She's done it again! In my opinion, it is difficult to find a better writer of mysteries in the current market than Louise Penny. I was so fortunate to be the winner of an early giveaway from a contest sponsored on her monthly newsletter earlier this spring. Those of us who have been following her Chief Inspector Gamache series are not going to be disappointed by this one. It is different. It is not set in Three Pines. The normal cast of characters is missing. Instead we are presented with Armand Gamache, his deputy and beloved friend Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his arch enemy Superintendent Sylvain Françoeur, and a group of contemplative monks who have chosen to sequester themselves in the wilderness far north of Quebec. The monks, who have taken a vow of silence, use their voices only in the singing of plainchant, the earliest form of Gregorian chant. They have become world famous for the beauty and glory of their singing.

Suddenly however, the prior (who is also the choirmaster) is found murdered, and the monks must admit outsiders to their world, shattering their silence, their peace and their isolation. As Gamache and Beauvoir slowly, calmly, and quietly begin the difficult process of determining which of the brothers is in fact a murderer, they must also confront their own demons, particularly the residual effects of the disastrous raid and hostage situation from previous books in the series. The soothing cadences of the chant don't always work enough magic to keep the pain of the past from surfacing.

Penny's strength is in her characters. By now, if you've read all the book in the series, you feel that you know Armand Gamache almost as well as he knows himself. But she can still add more to this deeply introspective and compassionate officer. His protégé Jean-Guy's character is still evolving and not always in the direction we might want. Penny shines in her ability to portray the depth of emotions and feelings of her characters, allowing them to expand as the story does. She is not afraid to allow them to be flawed.

While the strength is in the characters, the beauty is in the setting, with its quiet, its secrets, its history, and its mysteries. The murder mystery itself, of the classic closed room genre, is brilliant. Everyone is a suspect. There are only a few pieces of physical evidence, the setting is self-contained and virtually impregnable, and Gamache must help the brothers to accept the fact that one among them is a killer. Finally, there's the music! It is the story itself, and the characters, the setting, the plot provide the backdrop for the story of the music, truly a "Beautiful Mystery." Even if you haven't read any of the previous books in the series, this one is written with just enough back fill to make it almost a stand alone.