The Beautiful Mystery

     I always awaits the next Louise Penny with delicious anticipation and pre-ordered The Beautiful Mystery so as not to have to wait an extra minute. Right away I was immersed in her masterful ability to make her characters come alive and create the place for the story. She has delivered another bombshell with this installment in the Inspector Gamache series, and this time it hits even closer to home than when one of our favorite innkeepers was arrested for murder. Two parallel tales unwind here, both dealing with fraternal orders, both dealing with power and how it can be used for good or ill, specifically how some will use their power to try (and sometimes fail) to protect, while others will twist the less powerless to their will. She is so effective at conveying this, that I was even led to doubt...
     The Gilbertine monks have hidden in the backwoods of Quebec for hundreds of years, first escaping the Inquisition and later just the world. They have taken a vow of silence, but ironically are known for their exquisite renditions of Gregorian chants. And now the world knows where they are, for the Prior and choirmaster persuaded them to release a recording and it has rocked the world. People have come seeking them and been repeatedly sent away from this isolated and fortress-like monastery.  But the Prior has been murdered and the Abbot is in crisis because he failed to foresee how the growing rift in his community could come to this. Gamache and Beauvoir come to stay and find out who committed this crime against God and man. The conflict among the monks centered around whether or not they should make another recording. The Abbot wants to preserve the community as it has been, while the Prior wanted to make the recording...and perhaps had another agenda as well.
     We can rely on Gamache, who is in thrall to the chants, to find the killer no matter how painful it will be to the community. But the sabot thrown into the works is when his arch enemy, Superintendent Francoeur, shows up. So begins a game of cat and mouse with the highest stakes in play. I usually don't hesitate to reveal the ending, and indeed the murderer is caught, but I can't bring myself to talk about the really important things that transpire here. If you haven't read the previous 7 books, you can still read this...it will stand on its own. But you will miss some of the nuance and gut-wrenching significance of the conclusion.