Reading Louise Penny
My current bedtime mystery reading is A Rule Against Murder, by Louise Penny. Let's make that Canadian Louse Penny, for all my friends needing a suggestion for their Canadian Reading Challenge.
Ms. Penny's books are set mostly in the village of Three Pines, Quebec, a village populated with the expected eccentric characters, some of whom kill each other now and then. Despite their eccentricities, they are nevertheless rather believable characters, and all are interesting if not lovable. Her cast of investigators is headed up by the quiet, strong, but enigmatic Armand Gamache.
I find her writing and plotting — storytelling in general — most agreeable and satisfying. Her style is leisurely, playful, literate, and has just the right number of perfect little metaphors to suit my taste. Thrillers are often described as "page turners"; might Penny's books be "page lingerers"? My urge to find out what happens next is continuously tempered by my desire to savor every word she's used to tell us what has happened.
Okay, so you're clear that I like her books very much. This is the fourth I've read; fortunately I have one more waiting when I finish this one.
But right now I just wanted to relate a funny little moment that made me chuckle last night during my reading. This mother, Marianna, has come into her hotel room to find that her child, Bean (of indeterminate gender), has fallen asleep while reading.
But then so much about Bean wasn't normal. To call in a psychologist now, well, it felt a bit like trying to outrun a tidal wave of odd, thought Marianna. She lifted Bean's hand off the book and smiled as she laid it on the floor. [pp. 40–41]
I could only laugh at the image of Marianna laying Bean's hand on the floor. But — far more sinister! — why is she smiling as she does so?