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The Beautiful Mystery (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #8)

by Louise Penny

4.18 · Rating Details · 24,341 Ratings · 3,115 Reviews

The brilliant new novel in the New York Times best-selling 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 chocola ...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published July 2nd 2013 by Minotaur Books (first published January 1st 2012)

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Aug 13, 2012 Richard Derus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rating: 4.75* of five

The Publisher Says: 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 Rating: 4.75* of five

The Publisher Says: 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.

My Review: I've recently reviewed the thirteenth entry in a mystery series, which I have now abandoned; and another twelfth entry in a series, which I have not abandoned, despite its uneven track record in my affections.

This is the eighth Gamache mystery. Louise Penny has ripped my emotions to shreds more than once before now. She's not a writer who has any fear of allowing her creations to grow and change, like real people do, in ways that might not always suit us, the audience.

And that is the reason that her books don't simply keep selling. They rocket up the bestseller lists. They deserve to rocket up the bestseller lists because Louise Penny invests her characters with believable inner lives. I know the characters well, and like so many people I know well, they throw me curve balls and they change into people I don't like, and they screw up and they cannot help themselves because, like every breathing one of us, they are wounded and hurting and scared and doing their dead-level best to get through each day with a minimum of carnage.

And when challenges arise, well...they rise to them or they fall before them, just like real people do. Like real people, their responses bring up feelings, strong ones, in us their friends...their readers...Louise Penny's readers. Strong, strong feelings. Quite strong. Oh my yes.

A few minor points: I've heard it said that Penny's is a writing style that is choppy, or clipped; I agree with this assessment; and I for one find that a plus, because the stories themselves are so lush and so intense and would so lend themselves to a more baroque treatment that I find the clipped-ness of the prose to be refreshing and invigorating. I've also heard a few dissenting voices say somewhat dismissive things about the plots of the books, the puzzles themselves. With this critique I find myself out of sympathy. I unravel the mysteries quickly because I've read so very many over the years. I suspect some reviewers have the same experience level that I do. I would suggest to those readers that they consider the number of truly surprising resolutions they've read in the past few years that didn't involve authorial sleight-of-hand. ...more

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May 24, 2012 Pat rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is probably more a 2.5 than a 2 star rating, from someone who has given almost entirely 5 stars to Penny's previous seven novels.

"The Beautiful Mystery" gravitas and plot depend so heavily upon events in two previous novels involving the Surete and Gamache's deadly feud with his superiors, that I would only recommend it to readers of the series. Even then I found myself confused, if not baffled by the alien action of the last 10% of the novel where those events are most intrusive.

The sudde This is probably more a 2.5 than a 2 star rating, from someone who has given almost entirely 5 stars to Penny's previous seven novels.

"The Beautiful Mystery" gravitas and plot depend so heavily upon events in two previous novels involving the Surete and Gamache's deadly feud with his superiors, that I would only recommend it to readers of the series. Even then I found myself confused, if not baffled by the alien action of the last 10% of the novel where those events are most intrusive.

The sudden and aerially spectacular appearance by their lone and detested supervisor to this remote murder site, is baffling from the onset. The way this invasion proceeds to upstage the murder investigation and detract from the general genre of a very different book, is unfortunate.

The precipitous and murderous decline of Jean-Guy at the end is unconvincing, too abrupt, if not contrived, even given the imported impetus (pills and DVD) by Francouer designed specifically to send him over the edge.

I have held serious reservations regarding Jean-Guy as Gamache's choice of protege since the first book; they have so little in common culturally and educationally and he has an inferior deductive mind. But I found myself appalled by his embrace of this man as prospective son-in-law. If the non-addicted persona never seemed a good match for Gamache--the new recidivist addict version seems less so.

The repeated face downs between Gamache and Francouer rapidly devolved into spitting contests with Gamache always on the verge of homicide, and Francouer always taunting him further. Enough already. How many times can you say 'stop that', slap his hands, and expect that to be an effective deterent? Lock him in a cell, hand-cuff him to an appliance,...take some action. On the other side of the argument, how many times does a subservient employee have to rough house you before you have grounds to simply fire him?

All the kerfluffle at the end between a drugged and paranoiac Beauvoir and enraged Gamache/Francouer abusing each other literally over the altar, immediately proceeds the denouement where the murderer is cleverly if hastily exposed. IMO it destroys what up until then had been a carefully crafted, interesting monastery murder. It upstages and abbreviates what should have been the repercussions among the monks of outing the murderer and importantly the resolution of the schism that divided them.

And so the importance of all the descriptors for this perfect music, the quiet untamed wildness, the rainbow play of light on stone, the allegory of the entwined wolves, the extraordinary diversity of the monks, the meticulous architecture of the monastery, the philosophical examination of monastic life, bliss, peace, ecstasy, the discovery and discoverer of the monastery's treasure, and the voice of God, and the apprehension of the murderer ...all these things are swept away in the furious, fast, final pages.

This cachophonous ending is not what I would have envisioned for a book named for plainchant. ...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Megan Baxter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An Armand Gamache novel not at least partly set in Three Pines? What will I do with myself? I have so much enjoyed knowing a whole town involved in a murder mystery, as well as the detective and his team.

Despite the initial trepidation this set off in my head, it was quickly allayed by the story that Louise Penny laid before me. This was really damned good. Even if it had a heartbreaking ending. Penny's understanding and portrayal of human nature in all its warts and beauties shines through eve ...more

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Nov 11, 2015 Lynne King added it

Shelves: mysteries, top-favo, american-lit, us-authors, women-s-fiction, wonderful-reads, 6-star-rating, 2016-books-to-be-read

I’ve read some remarkable books this year – it’s like a miracle – and I thought that there was no way that I could find a book that was even better. How wrong could I possibly be?

I knew as soon as I read two Goodread reviews on this book that I would love it. It has actually succeeded my wildest dreams. All the ingredients were there that have fascinated me since I was a child: monks, monasteries and Gregorian chants, with the added bonus of the setting in Québec. The only other book in this gen ...more

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Nov 11, 2015 Margitte rated it it was amazing

Shelves: community, fiction, historical-fiction, reviewed, favorites, mystery, canadian-authors, drama, murder, 2015-read

Historical theme:An ancient order, the Gilbertines, is occupying the monastery with a unique selection of monks singing an ancient collection of Gregorian chants as part of their Divine Office. Their power was not so established in their disciplined, isolated religious calling, as it was divided between their dedication to their music and their silence. In this impregnable wall of divinity and humanity a few cracks appeared. A silent war was raging, pushing a divide through the old institution a Historical theme:An ancient order, the Gilbertines, is occupying the monastery with a unique selection of monks singing an ancient collection of Gregorian chants as part of their Divine Office. Their power was not so established in their disciplined, isolated religious calling, as it was divided between their dedication to their music and their silence. In this impregnable wall of divinity and humanity a few cracks appeared. A silent war was raging, pushing a divide through the old institution and causing the foundations to crumble. The monks are facing each other in two lines, across the stone floor of the chapel, like ancient battle lines. Silently. Always silently.

Plot:
Chief Inspector Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his assistant, of the Sûreté du Québec, is called to investigate a murder in this isolated abbey.

Sub-plot: The relationship between the two colleagues are tested on a much deeper level when they are removed from their own lives and established behind the thick walls of a monastery which has never seen any other human beings other than monks in its centuries-old existence.

"Armand Gamache had expected to need a few moments to adjust to the dark interior. He hadn’t expected that he’d need to adjust to the light.

Far from being dim, the interior was luminous.

A long wide corridor of gray stones opened up ahead of them, ending in a closed door at the far end. But what struck the Chief, what must have struck every man, every monk, who entered those doors for centuries, was the light.

The corridor was filled with rainbows. Giddy prisms. Bouncing off the hard stone walls. Pooling on the slate floors. They shifted and merged and separated, as though alive.

The Chief Inspector knew his mouth had dropped open, but he didn’t care. He’d never, in a life of seeing many astonishing things, seen anything quite like this. It was like walking into joy.

He turned and caught the eye of the monk. And held it for a moment.

There was no joy there. Just pain. The darkness Gamache had expected to find inside the monastery was not in the walls, but in the men."

Comments:
Louise Penny has the magical ability to pull the reader into a new world from the very first sentence in her story. A sense of excitement and contentment roll over the reader like a drug fix. She never budges from her rendition of gentle realism, while still addressing series issues.

Quebec is the background to her stories and she manages, by alternating the themes in this series, to highlight the history and beauty of her world. Every second book moves away from the readers' beloved fictional village, Three Pines, which, in the first place, showcases her ability to write any murder mystery successfully. Secondly, and that's my opinion, she considers her readers, by moving away from the established theme of the series, thereby adding new possibilities on a constant, and in a very successful way. This is the first book in the series that moves completely away from Three Pines.

Throughout the series she develops Armand Gamache's character, adding more aspects of his complicated personality. There is never an indulgence into super-heroism. She never portrays him as a superior persona. He has demons of his own to confront before he can capture the killer.

The incredible atmospheric background of this story is almost indescribable.

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.”

The origin of written music is revealed. Fascinating!

An absolute brilliant read for both historical fiction and murder mystery readers!
...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Michael rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery, books-about-books, religion, music, quebec

I enjoy the special voice and psychological depth Penny has in this mystery series. In this one the murder of choirmaster in a remote cloistered order of monks leads Inspector Gamache and Agent Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec to travel there and live among the community until the mystery is solved. The site is of a fictional monastery established 300 years before by an order seeking a hide out from the Inquisition, Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups (“Between the Wolves”). They have recently achieve I enjoy the special voice and psychological depth Penny has in this mystery series. In this one the murder of choirmaster in a remote cloistered order of monks leads Inspector Gamache and Agent Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec to travel there and live among the community until the mystery is solved. The site is of a fictional monastery established 300 years before by an order seeking a hide out from the Inquisition, Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups (“Between the Wolves”). They have recently achieved much unwanted attention, and a lot of money, from a popular recording of Gregorian “plainchants”.

Monastery in Quebec

Pretty hard to imagine what could lead a monk to commit murder. Gamache’s explorations of this community slowly uncovers a schism related to ambitions about the music. The “Beautiful Mystery” of the title has to do with Christian faith and the devotion of accolytes of the Gregorian chant to achieve ecstasy in speaking and praying to God through music. In the middle ages, the efforts to codify how the music was to be sung led to the invention of written music, which took the form symbolic hand gestures called neumes. The first clue for Gamache concerns a piece of vellum on the monks body with a strange chant and neumes.

Example of primitive musical notation, neumes, placed over Latin words of a Gregorian chant

Some readers may be bored by the slow action and focus on ancient music. But the treat for me is in the interplay between Gamache and Beuvoir. They are both in recovery from a case covered in a previous book which involved much mayhem and serious injuries to both. They are both challenged by the arrival of their nemesis on the scene, the Superintendent of the Surete. The result adds quite a bit of psychological warfare to the story.

I agree with this conclusion from a review in the Globe & Mail:
... works as a catalyst for an ongoing series of inquiries into the nature of faith, loyalty and friendship, deepening familiar characters and developing relationships in a realistic, often painful fashion. It’s a stirring, thought- provoking read, less a matter of whodunit than a relentless questioning of why any of us do anything. The Beautiful Mystery satisfies as a mystery, and stands as a powerful literary novel in its own right, regardless of whether one has read the previous seven novels in the series.

Sample of Gregorian chant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2wyaR...
...more

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Nov 26, 2016 Renata rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers

I'm really just an occasional mystery reader and by that I mean I will read quite a few mysteries over the course of two years and then be entirely immune to their siren call for the next year or so. After reading a few Louise Penney mysteries my friend Juliann recommended this one and I absolutely adored it. I loved everything about it - the setting in the monastery, the descriptions of the life and various monks living within, the tensions between Armand and his odious superior, and most of al ...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Julie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book is a departure from the others in the Gamache series. Set at a monastery rather than the perfect village, Gamache and Beauvoir must find the killer amongst the chanting monks. There is much to like about the novel, particularly the descriptions of the plainchants and the ancient neumes from which they are derived, yet I found the book unsettling rather than enjoyable. The antagonist in this story is not the murderer, but Gamache's boss who has joined them at the abbey, there to do his ...more

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Sep 09, 2012 LJ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, police_procedural, contemporary_post_1945, canada, female_author

First Sentence: In the earth nineteenth century, the Catholic Church realized it had a problem.

The cloistered monks of Quebec’s self-contained Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups monastery focus their lives on prayer and the simplicity of Gregorian Chants. The murder of their prior and choirmaster, Frère Mathieu, has forced open their doors to Inspector Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec

Penny’s writing is simply superb. Her prose is more than mere words telling a story, her phrases ...more

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Mar 25, 2017 Mandy Radley rated it really liked it

This series just keep getting better and better. I'm so glad I'm new to this series if I had to wait a year for the next one it would drive me mad. In this one Gamache and Beauvoir are not in Three Pines and are called to a monastery in the middle of nowhere to investigate the murder of one of the monks. I found this one quite creepy you could almost imagine you were in the monastery, behind the thick stone walls, dark corridors, door leading everywhere, no one around, deathly quiet until you he ...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Kathy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, highly-recommend, favorite-authors, favorites, canada

Gregorian chants are at the heart of Penny's latest Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery. A monk, the choirmaster, has been murdered on a quiet, isolated island off Quebec where the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups has been home to the Gilbertine monks since the middle of the 17th century. Only recently discovered after centuries of obscurity, these monks have the mission of singing and preserving the purity of the Gregorian chant. Gamache and his right-hand man, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, m ...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Monica rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-and-or-evil

A locked monastery mystery - somewhere in the back of beyond in the northern Quebec wilderness there sits a 400 year old monastery inhabited by 24 members of a cloistered order who devote their lives to God and chanting. The unexpected popularity of a recording of their chants has created dissension in their ranks and a monk is murdered. Gamache and Beauvoir are called in to investigate.

The problems I have with this book: the abbot's recruiting of new members, poaching them from other monasterie ...more

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Dec 09, 2013 ☮Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio, read-in-2015

She is such a great author who always impresses me with how much research she does on the locations and history of her subjects. And as usual, I am eager to read the next one to see how things pan out.

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Jul 06, 2015 Jon rated it really liked it

Named for Agatha Christie, The Agatha Awards are literary awards given out each year to mystery and crime writers who write in the "cozy mystery" subgenre (I love that term). Cozy mysteries are traditional mysteries that contain little or no sex or violence and are often set in a closed setting with an amateur detective (think Christie's Miss Marple books or TV's "Murder, She Wrote"). Over the last 8 years, Penny has been nominated each year for best novel and has won 5 times. Pretty impressive. Named for Agatha Christie, The Agatha Awards are literary awards given out each year to mystery and crime writers who write in the "cozy mystery" subgenre (I love that term). Cozy mysteries are traditional mysteries that contain little or no sex or violence and are often set in a closed setting with an amateur detective (think Christie's Miss Marple books or TV's "Murder, She Wrote"). Over the last 8 years, Penny has been nominated each year for best novel and has won 5 times. Pretty impressive. I've only read 2 of her books, but "cozy mystery" definitely describes her style. In both books, a murder has been committed and Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté arrives to solve it. There's a group of suspects and, as Gamache questions them, secrets are slowly revealed and possible motives and suspects come to light.

I read the 2nd book in the series, A Fatal Grace, and skipped over all the rest to read this, the 8th book in the series. One of the dangers of reading books out of sequence in a particular series is that the author sometimes references early books and the reader comes across spoilers to those esrlier books. This did happen a couple of times in this book. A few earlier cases were referenced and the denouement of each were described (one in great detail). Another danger of reading a series out of sequence is that there are often secondary plots that continue over the course of several books. This is largely a standalone story, but there is a secondary plot that has an important part in the story. There is serious conflict between Gamache and his boss and what that conflict is and how it came about is crucial. If you haven't read any of the earlier books, Penny does use exposition to bring you up to speed, so if this is your starting point in the series, you'll not really be at a disadvantage

Penny is a good writer, with well thought out plots and deft characterizations. There is plenty of amusing banter between Gamache and his assistant, Beauvoir, to keep things lively and the secondary plot brings an element of tension to the story. Taking place in a remote Catholic monastery in Quebec, the setting of this novel is interesting and refreshingly different. The mystery itself follows the cozy mystery style very closely. Prior to the start of the novel, one of the monks is murdered and, gradually, secrets and potential motives are revealed until the final denoument and the killer is unmasked. Who the killer is and why he killed makes sense once the reveal is done and I wasn't able to guess early

All in all, this is one I would highly recommend for lovers of myteries. While the murder is wrapped up with a nice, neat bow, the secondary plot isn't and now I have to read the next book to find out what happens.

...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Sue rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, mystery

I recently purchased "The Beautiful Mystery" (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #8) by Louise Penny, after reading such great praise for this book on Goodreads.I have to admit that I haven't read any of her other novels,so I didn't know what to expect.This novel can be read without visiting previous novels. Little did I know that I was in for such a real treat.I was drawn into this book right from the beginning. Her characters are complex and very human, and I was right there all the way as the pl ...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Sherry Roberts rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have followed Chief Inspector Armand Gamache from the beginning. He is an old friend so when he hurts, I hurt. This time he must find out who murdered a monk in the isolated monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden on an island in the middle of a lake deep in the wilderness of Quebec. The suspects are 23 cloistered monks living in peace, prayer, and song. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised ...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Cheryl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

my first and wont be my last novel by Louise Penny. I was actually with the Chief Inspector during the whole novel. Ms.Penny had me from the very first word, I just couldnt put this book down. At the very end I felt that I wanted more and was disappointed that there wasnt.However after sleeping on it, realized Ms Penny had ended this novel just as it should have been. Can hardly wait to read more of her novels. Thanks so very much Goodreads, for the advanced copy, have been going on about The Be ...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Mary rated it liked it · review of another edition

"That word? I do not think it means what you think it means" (Inigo Montoya, quoting from memory.)

Warning: Spoilers ahead! Like the others in Louise Penny's series, this was a quick and (for the most part) easy read. Briefly, it told two stories: that of a murder in a monastery in northern Quebec, and that of Jean-Guy Beauvior, still struggling to overcome his many wounds (physical and emotional)and to protect his boss, Gamache, from his boss's boss. That second story was convincing and absolute "That word? I do not think it means what you think it means" (Inigo Montoya, quoting from memory.)

Warning: Spoilers ahead! Like the others in Louise Penny's series, this was a quick and (for the most part) easy read. Briefly, it told two stories: that of a murder in a monastery in northern Quebec, and that of Jean-Guy Beauvior, still struggling to overcome his many wounds (physical and emotional)and to protect his boss, Gamache, from his boss's boss. That second story was convincing and absolutely gripping. Francouer, the "big boss", is as convincing a portrait of human evil as I've come across in a book. He's as believable as Dickens's Steerforth and Tolkien's Saruman, and far less sympathetic than either. I really felt for the insecure (if brave and loyal) young man caught in his wiles.

The primary mystery, however, felt contrived, and simply fell apart at the end. It wasn't the setting, which was actually well-realized. It wasn't that tensions between the monks got ugly, with one of them becoming a murderer. It was that, IMHO, Penny relied on cliches in devising her clues, and that one of these - a major one - simply made no sense at all. And now I'm getting into spoiler territory.

Spoilers

Spoilers

Spoilers

The choirmaster is found dead with a nasty head wound in the Abbot's private garden. He is curled up around a piece of parchment with neumes (an early form of musical notation) on it. Obviously, a fellow monk must have killed him, but why? And what is this piece of music the dead man is clutching?

As the story goes on, and the monks begin to talk to the investigators, it transpires that Frere Mathieu's last words were "Ecce homo". It's described as "homo", preceded by a sound like clearing the throat. Sorry, no dice. There is no way on earth that "ecce" sounds like someone's throat being cleared. This clue is contrived so that everyone can get exercised over a possible homosexual love affair. Now, that's all right. In his rule, St. Benedict has clear directives to help monks avoid special friendships, the abuse of children, and so on. This clearly indicates that the founder of monasticism was well aware of these abuses, and that they existed - however rarely. I didn't have much problem with the way the monks were shown, either. There were some charming characterizations. But it was just silly that the murderer would have repeated Pontius Pilate's words while bashing his mentor over the head, and it was even sillier that the poor dying man would repeat them, rather than trying to name his murderer. Really contrived! Finally, Pilate's words do not mean what Penny says they mean. And her information about the Cathars is incomplete and somewhat misleading.

So, in future, if I want to read a mystery with a fallen-away Catholic and his relationship with the Church, I'll stick to Elly Griffiths and the Ruth Galloway stories. She does it better. On the other hand, I am dying to know what will happen to poor, deluded Jean-Guy. That part of the story really caught me.
...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Jeanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Penny is such a superb writer that even at her worst she's a four star winner in my opinion....With that being said, here's the thing...I'm growing weary of Jean Guy's (supposedly a bright guy though that fact is seldom apparent) idiocy, and the continued torture of our beloved Gamache by those circling vultures from the Arnaud case. Please, Ms. Penny...it's time to move on. Either let the vultures have Beauvoir permanently and let Armand retire in peace to Three Pines and spend his time dealing ...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Martha Francescato rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review is from: The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel - A Very Beautiful Mystery marred by an unexpected and unwanted intrusion (originally published in amazon.com)

This is the second novel in the series that strays from Three Pines and the endearing characters who live there (the first one is Bury Your Dead). But it is natural -- Three Pines is very small, and there are so only many murders that can happen there. So, here we are taken to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre This review is from: The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel - A Very Beautiful Mystery marred by an unexpected and unwanted intrusion (originally published in amazon.com)

This is the second novel in the series that strays from Three Pines and the endearing characters who live there (the first one is Bury Your Dead). But it is natural -- Three Pines is very small, and there are so only many murders that can happen there. So, here we are taken to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec. It is a monastery that does not accept any outside intrusion and where there is a vow of silence. To this monastery Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec arrive, having been called because of the murder of Frère Mathieu, the Prior and choirmaster, with a brutal blow to the head. Once there, they discover disquiet beneath the silence.

I will not dwell on the plot, as this is a review, not a summary. What follow are some observations, and they contain what some call "spoilers" -- necessary to make my points. I had read, followed, and recommended Penny's mysteries from the beginning. I wrote a five star review of A Trick of the Light, which I loved. What happened here that makes me unable to give this work five stars?

The novel is centered on the Gregorian chants and the 24 monks who sing them several times daily (now 23.) Their hypnotic allure is called the "beautiful mystery," and Gamache is immediately drawn to them as are we, the readers. I have to confess I read part of the novel with a CD of Gregorian chants in the background, as I was carried away and needed to hear them too. Beauvoir finds them irritating and boring. We need to make this point, maybe to try to understand what happens later on. But we know a lot about Beauvoir already.

Everything about the novel, from the mystery to the daily life of a Gilbertine monk, is written in great detail and is truly moving and entrancing. We are mostly indoors, trapped in the monastery as the monks are. Only now and then do they venture out to work the soil, gather blueberries, look after the chickens. There are also secret doors and passages, as well as the potential hidden treasure. And there happens to be a treasure, as we find out later, but one that is in plain view, unknown to anyone there. It falls upon another "intruder" a Dominican monk, to find it. All the time, Gamache is trying to gather clues to solve the mystery, but the solution eludes him.

But -- it is when Chief Superintendent Sylvain Francoeur arrives that the novel takes an unexpected turn. We are still dealing with the mystery, and eventually Gamache solves it, but Francoeur has brought two things that will disrupt the calm and take the plot in another direction, a subplot that acts like an invader: a CD of the raid that happened in the past and which is still somewhat unresolved, and a bottle of OxyContin. With these two items he manages to challenge and change the lives of the two outsiders -- Gamache and Beauvoir. Francoeur instills more than doubt in Beauvior's mind; it is poison, which succeeds in making him doubt and finally desert not only Gamache but Annie, whom he dearly loved all along and is now having an affair with. We saw part of it at the beginning, only to be taken away almost immediately, as an anticipation of what was about to happen.

It is almost absurd to think that Francoeur went all the way to the monastery on a plane that announced his arrival loudly, and took the CD and the bottle of OxyContin for revenge. How could he tell what was going to happen? And why put himself in such a plight, when he has everything to lose? It is equally absurd that, when Beauvoir has to choose, he goes with the devil -- as he had always labeled Fancoeur, all because he is under the influence of the opiates.

This sudden, unexpected, and unresolved turn ruined the novel for me. Even more, it made me angry, upset, annoyed. Angry at Beauvoir; angry at Penny for bringing something that does not fit with the rest of the novel. Why, I ask? Why here? And why something so ridiculous as a CD and the OxyContin??? We know that Sylvain Francoeur hates Gamache. But we also know he is Chief Superintendent. Why is it that I cannot accept this turn of events? And I am not alone. There are many others who feel the same, so there must be something wrong we all see in this.

After Beauvoir makes his choice, which many of us do not understand, even if he is drugged and in pain, Gamache has a look of such sadness in his face it almost breaks the abbot's heart. And then, at the very end, as Gamache looks into the sky and feels the North wind on his upturned face, the words "Some malady is coming upon us" are printed in italics. Is it a hint of future events? After this, even the sound of the plane disappears carrying Francoeur and Beauvois, and Gamache is left with a great silence - the silence of the monastery when there were no chants, as opposed to its glory as soon as the monks sang. It is Saint Gilbert between the wolves, not among them - a place of perpetual choice. And Beauvoir has made a final (maybe) choice. We are left with that doubt, and it is something we don't need at this point and in this novel. ...more

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Sep 25, 2013 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audible, mystery, murder, detective, crime

When Gamache, and Beauvoir are assigned a murder case in a remote monastery they step into a different world. These monks have recently released a single of ancient chants that has been at the top of the charts and quickly becomes popular around the world. Their once uncomplicated life suddenly becomes very complicated and it is up to Chief Gamache to determine who among these men of God is capable of murder.

When the corrupt Superintendent Francoeur, Gamache's boss, mysteriously shows up with n ...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Jocelyn Harvey rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I am a dedicated fan of Louise Penny's Armand Gamache mysteries, but this new book was a terrible disappointment to me. It was not very interesting as a mystery, despite the almost hectoring claims of MEANINGFULNESS by the author, and except for the two main characters most of the secondary people (the monks) were oddly undifferentiated, not at all like the wonderfully defined, highly individual characters we are used to from Penny. I found the constant insistence that we were experiencing an aw ...more

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Jul 10, 2015 Chris rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: done, mystery, from-library, 2015

Good continuation of the series, with much less angst than I was expecting based on the previous book... at least initially. Let's just say I'm eying the next book anxiously and suspiciously... This was the first book that had only the briefest reference to Three Pines - it mostly takes place at a remote Quebec monastery.

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Aug 13, 2015 Kiwi rated it really liked it

Shelves: z_2015-monthly-genre

I had a fascination with mysteries set in monasteries since I read The Name of the Rose. This book is successful in reproducing the abbey atmosphere, the repetitive simple monastic life and the obscure religious order close-knit community (the Gilbertines was founded around 1130 and closed down in 16th century at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries).

The murder victim is the prior and choirmaster, close to the abbot but generally considered strong minded and hard to handle. The invest ...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Kindred rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I've loved this series from the start despite my dislike CI Gamache. The beauty of Quebec, the other characters and the rich plots made up for such an arrogant, controlling, egomaniac for a lead character.
I was thrilled with the beginning of this novel- all the characters seemed on track, the history and concept of the monks and the power of the chants was vibrant and exciting. As always her descriptions were as vivid as looking at a photograph.
Then in chapter 16 the whole book collapsed for me. ...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Dorie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 05, 2012 switterbug (Betsey) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Canadian novelist Louise Penny charmed me immediately with her rural Québec setting and atmosphere in her latest Inspector Gamache police procedural, which centers on the religious music of plainchant, and the history of its written notes. Although it is #8, it is my first—but not my last! Fortunately, each novel stands alone, although it is evident within the pages that there is strong character development that was started and has evolved from the previous seven books. The “beautiful mystery” Canadian novelist Louise Penny charmed me immediately with her rural Québec setting and atmosphere in her latest Inspector Gamache police procedural, which centers on the religious music of plainchant, and the history of its written notes. Although it is #8, it is my first—but not my last! Fortunately, each novel stands alone, although it is evident within the pages that there is strong character development that was started and has evolved from the previous seven books. The “beautiful mystery” is both a coiled and divine unraveling, and readers will be delighted by riddles and twists up to the very end. There are demons to unlock, both in the monastery and with the investigating officers. Penny brilliantly executes a keen thematic parallel to both.

The returning characters are Chief Inspector and his deputy and friend, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, of the Sûreté du Québec, (police department) and Gamache’s daughter Annie (small role here) as well as Gamache’s wife, who is only referred to in this book. Lastly, there is the man that Gamache despises, his superior in rank, Superintendent Sylvain Françoeur.

In this closed room murder mystery, Gamache and Beauvoir are investigating the murder of the prior and choirmaster of an obscurely located monastery in Northern Quebec, Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, where the abbot, Dom Phillipe, handpicks the monks for their composite talents. The crucial and coveted skill is their gift for Gregorian chanting, or plainchant. Now, Frère Mathieu, who is the spire of this talent, was found in the abbot’s garden, curled in a fetal position, his head smashed in.

The murder is likely an inside job, but the clues are minimal and the motivations are unclear. The abbot allows the brothers to break from their vow of silence (which is less a vow in this case than an agreement) in order to speak to the police. Gamache and Beauvoir have no choice but to stay at the monastery while they are investigating, a place that no outsider has ever been invited or allowed into before. As the investigation progresses, a discord is revealed, which has created a divide in the harmony of the brothers. That is all you need to know, as one of the delights of reading this mystery is for it to remain one, until you crack the case with the police.

For a while, this was a 4-star read. My own detective skills allowed me to figure out the answer to some key clues before they were revealed. Also, Penny took a large gamble by including a separate storyline, which annexes from an earlier book. At first, this bothered me, because I wanted to get on with this case. There are twenty-four monks, including the dead choirmaster. Twenty-three potential suspects kept me sufficiently engaged. And each brother had his own separate and enigmatic personality. But, gradually, an eloquent symmetry is exposed as the unresolved troubles of Beauvoir and Gamache gain poignancy. And the raw succession of Buavoir's torment is refreshingly authentic, rather than tied up with a bow. The book gets more exceptional as it advances.

Penny’s prose is rich with metaphor and filled with light, shadows, and darkness. Her aesthetic eye for detail contours the story with an elegant texture, and her knack for plunging the reader into the wilderness setting of the monastery is both dazzling and dignified.

“The corridor was filled with rainbows. Giddy prisms. Bouncing off the hard stone walls. Pooling on the slate floors. They shifted and merged and separated as though alive.”

I look forward to reading more from this author, and going back to her earlier books. I read on her site that the themes in her book were inspired by two lines in an Auden poem, in his elegy to Melville. “Goodness existed, that was the new knowledge/his terror had to blow itself quite out to let him see it.” Quite inspired.
4.5 ...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Suzy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: listened-to, favorite-series, crime-mystery, audio-faves

What can I say? I am a die-hard Louis Penny fan and this book did not disappoint. Set in an isolated monastery in Quebec, Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups. A monk is murdered and guess who comes to visit? Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his side-kick, Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvoir. This one was a little slow to start, but if I had any doubts about how good the book was going to be, they were quickly dispelled.

Again, I would make note that these books are best read in order, starting with Still Li ...more

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Sep 02, 2013 Kathryn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014, chief-inspector-armand-gamache

Wow, wow, wow what a powerful story, the eighth in the series. These books just keep getting better and better. I learned so much about monks, chants, monasteries and about Chief Inspector Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir.

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Jan 23, 2015 Kathy Davie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery

Eighth in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series and revolving around the inspector and his second-in-command.

My Take
I've been waiting for this installment with great trepidation. I knew it was coming, and I didn't want to know. I didn't want to read about it. And, in some ways, I'm relieved it's finally happened, and it's no longer looming over me.

Jean-Guy really pissed me off in this. It's early on that Jean-Guy voices his worries, his concerns, and it's too late for us and Jean-Guy ...more

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About Louise Penny

Many of Louise Penny's books are published under different titles by UK/Canada and US publishers.
She lives with her husband, Michael, and a golden retriever named Trudy, in a small village south of Montreal.

Her first Armand Gamache novel, "Still Life" won the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony and Dilys Awards.

Awards:
* Agatha Award: Best Novel
o 2007 – A Fatal Grace – Winner
o 2008 – ...more

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Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (1 - 10 of 13 books)

Books by Louise Penny

Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #1)

A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #2)

How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #9)

Bury Your Dead (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #6)

The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #3)

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“What did falling in love do for you? Can you ever really explain it? It filled empty spaces I never knew were empty. It cured a loneliness I never knew I had. It gave me joy. And freedom. I think that was the most amazing part. I suddenly felt both embraced and freed at the same time.” — 29 likes

“One of the elders told him that when he was a boy his grandfather came to him one day and said he had two wolves fighting inside him. One was gray, the other black. The gray one wanted his grandfather to be courageous, and patient, and kind. The other, the black one, wanted his grandfather to be fearful and cruel. This upset the boy, and he thought about it for a few days then returned to his grandfather. He asked, 'Grandfather, which of the wolves will win?'

The abbot smiled slightly and examined the Chief Inspector. 'Do you know what his grandfather said?'

Gamache shook his head. . . .

'The one I feed,' said Dom Philippe.” — 23 likes

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