Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny

You may remember my previous post when I went to see Louise Penny at a local author appearance…and came away with a big author crush and her newest book, signed.

She gave a wonderful talk, answered questions (Myrna and her bookstore actually exist in Ms. Penny’s own village) and charmed everyone in attendance.

The next evening I made myself some bedtime tea and tore right in.  Two nights later I closed the book and pondered these last two books —Long Way Home and this latest one.

Ms. Penny is clearly taking Gamache into a new direction. His life, after all, has changed.  He is retired from the Sûreté and settled with his wife in the bucolic village of Three Pines.  Gamache is content with retirement on the outside, but little by little we are learning his internal struggle with his new purpose in life.  For Gamache, evil seems somehow – well all the more evil – when it invades his cozy existence in Three Pines.  And it does just that in Nature of the Beast.

Evil doesn’t just invade, it gallops into his sanctuary of Three Pines with the murder of a village boy with a vivid imagination, a menacing missile launcher is discovered abandoned in the woods down a country lane — even the local drama group is putting on a play authored by a now-jailed serial killer  — one of Gamache’s most horrifying past cases.

The dark threat prevails as Gamache and his former Sûreté colleagues work  to untangle the secrets in this intertwined case. A villager with a hidden identity may have been involved in a My Lai type Vietnam massacre, Ruth is revealed to have a dark past, and the Whore of Babylon is an on-going theme, adding yet another layer of apocalyptic tension to the story line.

Most importantly, a nemesis is introduced — John Fleming – – the serial killer playwright, now in jail who taunts Gamache with penetrating insights.  I suspect John Fleming will be back…

“I’m not the only prisoner in this room, am I?”,  Fleming asks (Gamache), “You’re trapped in that village, you’re a middle aged man waiting out his days”

Then, there is the darkness of grief and Ms. Penny’s elegant writing brought tears to my eyes.

“..all my bones will dissolve and one day I’ll just dissolve.  But it won’t matter, because there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do, no need of bones…”

I was fascinated by the depiction of Gamache’s new civilian role and the insightful writing depicts his internal conflict.

…(she) called Gamache ‘Monsieur’ rather than ‘Chief Inspector’.  It was natural, healthy, true — but to Gamache it felt like having a tattoo scraped off.

Ms. Penny breathes humanity as fresh air into the tension — a long running Canadian miseries glues everyone to their TV sets and provides valuable alibis, gardening gives respite from grief, there is frustration with the village’s lack of cell or Wi-fi services and the bistro scenes made this reader raid the cupboard for that tin of hot chocolate mix.

I’m pleased with the development of  Gamache’s wife, Reine-Marie and seeing her come to life as she moves beyond a supporting role to a key influence in Gamache’s thinking and actions.  

I read Nature of the Beast with some incredulity, wondering how a huge “super gun” could be hidden in the woods so near the center of Three Pines and none of the long-time villagers remembers it being built or anything about it?  Ten years ago the gun was strategically placed in Three Pines  (close to the Vermont border) so that the Iraqis could bomb the U.S.? Really?  After I finished the book, in the afterword, Ms. Penny reveals that the hidden missile launcher was based on true Canadian events — there really was such a gun and such a plan. Could have fooled me.

The story strained credibility even further when the final chapters depict a melodramatic race against time to save …whoops no spoiler here.

I kept thinking of the Murder She Wrote television series wherein Cabot Cove, Maine had a long running parade of far-fetched characters, seen-better-days actors and improbable story lines.

But just as I watched Jessica Fletcher to the bitter end (don’t judge), I won’t stop reading Ms. Penny’s books – ever.

The Gamache series is clearly going in a new direction and the last two books’ plots may often strain credibility — but her series still gift her readers with the some of the best writing, most elegant insights into art and humanity, and (not forgetting) the most idiosyncratic, loveable and interesting cast of characters in mystery fiction today.

True confessions,  I have decided to re-read the series in order from the beginning. As Nature of The Beast refers back to Still Life – the first in this wonderful series.

I’m yours Ms. Penny, where ever you take me (see author crush above).