The Beautiful Mystery

A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

By: Louise Penny

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Mystery, 2013

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 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.

©2012 Three Pines Creations, Inc. (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

I stayed with it…

I didn’t care for this one at all. I stayed with it, but I didn’t really care much about the main story line. I understand that a village the size of Three Pines can’t sustain too many murders and that the Chief Inspector needs to be seen working cases in other locales, but this one was a snooze for me. Good narration, though.

Not Optional!

Such a moving book! Recommended reading for everyone. Of course, you need to read all of the previous books in the Inspector Gamache series, just so you can relate to the main characters who have been growing, regressing, evolving, throughout the previous 7 books. They are all totally worth reading, but The Beautiful Mystery is truly a special book. I now have to research history to learn fact from fiction, but that's just another chance to learn more. I was completely drawn into the rich detail of monastic life, Gregorian chants, church history over the past 1000 years. It's not boring, as I would think, if somebody mentioned old monks to me. it's rich and deep with understanding and insights. Treat yourself!

Cassie

Hard to put down and love learning the history of our northern neighbors.. deep thoughts

Love these story threads

Another great book, upsetting but great, so glad I found these stories and love the narration.

Enjoyable read

Probably longer than needed but enjoyable just the same! Keeps you wanting to read the next one😊

Road Trip — By Boat — By Air

A nice break away from Three Pines.
More character development — for the good.

Mr. Corsham’s presentation is most excellent!

Brilliant setting but tedious storyline

The abbey, the monks, and the Gregorian chart makes for a fresh Three Pines mystery without all the usual characters. I really hope they make a movie about this novel as the setting would be stunning. The story is very slow to unfold, with endless musings and “what ifs”, and again Gamache depends on a confession rather than hard evidence to solve the crime. I understand that the drama regarding Superintendent Franceur and Inspector Beauvoir is setting up a story for a future book, but I hate the story line and destruction of Beauvoir’s character. Could we please have a detective series that does NOT include alcoholism, drug abuse, nightmares about the death of a family member, and being at war with your boss? It is such an overused framework, and Louise Penny does not need these things to add depth or prevent anyone from accusing her of writing “cozy” mysteries!

Plot, writing, characters, action-*****

The depth of feeling that the author allows her characters to have makes these multi-layered books memorable, and this one stands out in ways that spoke to my soul more than most.

Engaging, entertaining, and heartbreaking.

Louise Penny has written a tale with all my favorite things - fascinating historical context, complex, emotional characters, and a good story. The cloistered monastery setting is wonderfully detailed, and each monk has a clear, vivid character (even the minor ones). The twists of the story, whether humorous little details or fast-paced dramatic actions, prevented me from putting it down. The murder mystery was a wonderful tale, with an interesting resolution and a strangely hopeful twist at the end.

The parallell story, among the regular characters, will be interesting to new readers, and almost overwhelming for those of us who follow the series. I noticed in her previous book, "Bury Your Dead," that Penny has a gift for imagining the most heart-breaking thing that could happen to Inspector Gamache, and making it so - drawing it out over the course of hundreds of pages, awful yet irresistible. This book is no different. She definitely has a gift for creating characters whose emotions are so engaging, so vivid, that I am invested in their well being.

I loved this book, but I do feel like I need a support group now.

Back to Three Pines, Please

Three Pines, Louise Penny's fictional village outside Montreal and its characters are so dear to me. I missed them! The research that went into The Beautiful Mystery was amazing, but I was almost glad when the book ended.