Faithful Place by Tana French

So for my two days in the car coming home from California, I chose this mystery. It certainly held up for the 16-plus hours, but the story was a dark one. Set in Dublin, Detective Francis Mackey returns to his boyhood home and family to solve the mystery of his missing (for 22 years) first love. Colorful characters, violent family members, raw language and painful emotions all make for a lively story. French is a lyrical writer; her descriptions and analogies are beyond compare! And often they make me laugh out loud. The reader's Dublin accent was difficult to understand at times, but certainly added to the authenticity of the story.

One aspect of this story that was educational to me was seeing a dysfunctional family in action. It felt authentic. The cruelty of the parents inspired some of the children to become protectors of the others. Their courage and resourcefulness was bittersweet. And the price they paid for the dysfunction was huge. It also prompted me to wonder about the strength of genetics and environment on the children...

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

I didn't read this book; I listened to it on my recent solo road trip to California. I have to say, it got a little long. I usually enjoy Penny's characters and settings, but this one was different. The setting is a monastery and the characters were not as intriguing to me as usual. However, I did enjoy the spiritual references and the explanations of the monastic life. Of course I love Chief Inspector Gamache, and he didn't disappoint! I also enjoyed learning about the history of ancient chants. When I got to California, I spent quite a bit of time at Mont La Salle, a Christian Brothers retreat center. So it was fun to feel like I had a deeper understanding of the place. Another less enjoyable aspect of this story, and one that is unusual for this author, was the gradual and painful undoing of Jean-Guy Beauvoir...