboard one of the larger yachts and head out to sea. On the other hand, she knew that the cost of a yacht, and the yearly upkeep was far more than her little apartment cost. Probably more than she made in a year at the three jobs she kept up. And then there was night school. “It’s just not fair, Nolan. They come in here complaining about how many bills to maintain their yacht. My money concerns are about keeping the lights on, the heat, food, a roof over my head and tuition.” Shandra’s tables were filling up. “I guess I’d better put a smile on my face, stop complaining and be grateful that these yacht folks and their guests come in at all.” She tucked away her longing to sail away, and greeted the patrons, filling their water glasses. “Can I get you something to drink or an appetizer?”

“Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important.”

~ Jaachynma N.E.Agu, The Prince and the Pauper

A Drop of Honey

Tenderness is so sweet 

 ~ a drop of honey 

 to ease aches

with a silent balm.

“If we are not the ones to open up to tenderness within ourselves, who will?”

~ Petra Poje, Keeper of the Eye

A Writing Life

Ideas that perk and burble

like ducks in a pond

keep my mind busy with

fragments and maybes

until I sit down to write,

then ideas swim away 

as a new idea flows 

from my pen.

“That’s the great secret of creativity, 

You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.”

~ Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing: 

Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

The Heart of the Matter

Longterm plans ~

Step by step

moment to moment

two years ~ five years

a goal to ‘get there’

when diverted to 

a stumble, a fall

focus challenged  

ego bruised,

heart battered

standing once more

step by step

moment to moment

five years or more

the goal to be present.

Standing tall

in the darkness of pain

more than a challenge

a threat to life itself

devastating to any plan

second to second

baby step by baby step

no number of years

the only goal

to stay alive

to be present

to make a new plan.

“The most common way people give up their power 

is by thinking they don’t have any.”

~ Alice Walker

At the Brandt Centre - Curling with Skill

Active and aware, the two curling teams were well matched until the very last rock was thrown. In this Brier match, the Saskatchewan team lost to Nova Scotia by three points. The first game I attended in many years, I was enthralled with their skill and precisions. One sheet over, Team Canada won their game handily. Their opponent was one of two Alberta teams. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the game of curling as a spectator. It is a quality game.

“The strategy is the tough part - it’s seeing things three shots ahead.”

~ Jared Allen 

(ex-NFL football player who took up curling after retirement)

On an Afternoon Walk ~ A Snow Day

Unusually calm, snow flaked from the sky all day. The wind did slip around corners, and down alleys but was not what I expected from the forecasts. Maybe tonight will break the calm I felt this afternoon. Sunday afternoons I’m usually at Queen City Writers at the bookstore, a 10 minute walk from home, but had passed and planned to just stay in. I did use the time to work on my writing project, but by late afternoon I was feeling in need of fresh air and exercise. Oh, and I was out of coffee! So, bundled up, I went to the grocery store. The snow, soft and deep, was layered with the footprints of other walkers. Some sidewalks had been cleared; one man still out with his snow blower. Snow had gathered on stairways, the notches of trees, roof tops, parked cars ~ anything in its path. Roads were criss crossed with tire tracks. I pass this stylish bench often when out walking. It is even more attractive with its marshmallow topping. The quality of the city scene, now soft and white, had changed in just a few hours. Apparently there is more to come!

“A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, 

unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder.”

~ Susan Orlean, author