Louise Penny, 2012; Chief Inspector Armand Gamache/Three Pines Mysteries #8
This eighth installment in the Three Pines Mysteries does not take place in Three Pines. Instead, the setting is the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, in a remote aree of Quebec. When the monastery’s choir director is murdered, Gamache and his #2, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, are admitted to the locked-down monastery to solve a murder. Meanwhile, evil forces are at work to break the relationship between Armand and Jean-Guy. The troubled relationship between the two men is an arc that plays out over several volumes, and it’s one of the most disturbing themes I’ve encountered in this series. Ralph Cosham narrates admirably.