Customer Reviews

Still Life - The First Chief Inspector Gemache

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"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 appealing protagonist. The title has a dual meaning. First, it refers to a painting by Jane Neal, called "Fair Day," which may point to the identity of her assailant. Additionally, "still life" is a metaphor for a person whose life is emotionally stunted and who blames others for his problems, instead of developing into a mature and productive adult. All in all, "Still Life" is an auspicious debut novel by a promising new author.

This is the most powerful debut mystery I've read in years. Meet Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sureté de Québec, the most capable, intelligent, and charming detective to come along in a very long while. His first case takes him to the tiny town of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, where someone has killed a much-loved elderly woman with a bow-and-arrow. Who? Why? Gamache must sift through the complex relationships of a colorful group of local citizens to find the surprising answers.

Here are my favorite current mystery series authors: P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth George, Martha Grimes...and Louise Penny. Yes, she's that good. Trust me. Read STILL LIFE, then read A FATAL GRACE, the second in the series and every bit as good as the first one. I can't wait for #3. Highly recommended.

Although this is by no means a bad book, I didn't like it nearly as much as the other reviewers. To me, the writing was sometimes disjointed and did not flow smoothly, in particular in the conversation between characters and sometimes when jumping between the present and the past. For a first novel about a village and the police officers called there to investigate a suspicious death, there was too much detail to absorb about all the different characters. A good series peels the layers away gradually, allowing depth to be revealed over time. I thought this book tried to reveal too much, too soon.

Inspector Gamache IS an appealing and intelligent character. All of the officers are supposed to be sharp in intellect. That made it strange (and annoying) to see how young officer Nichol misunderstood her superior's advice. It was also mystifying how Gamache, who is so observant and understanding of human nature, could not see how his advice to Nichol had gone wrong.

Finally, I just didn't "buy" the villian of the book. There were enough other plausible suspects to make it interesting, but, in the end, I couldn't believe that the killer could have kept his or her true nature hidden from so many intelligent people for so long. How could the other villagers have not seen something to make them know the nature of this callous individual over the many years they had lived together closely? In a big city where you nod hello to the other people in your apartment building, then I buy that you say "He seemed like such a nice guy." I grew up in a small town, and I found it hard to believe that almost no one really knew the killer. I want to read a mystery that makes sense and that is internally consistent, but I felt this book fell a bit short in that regard.

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!

Though I usually go in for tough police thrillers, I sometimes mix things up by reading a light, funny mystery or- like this book- a quiet, thoughtful mystery set in a small town (a "cozy", I believe this type of mystery novel is called). "Still Life" nicely combines the easygoing attributes of a "cozy" mystery- quirky, eccentric characters, a small-town setting, pretty much no violence- with a little modernity, in the form of occasional well-placed profanity (though not much) and modern demographics (a gay couple is included among the main characters).

The main detective character, intelligent and interesting, owes a little to Christie's Hercule Poirot, but not everything. The mystery itself is pretty interesting, too, though some aspects of its solution are a little broad and clunky, as are some of the explanations of why ultimately cleared characters were acting suspicious for a time. Any shortcomings are quibbles, however, and shouldn't deter one from trying out this nicely done mystery story set in a quiet little corner of Quebec.

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.

Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, is so small that when a homicide inspector from the provincial police force is called to the scene, he first needs to find it on the map. In Three Pines, it seems like everyone is either an artist or a wannabe artist; that includes the dead woman, Jane Neal, who had just submitted a work to a local exhibition. The painting -- primitive or brilliant? -- proved to be controversial with the jury, and the question of whether she was murdered or accidentally killed by a hunter's bow & arrow is equally perplexing.

Even though this is a first novel, readers may be forgiven if they sometimes find themselves thinking that they've picked up a book by an author hitting her stride in mid-series. Penny makes Chief Inspector Armand Gamache a fully-realized character, occasionally referring obliquely to previous cases he investigated along with his assistant Beauvoir. She also knows how to hook the reader -- why, for instance, have none of Jane's closest friends ever been invited into her home beyond the kitchen? What is the secret being hidden by troubled teenager Philippe Croft, whom Jane caught in an act of vandalism shortly before she was murdered?

I appreciated the fact that "Still Life" delves deeply into the effect a tragic loss has on the community, something that is often overlooked in "cozy" murder mysteries. The grieving of Jane's friends and neighbors seems realistic and honest. The gay couple who own the town B&B were perhaps a tad too cutesy, but on the whole, I think "Still Life" had a good set of characters and a strong sense of place. I was a little disappointed to find out that Penny has set two more books in Three Pines, since it risks turning into a Canadian Cabot Cove (Jessica Fletcher's homicide-plagued hometown in "Murder, She Wrote"); I had hoped Insp. Gamache would move on to other towns in the province. Penny obviously has a genuine knack for the mystery genre, but it will be interesting to see how long she can sustain her series without branching out a bit.

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.

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 few seemingly ordinary and upstanding villagers have some secrets to hide and maybe reasons to murder the old lady.

On a positive side, I enjoyed learning a little about Quebec. I personally never knew that there was a tension between Quebec and the rest of Canada and also a lot of friction between francophones and anglophones. Archery/hunting details were interesting as well.

As for the rest, the book didn't live up to my expectations. Poor characterization simply killed the story for me. The characters were drawn in a strange way and their back stories were introduced awkwardly. I couldn't understand their motivations and actions. Too often they acted immaturely (Yvette Nichol) or weirdly hysterical (Carla Morrow, Yolande). Dialog was very stilted at times too, often I had no idea what people were talking about and why they found certain things funny.

I suppose I should have cut Louise Penny some slack, it was her first novel after all. But the book was rather poorly written even for the first effort. I am surprised Still Life managed to receive so much critical recognition and mainly positive amazon ratings. Did the mystery standards go down since Agatha Christie's death? I guess the success of this book is the biggest mystery to me...

This book is a really difficult book for me to review. I enjoyed the book, but at the same time while reading it I kept getting annoyed, and looking back those problems still bother me. Enough so that I just can't get myself to pay for the second book in the series. At least not at the price it's set at right now.

I really like the small town feeling the author was able to portray. You can tell she did her research in things such as archery to get that part of the story plausible.

Some of her characters were very enjoyable. I liked the inspector and he seemed well rounded. But some of the other characters were either all evil or all good. Thats not normal. And Nichol was just unbelievable. I know there are idiots in the world, but really?

What bothered me the most was how the investigation into the murder was done. The way it was handled would never be allowed, at least not where I am from. They simply allowed someone to move into the victims house before the police could see it? And then everyone was allowed to trample around wherever the police were doing the investigation? It was just too much for me. But then again since I am familiar with police procedures it may just bother me more than most people.

All the other 3 star reviewers at this time were right on point with my thoughts while reading this book. So you may see I am repeating some of their thoughts. But these problems really were noticeable.