Clara "laughed until she thought she would piddle," and I want to piddle on this book. No to the word "piddle"; no to twee gay couples who sing along to "It's Raining Men"; no to "violent death demanded Earl Grey"; no to murderers who are both telegraphed and chosen out of a hat; no to this smug, precious, suffocatingly cozy mystery.

4.5 stars rounded down to 4 for a very well written cozy mystery. There is only 1 murder, and little violence.This is book 1 in the Armand Gamache mystery series. It takes place in Three Pines, Quebec, a mythical village close to the US border with Vermont. Gamache is the Chief of Homicide with the Surete du Quebec. He lives and is based in Montreal, but investigates murders province wide.He is called to Three Pines because of the suspicious death of Jane Neal, whose body was found in the woods

An intriguing and intricately woven mystery, I was sucked in by this book from the start. Chief Inspector Gamache has been sent to a small town outside Montreal to investigate the murder of an elderly lady, to find she has been shot on a hunting trail during hunting season. Accident? Probably not, as she was shot by an arrow through the heart, something only a skilled archer could do. And with a thriving archery club in the town, there is no shortage of suspects.As we get to know the quirky folk...

"Three Pines wasn’t on any tourist map, being too far off any main or even secondary road. Like Narnia, it was generally found unexpectedly and with a degree of surprise that such an elderly village should have been hiding in this valley all along. Anyone fortunate enough to find it once usually found their way back."I’ve seen this book and others in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series pop up so many times in my friends’ reviews and lists. And yet, I hesitated to read it for some time sinc...

Martha Stewart meets Agatha Christie on a very bad hair day. I was recommended this author by a friend who is a great admirer of Ian Rankin and Stieg Larsson, so I was quite excited as I set out. Excitement soon turned to disappointment, followed by a sense of disbelief that writing so bad could be so well received by the reading public. And indeed win a prize, albeit one for novice crime writers.The setting is an idyllic village near Montreal, populated with a cast of caricatures - aging bohemi...

DissolutionStill Life is the first book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Quebec, series. It is a great murder mystery that has a depth of possible suspects and expands to encapsulate human psychology and community dynamics. The number of characters and plot twists were really well balanced so the reader isn't overwhelmed with complexity yet it's extensive enough to keep our imagination wondering who the murderer is and what the motive might be.The opening lines of the nove...

What a wonderful, beautifully written, cozy mystery set in the Canadian countryside. “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” Talking about choices, I am really glad I gave this series a try. I was not expecting much as I am not an avid reader of detective stories and

4.5 starsWith the encouragement of several of my Goodreads friends, I finally decided to pick up Still Life, a novel I bought 3 years ago. I don’t know why I waited so long to dust it off, especially since it has won multiple awards, but I can tell you it won’t take 3 years for me to read book 2 of what I believe will be a highly enjoyable series.Some readers called this a cozy. I respectfully disagree; I think this story is more in the category of literary mystery. There is so much depth. The s...

I am a little sad that I can't give Still Life more than 2 stars. It was recommended to me and it's not a pleasant task to trash someone's suggestion, but what can I do, this book was just a barely OK read for me.Still Life is a traditional ("cozy") mystery set in a Canadian village Three Pines. One Sunday morning a body of 76-year old Jane Neal - a long-time resident of the village - is found. At first, it appears that Jane was killed in a hunting accident, but later we find out that quite a fe...

Sometimes a memorable read needs to be revisited for a multitude of reasons.Louise Penny lost her husband Michael this year. Her loss was so apparent in her latest offering, The Great Reckoning. As I turned the initial pages of this first book in the series, Still Life, I came upon the Acknowledgements that almost made me weep:"This is for my husband Michael, who has created a life for us full of love and kindness. He allowed me to quit my job, pretend to write, then gave me unstinting praise ev...

This was a pleasure to read. Imagine a detective who is happily married and is not an alcoholic! Discovering Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is a pleasure in itself!I really enjoyed the setting, a small town in Quebec, and I became quite attached to several of the characters. They were quirky and a couple verged on going over the top but overall the author held it together.An easy, comfortable read with just a bit of bite to it to keep it interesting. Consider me hooked on the series:)

A well-loved member of the Still Pines community (76-year-old Jane Neal) is found dead in the woods. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is brought in to investigate the case. Is Jane's death an accident, or could it be murder?I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I liked the setting, the small village of Three Pines, located near Montreal. I enjoyed getting to know the cast of characters and I had fun guessing who the culprit could be. I liked Inspector Gamache and his team, except Agent Nichol who was ve...

It's been so long since I've read a mystery of the "cozy" variety I'm not sure the sub-genre is even called that anymore? At any rate, I usually think of cozies as gentler in spirit than the rock 'em, sock 'em hardboiled noir mysteries, often set a small town or rural setting, with little to no violence on stage, and most of the plot centering on the puzzle of whodunnit. Think Miss Marple or Murder She Wrote. Still Life certainty falls within that framework, but what makes it stand out is its st...

Several years ago I borrowed The Cruellest Month and did not finish it ..... Now, I guess I know why. This series should be read in the order it was created ... The story of a murder in Three Pines is told at a pace which I like and it has the inspector who is so very much likeable. And the place itself ... And the smell of resin ... Louise Penny is slowly but steadily becoming the author I'm going to follow. And all thanks to several of my GR Friends whose reviews encouraged me to give Louise a...