How can a mystery smell sooo good

books:


	• Still Life (Three Pines Mysteries) Louise Penny St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I want to move to Three Pines!

Louise Penny has written a wonderful "cozy murder mystery." The mystery is intriguing and well laid out. It is the characters, though, that you will fall in love with. They make the story! In this book that is the first in a series, Penny does a great job "hooking" the reader so that you want to read more about Three Pines. I bought Fatal Grace (the second book) at the same time as this one, and I am glad I did. I jumped right into it when I finished Still Life. Definitely worth your while!

How can a mystery smell sooo good

I really enjoyed the ambiance of this tale. Ive read the second book as well. It is like going to a place you want to retire in and having a family ready made. The mysteries are just the icing on the cake!!

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The still life in Still Life

Still Life is a mystery cozy featuring a small Canadian village in Southern Quebec called Three Pines, eccentric characters, and, of course, a murder.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called upon to solve the death of Jane Neal, a beloved and elderly member of Three Pines. It is inconceivable to the residents that anyone would murder Jane, though, curiously, it appears that one of them is the murderer. Chief Inspector Gamache and his team must invade the privacy of these villagers in order to find out the who and why of the murder.

Much of the interest of Still Life lies in the characters themselves. Peter and Clara Morrow, both artists, struggle with hidden jealousies and marital communication; Ben Hadley, Peter's life-long friend, harbors a secret desire for Clara; the teenage Phillipe Croft has recently given in to an unexplainable surliness and withdrawn from his family; Ruth, an elderly embittered poet, is cruel and abrasive and may have been responsible for the death of one of Jane's friends; Yolande, Jane's niece, appears to be the sole recipient of Jane's estate and has an unhealthy attitude of entitlement along with a husband whose major talents are criminal behavior and sneering at others.

While the Chief Inspector sorts through the various undercurrents of village life, he also contends with an insecure and arrogant new detective, Yvette Nichols. Gamache takes his role as mentor seriously and is a patient teacher who offers Yvette many opportunities to learn and grow.

A major theme in many mysteries is redemption. Not only does the reader want to see the crime solved and justice served, but we expect to see the redemption of characters that we don't like. Mysteries of the cozy variety tend to deliver a tidy ending that allows the reader to place characters in either a good, bad, or redeemed category. Louise Penny doesn't follow this pattern. Several of her characters continue in their unlikeable actions and attitudes despite the helpful hand that is held out to them ... much like real life. I believe the title of the book describes this lack of redemption. A still life can refer to a life that is ended (e.g. Jane), but it can also refer to a life that doesn't move, a lack of growth and maturation ... a lack of character redemption.

Still Life is Louise Penny's debut novel. It is written and plotted well. The characters are well drawn and memorable. I look forward to reading the other two books in this series ... soon!

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Cozy read

Still Life is the first book I've read by Louise Penny and she did not disappoint. If you like a cozy mystery with lots of small town activity and characters that intrigue but don't threaten you, this is the book for you.

Jane Neal is found dead, whether by accident or intent it is up to our Inspector Gamache to find out and along the way he also has to ensure his own team members are behaving appropriately. Descriptions of life in the little town and the differenct characters added color and interest to this well written mystery. I especially loved the gay couple who owned the Bistro - very nicely done and I could almost see them having a whole book centered on them in the future.

A comfortable read indeed.

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Highly Enjoyable

If you enjoy traditional mysteries (albeit with a touch of profanity and sexuality) then STILL LIFE is a good modern day choice.

Set in a small town in Canada, this mystery features a detective investigating the rather strange death of an elderly woman killed by a bow and arrow. Was her death accidental or deliberate? Penny, to her credit, constructs a very clever mystery, one that the reader can solve herself if she carefully studies all the clues. All the supporting characters are colorful and fun to spend time with, and the lead detective (Ganache) is refreshingly flawed and imperfect.

STILL LIFE is a low-key, philosophical type of story, and not for readers who want their novels fast paced and filled with action. Still, if you fondly remember Agatha Christie's novels and want a novel written in that spirit, this is a fine modern-day substitute.

Penny has written two subsequent novels in this series, and I look forward to reading them.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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 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.

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