Author: Louise Penny
Genre: Mystery, Three Pines Series #8
Published: 2012
Personal Rating: 2.5/5 (eh)
Format/Narrator: Audiobook/Ralph Cosham
Yearly Count: 83
A monastery of 24 monks is hidden deep in the woods of Quebec. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir are admitted into the sacred grounds to solve the murder of the monastery's choir director.
The Beautiful Mystery, aka The Boring Mystery, was written with sophistication, but was incredibly slow and uneventful. I did not care about the monastery or the details of the Gregorian chants, and sadly, that was pretty much the only focus. This was a big disappointment for me. Hopefully the next book in the series will reunite us with all the interesting characters from the Three Pines village, because they were sorely missed.
Sorry to see this was a stinker. I still want to try one of Penny's books.
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion ~ In general, it's a good series. You definitely should give it a go. :)
DeleteAlthough I know that some people like her writing...I just can't get into it. I got another one of her books yesterday at the library to give it another shot. I just finished Defending Jacob by Landay and it was absolutely awesome!!! Hope all is well.
ReplyDeleteDanielle ~ I like her writing style. I just felt like this plot lacked oomph. I'm so glad you enjoyed Defending Jacob. I really liked that one a lot, too!
DeleteI just grabbed A Fatal Grace, which is book 2 in this series. I hope I enjoy it as much as I did the first one!
ReplyDeleteStaci ~ I'm sure you will. This was by far my least favorite.
DeleteI want to try more of this series, so I've downloaded Still Pines to my Nano so I can give it a "reread" before moving forward. Bummer that this one didn't impress you as well as some of her others.
DeleteLes ~ I agree . . . bummer! "Reread" Ugh. I don't know how you do it. I don't like to already know what's going to happen (or be reminded as it goes along), and there are just too many new-to-me books that I want to get to.
Delete"This novel lacked oomph." That's a good way to put it. I thought it was a very introspective story into the minds of Gamache, Jean-Guy, the monks, and the monastery. I liked it a lot, but spent the first hundred pages missing all the other characters. Not my favorite of the series but I felt such turmoil about how these men were going to react in regards to their intense feelings.
ReplyDeleteBooklogged ~ It's so great to "see" you! :) I think I have two of your posts saved for commenting.
DeleteI need more action. The "introspective" approach is okay, but I have to be in the right mood for it.
I finally bought the first of the series and now I just need to find the time to read it.
ReplyDeleteStacybuckeye ~ This one was a dud for me, but overall the series is quite good and has interesting characters in it. I hope you like it.
DeleteI just finished this one and agree that it lacked "oomph." :) It dragged a bit in the middle, but picked up again toward the end. I enjoyed it, but missed the Three Pines setting and characters, especially Ruth.
ReplyDelete