Still Life by Louise Penny, September 2023 Book Club Reading

[Falselogic]

Still Life is the debut novel written by Louise Penny. The book is 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.

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.

 

[John]

I noticed that somehow along the way, I got a Kindle Unlimited subscription since it was bundled with something or other. If you also have one and haven't used it, Still Life is one of their free titles. I read the first chapter, and thought it was a good setup, and liked the Quebecois casually dropped in.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Fun fact: Three Pines is a fictionalized version of the town that I grew up in.

 

[Falselogic]

Fun fact: Three Pines is a fictionalized version of the town that I grew up in.

Oh wow! That's cool.

 

[John]

Agreed! I'm going to mentally place you into one of the roles as I read. Fingers crossed there's a musician, preferably with a banjo.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I'm the old lady

 

[Violentvixen]

I just picked this up today and hope to start it over the long weekend. I don't read mysteries much so appreciate when one is put in front me to try like this.

 

[Falselogic]

I was able to pick up a copy this morning before heading into work. Hoping to do some reading this evening.

Is this a cozy mystery or a serious mystery?

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I would say mostly cozy, the book spends quite a lot of its time focusing on the lives of the people in Three Pines. There's a whole lot of love for small country towns on display here, even if sinister things lurk beneath the surface.

 

[Violentvixen]

I'm at Ch 4 and would agree with cozy. Liking it so far, I feel like all the characters are distinct and easy to keep track of which is nice.

 

[Falselogic]

Got a chance to sit down and really get through a big chunk of the book last night. I'm enjoying it. Penny has a real talent of bringing characters to life with just a few lines or paragraph. Also, the interesting little tidbits about the fears of Anglos in Quebec, the tension between legal and illegal hunting for the people who live in this rural area. These little bon mots come up and then are gone but they fit the narrative arc and they're enjoyable.

 

[Falselogic]

If you are interested there was a CBC produced movie adaption of the book that came in 2013. It is available to stream for free on Plex, for now.

 

[Falselogic]

Mild spoilers I guess in the second paragraph. I finished the book last night. I enjoyed it overall though it seems the author doesn't really like her female characters? I thought most of the portrayals of characters even when done briefly were quite good. They seemed grounded and real. Except for Yvette Nichol and Yolanda. Those seem to go really over the top.

The part that really stuck out for Yvette was when she was in Ruth's bathroom and there was the sticky note on the mirror that said "the problem is in front of you" and she kept looking behind her for in the room for the issue? How could anyone be so dense? With Yolanda it was the over the top redecorating of her aunt's house. Why would she do that? Why do so much work and such ugly colors? For nothing.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book and I'll probably pick up the next one (there are like 20 of them if you enjoyed it, and a TV series on Amazon.)

 

[Violentvixen]

Finished, I enjoyed it. I do think there are some pacing issues (the final confrontation in the basement and then falling down there AFTER he's unconscious and then immediately being rescued was very odd) and agree with @Falselogic that those two characters were quite over the top and didn't make a lot of sense. But I liked the characterization of the town and I really, really enjoyed the town hall scene where everyone is trying to figure out what happened and walking through all the aspects of the murder.

I still don't think I'll be searching out mystery novels, but this was a very different type of mystery novel than I've previously read and I'm glad to be aware of the breadth of the genre.