Still Life

Our setting is Three Pines, a small village in southern Quebec, and our series detective is Chief Inspector Amand Gamache of the Quebec provincial police force. The mystery to be solved in this volume is the death of Jane Neal, a retired schoolteacher who seemed to be loved by everyone in town. She's been killed by bow and arrow in what might have been a hunting accident.

I hated this book. The characters are thin caricatures (does the town's gay couple need to run the restaurant, the B&B, AND the antique shop?); the murder is solved in a wildly implausible manner; and Gamache himself is an insufferably pompous ass. He prides himself on being a skilled instructor of younger officers, yet when faced with a new team member, his response to show more her inexperienced mistakes is to kick her off the team. To be sure, she has a lot to learn, but she is also making a significant number of the deductions and insights that lead to the murderer being caught.

Simply at the level of competent and attractive prose, Penny's writing is a disaster. There's a sentence or two in every chapter that is so graceless and ugly that I was stopped in my tracks, stunned that a professional editor had allowed it to stand.

And there's a terribly offensive resolution to one subplot, in which the gay couple is the victim of vandalism by a group of boys. One of those boys turns out to be gay himself, and the two men arrange for him to be sentenced to community service working at their restaurant. They describe their motivation as wanting to expose the boy to positive role models of gay men to help him get past his internalized homophobia, but Penny makes it look a lot more like a setup for grooming of a vulnerable kid by predatory men. That's a dangerous stereotype which all by itself is sufficient reason to never pick up another book by this author. show less

My first experience with Louise Penny, and I'm now a happy fan.
A police procedural, of course, but for me, it is so much more than that.
We don't get the cast of stereotypical characters. Sure, we get a smug new cop who thinks that she knows it all and will show these lazy end-of-career cops a thing or two. But it doesn't lead to either her coming up with the big solution or her coming around to believe that she has much to learn from these veterans.
Instead of routine (unbelievable) dialogue to show "just how angry I am", we get: "I thought you'd be pleased," she half-lied. She actually hadn't thought at all, and if she had, she probably could have predicted his reaction. But since he was comfortably on his Inuk island, she'd retreat to show more hers, equipped with righteous indignation and warmed by moral certitude. She threw great logs of 'I'm right, you're an unfeeling bastard' on to the fire and felt secured and comforted.
And we get pops of inventive description like: The maples and birches and wild cherry trees held their fragile leaves, like thousands of happy hands waving to them upon arrival.
My only dislike was the climactic scene in the basement; it seemed unrealistically over the top.
I thought that this would be a one-off, just to give Louise Penny a try. But I am now launched into the series. show less

"Still Life," by Louise Penny, takes place in Three Pines, a small rural village south of Montreal. This placid and beautiful hamlet is shaken to its core when a beloved and gentle seventy-six year old woman named Jane Neal is shot through the heart with an arrow.

In charge of the investigation is Chief Inspector of Homicide, Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec. Although he is in his mid-fifties, "violent death still surprised him." Gamache is a man of integrity with keen powers of observation, and he is an excellent listener with an uncanny ability to make people reveal their innermost thoughts.

What an incredible book - in an incredible series! I started reading Penny when I got "A Fatal Grace" in the fiction section at my library. show more I devoured it and will now read the rest in order.

These books are mysteries, true, but like other great mystery authors, the books are about the human soul and psyche. Penny's characters think and act on feelings that we all have, but are afraid to acknowledge.

I find the characters so real-to-life, that when the book is done, I find myself missing the new friends I had made. I want to live in Three Pines now, and eat at the bistro for the rest of my life. When I read the first book I found myself planning on checking out books by Ruth Zardo in the poetry section - that's how real her characters are. In fact, I'd love to see Penny publish a book of Ruth's poetry!!

Louise Penny has written a dryly humorous, thoughtful, and engrossing study of a network of close-knit friends and relatives who celebrate their successes and mourn their losses together. Who among them is harboring evil intentions? This book is reminiscent of Christie's Miss Marple mysteries, in that a snake suddenly rears its head in an apparently benign Garden of Eden. Until the snake is found and destroyed, anyone could be the next victim. The author's delineation of the individual personalities is remarkable. The plot is nicely constructed, with enough red herrings to keep the reader off balance.

Penny is a gifted descriptive writer and the dialogue is lively and fast-paced. Gamache, far from being superhuman, makes mistakes but tries to learn from them, and he is an appealing protagonist. The title has a dual meaning. First, it refers to a painting by Jane Neal, called "Fair Day," which may point to the identity of her assailant. Additionally, "still life" is a metaphor for a person whose life is emotionally stunted and who blames others for his problems, instead of developing into a mature and productive adult. All in all, "Still Life" is an auspicious debut novel by a promising new author. show less

A favorite author mentioned these books so I decided to step beyond my own typical fare into a largely unread genre for me. This is well-written, layered with truly interesting characters, setting, and deep understanding of people and motivations. Everything you want in a mystery.

Since this is book one of many in this series, I loved the bits and pieces of backstory we get of our main character, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I'm sure that as the series goes on the reader gets to discover and explore more of his character. For now we know he's a mentor of sorts for his team, and principled to his own detriment. He's been passed up for promotion but not bitter about it, loves his wife, and is observance personified. He is an incredible show more listener for what is said, and what is not. He sees what many do not which, of course, are tools of his expert trade.

“Life is choice. All day, everyday. Who we talk to, where we sit, what we say, how we say it. And our lives become defined by our choices. It's as simple and as complex as that. And as powerful. so when I'm observing that's what I'm watching for. The choices people make”

There is a fundamental need for people to be heard - at a customer service desk to complain, as a teacher of young, malleable minds, a wise friend with broad, proverbial shoulders, or a parent to a strong-willed child. Listening. Patience. The hero to storm a building is as important as the mastermind to plot out the best plan of attack. I rather see our Chief Inspector as the seemingly nonchalant, patient observer, listening and planning his next step. What makes him so intriguing is the subtle way he goes about it, reminding me of other great detectives I have read, like Sherlock, Poirot, or Cormoran Strike.

With such a great main character, the story can be in any setting...this one in a cozy and traditional town where everyone knows your name, temperament, quirks, and at times, some secret or two. In a nutshell, the locals of the town own a piece of the puzzle to solve the murder. Isn't that always how it goes? But even with, for lack of a better word...this formula, characters make or break a story. This is where Louise Penny shines and hooks the reader. Its no wonder she's amassed so many awards for her writing.

I was surprised to see genres in mystery: cozy, crime, hard-boiled, detective, whodunit, etc... I much prefer logic-driven "cozy" mysteries above action-fueled thrillers. I'm certainly going to be reading more of this author. show less

One of the pleasures of retirement is having the time to discover that I enjoy a good detective story. The first element of one is to create an interesting sleuth. With Still Life, Louise Penny introduced Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. He is educated (Christ Church, Cambridge) and well-dressed. He has a happy marriage. He has risen as high as he ever will, but he is fine with that. He’s not as flawed as some literary detectives, though there are stray references to a recent case that he is believed to have mishandled, but this is never explored. His method is to insert himself into the victim’s community to observe and listen. In his experience, if he waits in this way, the culprit will reveal him- or show more herself. I liked that.

On the final page, case solved, Gamache pauses on his way out of Three Pines, the quiet village that was the scene of the crime, to think again about “the good, kind, flawed people struggling with their lives.” In these characters, Penny has added another element of a good story, well-realized figures one can imagine spending time with.

That is, with the exception of some of the obligatory red herring suspects, who are beyond flawed. Still, a good detective yarn needs to have an array of possible perps that the reader can keep in mind while waiting for the final reveal. Which, in this case, doesn’t happen when Gamache gathers everyone in a living room, although that scene sets the denouement in motion. Nice touch, that, in variation of a set trope of the genre.

Along with the few one-dimensional bad apples, I also have reservations about Agent Yvette Nichol, recently transferred from traffic to the Sûreté and eager to live up to her father’s burdensome aspirations for her. This is her first case; in her eyes, a chance to shine. Gamache tries to introduce her to his method, but she is obtuse. The symbolism of looking in a mirror with a written motto tucked into the frame, “You’re looking at the problem,” which is recalled when she looks through the window of the situation room after she’s been cast out into the cold, is heavy-handed. It also contains her reflection, of course. I’ll suspend judgment and wait until I read more in the series. Is she a one-off? Will she reappear? Does she become Gamache’s nemesis? Or does his patient mentorship eventually pay off?

Another important element for a good story is a sense of place. Not too much detail, just enough to evoke. I think this is another way Penny succeeds here, although my judgment may be clouded by the fact that I lived in Québec’s Eastern Townships for a few years. The memory of that, plus Penny’s judicious brush strokes, vividly portrayed the scene for me. Penny also chose the season and weather well to support her plot.

I’m glad there are eight more Gamache tales waiting for me.

What's that you say? There are nineteen more? Well, I'll get to what I can. show less

This the first book in the Inspector Gamache series. I kept hearing about this on different podcasts and decided to take the plunge into Three Pines, the small Canadian village that's not on any map. I am so glad that I did. This is the perfect contemporary cozy mystery!

A well-loved retired teacher is found dead in the woods. It's reportedly a hunting accident, but Inspector Gamache smells murder. This book dives right into eccentric personalities and small town secrets to uncover the truth.

This was laugh out loud funny in several places, nail biting near the end, and completely charming. If you're looking for a fun mystery to take to the beach or to curl up by the fire with a cup of tea, grab this one!

For my last day off of the holiday season, I did next to nothing except sit in a chair with a dog on my lap, reading this excellent series debut mystery novel. For those of you who haven't already discovered Three Pines, Quebec, and the talents of Chief Inspector Gamache, may I recommend that you give this book a try. It's a traditional whodunit, dun very well indeed. A retired schoolteacher, the beloved Jane Neal, is found dead of a wound from a hunting arrow in the woods near the village. Could it have been an accident? Why was she out walking without her dog? The entire community comes under scrutiny, and naturally, many secrets are revealed, including why Miss Neal, in all these years, had never invited a single person into any room show more of her home except the kitchen. Just enough red herrings, and no ultimately dishonest false clues of the sort that make a reader cranky. Surprising bits of humor, and delightfully witty banter among some of the friends in the "cast".
Review written January 2011 show less