63 pages 2 hours read

Louise Penny

The Beautiful Mystery

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Character Analysis

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache

Gamache, the protagonist of Penny’s 18-book series, heads the homicide division of the Sûreté du Québec, the province’s police force. He has a strong sense of duty and ethics, and is devoted to the welfare of his subordinates, especially his longtime right-hand man, Beauvoir. Gamache is in his mid-50s, with a pronounced “scar at his left temple” (17)—an injury from a botched raid to rescue a hostage that resulted in the deaths of several police officers and the near-fatal wounds of Gamache and Beauvoir. This trauma influences much of Gamache’s behavior in The Beautiful Mystery.

Gamache is an astute, compassionate observer who conducts interrogations patiently, knowing how to read a suspect and manipulate the emotional tenor of a room. Committed to doing the right thing, Gamache refuses “to lose his soul in the process” (270) of his work. Fiercely loyal to family and friends, Gamache is devoted to his wife Reine-Marie and his daughter Annie.

In the previous novel in the series, Gamache had a lot in common with the zealots at the heart of the novel’s mystery plot—obsessed with completing the rescue operation, he left Beauvoir wounded in order to pursue his job. In that disaster’s aftermath, Gamache learns not to value his job’s mission over the lives of his close associates.

Related Titles

By Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

A Fatal Grace

Louise Penny

A Fatal Grace

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

A Great Reckoning

Louise Penny

A Great Reckoning

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

All the Devils are Here

Louise Penny

All the Devils are Here

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

A Rule Against Murder

Louise Penny

A Rule Against Murder

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

A World of Curiosities

Louise Penny

A World of Curiosities

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

Bury Your Dead

Louise Penny

Bury Your Dead

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

How the Light Gets In

Louise Penny

How the Light Gets In

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

State of Terror

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Louise Penny

State of Terror

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

Still Life

Louise Penny

Still Life

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

The Brutal Telling

Louise Penny

The Brutal Telling

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

The Cruelest Month

Louise Penny

The Cruelest Month

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

The Long Way Home

Louise Penny

The Long Way Home

Louise Penny

Study Guide

logo

The Nature of the Beast

Louise Penny

The Nature of the Beast

Louise Penny