This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Louise Penny manages to combine murder, addiction, and the Catholic religion without denigrating either addiction or religion.

Inspector Gamache is sent to a cloistered, silent monastery to investigate a murder of the prior. This monastery has been hidden for centuries, but desperate for funds to repair the aging monastery; the monks have created a music cd of plainchant and sent it out into the world. The beauty of the music has gone viral and the monastery, no longer hidden.
Along with Gamache is his trusted second, Beauvoir. Beauvoir is still recovering from a previous investigation that went terribly wrong. In addition, during recovery, Beauvoir became addicted to oxy-contin, a powerful painkiller. Rehab has helped him get control of this addiction, but like any, it still interferes with his daily life.
Upon their arrival, the abbot temporarily releases the monks from their vow of silence and commands that each cooperate with the inspector and the investigation. In just minutes, Gamache and Beauvior discover that there is a great divide among the monks. One group wanted to create a new and better cd of their plainchants and promote it by doing a tour; the other group wanted to maintain their vows.
Could this divide have ended in murder? Or, is there another reason for the death of the prior? And, who in a monastery would commit murder? Is there really a treasure hidden in the monastery?

This author has created characters with great depth; no stereotypes here. Although we only get to know a few of the two dozen monks, they all have layers to their characters that must be peeled away, like the outer skin of an onion, to reveal the various flavors hidden below. Gamache and Beauvoir show great restraint as they slowly peel back those layers to figure out what prompted the murder, but are able to interrogate decisively, when the need arises.

The plot is an amazing creation. It inspires intrigue and excitement, combining a murder with all the trimmings, hate, love, ego, pride, and even a possible treasure. While the setting is an unusual one, since few investigations are contained in an environment where there are only a few suspects and they cannot just disappear or scatter to parts unknown. Still, through careful crafting, Penny has developed a believable setting. The themes in this story are universal, so every reader should be able to relate to them.

I was impressed with the way Penny navigates the minefield of the Catholic religion without resorting to the worn out problems the Catholics have recently endured. Although, the Inspector must consider them while investigating, he quickly dismisses sexual misconduct as the cause of the dissention or murder. In addition, Penny is very sensitive to the issue of addiction, subtly pointing out that many people have addictions –including the monks who sing their plainchants throughout the day- but not all of them are destructive. She expertly shows how a reformed addict can be tempted and lose the fight against his addiction. Yet, the characters are not critical, but pained by the relapse.
If I have one complaint, it is that this is a self contained story right up until the end, where we are left with a cliffhanger. While this book is part of a larger story, I did not feel as though I had to have read the previous books to understand what was happening here. But the ending has left me needing more. I don’t like such a major loose end left hanging…it’s frustrating for me when it is clear that if more are to be written, it could be months, even years before that will happen. That being said, I plan to find the previous books and read them soon.