Book #126: The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

This may have been one of my favorite Chief Inspector Gamache novels yet. First reason: the setting. Gamache and his second-in-command, Beauvoir, are summoned to a monastery in the far north of Quebec to solve the mystery of a monk found murdered. The whole novel takes place within the confines of this beautiful, amazing church/monastery, and this setting is so well-described and so central to the story that you feel like you're there. Along with this, the monks are all interesting characters (and there are some comedic moments with different monks) and this setting raises many questions (not all answered) about religion and why these monks chose to live this life.

Second reason: the conflict between the characters in this book is so raw and deep that it was hard to listen to without being stressed out. I was trying to explain what was happening to Tommy and realized it sounded a lot like a soap opera--because I was trying to explain a lot of the backstory from seven or eight other books, it sounded overly dramatic and over-the-top. "Well, Beauvoir and Gamache were in a shootout with some criminals a few books back, and both got shot really badly and took a long time to recover. But then Beauvoir got addicted to the painkillers, and recovered, but it looks like he's about to relapse, because Gamache's boss, the Superintendent of all the police, is a super bad guy and he's trying to give him these painkillers to make him addicted again as a way to make Gamache mad. And Beauvoir is secretly dating Gamache's daughter and doesn't want him to find out..." But when you're reading the books, it definitely does not feel over-the-top or soap-opera-y at all. It feels very believable and real, particularly if you think about them as police officers and these being real threats in their line of duty. I was so MAD and worried about the way things were going while listening to this book, and so worried about Beauvoir and what was happening with him. But, I have to say, after the last book, when it seemed like she had Beauvoir totally healed from his addictions without any problems, I was kind of disappointed that she wasn't going to explore that line of conflict any farther. So, I guess I'm glad she didn't back away from that issue too fast before moving forward with it thoroughly. As long as it all turns out okay in the end, because Gamache and Beauvoir are too good of a team to be torn apart for good.

I just need to get to the next one ASAP to find out what happens!