The Beautiful Mystery

rain, sun, storm, sun - this is becoming our typical April day here in London - temps 15

But we still love it!

And - guess what came in today's mail? I'll give you a hint - it's the Advance Reader's Copy of THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY!

I was writing when it arrived, then Michael and I had a lunch with Carol and David, so I shoved it into my purse (really more of a storage container) and off we went. Took it down Sloane Street, around Sloane Square, past Peter Jones, through the Duke of York Square - and into David and Carol's flat. I couldn't stand to be parted from it.

You can see by the demented photo of me, clutching it, that I'm pretty happy. (by the way, at the very end of the road, you can just see Harrod's. The photo was taken on Basil Street - where we have 'our' flat)

It is so thrilling to hold a new book. Feels like a completely different creature than the manuscript. And Minotaur Books have done a great job with the cover. I honestly can hardly wait for you to have it in your hands! Just don't try ripping it out of mine.

some of you have already won the advance copies (having entered the newsletter contests) - but My Assistant Lise won't be mailing them out until I return mid-May, because I'd like to sign them first. And we'll be giving our more advance copies in the May, June and July newsletters!

Now, I say I was writing when the mail arrived with the ARC, and that's true - but I stopped, tore open the envelope and hugged the book to me. Then I made a mistake. I sat down at the kitchen table, where I'm writing, and flipped through it. Then started reading the Prologue....and got caught up. Such an amazing feeling to become absorbed in a book I wrote, as though I didn't know what would happen next.

Then went back to writing the next book. But I think my mind was still on the excitement of THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY arriving, because, truth to tell, I didn't really get that much work done. But, what the Hell - doens't happen often that a new book arrives, and I get to hold it for the first time. Fun to bring it out at Carol and David's and celebrate with them and Michael.

Yippeee.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that this Friday evening, in Montreal, there'll be a special production as part of the literary festival, Blue Met. This year's theme is Crime Fiction, and they asked me to be one of the main guests, but I had to decline since I was going to be here in London. then they asked if Marianne Ackerman - a wonderful writer and playwright - could perhaps dramatize part of my work. I said yes. Such a fan of her writing.

And - she hit on something I think is brilliant. In an interview I'd said that I thought my works owe quite a bit to Hitchcock - that his films weren't bloody, but they were terrifying...because of what wasn't shown, only suggested. The power of the closed door. Why show blood and gore, when a reader's (or viewer's) imagination is so much more powerful that anything I could describe?

So she wrote a short play where Hitchcock talks about the books - and then has a conversation with Chief Inspector Gamache.

If you're anywhere close to Montreal, here's the link for information. It's at the Opus Hotel, at 7pm.

http://roverarts.com/alfred-hitchcock-presents-louise-penny/

Hope you're having a terrific day....my pink eye has gone. It's possible both Dr. Michael and Dr. Louise were wrong and it was simply a small infection. I felt, for a while, as though I had some tiny member of the French Resistance inside me, stealthily moving from site to site, bombing. My throat, my chest, my eye. Then moving on. Happily the war has ended. Peace reigns.