The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

Louise Penny’s The Beautiful Mystery is somewhere in the middle of her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series.  This one is not set in the remote community of Three Pines but in a Roman Catholic monastery located deep in the Quebec wilderness.  The Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups order consists of fewer than two dozen monks hand-picked for their singing ability.  The purpose of the order is to practice their faith through ancient Gregorian chants which they sing a cappella at three services a day.  The chants are so inspiring that they are thought to mysteriously unite the listener with God thus the beautiful mystery.  Although under a vow of silence, the order has recently recorded their chants and has marketed a CD.  Proceeds from their venture have gone to maintain the physical structure where they live, a four hundred year old, cross shaped, stone monastery.  But now conflict ensues for the sect.  Do they continue their isolation from society and remain true to their vows or further share their divine gift with the world?  The quandary divides the brotherhood and results in the murder of Friar Mathieu, their choir master.

The abbot, Dom Philippe calls Sûreté du Québec. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his lead investigator Jean-Guy Beauvoir are dispatched to the secluded abbey. The two inspectors use forensic evidence and their interview skills to unravel the mystery to find motive and opportunity for one monk to sin against his god in such a profound way.

Louise Penny is a gifted author.  The pleasure derived from her work is not in the story but in the telling of the story… it’s in the journey, not in arriving at the destination.  Her strength is in character development.  She creates individuals and puts them in situations that reveal their character traits thereby making them human.  However, in The Beautiful Mystery, the plot is a bit too contrived.  A secluded monastery in the Quebec wilderness exclusively controls ancient chants unknown even to the Vatican suddenly decides to out itself with a CD so it can install a geothermal heat pump? …. Really?  I recommend you Louise Penny fans skip this one but don’t give up on the author.