Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are … the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces—and this series—with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.
more
Beautifully written and we’ll thought out plot.
In the town of Three Pines, Quebec in Canada, cherished local spinster Jane Neal is found dead in the woods, a victim of an apparent hunting accident, or is it murder? Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called in from the Sûreté du Québec to investigate along with his protege Jean Guy Beauvoir and a small cast of characters under his tutelage. The town is small so the list of potential murders is small and just like the townspeople that Jane Neal painted on her newly discovered painting, the clues to the murder may be hidden in plain sight.
This was a charming mystery, although there were a couple of characters that could be exasperating and seemed out of place. The townspeople were fun and quirky and I can see how this book has expanded into an award-winning series. These are stories I’ll read between some of the heavier subjects I tend to tackle.
I like this series very much. The setting is very like a cozy mystery but the members of the Quebec police investigating the crimes are very clever and intelligent.
Good continuation of the series.
She writes with such depth of character that you end up liking almost all the recurring ones. Rare to find novels with such sympathy. I’ve read the first and the last in the series and intend to fill in the others. The sense of community in these stories might be inspired by the author’s care of her spouse who is suffering from dementia.
Loved this beginning to the series! Great characters and lots of great twists to keep me guessing! Will definitely continue with more!
I loved Inspector Gamache and am excited to dive into the rest of the series.