I'm close to finishing Louise Penny's latest Three Pines mystery
How The Light Gets In - and I'm almost afraid to continue reading. If I'm grasping all the overarching Christian allegories that are being questioned and explored within this densely plotted book -- the ending is predestined, and is going to upset the hell out of me. But I will continue on tonight ....
It's hard to review or discuss this book without including spoilers, but I'll try.
Penny has 'complexified' her Three Pines mysteries to address grand issues of goodness, evil, fate, luck, love, and forgiveness, amongst many themes. Emphasis has shifted from simply solving mysteries amidst a quirky cast of characters inhabiting a veritable Shangri-La buried in the wilds of Canada to contemplating the role, if any, of a good man amidst near universal 'official' corruption -- and the toleration, even acceptance, of this corruption by people in all walks of life. And, rather than create a 'perfect' good detective pitted against the evils of greed & crime, Penny's characters are all deeply flawed, and all desperate for understanding and forgiveness.
Doesn't sound like much of a mystery does it? But there is a central investigation on the deaths, possibly murders, of a famous family of quintuplets. And the ongoing battles between Insp. Gamache and his corrupt superiors. And the ongoing addiction of Jean Guy to painkillers that is destroying his career, and life. And the suicide from the bridge that missed the water ....
By chance, I happened to read "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" just before beginning Penny's book - and I recommend others to do so as well. You will encounter Coleridge's albatross within Penny's book, and it becomes a central metaphor used throughout. Guilt, redemption, forgiveness, punishment, regret, sorrow -- the list of parallels is endless between the two works.
I highly recommend Penny's Three Pine series if you enjoy complex characterizations and thoughtful plotting. These are not police procedurals, but instead deeply imagined explorations of how people (both police and public) deal with crime -- how they understand, cope, and forgive -- or fail to. Although I think Penny made her evil a tad too grandiose and unrealistic, I am compelled to follow through to the (I fear) bitter end .... where I hope to be able to forgive Penny's manipulation of my emotions as her characters face their individual and collective fates.
Whew! Just finished it .... and I was wrong .... thankfully...
I'm emotionally exhausted now .... what a splendid control of plot, character, and emotions! And a satisfying resolution of many mysteries.