Book Notes: Louise Penny *Love*

Louise Penny is another mystery novelist that I've discovered this past year and loved loved loved.

She's Canadian too, which makes her pretty darn cool. AND, her books are set in small town Quebec, which is doubly cool.

I'd seen her name around the shelves, thought 'I should probably read her someday', but got my push to actually do it when I read about her on the CBC website. I really enjoyed the first and read the rest of the series in such rapid succession that I'm sure Eric wondered when he'd get his wife back.

Of course, once you've finished all the published works, you have to WAIT forever for new ones! Her latest, The Beautiful Mystery, comes out in August...and I'm super excited.

I love learning about Franco/Anglo relationships and history, and about her perspective on light and darkness in humanity. I love the way she describes food - everything centres around food - crisp baguette with soft cheese is almost its own character in the books. If you're not hungry when you start, you will be partway through your read.

I also loved her detective. It's very important to hang your mystery on a detective that people like and can relate to. Her Chief Inspector Gamache is a kind, warm, grave person. Not flashy, but with real depth. He listens to people, sees people, and gets to the heart of the mystery that way.

I dropped out of took a "Detective In Film and Fiction" English course at CMU some time ago. The prof was very interested in how death was portrayed in the books we read. The "cozies" - Agatha Christie being a prime example - were almost entirely bloodless. There wasn't much grief or horror at finding a body, it was just a plot point - the introduction or start of the puzzle to follow.

These books are different. There is death, there is evil. They are very serious. We see their ramifications playing out over many books. There is also light, love, and hope. Looking forward to August, and wishing every success to this very admirable Canadian author.