Book Review: Still Life by Louise Penny (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Rich characters, interesting but slow plot and sub-plots

Cons: Lazy point of view writing; confusing at the start

The Bottom Line:

Characters pull you

Through the meandering plot

Interesting start

Still Life is a Thoughtful, Moving Mystery Debut

I've been hearing about Louise Penny's Three Pines mysteries for a while now.  They're being nominated for just about every prestigious mystery award.  Some friends who read mysteries have been raving about them.  I finally sat down and read Still Life, the first in the series.  After a rough start, I enjoyed it.

The small Canadian village of Three Pines is peaceful, quiet, and cozy.  Which is why the death of Jane Neal on Thanksgiving Sunday is such a surprise.  The 76-year-old former school teacher is found dead in the woods, and the police quickly suspect she was killed by an arrow.  Since this is the middle of hunting season in the area, it could be an accident.  But to Chief Inspector Armand Garnache, it feels like murder.  As he begins to talk to the residence, he gets more questions.  Could it really have been murder?  Who would want to kill such a nice woman?

I've got to admit, I was wondering what all the fuss was about during the first part of the book.  There were just too many characters to keep straight.  We had Garnache and his team of investigators plus suspects and villagers.  There were several sub-plots involving some of those characters that seemed a bit out of place.  Ironically enough, I didn't have a hard time with the slight differences between Canada and the US and bits of French thrown into the mix.

But I am not one to give up on a book.  I must know how a story ends.  And here I was greatly rewarded for that perseverance.

The further into the book I got, the easier it became to keep the characters straight.  The majority of them were rich, real people.  I still had trouble with the minor characters, but they were in the book so seldom it makes sense.  The ones who were around for any length of time already feel like friends.

The plot was never a barn burner.  It moved along at its own pace, a pace that felt perfect for a book set in a village were life is unhurried.  But that pace was steady, and it kept me engaged.  The sub-plots helped as they wove in and out of the main action.  The climax is very suspenseful and logical.

The writing is vivid.  I felt like a part of this village during the fall.  Any time I had the book open, I was transported from hot a Southern California summer to the crisp, cool fall of southern Canada.

The book uses multiple view points to tell the story.  As a rule, I enjoy that when done well.  Here, it really helps to develop the characters and play out the sub-plots.  However, the author is a little lazy with it.  She often switches viewpoints in the same scene.  At times, I caught her doing it two or three times.  Heck, there were even a few times she did it in the same paragraph.  Multiple view points may be something I love, but doing it this way is one of my biggest pet peeves.

This book is a little more thoughtful than the books I normally read.  The main story and the sub-plots all tie into one theme.  The characters even stop and philosophize on it a couple of times.  It's never enough to slow down the story, but it is enough to add a richness to the book that I enjoyed.

I'm glad I didn't put Still Life down too early.  It was well worth reading.  I've already bought the next book in the series and can't wait to visit Three Pines again.