∎ [PDF] Still Life A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Louise Penny 9780312352554 Books

Still Life A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Louise Penny 9780312352554 Books

Download As PDF : Still Life A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Louise Penny 9780312352554 Books

Still Life A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Louise Penny 9780312352554 Books

If you love a mystery series then dig into Louise Penny's Detective Gamache books. Best to start with number one and they do progress in the story lines. These are not Le Carre caliber at all. Think "Agatha Raisin". They are light as a feather and are centered in a delightful town outside Montreal. All of the atmosphere is French Canadian. The descriptions of the food, the town and the characters make me want to move to the fictional Three Pines right now. A murder is the glue that holds each book together. If you want to get your mind off the big, bad world, these do the trick. That's what I used them for. Louise Penny books are a guilty pleasure that serve a good purpose.


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Still Life A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Louise Penny 9780312352554 Books Reviews

Louise Penny's books have been on the periphery of my TBR list for a while. I remember trying to get her book as an ebook from the library, waiting a while, getting it while I was reading something else. I am so happy that I decided to go back. For one thing within the first couple pages Quentin Crisp is mentioned and he is a personal idol and hero of mine so instantly this became my favorite book hahaha! Also references to Gloria Swanson and CATS, the musical. There are a lot of characters to learn in this novel, sometimes I found myself having to go back and find out who the character was again. Sometimes as well you had to pay attention to dialogue because at the end there was no She Said and it got complicated to think who was saying what. I found myself longing like so many other readers to sit in the Bistro and hang with my new friends.
In Still Life, local and loved spinster Jane Neal is found in the woods surrounding Three Pines with a hole in her heart. Later it is determined that an arrow was used to kill her but no one is really sure if this was a hunting accident go wrong or a murder.
The characters even the deceased Ms Neal jump off the page. Instantly I fell in love with Oliver and Gabri but came to love Ruth's quirks and humor and of course Peter and Clara. You also came to really dislike Yolande her husband and son. These characters are human or as human as they can be.
Great read and was surprised by the killer but at the same time it made perfect sense! Three Pines is a place where we can feel accepted, loved and safe even if there is a murder that has taken place!
"Still Life," is the first book in the Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series which introduced you to Gamache, his team of homicide investigators and the people who live in the village of Three Pines. Louise Penny does a magnificent job of grabbing the reader's attention and holding it from the very beginning to the end, so much so, that you almost hate for the story to end. Lucky for us, there are many more books in this series which the reading public can look forward to in continuing the saga.
This is the book that started my love of all things Louise Penny writes. It's a great mystery, couched in a series that takes place in town where you wish you could live. The people are complex, lovely, although flawed in their loveliness. The primary characters are complex and exactly who you would want trying to solve a crime and bring justice back into your life. While each book is complete within itself, if you are considering reading the entire series, start with this one and read them in order. There is a very long story arc that takes place throughout the series and on-going character development that enhances the experience. There are so many more things I could say, but to do so might spoil some of the twists and turns of the series. One more observation it is not a book filled with guns and violence and "edge of the cliff" types of suspense requiring last minute saving. While there is danger, and evil and risk, it's much more complex than the typical "adventure suspense" type of book.
When the body of an elderly woman is discovered in the woods outside the idyllic hamlet of Three Pines, the first assumption is that this is the result of a tragic hunting accident. Unfortunately, in the world of mystery novels, nothing is ever as cut and dried as it seems.

”Still Life” is the first novel by Louise Penny. The book was published in 2007, and the twelfth book in the series will be published in August of this year. This should give you some indication of both the series’ success, and the work ethic of the author.

The book introduces the title character, Armand Gamache, a chief inspector of the Sûreté du Québec, as he seeks to solve a murder in a small village near Montreal. The village itself, and its eclectic denizens, becomes a character in the book, quirky and unique, always providing some background movement to draw the eye. The setting in a small village in the Canadian province of Quebec also adds interest, as Penny delves (a little bit) into the tensions, and friendships, between francophone and anglophone Québécois.

The supporting characters are also incredibly well done. From the strange and eccentric citizens of Three Pines, to the police officers tasked with solving the murder, each character is uniquely realized and speaks with a distinct voice. However, Penny tends to rely heavily on exposition to advance her characters in the story, rather than dialogue. Characters thought lines tend to spell out exactly how they are reacting to situations that arise in the book, rather than letting the subtext of their actions or dialogue advance the plot. The style is clunky and a bit disappointing, but hopefully can be chalked up to inexperience on the author’s part. (I certainly hope so, I started the second book in the series, A Fatal Grace, yesterday. I’ll keep you all posted)

The mystery itself is satisfying, red herrings and false flags abound. And while the clues to solving the mystery are there to be found, they don’t slap the reader in the face and scream “look at me!” This (I find) is a hard line for mystery writers to walk. Make the resolution too obscure, or the clues happen off screen, and the end is unsatisfying and feels tacked on. Telegraph the important stuff too loudly, and the mystery is solved by the read way too early, and takes a lot of the fun out of the read. Louise Penny does a great job sprinkling bits and pieces around, but blends them expertly into the background. It’s only when you go back and think about it that you put the pieces together.

In all, this is a satisfying “cozy-type” mystery, great for an afternoon’s read (and it is currently beach-reading season). The book is generally well written (barring the clunky exposition I mentioned earlier), and the characters engaging enough to encourage you to jump directly into the sequel. I also have to say that Penny captures the northeastern landscape in fall closely enough to cause some homesickness in this transplanted New Englander.

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If you love a mystery series then dig into Louise Penny's Detective Gamache books. Best to start with number one and they do progress in the story lines. These are not Le Carre caliber at all. Think "Agatha Raisin". They are light as a feather and are centered in a delightful town outside Montreal. All of the atmosphere is French Canadian. The descriptions of the food, the town and the characters make me want to move to the fictional Three Pines right now. A murder is the glue that holds each book together. If you want to get your mind off the big, bad world, these do the trick. That's what I used them for. Louise Penny books are a guilty pleasure that serve a good purpose.