Still Life
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. They lead ‘still’ lives, waiting… for what?… waiting for someone to save them.”
This has been on my to-read list for a long time. And then it got made into a series so I knew I needed to push this up on the list!
I’ve heard many people recommend this series and I’m not sure my first impression lived up to the hype. But after reading some other reviews it appears a lot of people recommend skipping the first few books in the series.
I’m not ready to give up on it yet and plan to read another but I may skip to book four.
I liked the main character and it seems like a series where you get to see a lot of different characters and relationships develop.
I also liked the setting. Of course realistically a ton of crime and murder wouldn’t all happen in the same small town, but I think part of the charm of the series is the small town setting and so you just accept that point of non-realism for the sake of the community the author builds.
The plot itself was good and I’m not sure I guessed the murderer. I love what a friend put in their review quoting from The Office- “It was the person I most medium suspected.” Ha- it is accurate.
It’s hard to articulate what exactly I didn’t like, but it was definitely related to the writing style and the flow, which often felt disjointed.
The basic premise is this:
In small town Three Pines, Canada, an older woman— Jane— is found dead in the woods, apparently shot by an arrow. She had just had her first piece of artwork accepted into the local art show. Art she hadn’t shared with anyone before that moment.
Is her death related? Who would want her dead? In a small town where everyone knows everyone, someone is lying.
Chief Armand Gamache, our protagonist for the series, is called on to investigate.
It was a cozy mystery where we get to hear the thoughts of several characters, some cheekier than others. It is also set near Quebec and Montreal so there is some French language crossover.
The art component was interesting but hard to picture. It sounded like art that I wouldn’t really be a fan of.
It often felt like there should have been more dialogue to explain things.
I was also confused by the Nichol character. The way her character was handled was just… weird. I don’t know how to explain it. Armand did not think much of her at all and was not afraid to tell her. But it wasn’t always clear what she did wrong, or that she was a screw-up to the degree Gamache’s inner thoughts rendered her. And then he told her to get out of town and that was it for her. I’m guessing she comes back at some point, but it was just a weird character.
There were some parts of the plot that were played up more than needed to be. Like when they finally went into Jane’s house and were confused by the decor. I knew immediately what had occurred and they should have considered it at first as well.
I did find some of it humorous but the writing style made some of the humor not land very well or was too buried in the context.
I guess I was expecting more on this series and was a little disappointed. But I do want to stick with it. This was Louise Penny’s debut book and the first in the series, so I’m inclined to believe it does indeed continue to get better. Stay tuned to see what other books I read in this series and how they compare.
I trust the people who recommended this series to me so I feel like there’s more to be read.
If I watch the series, I’ll be sure to update with my thoughts on it as well!
Here’s my little Canadian learning section that I’m sure I’ll include with future books since there is some different vernacular like UK books:
francophone: French-speaking person
leotards: tights
tabernacle: a French swear word
[Content Advisory: some swearing; no sexual content; an LGBTQ couple that continues throughout the series]
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