Still Life by Louise Penny

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of Canada's Sûreté du Quebec is called to Three Pines, a tiny hamlet south of Montreal, to investigate the suspicious hunting "accident" that claimed the life of Jane Neal, a local fixture in the village.

I really enjoyed this - it's very much a cozy mystery, set in a charming Quebec village with lots of fun and interesting characters. But there's a certain level of emotional heft as well. There were enough clues along the way to let me puzzle out who I thought the culprit was, and enough misdirection so it wasn't obvious.

I'm looking forward to reading more Three Pines mysteries soon!

2015: Interesting start to a series. If you're into thrillers or something very dark and fast-paced, this probably won't be your speed. I like that the book takes place in a sleepy township in Quebec, and beyond the murder mystery itself it has some great thematic elements.

Be forewarned - you will probably be hungry at some point while reading. Louise Penny does a great job of describing the food. (4 stars.)

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2018: Rereading this book, a lot of the side characters felt wooden and I disliked how Penny introduced discussions without giving context (e.g. characters had reactions to things that were not yet shown to the reader). Giving this book 2 stars as a debut and averaging it out to 3 stars for the rating. However, I'm going to keep going with the series because my friends rave about subsequent books.