Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

8. – 567.) Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny – The most powerful mystery I have read in a long time. I have never been more emotionally involved in a book. There are a trio of interconnected mysteries involving Armand Gamache. The Chief Inspector of the Quebec Surete, has gone to Quebec City to spend time with his mentor, Emile, because Gamache’s mistakes led to a disaster costing the lives of members of his unit. This wise prudent man is haunted by his memories. The tension and anguish in those memories unfolding through the book shakes the reader.

Having seen himself err Gamache asks inspector Beauvoir to re-examine their past certainty of who killed the Hermit at Three Pines. Could the wrong man have been convicted?
 In Quebec City Gamache finds some solace in the library of the Literary and History Society of Quebec (the Lit and His). He spends quiet hours in the beautiful reading room studying an aspect of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
 The serenity of the Lit and His is shattered by the death of Augustin Renaud, a fanatic who had been consumed with searching for Champlain’s grave and body so the founder of Quebec could be further adored and glorified. The investigation requires an old fashioned search through aged books and hundreds of years of Quebec history.
 The story explores among the rarest of mystery themes – a hero who is fallible. Gamache’s struggles with the night are the doubts that haunt us all. How do we let go of guilt over past actions? How do we forgive ourselves? Lapsed from his Church there is no faith for Gamache to draw upon in his trials.
 At the same time there are exquisite moments of wonderful memory. Gamache recalls the beautiful words of the wedding blessing bestowed upon himself and Reine-Marie - “Now there is no more loneliness”.
 Penny’s rich characterization and wonderfully drawn descriptions of place evoke the mysteries of P.D. James.
 Reading in February, the month in which it is set, made it perfect winter book. Eriksson’s Swedish winter is dark and grim. Penny’s Quebec winter is bright and fresh. As I look outside in Saskatchewan today the sun is gleaming off the white snow thick upon the ground.
 It is a masterpiece mystery certain to be one of Bill’s Best of 2011. (If you have not read The Brutal Telling I recommend it be read first. The books are really a two part saga.) (Feb. 6/11)