By Paul Carrier
Reuniting with the idiosyncratic array of small-town locals is one of the joys of picking up a new Gamache novel, many of which involve killings that take place in the murder-prone hamlet.
But a change of scenery is welcome from time to time, and The Beautiful Mystery offers just that. In it, the prior of a secluded monastery deep in the woods of the French-speaking Canadian province of Québec is murdered, presumably by one of his fellow monks.
Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups (Saint Gilbert Among the Wolves) had virtually no contact with the outside world until the monks who live there made a recording of Gregorian chants that became an international sensation, bringing wealth and notoriety to the cloistered monastery.
That, in turn, split the monks into two camps: those who agreed with Abbot Dom Philippe that the monks should retain their traditional life of seclusion and near-total silence, and those who supported Frère Mathieu, the prior and choir master, in his push to capitalize on the recording’s success with concerts and other public appearances.
When the prior is found murdered in a walled garden that is only accessible from the abbot's office, Armand Gamache, the chief of homicide for the Québec provincial police, heads to the lakeside religious community with his sarcastic but trusted deputy, Jean-Guy Beauvoir.
Figuring out who killed the prior and why is the focus of The Beautiful Mystery, of course, and suspects abound to keep the reader guessing. But there is much more here to capture and hold our attention, including Penny’s splashes of humor. (When one monk tells Beauvoir that leading a religious life is hard, Beauvoir conjures up a slogan: “The few. The proud. The monks.”)
The ever-courtly Gamache, educated at Université Laval in Québec and Cambridge University (think Hercule Poirot without the idiosyncracies) is a joy to watch as he wends his courteous but tough-minded way through the process of collecting and weighing evidence.
Lurking in the background is Sylvain Francoeur, the suave but sinister chief superintendent of the Sûreté du Quebec, the provincial police force. Francoeur despises his department’s top homicide cop, thanks to a confrontation chronicled in a previous novel in the series, and the feeling is mutual. So why does he show up at the crime scene, and choose to stay at the monastery during the murder investigation?
Adding still more spice to the mix, a mysterious Dominican monk dispatched by the Vatican arrives at the monastery late in the game. He goes on to play a key role in smoking out the killer and in resolving rumors that St. Gilbert houses a hidden treasure of tremendous value.
As is always the case with a Chief Inspector Gamache mystery, it’s best not to read The Beautiful Mystery on an empty stomach, because doing so may trigger a fattening attack of the munchies. There's plenty of savory food at hand whenever Gamache and Co. arrive on the scene, and this novel is no exception. Chapter 11 opens with the monks sitting down to dinner amid “bowls of small new potatoes, drizzled with butter and chives,” not to mention broccoli, sweet squash, casseroles, warm baguettes and “platters of cheeses.” Oh, and the resident chocolatier at the monastery also whips up delectable chocolate-covered blueberries. Hungry yet?
