Book Club discusses "Still Life"

In November, the book club read and discussed the first Louise Penny book of the "Three Pines" mysteries Still Life. A few in the group had already read this book and moved through the three books of the series while the fourth book, A Rule Against Murder (an Armand Gamache Novel) arrives on bookshelves in January according to Amazon.

Here's a photo of Ms. Penny from her website. I also marveled at her busy schedule for her book tour including America (she lives in Canada). At the same day and time our book club met, she had a book signing scheduled for the Royal St. George's College in Toronto.

One book attendee said the series can read like a 900-page novel with the first three books running together. It certainly appears to make good sense as the same characters (mostly) appear in book after book. The series features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache from Quebec with a team of investigators called to handle homicide cases in the Three Pines village. In this story, Armand visits Three Pines for the first time to investigate the death of an old resident shot and killed by a hunting bow and arrow.

Some of the discussion focused on the following:

one character named "Ruth" who's a notable resident--a poet--and very blunt and harsh

the even temperament of Chief Inspector Gamache with his squad and the public in a noisy investigation

an expected climax when the police confront the murderer

how the relationship between one central couple in the story changes and sours

how Gamache works with a difficult young investigator on his squad (another very blunt-speaking character)

the appeal of the Three Pines village to the reader, the sense of community and humor.

The book was well-received and the group (all who attended began and finished the book) and some expressed interest in going through the series. I added additional information about the writer's background (working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and the multiple awards that Still Life received (including the New Blood Dagger for best first Mystery by the Crime Writers Association in Great Britain and the Arthur Ellis for best first Mystery by the Crime Writers of Canada).