Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

by Louise Penny

Book Overview

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sur t du Qu bec 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312541538
• ISBN13: 9780312541538
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Loved it!

I fell in love withe TV series and I’m profoundly disappointed that it was discontinued. I decided to go to the source and I was enthralled by Ms. Penny’s first novel. I just finished reading Still Life and can’t wait to start reading the next one. I just wished I could move to the charming village of Three Pines.

Still Life is a great mystery.

Kept you locked into the characters personalities and the town. Had depth to the story.

I really enjoyed ready this book

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!

When a beloved amateur artist ...

(***** = breathtaking, **** = excellent, *** = good, ** = flawed, * = bad) ... in the tiny Canadian village of Three Pines gets killed with a hunting arrow, Inspector Gimache of the Sûreté du Québec must investigate the possible homicide. He's a very unusual guy: driven by an intense curiosity about other people, and a deep desire to mentor the young officers on his team. He will have his hands full with a particularly obnoxious young cop, Yvette Nichol. He will also have numerous colorful residents of the village to get to know. This is a terrific mystery. Longer review at the Mystery Books site at BellaOnline (BellaOnline-dot-com).

What a Treasure

When I finished this book, I wanted to move to Three Pines. I want cafe au lait with Olivier and Gabri. I want to meet Clara and Peter and friends and see all the art. Can't wait to read A Fatal Grace, the next of the Inspector Gamache mysteries, but then I won't want to finish the book and have to leave everybody. This book was a delight. The plot is terrific, with enough twists to take you in several directions. The characters are so wonderful, Ms. Penny makes them feel like friends. One of my favorites is Lucy, the dog -- even her character is given depth. On a scale of one to ten, it is definitely an eleven.

incredibly good writing

this is an amazing, beautifully written first novel. not only is the plot first rate, the characters are drawn with a rare degree of perception and even compassion. the relationships are realistic and change as the investigation proceeds and when the murderer is caught. the dialogue is natural, and reflects the personality of the character speaking. there is also wonderful humor in the descriptions and the dialogue. this is the mystery to lend the friends who think mysteries are shallow, formulaic and generally not worth wasting time on. this is the book to lend to friends who love good writing. i can't wait for the next.

"Ultimately it's us and our choices."

"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. Was Neal's death the result of a hunting accident or was it murder? If it was an accident, why has no one come forward? If Jane was deliberately slain, who could have wanted her dead? One suspect is Jane's estranged niece, Yolande Fontaine, a cold, unfeeling, and greedy woman who is desperate to get her hands on her aunt's property. In addition, Yolande's husband is an obnoxious boor with a criminal record, and their son is a known delinquent. 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. Assisting Gamache is Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir, who has been Gamache's second-in-command for over ten years. Agent Yvette Nichol, an arrogant and impulsive young woman, is new to the team, and she quickly annoys her superiors with her irritating and smug attitude. The varied cast of townspeople includes Clara and Peter Morrow, who are local artists; Clara, who was extremely close to Jane, is devastated by the old woman's death. Olivier and Gabri are gay partners who run a bistro and a bed and breakfast, and early in the book, they are victims of a vicious assault by three boys who mock the pair's sexual orientation. Myrna Landers is a former psychologist who has deep insight into the human condition. Ben Hadley has been Peter Morrow's close friend for years; Ben's mother, Timmer, died a month earlier after a lengthy battle with cancer. Ruth Zardo is a brusque curmudgeon who is not terribly popular, since she consistently says whatever is on her mind. Phillipe Croft, a troubled and surly fifteen-year-old boy is a suspect, as well, since he knows how to shoot with a bow an arrow and had a recent altercation with Jane. 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