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From the Chief Inspector Gamache series , Vol. 1

by Louise Penny ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 17, 2006

Cerebral, wise and compassionate, Gamache is destined for stardom. Don’t miss this stellar debut.

Three Pines, an appealing Quebecois community, is shaken by the death of a beloved longtime village schoolteacher and unsung artist.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team find that Miss Jane Neal has been shot through the heart with an arrow. Is it a hunting accident or murder? Gamache sets up shop in the charming village B&B owned by a gay couple but is suspended when he refuses to arrest a local bowman who confesses after his sullen son is fingered for the crime. His longtime associate Beauvoir takes over while Gamache ponders the case. Jane, who never exhibited her work, had just had an astonishing folk art painting accepted for a show. Her obnoxious niece Yolande, who can’t wait to get into Jane’s house, gets a court order to keep the police out. Meanwhile, an equally arrogant trainee has not done her job checking wills, and a new one turns up leaving almost everything to Jane’s neighbor Clara Morrow, a married artist who’d been like a daughter to Jane, whose youthful romance had been quashed by her parents. Because no one had ever been allowed past Jane’s kitchen, everyone’s dumbfounded to find walls, recently covered by Yolande in appalling wallpaper, full of murals. The slight difference Clara notices between the murals and Jane’s painting holds the clue to her murder.

Pub Date: July 17, 2006

ISBN: 0-312-35255-7

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dunne/Minotaur

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2006

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | POLICE PROCEDURALS | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

More by Kathy Reichs

by Kathy Reichs

by C.J. Box ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2015

A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be...

Box takes another break from his highly successful Joe Pickett series ( Stone Cold , 2014, etc.) for a stand-alone about a police detective, a developmentally delayed boy, and a package everyone in North Dakota wants to grab.

Cassandra Dewell can’t leave Montana’s Lewis and Clark County fast enough for her new job as chief investigator for Jon Kirkbride, sheriff of Bakken County. She leaves behind no memories worth keeping: her husband is dead, her boss has made no bones about disliking her, and she’s looking forward to new responsibilities and the higher salary underwritten by North Dakota’s sudden oil boom. But Bakken County has its own issues. For one thing, it’s cold—a whole lot colder than the coldest weather Cassie’s ever imagined. For another, the job she turns out to have been hired for—leading an investigation her new boss doesn’t feel he can entrust to his own force—makes her queasy. The biggest problem, though, is one she doesn’t know about until it slaps her in the face. A fatal car accident that was anything but accidental has jarred loose a stash of methamphetamines and cash that’s become the center of a battle between the Sons of Freedom, Bakken County’s traditional drug sellers, and MS-13, the Salvadorian upstarts who are muscling in on their territory. It’s a setup that leaves scant room for law enforcement officers or for Kyle Westergaard, the 12-year-old paperboy damaged since birth by fetal alcohol syndrome, who’s walked away from the wreck with a prize all too many people would kill for.

Pub Date: July 28, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-312-58321-7

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Minotaur

Review Posted Online: April 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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by C.J. Box

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The First Stop for Literature Lovers

“Still Life” by Louise Penny – No Accidents in Three Pines

“Still Life” by Louise Penny (Header image)

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Short Summary

Louise Penny , back in 2008, began something I’m sure even she had trouble anticipating, creating the first novel in the Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery series (now with sixteen entries and counting), titled Still Life . For his first time out under the sun, the inspector is tasked with a deceitful case, appearing like an open-and-shut tragic accident. Gamache, however, can feel there’s something dark and rotten hiding in the remote woods of Three Pines.

Louise penny gives gamache his grand debut, the guilty pleasure of still life, a mystery captured on paint, the magnetism of french canada, the final verdict.

Though I would argue there are still none who have surpassed Agatha Christie as the queen of murder mystery series, there are many who have come close or even proven themselves equal. Writing a successful mystery series led by the same detective is, in my opinion, a real badge of honour in the realm of literature, and I think Louise Penny deserves one for her Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery series.

The first book was published all the way back in 2008, titled Still Life , and introduced us to the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec (Quebec’s national police force), as well as his team of investigators generally tasked with the more complicated crimes. The first case we see him working takes him to the remote fictional hamlet of Three Pines, where quaintness is just a front.

To give you a brief Still Life summary, a local fixture of the small hamlet, Jane Neal, has been found dead in the woods after being shot with an arrow. The locals, while shocked and absorbed in tragedy, don’t think of it as anything other than a hunting accident which could have happened to anyone. These, however, are the conclusions of minds far less observant than Inspector Gamache’s.

Though his arrival in the village doesn’t exactly raise any suspicions at first, the little details start to mount one on top of the other, leading the inspector to believe there is something truly dark, sinister and rotten hiding beneath Three Pines’ idyllic veneer, and Jane fell victim to it.

The people of Three Pines are generally secretive and tend to look out for each other, cutting Gamache’s work out for him. To find out who killed Jane in Still Life , him and his detectives are forced to roll up their sleeves and start digging through the carefully-hidden dirt, to hopefully bring the evil core of it all into the light.

Most of us are great with change, as long as it was our idea. ― Louise Penny, Still Life

Murder mysteries and detective stories come in all shapes and flavours, with pretty much every book falling into a somewhat specific category. When it comes to Still Life , and in the Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery series as a whole, I think it’s important to understand what you will and won’t be getting from it.

In terms of realism and procedural descriptions, Still Life certainly doesn’t come close to what some other authors in the genre are capable of providing. On the contrary, for me this book harkens back to the golden age of Agatha Christie where the logical chain of events surrounding a murder was more focused on, rather than the scientific methods used to solve it.

Indeed, I would find it difficult to classify this is a procedural . Instead, I feel a much greater certainty in classifying this as a guilty pleasure, a type of novel you know won’t hold itself to the often too-stern standards of realism, and can spirit you away from the real world just for a little while.

With this being said, Louise Penny naturally understands there needs to be a certain level of grounding in the novel, and so we never run off the rails into completely ridiculous territory requiring a suspension of disbelief. In my opinion, she struck a superb balance between adhering to the rules of the real world and using the power of fiction to give it colour.

All the events, the characters as well as their actions follow the rules of logic and common sense, and the mystery itself is fairly clever and doesn’t feel unrealistic, although I do admit I had some trouble accepting the culprit’s motivations in the end. However, I found it to be a trifling detail in a novel of pure escapism.

I think many people love their problems. Gives them all sorts of excuses for not growing up and getting on with life. ― Louise Penny, Still Life

As the novel’s title strongly suggests it, art is a major part of the investigation we’re being thrown into, and it all revolves around Jane’s painting. I think there’s a lot to be said for pinning a painting as the centrepiece of a mystery, largely because it’s a static object with the potential to contain quite a bit within it, one we can keep coming back to again and again.

In Still Life , Louise Penny , in my opinion at least, makes as good of a use of Jane’s painting as I’ve ever seen anyone do it. From the very first moment we are introduced to it, we’re made aware of its special qualities, of the inexplicable magnetism it seems to affect its viewers with, and I couldn’t help but become enthralled with it myself.

The author also takes the opportunity to educate us a little bit about the unsurprisingly-elitist world of professional painters and art critics, and she makes it seem about as pretentious as it appears to be in real life. However, she also shows the beautiful side of the equation as well, arguing for the transformative power of paintings and how profoundly they can inspire both their creators and observers.

The more we keep coming back to the painting (which, by the way, is described in superbly vivid detail), the more Louise Penny piques our curiosity by constantly teasing and challenging us to figure what is so special about it. As a matter of fact, I believe it was the primary hook which kept me glued to the story from start to finish, not to say there weren’t other factors in play, of course.

Personally-speaking, the painting almost took on an eerie and exciting quality as we got closer and closer to the end and it became increasingly likely that the whole mystery revolved around what wasn’t shown in the painting. All in all, it served as a magnificent linchpin to tie the whole story together, and the ultimate resolution isn’t as obvious as it would appear at first glance.

We choose our thoughts. We choose our perceptions. We choose our attitudes. ― Louise Penny, Still Life

The murder and its investigation is, without question, the central glue holding everything together not only in this book, but pretty much every other novel in the series as well. It’s never let out of sight for too long, and the events do unfold at a steady and respectable pace from start to finish. However, there is another, rather appealing characteristic to this book, and it’s the author’s depiction of French Canadian culture.

As much as it’s a murder case, it’s also a trek into a fictional town representing a small and specific culture located in the world’s second-largest country. Whenever she gets the opportunity, Penny gives us a little more information about the culture, its customs, and so on and so forth.

In Still Life we get detailed descriptions of the food the people eat, the town itself, how the people think, how they behave, the heritage they come from… and I must say, I can personally testify to the veracity of her depictions, having lived in Quebec for over twenty years. You can pretty much take her word as gospel as far as these matters are concerned.

With this being said, the descriptions of the setting and characters are never too long or truly intrusive when it becomes a question of advancing the main plot. Louise Penny doesn’t simply bombard us with walls of facts and history lessons, but rather intersperses them strategically over the course of the story. Sometimes they complement whatever events might be unfolding, and at other times they provide us with a welcome respite from the grim subject of murder and make the story palpably lighter. In the end, I think they’ll make many of you fall in love with the French part of Canada .

Still Life by Louise Penny is an excellent debut to the Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery series, mixing an intelligent murder case with captivating excursions into local culture. If you’re looking for a light murder mystery with a realm warmth to it, then I strongly recommend you give this novel a fair shot.

Louise Penny

Louise Penny is a Canadian author who has taken to writing mystery novels where the events unfold in the province of Quebec, following the inspector Armand Gamache. Some of her better-known novels include Still Life which earned her the 2005 New Blood Dagger Award, A Fatal Grace which was the winner of the 2007 Agatha Award, as well as six additional Agatha Christie awards to this day.

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David Ben Efraim (Reviewer)

David Ben Efraim is a book reviewer living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and co-owner of Bookwormex , as well as the Quick Book Reviews blog, along with Yakov Ben Efraim. With a love for literature reaching across all genres (except romance), he has embarked on the quest to share its wonders with the world by helping people find their way to books which truly speak to them, whether they be modern sensations or relics from a bygone era.

1 thought on ““Still Life” by Louise Penny – No Accidents in Three Pines”

Oh, please spare me the thought of the genre of literature called “cozy mysteries”. Our community book club chose Still Life by Louise Penny as the discussion work this time around. Cozy mysteries are for those readers who want to forego blood and sex when it comes to reading. Cozy mysteries, take the crime novel and sterilize it to the point of making murder boring. Still life is repleat with literary weakness. 1. The characters are just plan unlikable and one dimensional. 2. Some characters, like agent Nachole are superfluous to the point of not being needed at all. 3. The gay couple is stereotypical to the point of being caricatures of themselves. 4. After the opening paragraph, in chapter 1, notifying the reader of Jane’s death the reader can skip to chapter 2 and waste little time reading fluff. 5. C.I, Gamache spends too much time sitting around giving too much information to the citizens of Three Pines about the investigation. I can only hope that Ms. Penny writes more books about the murdered residents of Three Pines. That way, one by one, theses insipid characters, who dwell in the town, can dwindle into cozy mystery history. No blood, no sex, boring characters, politically correct to a fault. My suggestion to any reader approaching the town of Three Pines is to drive on to a place wherein life is real, and murder is anything but cozy.

Still Life by Louise Penny Summary & Review: The Perfect Murder Mystery for Holiday Season

By: Author Rosie Langello

Posted on Published: January 5, 2024

Mark my words! We can never catch Penny if she ever decides to be a serial killer. Oh boy! I do envy this lady! How could anyone plan such bullet-proof murders (Not an attack on Agatha Christie)?

After finishing Fatal Grace, I instantly got the kick of reading the other books of this Detective Gamache series. So, I walked straight into the library and bought Louise Penny first book, Still Life.

I read Louise Penny A Fatal Grace in a hurry (I was dying to find out who the killer of CC was and thank her personally). But with Still Life, I realized it was better not to rush with Penny’s book. It is more enjoyable that way. So, over the next few days, I lived in Three Pines, made friends with its people, and solved a murder (God! It felt good).

Does it look like I am fangirling Penny? Aggh! Just read this Still Life book summary and review, and let’s see where it takes you. Shall we begin?

Still Life Book Summary: Trying To Ignore Spoilers? This Is for You

Miss Jane Neal was found dead on Thanksgiving Sunday. She was shot by an arrow.

Chief Inspector Gamache gets to the crime scene and suspects it is nothing more than a hunting accident. But the investigation says otherwise. The secrets and complex relationships of Three Pines have taken Gamache by surprise.

This is not an accident. Someone planned to kill Miss Jane Neal, and the murderer is hiding in her friend circle.

Gamache blends in the lives of Three Pines just to reveal the mask of the killer, to reveal the motive. Who would benefit from killing a 76-year-old retired school teacher, after all?

When Gamache finally reaches the culprit, he gets another shock. It’s not just Jane Neal. There is more blood on the killer’s hands! Who is the murderer? Read the book to find out.

Still Life by Louise Penny Summary: Jane Was Killed for This? Spoiler Ahead!

Someone said it right. Still Life book revolves around art, luck, and love. Truly, these are the essence of this novel and the keys to the murder mystery. Sounds too poetic? Alert! Things are going to get a lot more artistic in the book. Let’s start from the beginning.

An Unexpected Murder at Three Pines

The plot of Still Life book circles around the people of Three Pines, a village hidden in the valley of Québec. Man! Shouldn’t we just declare Three Pines as the heaven on earth? Not just because of its beauty but for the people.

Here is a quote to help you understand the neighborhood in this village. “The only reason doors were locked was to prevent neighbors from dropping off baskets of zucchini at harvest time.”

Has anyone thought there could be a murder in this Utopia? The dead body of 76-year-old Jane Neal has really created chaos around the village. Ben Hadley, a friend and neighbor of Jane, has found her in the snow and called the police.

Gamache rushes to the scene with Nichol, a trainee. His second officer, Beauvoir, fills him in the case.

Jane was shot with an arrow. There is an opening and exit wound. But the arrow is nowhere to be seen.

Well, this could be one of those hunting accidents. Such incidents are common around the region in the hunting season. But the arrow can not evaporate on its own. The murderer must have taken the arrow with him/her to wipe out any trace of evidence.

Or is it a hunting accident, after all? The killer might have panicked and run with the arrow. That is the natural response for any normal person.

But wait a second! What was Jane doing out early in the morning? Was she walking her dog? Of course not! Lucy is nowhere around her.

Gamache is swamped with questions! He is a stranger in this village and does not know where to start. But it is Gamache we are talking about! He always finds a way in!

The Entire Three Pines Mourns Together

How could anyone kill Jane? She was a harmless, lovely lady. After retiring from teaching, Jane spent her days painting. Yes, our victim was an artist. Her death seems to devastate everyone in Three Pines, especially Clara.

Clara was younger than Jane, but these two hit it off instantly. Peter, Clara’s husband, is confused. Should he cry or be jealous? He wonders whether Clara will mourn for him as she is doing for Jane (our dude Peter is really insecure).

Myrna, the black therapist of Three Pines, and Ruth Zadro, the poet, struggle to find any word. Why are their friends leaving one by one? Timmer, Ben’s mom, died just a month ago. They were still recovering from that death, and now this incident with Jane. What’s going on?

Ben is in even more shock. He just lost his mother and now Jane. It seems like destiny does not want him to be happy.

Gabri and Olivier, the gay couple of Three Pines, also feel the blow. Jane was more than their customer. She was a friend. How could they not see Jane was in danger?

When the entire Three Pines is weeping, Gamache is watching them with an eagle eye. If Jane was killed, the murderer has to be one of these mourners!

The Mysteries of Jane Neal

Wasn’t Jane the kindest? She stood by her friends no matter what. She would take a bullet even for strangers. Why would anyone kill such an angel?

It is not Jane’s goodness that has disturbed Gamache but her weird habits. For starters, Jane was an artist, but not a single soul in Three Pines has ever seen her paintings. If someone tried to peek at the canvas, Jane would get angry, and there was no escape.

Surprisingly, it was only recently that Jane had submitted her painting, Fair Day, for an art exhibition. Oh! You can not ignore the fuss the painting created on the judging panel. They could barely decode the sticky figures scribbled on the canvas.

Awful! Disgusting! These were the expressions from the judges. But soon, everything made sense. It felt like Jane’s painting was an illusion. The more you stare at it, the clearer it gets. Clara and Peter were on the jury, and they could see where Jane got the inspiration.

Jane portrayed a scene of the Fair Day. It was supposed to be a celebration, but it ended up being a tragedy. That very day, Timmer died. So, they figured it was a tribute.

The paintings are the least of Gamache’s concerns. The second mystery was quirkier. Jane had never let anyone inside her house. I mean, no one can cross the kitchen. In fact, Clara, Jane’s best friend, was banned from inside, too. Why was that?

Gamache has to find out. But guess what? Yolande, Jane’s niece, has already taken over the house. She will not allow a soul to get into her aunt’s house. It’s her inheritance, and she doesn’t care about the murder.

Right! The inheritance! Could Yolande be our killer? Anyone would murder people for millions. No?

The Rebel Without Cause

Just to stretch the suspect’s list, Gamache starts digging into the past stories. An insignificant incident grabs Gamache’s attention. Three young boys threw manure at Gabri and Olivier’s B&B a few days back. Jane was present at that moment, and she recognized those three.

Would it be possible that one of them came for revenge? These young bloods with fragile egos get hurt by anything.

One of those manure boys was Phillipe, son of Matthew. Apparently, Matthew is a pro hunter, and he had beef with Jane years ago.

Could this son and father duo kill Jane? In most cases, there is no solid cause for a murder. People might kill each other for a lollipop. Why? I would answer if I could read criminal minds.

A search of Matthew’s house changed the direction of this murder case. Gamache and his team are now sure that Phillipe is the killer. They have the evidence.

But hey! You know teenagers, right? Phillipe accuses his dad of the murder. Call it a hunch or whatever! Gamache knew Phillipe was lying. But police work can not depend on gut feelings, no? So, Matthew gets arrested, and the Three Pines can now sleep in peace.

Of Course, The Case Is Not Closed Yet

Now, when the killer is locked, Jane’s friends arrange a ceremony to say goodbye to her. They gather at the place of Jane’s murder and put a ribbon as a symbol of freedom and happiness. It is at this moment when Clara notices an arrow hanging up in the tree. She knows this is the tip that has taken her friend’s life.

The arrow has clarified one thing. Matthew is not the killer. But if he is innocent, who is the murderer?

By now, Gamache reveals new pieces of information. Jane had left her house and inheritance to Clara, not Yolande. Does it mean Clara and Peter, the struggling artists, are behind the murder?

Aghh! Too much work! But the suspect list can wait.

First, Gamache rushes to Jane’s house just to see what secrets it holds. Oh, good Lord! Jane had used the entire house as her canvas.

The people of Three Pines are alive on every corner of Jane’s house. Looking at this life-size canvas, Gamache knew the murderer was hiding in these walls. He must act quickly!

Fair Day Reveals The Murderer

Jane’s work, Fair Day, goes on exhibition and is a huge hit. Apparently, people are still more interested in dead artists than living ones.

But wait a second! This wasn’t the painting Jane had submitted. Someone has tampered with those stick-figure faces. Clara instantly realizes who the killer is, BEN.

Oh, poor Ben! He found Jane’s body in the snow, and he knew about the Fair Day. He has access to the exhibition gallery, and re-painting the faces is a child’s play for him. But why would Ben go to this extent? What did Jane do to him?

Clara decides not to disclose this truth yet. First, she must confront Ben. He is Peter’s best friend, after all.

But our sweet little Ben is in no mood for discussion or explanation. He attacks Clara and stages an entirely new plot to put all the blame on Peter, yes, his best friend.

Thank God Gamache is still there in Three Pines. He gets to Clara just in time and arrests Ben for the murder of TIMMER and JANE. Don’t get so surprised. I told you the murderer had more blood on his hand. And yes, Ben had killed his own mother!

Why Were the Killings?

Damn! We live with people like Ben. All they want is sympathy from others. They will portray themselves as victims, but in reality, they are the villains.

Timmer could sense the evil in Ben. She wanted his son to see the real world and live on his own, not on the family money.

How dare that old woman say such a thing? Ben was furious.

So, he killed his mother on Fair Day before she could change the will.

Jane’s paintings on Fair Day made Ben very uncomfortable. He felt exposed to the world for his crime. To cover up his previous murder, he decided to take another life.

His attempts to escape the murders were almost successful until he tampered with Jane’s painting. Only if he hadn’t done that, the Jane Neal murder case would be closed by now!

My Honest Review of Still Life Book Louise Penny

Life was far from harried here. But neither was it still.

Doesn’t this last line of Still Life book describe the entire plot? I think Louise Penny deserves the compliment for coming up with the best titles ( Unlike Grisham , who comes up with the most random names for his books). How thoughtful!

Well, I am not one of those people who judges the book by the cover.

But… Shouldn’t we at least talk about it? Frankly speaking, the cover of Still Life book is the worst part of this book (in my view).

The designer could have done better (Come on! Show some creativity. This novel is all about artists). I doubt those readers with aesthetic taste will ever pick up this novel.

Okay! Let’s move to the plots.

Three Pines is somewhere I would definitely like to live. Come on! Who doesn’t want to be in heaven?

I am familiar with Penny’s murder style. No blood-shedding or gore stuff. A clean shot and the victim is dead. This time, she used an arrow to kill Jane. Impressive indeed!

Gamache was laid back in this novel. Or maybe Penny was still trying to give a voice to this star character. For whatever reason, I connected more with the Gamache of Fatal Grace (Yup, I am an idiot and have read the 2nd book of the series’ first).

Is it just me, or can you also see the reflection of Agatha Christie in Penny’s writing? The way Penny builds up the plot, she has definitely learned from the best. She can elegantly hold the pace and serenity of the story.

I wouldn’t say Still Life book will give you a dopamine kick on every page. Definitely not! There is suspense in the book. You want to know what’s waiting on the next page.

But still, you take time to turn the page. Every line, every character, every story, is important. It may not be for the murder case but for the people around Three Pines. The kindness, the banter among friends, the laughter, everything has reminded me of my friends.

Don’t worry! The book is not all about investigation! Ruth’s poems are all over the novel to keep you entertained. These verses will make you think about life and death.

I knew Ben was the killer and Clara would inherit Jane’s property. That is the perk (!) of reading the second novel first (Who knew I would get the spoiler?).

However, the spoilers could not spoil my mood. I enjoyed the book anyway. There are so many details and twists that you only get by reading the novel. I especially liked the ending of Still Life book. The arrest of Ben was sad and shocking. Yet, I had no sympathy for this psychopath.

What more can I say about this book? Penny hasn’t just written a murder mystery but showed us a mirror of life. Here are two of my favorite quotes from Still Life book.

“Life is a choice. All day, every day…. And our lives become defined by our choices. It’s as simple and as complex as that. And as powerful.”

“Evil is unspectacular and always human and shares our bed and eats at our own table.”

I Adore These Characters from Still Life Book

Louise Penny has always managed to entertain us with memorable characters in her books. She tells a story, shares little details between two people, and there you go. You suddenly know them.

Armand Gamache

Every policeman is brave and courageous. No doubt. But I wonder how many of them have their own principles? Well, not everyone is like Gamache. He is a man of dignity.

Gamache is patient, observant, and truly talented. This man owned my respect when he refused to arrest Matthew because of the hunch. It shows Gamache’s “Don’t Care” attitude. We all want such fearless officers on the team. No?

We have to give respect to Gamache for his patience with Nichol, too. That woman had almost ruined the case. But thanks to Gamache, he had solved the murder and saved Clara from danger anyway.

Clara & Peter

Peter has no huge role in Still Life. He is there as a side character for Clara and a best friend to Ben. That’s all.

But Clara! My God! She has stolen hearts with this novel.

For a moment, you will feel like Clara is the officer in charge. She is the one who has spotted the arrow, tipped Gamache about the updated will, and dude! Clara reaches the killer before the police (Gamache, fire your team and hire this artist).

I am angry with Penny for not giving Myrna enough attention. Trust me. This character has huge potential. In fact, her role in solving the murder went unnoticed. If Myrna hadn’t hinted to Gamache about the mental condition of Ben, he would have never gotten to the real killer.

Ruth, Olivier, and Gabri

I almost laughed when Gamache suspected Ruth. Sure, our poet has a hard shell. But isn’t she a softie inside? She can only be cruel in her poems, not in real life.

Aren’t Olivier and Gabri the sweetest? Their kindness touched me personally. What Gamache said to them really stayed with me. When you go through so much torture in your life, you can barely be cruel to others.

Even after the manure incident, Olivier and Gabri took no step against Phillipe. Once they realized Phillipe was gay, this couple did everything to make the little boy comfortable.

Do I Recommend Still Life?

Yes, I personally love Still Life book. As I said, I was in Three Pines the whole time. But it does not mean I will force you to read this novel.

Let me be very honest. Many of my friends didn’t like this light murder mystery. They were looking for more blood and brutality. According to some of them, Penny sounded confused on many pages.

Well, I am not here to defend anyone. But sure, the best Louise Penny books might not suit everyone’s taste. Her way of approaching murders and solving cases is very different. Penny’s stories are more about life and less about the killings. At least, that is what I have felt.

Go and give this book a read if you like the holiday murder mysteries. I have left out a ton of details. So, yes, you can still enjoy the novel. Also, a film adaptation of Still Life book is available.

I heard the movie is trash (Not lying. Check the IMDb ratings). However, when were the book adaptation on films good anyway?

Until I return with The Cruelest Month summary and study guide of Gamache series#3 , you can enjoy other book suggestions from our page.

Buried Under Books

Review: ‘still life’ by louise penny.

Chief Inspector Gamache , murder mystery , philosophy , village life

This is one of those ‘it caught my eye, but’ books.

It clearly caught my eye enough for me to buy it, and, in fact, I recently added a second Louise Penny title to my collection, still without having ever read the first. There was obviously something about the plots I found appealing – or at least the blurbs! But. Something else always edged in front: a book with a read-by deadline, or one I couldn’t resist anymore.

Finally, a member of my book group suggested we should all try reading some Louise Penny, at which point I thought I might as well start with book one in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. I’m glad I did, as I have a suspicion that these books should really be read in order. But let’s start at the beginning.

What’s it about?

When Miss Jane Neal is found dead in the forest on Thanksgiving weekend – apparently shot by an arrow – the locals assume it is a hunting accident. After all:

‘Every year the hunters shot cows and horses and family pets and each other. And, unbelievably, they sometimes shot themselves, perhaps in a psychotic episode where they mistook themselves for dinner. It was a wise person who knew that some hunters–not all, but some–found it a challenging to distinguish a pine from a partridge from a person.’

However, when Chief Inspector Gamache is sent from Montreal to investigate, he soon discovers that it would have been almost impossible for the shooting to be an accident. Someone meant to murder quiet, retired Jane Neal, but why? Could it possibly have anything to do with her recently unveiled artwork? If so – what?

What’s it like?

Unusual. Philosophical in mood. This is cosy crime with art at the centre.

Given the focus on art throughout the story (it’s crucial to the whole plot), you might expect the ‘Still Life’ of the title to refer simply to still life paintings. However, the title also refers to the notion of a life not properly lived, seen when the Chief Inspector finds himself discussing with an ex-psychiatrist how lives can be wasted:

‘Life is change. If you aren’t growing and evolving, you’re standing still, and the rest of the world is surging ahead.’

‘I think many people love their problems. Gives them all sorts of excuses for not growing up and getting on with life.’

If these kinds of reflections make you impatient to get back to the crime at hand, this might not be the book for you. Penny’s characters daydream, they pontificate and they exchange theories about the nature of people.

They are also shockingly rude to each other, which I think is meant to show a cosy intimacy…but could also suggest the aggravations of living life side by side in a small village with people whose faults you know too well and who have probably witnessed the worst sides of your character, too.

Penny dips in and out of her characters thoughts, encouraging us to have some empathy even with unsympathetic characters like Agent Nichol, whose calculating, ignorant missteps are truly cringe-inducing.

Although I was initially mildly incredulous at the style of investigating (Gamache calls a town meeting and invites suggestions from the attendees about the nature of the killing), I gradually grew to enjoy the chatty, reflective tone of ‘Still Life’.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed this so much, although I’m still not sure I could pinpoint why, that I’m already half way through another book in the series. I think I am going to need to start hunting these down in order so that I can enjoy them properly. In book four, Clara Morrow (who in this book is, ‘as yet undiscovered and, most of her friends secretly felt, was likely to remain that way if she persisted in her unfathomable works’,) is suddenly an artistic genius, a startling development which presumably has some build-up in books two and three!

If you like the sound of a cosy crime story, marinated in the art world and served with a sprinkling of philosophy, then this book should suit you well.

‘Still Life’, Louise Penny, 2011, sphere, paperback

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Still Life : Book summary and reviews of Still Life by Louise Penny

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Inspector Gamache Novel, #1

by Louise Penny

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Published May 2007 320 pages Genre: Mysteries Publication Information

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Book summary.

Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards. Chief 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. 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 that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter. 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. First published in hardcover in 2005

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Reader reviews.

"Starred Review. Filled with unexpected insights, this winning traditional mystery sets a solid foundation for future entries in the series." - Publishers Weekly "Starred Review. This belongs in the same league with such other outstanding Canadian mysteries as Eric Wright's Charlie Salter series." - Booklist "Starred Review. Cerebral, wise and compassionate, Gamache is destined for stardom. Don’t miss this stellar debut." - Kirkus "It’s hard to decide what provides the most pleasure in this enjoyable book: Gamache, a shrewd and kindly man constantly surprised by homicide; the village, which sounds at first like an ideal place to escape from civilization; or the clever and carefully constructed plot." - Chicago Tribune

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Louise Penny Author Biography

Photo: Jean-Francois Bérubé

Louise Penny's first novel, Still Life , won the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards. Her second book, A Fatal Grace , won the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel, as did her third, The Cruelest Month . Her next, A Rule Against Murder , was a New York Times bestseller, followed by The Brutal Telling , which was a New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and National Indie bestseller. Louise lives in a small village south of Montreal. Pronunciation Guide : Louise Penny's website provides a wealth of interesting information about her and her books including a pronunciation guide to the characters and places referenced in her books. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series (to 2020)

Still Life (2005)
Dead Cold (2006) aka A Fatal Grace
The Cruellest ...

... Full Biography Link to Louise Penny's Website

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Still life – a book review, still life – the book.

It’s different than other mystery series I’ve read in that the supporting characters, in this case the villagers, are developed extremely well. For example, the story starts with the village. We’re given a sense of the inter-relationships and backgrounds before we meet the Inspector. Furtheremore, we’re introduced to one of his team, before him. Not only one of his team, but a new member who may or may not work out. As a matter of fact, as I sit here, I realize that some of the supporting characters are more defined than the main. I have clear visions of the many villagers. Yet, not so much of Inspector Gamache’s team. And I do not know if this supporting team member will even return in the next book.

Still Life – My Thoughts

Someone in a Facebook Group to which I belong recommended this book (well the series). As a fan of mysteries , it didn’t take much to convince me to read it. I have to say, it’s one of my favorites. As a matter of fact, rarely does the first book in a mystery series satisfy, yet this one did. As I’ve already said, characters were well developed. It also created a sense of place within that village. I enjoyed it so much, that though it started as a Library book, when I didn’t finish in time, I went out and bought it. Not only did I buy it, I bought the first three books in a multipack. I’m looking forward to reading the next!

If you’re a lover of mystery series, police procedurals, cozies, give this one a go. Over on GoodReads I’m giving it four starts and updating my Favorite Mystery list!

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Book Review: Louise Penny’s Still Life

Posted January 22, 2014 by Kathy Davie in Book Reviews

I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Louise Penny

First in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series and revolving around Gamache and his sense of what’s right.

In 2007, Still Life won the Barry Award for Best First Novel and the Dilys Award. In 2006, it won The Crime Writers’ Association New Blood Dagger and the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.

Oh, this was lovely! A cozy contemporary mystery in a village of people pursuing their second careers with many of them artists or lovers of art. Some are longtime friends who have grown up in the village while others have drifted in from elsewhere, seeking a respite from the cares of a colder, more self-absorbed world.

The beginning will catch your attention if only because it’s so confusing, for Penny has killed off her victim before she’s died. I have to wonder if that was its point, to intrigue.

I adore Elise’s reasoning for accepting Fair Day . Just the kind of attitude we need in so many aspects of life! My adoration was capped off by Olivier’s lust for Jane’s mudroom. Penny wrote this so well. She made me feel everyone! I could picture it all from the visible to the metaphysical, the characters of the people, the setting, the warmth. Penny described a place where one could feel at home. Preferably without those bows and arrows, though!

Oh, lord, going back over my notes, I found a nasty bit of foreshadowing. Subtle, Penny, very subtle.

That Yolande…what a piece of work! The scenes with Agent Nichol are amazing. Not at all what you would expect, and yet Penny works them to showcase Gamache’s character, his style of working, Nichol’s actions and character, and the murder investigation. Talk about multi-purposing! Wait’ll you read the mirror scene…oh, LOL. She’s so dim. Peter’s character had me confused. He’s both so patient and so not. And Clara. She’s such a nice woman, and with a brain she uses well, for the most part.

Interesting bit of colonial history to explain the village’s name and the importance of the pine trees. And Penny gets her bit in on the English–Française brangle. I’m with Ben on this one. Although Penny does point out underlying perspectives: the French believe in collective rights which explains the French attitude about keeping their language pure, while the English believe in individual rights. The explanation about the differences in bow-hunting and target shooting as well as the differences in the arrows was also educational.

Penny throws out all these possibilities, drags all these red herrings along expected paths, and then throws in the twists. There’s an intriguing reference — and well done — to “the fault in our stars” which leads directly to a comment Myrna makes that had an impact on me:

“It’s not fate, not genetics, not bad luck, and it’s definitely not Mom and Dad. Ultimately it’s us and our choices…the solution rests with us as well. We’re the only ones who can change our lives, turn them around. So all those years waiting for someone else to do it are wasted.”

Penny does so much so well, that it’s a bit flabbergasting when she flubs it as in Gamache’s getting his badge and gun back. There are a few other simplistic spots, but this one stood out the most. It’s not an obvious miss, it just catches at you, makes you pause momentarily, wondering why it feels wrong.

Oh, lord, finding what Jane’s been hiding in her house all these years will break your heart. I hate it when a good artist dies. You’ll hate even more when you read of Yolande’s idea of a good funeral…oh, brother.

It’s the annual art show, Arts Williamsburg, that sets it all in motion, for the jury has accepted Fair Day , the painting Jane submitted. The first time anyone ever will have seen her work.

The Characters

Miss Jane Neal is the village’s much-loved, former schoolteacher who has finally gotten brave enough to show her paintings. Lucy is her beloved dog. Andreas Selinsky is the lumberjack Jane almost married, who was employed by Kaye Thompson . The shallow, greedy Yolande Fontaine is Jane’s niece, who is married to André Malenfant , a miscreant with a record. Their son, Bernard , seems to be his apprentice.

Clara Morrow is one of those odd artists, creating art that most people aren’t quite sure about. I can relate. She’s married to a very successful artist, Peter , only it takes so long to create one of his paintings.

The jury for the art show includes Clara and Peter; Elise Jacob is the chairperson, and a former curator at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Ottawa; Henri Lariviere is a quarry worker-turned-sculptor; and, the self-absorbed, petty Irenée Calfat is a potter. Isaac Coy is the caretaker at the gallery.

More friends include Ruth Zardo , a curmudgeonly award-winning poet; Olivier Brulé and Gabri , a gay couple who run a bistro and B&B in Three Pines — Olivier adores his antiques while Gabri is an amazing chef for their B&B as well as the local choir director; Ben Hadley , a son-in-waiting, has been Peter’s best friend since childhood; and, the black Myrna Landers was a psychologist back in Montreal, now turned bookstore owner.

Phillipe Croft , Gus Hennessey , and Claude LaPierre are the little vandals. Matthew Croft , a bow hunter, is Phillipe’s father; Suzanne is the wrongly protective mother.

Timmer Hadley is Ben’s now-deceased mother; she had been one of Jane’s best friends. Hanna Parra is their local elected representative. Old Mundin is a young man concerned about Lucy. Nellie and Wayne Robertson . Jacques Belivea u owns the local general store. Maître Norman Stickley claims to be Jane’s lawyer. Solange Frenette is a notary who just had a baby.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is head of Homicide with the Sûreté du Quebec, hovering in place with a stalled career. He’s a great believer in mentoring the young officers, and he adores his very flexible wife of thirty-two years, Reine-Marie . Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir is his second-in-command. Officer Robert Lemieux is the duty officer with the Cowansville Sûreté. Dr. Sharon Harris is the on-site coroner. Agent Isabelle Lacoste has hunches. Inspector Comeau was Gamache’s mentor. Maître Brigitte Cohen is the prosecutor.

Agent Yvette Nichol has been dying to get on to the Sûreté, and now she has her big chance. Her dad, Ari Nikulas , is feeling guilt over the stories he’s told; Angelina is her proud sister.

Superintendent Michel Brébeuf is a friend of Gamache’s, although neither of them will allow this to prevent their doing what they believe is right. Claude Guimette is with the Guardians Office.

The Cover and Title

The cover of the version I read was gorgeous (hardcover, copyright 2005). Buy it in hardcover with a paper jacket just so you can hang the cover! It’s so appropriate for this tale, both Still Life as metaphor for the life that has been stilled, ungrowing, as well as a homage to the primary characters and the reason for death. A lonely village road curving between old wooden buildings, leading to a white steepled church, and the whole surrounded by vertical slashes of bright, colorful, cheerful oil paints.

By Louise Penny
5 Star Books

Book Review: Louise Penny’s The Long Way Home

Cannonball Read 16

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“They lead ‘still’ lives, waiting.”

Still Life by Louise Penny

April 11, 2023 by esme 1 Comment

My husband and I started watching the Three Pines series on Amazon Prime, which was enjoyable; Chief Inspector Gamache, played by Alfred Molina, is a delight of eyebrows. The television series reminded me that I likely hadn’t read Ms. Penny’s earlier works though I have picked up the occasional book in an airport bookstore but have moved haphazardly through the series; thus, I decided to start at the first book.

Sill Life draws Chief Inspector Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec to the delightfully bucolic Quebec town of Three Pines due to a suspicious death. As I knew coming into this book, and as you may well know, Three Pines may be bucolic with a charming variety of residents, but it is a deadly place! Jane Neal, the victim, lived a quiet, unassuming life in Three Pines, teaching for decades at the local school before retiring to care for her flowers and her lovely dog. She is beloved by many of the townsfolk for her kindness, although they note she would not allow anyone past her kitchen. Shortly before her death she enters a painting in the town art fair; her friends, the judges, are shocked by the work, some declaring it delightful, while others protesting in dismay. None had seen her work before, and the very personal, rustic style, described as caveman-like, childlike, vivid and colorful, and evocative of the village scene she depicts. Personally, I struggled to understand how everyone picked out so many friends and townsfolk from the piece, given this description, but I imagine that is my imaginative shortcoming. And then she is dead. (As a side note, she described the work of several other Three Pines’ artists, and I appreciated how it was clear Penny thought through different artistic approaches and techniques in describing the artists and their art.)

Overall, this cozy mystery was enjoyable – not a challenging read, but I think it does a nice job of setting up the environment of Three Pines and the main characters, who will struggle with many dark issues in subsequent books, like police corruption and brutality and indigenous disappearances. Chief Inspector Gamache is the platonic ideal of a police inspector in this book as he is warm and thoughtful, uses discretion with making decisions about how to handle petty crimes, and he nurtures his younger staff. He speaks highly of his subordinates, in general, but we don’t see too many sparks of insight from them; mostly they bring him whatever they find and he puts it all together. There is one new investigator, Agent Yvette Nicol, who is a mess – rude, rigid, self-absorbed, and maybe not too bright – and it is not clear to me why there is so much focus on her. The townsfolk really range from pretty interesting (the foul-mouthed poet) to caricatures (the decent, but poor, Matthew Croft who works in the road department and bow hunts; the gay couple who own the bistro and bed and breakfast in town). Penny can capture people briefly and beautifully; for example, she notes that Myrna, the bookstore owner and former counselor, “…felt if she could just get a good look at a person’s bookcase and their grocery cart, she’d pretty much know who they were.”

This book addressed themes that recur in subsequent books: how the past, and our failures to wrangle it (living ‘still’ lives, as Penny would put it, in Myrna’s words), influences our present; the search for belonging; and the power of light to banish darkness. Still Life sets the groundwork for the exploration of these themes.

I would say this is a 3.5 or so, for me.

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43 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

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Summary and Study Guide

Published in 2005, Still Life is Louise Penny’s debut novel, the first in a series of mystery novels set in rural Canada featuring detective Armand Gamache . Penny won multiple awards for Still Life , including a Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Award, a Barry Award, an Arthur Ellis Award, an Anthony Award, and the Dilys Award. A made-for-TV film adaptation produced by PDM Entertainment aired in 2013. This guide is based on the 2006 Minotaur Books edition.

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The plot of Still Life centers on an official investigation following the death of Jane Neal, a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher who lived in the small town of Three Pines in Quebec, Canada. Jane is found dead in the woods on Thanksgiving Sunday, just two days after deciding to submit her artwork for an exhibition for the first time ever. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, homicide investigator for the Sûreté du Québec, leads the investigation. He is accompanied by his second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir, as well as a recently certified agent, Yvette Nichol , who is eager to impress but fails to integrate with Gamache’s team. Examining the crime scene, they find evidence that Jane was killed by an arrow in a possible hunting accident.

Gamache and his team investigate the local archery club owned by Ben Hadley , the man who discovered Jane’s body. Ben’s mother, Timmer, who died about a month before Jane, was a friend of Jane’s. They also meet with Peter and Clara Morrow , Jane’s friends and next-door neighbors, as well as Yolande Fontaine, Jane’s niece and next of kin, who was not on good terms with Jane. Yolande takes legal action to prevent the police from entering Jane’s home . Gamache learns that Jane never allowed anyone to go beyond the kitchen in her home.

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Hoping to turn up new leads, Gamache calls a community meeting, where he learns that Matthew Croft was once caught hunting illegally near the area where Jane died. He visits the Croft family later in the day and finds potentially damning evidence, which he sends to a lab for analysis. Over the next few days, Gamache and his agents continue to follow multiple threads of investigation, leading Gamache to the conclusion that Jane was killed by a skilled local hunter.

When traces of Jane’s blood are found on evidence collected at the Crofts’ home, Gamache confronts Mr. and Mrs. Croft. However, he becomes unsure what to do when the evidence points to Philippe Croft, Matthew’s son, while Matthew confesses to the crime. When he disobeys an order from his superior officer to arrest Matthew Croft, Gamache is suspended. A few days later, one of the Crofts’ arrows is found in the woods, officially clearing them. Philippe thought he accidentally killed Jane, and his father confessed to protect him.

Gamache is reinstated. He obtains a warrant to enter Jane’s house and is surprised to find tacky wallpaper covering the walls. He discovers that Yolande put up the wallpaper to cover Jane’s art, which she drew all over the walls, creating a pictorial history of Three Pines and its residents. He also uncovers a previously unknown will leaving Jane’s house to Clara rather than Yolande. Painstakingly, Peter, Clara, and Ben work to remove Yolande’s wallpaper and reveal Jane’s art.

The day of the art exhibit arrives. Examining Jane’s painting, Fair Day , which depicts the closing parade of the county fair, held on the day that Ben’s mother died, Clara notices that one face—Ben’s—has been removed and painted over. She doesn’t tell anyone but realizes that Ben must have killed Jane. She confronts Ben, who takes her into the basement of his mother’s house to kill her. Gamache pieces together what happened and arrives on the scene but is injured in the process.

A week later, Gamache attends a dinner party in Three Pines and explains that Ben killed his mother when she planned to reduce his inheritance, hoping to encourage him to be more proactive. Later, when Ben learned of Jane’s painting, he misinterpreted it as proof that Jane knew he killed his mother, so he took action to modify the painting and kill Jane.

In addition to its compelling central mystery, Penny’s novel provides insightful commentary on country life, the creation and interpretation of art, and the tension between the individual and the collective.

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Still Life (Penny)

Author Bio • Birth—1958 • Where—Toronto, Canada • Education—B.A, Ryerson University • Awards—Agatha Award (4 times) "New Blood" Dagger Award; Arthur Ellis Award; Barry Award, Anthony Award; Dilys Award. • Currently—lives in Knowlton, Canada (outside of Montreal) In her words I live outside a small village south of Montreal, quite close to the American border. I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in Toronto in 1958 and became a journalist and radio host with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, specializing in hard news and current affairs. My first job was in Toronto and then moved to Thunder Bay at the far tip of Lake Superior, in Ontario. It was a great place to learn the art and craft of radio and interviewing, and listening. That was the key. A good interviewer rarely speaks, she listens. Closely and carefully. I think the same is true of writers. From Thunder Bay I moved to Winnipeg to produce documentaries and host the CBC afternoon show. It was a hugely creative time with amazingly creative people. But I decided I needed to host a morning show, and so accepted a job in Quebec City. The advantage of a morning show is that it has the largest audience, the disadvantage is having to rise at 4am. But Quebec City offered other advantages that far outweighed the ungodly hour. It's staggeringly beautiful and almost totally French and I wanted to learn. Within weeks I'd called Quebecers "good pumpkins", ordered flaming mice in a restaurant, for dessert naturally, and asked a taxi driver to "take me to the war, please." He turned around and asked "Which war exactly, Madame?" Fortunately elegant and venerable Quebec City has a very tolerant and gentle nature and simply smiled at me. From there the job took me to Montreal, where I ended my career on CBC Radio's noon programme. In my mid-thirties the most remarkable thing happened. I fell in love with Michael, the head of hematology at the Montreal Children's Hospital. He'd go on to hold the first named chair in pediatric hematology in Canada, something I take full credit for, out of his hearing. It's an amazing and blessed thing to find love later in life. It was my first marriage and his second. He'd lost his first wife to cancer a few years earlier and that had just about killed him. Sad and grieving we met and began a gentle and tentative courtship, both of us slightly fearful, but overcome with the rightness of it. And overcome with gratitude that this should happen to us and deeply grateful to the family and friends who supported us. Fifteen years later we live in an old United Empire Loyalist brick home in the country, surrounded by maple woods and mountains and smelly dogs. Since I was a child I've dreamed of writing and now I am. Beyond my wildest dreams (and I can dream pretty wild) the Chief Inspector Gamache books have found a world-wide audience, won awards and ended up on bestseller lists including the New York Times . Even more satisfying, I have found a group of friends in the writing community. Other authors, booksellers, readers—who have become important parts of our lives. I thought writing might provide me with an income—I had no idea the real riches were more precious but less substantial. Friendships. There are times when I'm in tears writing. Not because I'm so moved by my own writing, but out of gratitude that I get to do this. In my life as a journalist I covered deaths and accidents and horrible events, as well as the quieter disasters of despair and poverty. Now, every morning I go to my office, put the coffee on, fire up the computer and visit my imaginary friends, Gamache and Beauvoir and Clara and Peter. What a privilege it is to write. I hope you enjoy reading the books as much as I enjoy writing them. Chief Inspector Gamache was inspired by a number of people, and one main inspiration was this man holding a copy of En plein coeur. Jean Gamache, a tailor in Granby. He looks slightly as I picture Gamache, but mostly it was his courtesy and dignity and kind eyes that really caught my imagination. What a pleasure to be able to give him a copy of En plein coeur! ( From the author's website with permission .)

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Louise Penny, . . St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95 (312pp) ISBN 978-0-312-35255-4

Reviewed on: 05/01/2006

Genre: Fiction

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Still Life Summary & Study Guide

Still Life Summary & Study Guide Description

The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Penny, Louise. Still Life. St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2005.

Jane Neal’s body is discovered in the woods of her home town, Three Pines. Jane was an ex-school teacher and well-liked and respected in her town. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté is in charge of the investigation and on seeing a small puncture wound in Jane’s chest, he determines this is an unnatural death. The wound is determined to be caused by a wooden arrow. Three Pines is a popular spot for hunting so initially it is believed this could be a hunting accident. He interviews Ben Hadley, the man who found the body and a close personal friend of Jane’s. Ben claims no one would have murdered Jane as she was loved by everyone.

Gamache finds out from Jane’s best friend and neighbor, Clara Marrow, that just before Jane died she submitted her painting Fair Day to be shown at the Arts Williamsburg opening. He finds this interesting as Jane had never shown her art to anyone before. He is also suspicious of the death of one of Jane’s friends, Timmer, who died a few weeks before of cancer. He realizes that Fair Day was painted at the same time of Timmer’s death. He becomes curious as to why Jane never let anyone into her house beyond her kitchen during her lifetime. He is unable to go into Jane’s house as Jane’s estranged niece, Yolande Fontaine, forbids it.

During the investigation, Gamache along with his second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir, and rookie detective Yvette Nichol, interview Matthew Croft at his home. Matthew and his wife look very anxious during their interview and Gamache determines they are hiding something in the basement. On searching the basement, they find an arrow head with Jane’s blood on it and a bow that was about to be burnt in the furnace. Gamache believes that Matthew’s son Phillipe accidentally shot Jane however on interviewing Philippe he accuses his father of murdering Jane and tells Gamache he helped cover it up. Gamache doesn’t believe him however he is ordered to arrest Matthew. Gamache refuses and is suspended and Beauvoir is put in charge.

During a ceremony in the woods where Jane was killed, Clara discovers an arrow in a nearby tree. Gamache and Beauvoir determine that this was the arrow Philippe shot but that he mistook the arrow in Jane’s body for his and panicked. Philippe admits to it and Gamache is put back in charge of the investigation. The investigation is now considered a murder allowing Gamache to enter Jane’s house.

On entering Jane’s house, the detectives find it covered in tacky wallpaper and the floorboards painted pink. Initially they do not understand why Jane would have been so secretive about her house until they realize Yolande had covered the walls and floors. Underneath they discover Jane had drawn the people of the town all over her house. Yolande had covered it up because she was ashamed of Jane’s artwork. Clara finds Jane’s more recent will and discovers Jane’s house was left to her and not Yolande. She and her husband Peter and Ben work on uncovering Jane’s art.

On the night of the art opening, Clara holds a party at Jane’s house. The townspeople are in awe of Jane’s pictures on her walls. From looking at the walls and then at Fair Day, Clara recognizes that one of the faces in the painting has been scrubbed out and replaced. Gamache concludes that the killer must have done this. Clara and Gamache both realize that the killer must be the person missing from Fair Day- Ben Hadley.

Ben kidnaps Clara but is knocked unconscious on running into a wall. He is arrested and admits to killing Jane and Timmer. Gamache tells Clara and her friends that Ben killed his mother, Timmer, as she was going to write him out of her will. He then believed Jane knew he had killed Timmer as she had painted him in Fair Day when he was supposed to have been out of town that day, the day Timmer had died.

Does Life Imitate Art or Is It the Other Way Around?

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By Lauren Fox

Nov. 2, 2021

STILL LIFE By Sarah Winman

Historical fiction hits closest to the bone when it illuminates what we know to be true: that we move through capital-H History, but in each moment, the spotlight shines brightest on the unremarkable details of our own lives. Momentous events occur, and sometimes we’re caught up in them, but we are — simultaneously, inescapably — the main characters in our own stories. Sarah Winman’s sweeping “Still Life” is a parade of small stories, intimate connections and complex characters whose lives illuminate the tedium and cataclysms of the 20th century.

Ulysses Temper is the modest, searching, wandering protagonist. (We’re told early that he’s named after a winning greyhound, but sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar.) We meet him as a young soldier in Italy in 1944; almost immediately he crosses paths with Evelyn Skinner, a 64-year-old lover of life and an enthusiastic art historian. She imparts life-changing wisdom about love and art and the city of Florence. Their paths diverge, and he takes her words with him back to London, where he resumes working at a pub. Soon enough, Ulysses and his makeshift family — his ex-wife’s young daughter, Alys; his friend Cress; and a talking parrot named Claude — move to Italy, where Ulysses has inherited a large apartment that they convert into a thriving pensione . Cress, who was able to communicate with trees in London, can also communicate with trees in Italy.

It’s hard to encompass all that happens in this whopper of a book, partly because it spans four decades (and more than 450 pages), but even more so because much of it is just the stuff of life, suffused with copious dialogue so casual and idiomatic that it almost subverts its own demand for attention. Ulysses’ wife, Peg, falls in love with another soldier; she gets pregnant. Ulysses continues to love Peg and eventually raises the child on his own, since Peg is not fit for motherhood. One character finds love in his golden years. Another finds love early, and nothing else compares. During the war, Ulysses saved a life in Florence. Some years later, he is repaid for his kindness.

What holds these characters together is the love of a chosen family and the role of art in maintaining their commitments to one another. Much of the story takes place in Florence, and one particular capital-H Historical moment is the 1966 flood of the Arno, during which millions of books and works of art were destroyed, and countless livelihoods were obliterated — each, Winman reminds us, meaningless without the other.

The novel’s articulation of faith is spoken by Evelyn, who rhapsodizes in the early pages, “Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Ulysses. It repositions our sight and judgment.” This is a theme that runs through the novel, and it’s a bold authorial move, insisting upon the transformative power of aesthetics. Winman makes the case over and over again that beauty is truth, truth beauty, and of course it raises the reader’s expectations. If the book itself isn’t transcendent, the scaffolding will not hold.

But the scaffolding, for the most part, does hold (although I could have done without the talking parrot, who seems to have flown in from another story). The real magic of “Still Life” is the elevation of the ordinary, the unabashed consecration of human experiences.

Early in the novel, after Ulysses’ wife asks for a divorce, and then sleeps with him, he ruminates on the scope of his life: “Somewhere between an atom and a star was this.” He orders a meal: “He asked her what the specials were, and she moved close to his ear. Tortellini in brodo , she purred. It was as erotic a moment as he’d had in years. He felt giddy and stumbled against the chair.” These are humans in orbit, connected by the staying power of heartbreak and kindness. And here is Winman describing an ordinary Italian summer day: “Golden light edged around the dark gray clouds and Cress used the phrase ‘unconscionable beauty’ in describing the garden. Cress was becoming poetry.”

Sentence after sentence, character by character, “Still Life” becomes poetry.

Lauren Fox’s latest novel is “Send for Me.”

STILL LIFE By Sarah Winman 464 pp. Putnam. $27.

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Still Life: (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Book 1)

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Still Life: (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Book 1) Kindle Edition

'A cracking storyteller, who can create fascinating characters, a twisty plot and wonderful surprise endings' ANN CLEEVES There is more to solving a crime than following the clues. Welcome to Chief Inspector Gamache's world of facts and feelings. The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines - a place so free from crime it doesn't even have its own police force. But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets... Ten million readers. Three pines One inimitable Chief Inspector Gamache 'One of the most interesting detectives in crime fiction' THE TIMES

Book 1 of 19 Chief Inspector Gamache Mysteries
Print length 385 pages
Language English
Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Publication date April 7, 2011
File size 5548 KB
Page Flip Enabled
Word Wise Enabled
Enhanced typesetting Enabled
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The Grey Wolf: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Book 19)

Editorial Reviews

Chief 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. 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 that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter. 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.

About the Author

From publishers weekly.

“A rare treat.” ― People magazine “It's hard to decide what provides the most pleasure in this enjoyable book: Gamache, a shrewd and kindly man constantly surprised by homicide; the village, which sounds at first like an ideal place to escape from civilization; or the clever and carefully constructed plot.” ― Chicago Tribune “Cerebral, wise and compassionate, Gamache is destined for stardom. Don't miss this stellar debut.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Terrific. Like a virtuoso, Penny plays a complex variation on the theme of the clue hidden in plain sight.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A gem of a book.” ― Booklist (starred review) “[An] auspicious debut… [Penny's] deceptively simple style masks the complex patterns of a well-devised plot.” ― Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review “A perfectly executed traditional mystery.” ― Denver Post “A stellar debut novel. The setting is entrancing… Well done!” ― Deadly Pleasures “A gem of a debut novel--clever, charming, with perceptively realized characters… and the enormously appealing Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I can't wait for the next installment.” ― Deborah Crombie, author of Water Like a Stone “An excellent, subtle plot full of understanding of the deeper places in human nature, and many wise observations that will enrich the reader long after the pages are closed.” ― Anne Perry, author of Long Spoon Lane “Georges Simenon kept Maigret going for over a hundred books. It will be a delight for all of us who love detective fiction if Louise Penny can stay around long enough to do the same for Gamache.” ― Reginald Hill, author of The Stranger House “ Still Life is a masterpiece of a traditional drawing room mystery, repainted in the autumnal colors of the Canadian countryside. Louise Penny is a storytelling artist.” ― Julia Spencer-Fleming, author of To Darkness and to Death “What a joy it is to discover a detective like Armand Gamache, strong, calm and charismatic and at work on a good mystery in a believable setting.” ― Peter Lovesey, author of The Circle “What a joy to read a crime novel written with such skill and integrity, strong on character and atmosphere...I couldn't put it down.” ― Margaret Yorke, author of False Pretences “ Still Life is a lovely, clever book and I hope I shall be reading a lot more by Louise Penny!” ― Ann Granger, author of That Way Murder Lies

From Booklist

Product details.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09C5LXKY9
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder & Stoughton (April 7, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 7, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5548 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 385 pages
#7,990 in Murder
#12,040 in Crime Thrillers (Kindle Store)
#15,319 in Murder Thrillers

About the author

Louise penny.

LOUISE PENNY is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (five times) and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. She lives in a small village south of Montréal.

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IMAGES

Still life
Still Life by Louise Penny / Penny's first in Inspector Gamache series
Book Review: Still Life by Louise Penny
Still Life Louise Penny
Still Life (Thorndike Press Large Print Mystery Series): Louise Penny
Amazon.com: Still Life: Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1 (Audible Audio

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Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #1) by Louise Penny
Film Review Book Rating: 4.5* of five The Publisher Says: Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards. ... Louise Penny's debut, STILL LIFE is the first novel in the Inspector Gamache series- and what a wonderful start it is! It was an ideal book for me to have read coming into holiday season- since it begins ...
STILL LIFE
The slight difference Clara notices between the murals and Jane's painting holds the clue to her murder. Cerebral, wise and compassionate, Gamache is destined for stardom. Don't miss this stellar debut. 2. Pub Date: July 17, 2006. ISBN: -312-35255-7. Page Count: 320. Publisher: Dunne/Minotaur.
"Still Life" by Louise Penny (Review. Chief Inspector Gamache)
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes Short Summary. Louise Penny, back in 2008, began something I'm sure even she had trouble anticipating, creating the first novel in the Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery series (now with sixteen entries and counting), titled Still Life.For his first time out under the sun, the inspector is tasked with a deceitful case, appearing like an open-and-shut tragic ...
Still Life by Louise Penny Summary & Review: The Murder Mystery
The dead body of 76-year-old Jane Neal has really created chaos around the village. Ben Hadley, a friend and neighbor of Jane, has found her in the snow and called the police. Gamache rushes to the scene with Nichol, a trainee. His second officer, Beauvoir, fills him in the case. Jane was shot with an arrow.
REVIEW: 'Still Life' by Louise Penny
If you like the sound of a cosy crime story, marinated in the art world and served with a sprinkling of philosophy, then this book should suit you well. 'Still Life', Louise Penny, 2011, sphere, paperback About Emma Hamilton [email protected]. Emma Hamilton is a stay at home mum, book reviewer and former English teacher.
Summary and reviews of Still Life by Louise Penny
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. First published in hardcover in 2005. Membership Advantages.
Still Life by Louise Penny
Still Life by Louis Penny is the first book in the Inspector Gamache series. There are 13 (and a half) books in the series with rumors of a fourteenth in November. In Still Life, we're introduced to a slew of characters in small Canadian Village. When one is found dead, Inspector Gamache and his team are brought in to determine if this is ...
Book Review: Still Life by Louise Penny
I've lived in Quebec my whole life, and that annoyed me to no end. The story continued to fall apart for me. I don't feel like the differences between English and French felt true to everyday life in Quebec. Yes, there are definitely differences and disputes but it felt forced in the book. Overall, the mystery was good.
Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Still Life
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Still Life at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. ... I loved my first Louise Penny book; thank you Madam! I will read more. Helpful. Report. Misty. 4.0 out of 5 stars loved the sorry-but. Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2024 ...
Still Life (Chief Inspector Gamache #1) by Louise Penny- Book Review
Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1) By: Louise Penny [Fulfilled 'The first book in a series you've never read' for Shelf Reflection's 2023 Reading Challenge] "Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving you're standing still, and the rest of the world is surging ahead. Most of these people are very immature.
Book Review: Louise Penny's Still Life • KD Did It Edits
Book Review: Louise Penny's Still Life. Posted January 22, ... Still Life by Louise Penny It is part of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1 series and is a mystery in eBook edition that was published by St. Martin Paperbacks on May 1, 2007 and has 293 pages. Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Review: Still Life
Review: Still Life. Still Life (Chief Inspector Gamache #1), Louise Penny. New York: Minotaur Books, 2005. Summary: The suspicious death of Jane Neal a day after her painting is accepted into an art show brings Gamache and his team to Three Pines, and to the grim conclusion that someone in this small community is a murderer.
Still Life by Louise Penny
Sill Life draws Chief Inspector Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec to the delightfully bucolic Quebec town of Three Pines due to a suspicious death. As I knew coming into this book, and as you may well know, Three Pines may be bucolic with a charming variety of residents, but it is a deadly place! Jane Neal, the victim, lived a quiet ...
Still Life / A Fatal Grace / The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
I love love love Louise Penny books and Inspector Gamache. If you are looking for a new series to start Still Life is a wonderful place to start. Still Life begins the series of Canadian detective novels whose hero is Chief Inspector Gamache with his sidekick Jean-Guy Beauvoir.
Still Life Summary and Study Guide
Published in 2005, Still Life is Louise Penny's debut novel, the first in a series of mystery novels set in rural Canada featuring detective Armand Gamache.Penny won multiple awards for Still Life, including a Crime Writers' Association Dagger Award, a Barry Award, an Arthur Ellis Award, an Anthony Award, and the Dilys Award.A made-for-TV film adaptation produced by PDM Entertainment aired ...
Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel: Penny, Louise
Louise Penny Boxed Set (1-3): Still Life, A Fatal Grace, The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel) ... I've read all 18 books in the series, and I wanted to finish them all before writing a review of Still Life, the first book. I was captivated by the characters, the settings, and most of all the outstanding writing, from the start ...
Still Life (Penny)
In my life as a journalist I covered deaths and accidents and horrible events, as well as the quieter disasters of despair and poverty. Now, every morning I go to my office, put the coffee on, fire up the computer and visit my imaginary friends, Gamache and Beauvoir and Clara and Peter. What a privilege it is to write.
Still Life by Louise Penny
One inimitable Chief Inspector Gamache. 'One of the most interesting detectives in crime fiction' THE TIMES. Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN: 9781529386691. Number of pages: 400. Weight: 280 g. Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 34 mm. MEDIA REVIEWS. Clever, full of twists and turns . . . wonderfully satisfying - Kate Mosse on How The Light Gets In.
Still Life by Louise Penny
Still Life. Louise Penny, . . St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95 (312pp) ISBN 978--312-35255-4. Canadian Penny's terrific first novel, which was the runner-up for the CWA's Debut Dagger Award in 2004 ...
Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache
Read the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video. In Still Life, bestselling author Louise Penny introduces Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec. Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards. Chief 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 ...
Still Life Summary & Study Guide
The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Penny, Louise. Still Life. St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005. Jane Neal's body is discovered in the woods of her home town, Three Pines. Jane was an ex-school teacher and well-liked and respected in her town.
Still Life: Penny, Louise: 9780312541538: Amazon.com: Books
Read the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video. In Still Life, bestselling author Louise Penny introduces Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec. Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards. Chief 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 ...
Book Review: 'Still Life,' by Sarah Winman
Sarah Winman's sweeping "Still Life" is a parade of small stories, intimate connections and complex characters whose lives illuminate the tedium and cataclysms of the 20th century. Ulysses ...
Still Life: (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Book 1)
Anthony Award Winner, 2007. There is more to solving a crime than following the clues. Welcome to Chief Inspector Gamache's world of facts and feelings. The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships.

From the Chief Inspector Gamache series , Vol. 1

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“Still Life” by Louise Penny – No Accidents in Three Pines

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Louise Penny

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Still Life by Louise Penny Summary & Review: The Perfect Murder Mystery for Holiday Season

Still Life Book Summary: Trying To Ignore Spoilers? This Is for You

Still Life by Louise Penny Summary: Jane Was Killed for This? Spoiler Ahead!

An Unexpected Murder at Three Pines

The Entire Three Pines Mourns Together

The Mysteries of Jane Neal

The Rebel Without Cause

Of Course, The Case Is Not Closed Yet

Fair Day Reveals The Murderer

Why Were the Killings?

My Honest Review of Still Life Book Louise Penny

I Adore These Characters from Still Life Book

Armand Gamache

Clara & Peter

Ruth, Olivier, and Gabri

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Still Life (Penny)

Louise Penny, . . St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95 (312pp) ISBN 978-0-312-35255-4

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Still Life Summary & Study Guide

Still Life Summary & Study Guide Description

Does Life Imitate Art or Is It the Other Way Around?

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Still Life: (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Book 1) Kindle Edition

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