Point of View

Louise Penny tells her novel "The Beautiful Mystery" from the third-person omniscient narrative. This is done for at least two reasons. The first is that there is much to be explained to the reader about the life of monks and the existence of monasteries, best done by an objective and omniscient third party. This allows the narrator to inform the reader without the characters having to break from their operations in order to explain pertinent things, thereby unnecessarily interrupting the plot. The second reason is that the third-person omniscient narrative provides the reader with a bridge between characters and events as they unfold around the monastery and through the investigation, making the transition between them much easier to handle.

Setting

Louise Penny sets her novel "The Beautiful Mystery" in the Quebecois wilderness of Canada, at a remote and isolated monastery, Saint-Gilbert-Entres-les-Loups. The setting is perfect for...