Still Life

 Still Life (2005) by Louise Penny

Jane Neal, retired teacher, was much loved and respected in her small community of Three Pines (a suburb of Montreal). She was a good teacher, a kind woman, and someone you'd want on your side in moral battles. When a group of masked boys threw manure at a cafe owned by a gay couple, Jane stopped them. When someone needed an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on, Jane was there. So, why was Jane killed by an arrow one early morning? At first it looks like it may have been a hunting accident, but when Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Montreal-based force takes up the case and makes it clear that it would be better to admit the accident--no one comes forward. And it soon becomes clear that no one using the type of bow that was used could have possibly have thought Jane Neal was anything but a human being. So, murder it is. Now Gamache just needs to find out why Jane was out on that trail early in the morning without her dog; why she finally decided to submit her artwork for the local competition and what that has to do with her death; and why she suddenly let her friends come further into her house than the kitchen. Oh--and of course, he needs to find out who had access to the older-style bows and who could shoot them. And who could have had such a deep grudge against this apparently harmless old woman.

This is the first book in the Inspector Gamache series and Penny's debut book. It was also my first introduction to the series after hearing many of my friends say how good it was. I read somewhere that Gamache is a modern-day Poirot. Well...I wouldn't necessarily say that. Gamache is a good detective. He has an eye for detail and he knows how to read people. He gets to the heart of the matter without being caught by distractions and without jumping to conclusions (unlike the little trainee who's with his team and is both insecure and very full of herself at the same time--and very annoying to boot*). He really sells the mystery and he's surrounded by good people (with the one exception just mentioned) who work well together.

Penny also does a good job with the plot. It's intricate enough to keep the reader guessing till the end and she leaves no loose ends. A really strong debut novel. ★★★★

*Gamache has enough of her attitude and sends her back to Montreal. I really hope she doesn't come back into the series.

First line: Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday. [Canadian Thanksgiving]

Last lines: Life was far from harried here. But neither was it still.

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Deaths = 3 (one stabbed; one poisoned; one logging accident)