still life a chief inspector gamache novel

border, has been found dead in the woods. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S.

So, the plot was good, yeah…there just wasn’t a whole lot of adrenaline pumping.Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.Ĭhief 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. It all fit pretty nicely, and that’s hard to do when you’re working with so many different characters. Every character is important in their own way and is gradually built up to be such.Like I said, the plot wasn’t that exciting, but I was interested to see how all the elements came together at the end. But what’s important is that Penny doesn’t skimp on the characterization in favor of meaningless action. If you’re a big fan of good characterization, you should know this book has a lot of it.

One common problem with the crime/mystery/thriller genre is that the case-of-the-week format sometimes leads to an abundance of flat characters. However, I do appreciate the time Penny took to flesh out all of her characters. I felt like it was taking forever to get anything of substance out of the plot. If you like really quick, lightning-fast crime thrillers with a bunch of shootouts and high-stakes action…this is not the book for you.Near the beginning of the book, I was honestly pretty bored. There’s a lot of stuff going on in this story, though that isn’t immediately apparent. Penny takes her time building up the lives of her many characters, giving you insight into their histories and personalities, showing their complex interactions with each other.

This is what you would call a “cozy” mystery story. 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. 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. Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.Ĭhief 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. In Still Life, bestselling author Louise Penny introduces Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec. Read the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video.

Still life a chief inspector gamache novel