Still Life
A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
Chief Inspector Gamache Novel: Book #1
By Louise Penny
Narrated by Ralph Cosham / 9 hours 35 minutes
When it comes to murder, you have to see the forest for the trees.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter. Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces---and this series---with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.
Made into a 2013 TV movie (Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery), this story will move readers, listeners, and viewers alike.
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“Still Life is a masterpiece of a traditional drawing room mystery, repainted in the autumnal colors of the Canadian countryside. Louise Penny is a storytelling artist.”
Julia Spencer-Fleming, Author of numerous mystery fiction novels
“A gem of a debut novel—clever, charming, with perceptively realized characters…and the enormously appealing Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I can’t wait for the next installment.”
Deborah Crombie, Author of the Kincaid and James mystery series
“An excellent, subtle plot full of understanding of the deeper places in human nature, and many wise observations that will enrich the reader long after the pages are closed.”
Anne Perry, Author of numerous historical detective fiction novels
About the Author
Louise Penny is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (five times) and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. She lives in a small village south of Montréal.
Reviews
“Besides being an engrossing detective story, Still Life is a psychological study of the lives of Penny's complex characters—their friendships, insecurities, loves, hates, and regrets—and people are not always what they seem. The book is expertly narrated by Ralph Cosham, who imbues the characters with depth and emotion.”
Library Journal
“Reflecting Gamache’s approach, the novel is one of conversations and reflections. We get to know the villagers and the detectives as people, not just as pieces of the puzzle…. For a crime story, Still Life is gentle in spirit. Penny does not employ shootouts, car chases, or profanity to add excitement. But gentle does not mean prim or saccharine. The novel does not extol the quaintness of small town life; even in a cozy village, people feel isolated and can be cruel to one another. Since, as Gamache observes, crime is ‘deeply human,’ Penny grounds the mystery in the private struggles of her characters and the many strange ways in which their lives intersect.”
Boston Globe
“Terrific. . . . Like a virtuoso, Penny plays a complex variation on the theme of the clue hidden in plain sight. Filled with unexpected insights, this winning traditional mystery sets a solid foundation for future entries in the series.”
Publishers Weekly
Related Reading
Reading the Beautiful Mysteries of Louise Penny
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Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Series
Still Life
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 9 hours 35 minutes
Abridged: No
Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has... Read More »
A Fatal Grace
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 10 hours 30 minutes
Abridged: No
Winner of the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel!
Welcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.
No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of... Read More »
The Cruelest Month
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 11 hours 45 minutes
Abridged: No
"Many mystery buffs have credited Louise Penny with the revival of the type of traditional murder mystery made famous by Agatha Christie...The book's title is a metaphor not only for the month of April but also for Gamache's personal and professional challenges--making this the series standout so far."
--Sarah Weinman
Welcome to Three Pines,... Read More »
A Rule Against Murder
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 10 hours 53 minutes
Abridged: No
"Celebrated British narrator and actor Ralph Cosham brings this wonderful murder mystery to life and draws in listeners with his charisma...Cosham's characters are refreshingly original and never overplayed, and the Old World quality of his voice invokes radio murder mysteries from decades past, creating an endlessly entertaining listening... Read More »
The Brutal Telling
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 13 hours 14 minutes
Abridged: No
Chaos is coming, old son.
With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. Everybody goes to Olivier's Bistro—including a stranger whose murdered body is found on the floor. When Chief Inspector Gamache is called to investigate, he is dismayed to discover that Olivier's story is full of holes. Why are his fingerprints all over the cabin... Read More »
Bury Your Dead
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 12 hours 43 minutes
Abridged: No
It is Winter Carnival in Quebec City, bitterly cold and surpassingly beautiful. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache hascome not to join the revels but to recover from an investigation gone hauntingly wrong. But violent death is inescapable, even in the apparent sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society— where an obsessive historian's quest for... Read More »
A Trick of the Light
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 11 hours 42 minutes
Abridged: No
A New York Times Notable Crime Book and Favorite Cozy for 2011
A Publishers Weekly Best Mystery/Thriller books for 2011
"Penny has been compared to Agatha Christie [but] it sells her short. Her characters are too rich, her grasp of nuance and human psychology too firm...." --Booklist (starred review)
"Hearts are broken," Lillian Dyson carefully... Read More »
The Beautiful Mystery
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 13 hours 34 minutes
Abridged: No
The brilliant new novel in the New York Times bestselling series by Louise Penny, one of the most acclaimed crime writers of our time
No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec, where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend... Read More »
How the Light Gets In
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 15 hours 1 minute
Abridged: No
The ninth book in Louise Penny's New York Times bestselling, critically acclaimed series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache.
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." —Leonard Cohen
Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it's a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing... Read More »
The Long Way Home
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
Length: 12 hours 4 minutes
Abridged: No
Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he'd only imagined possible. On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. "There is a balm in Gilead," his neighbor Clara Morrow reads from the... Read More »
The Nature of the Beast
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
Length: 12 hours 40 minutes
Abridged: No
Hardly a day goes by when nine year old Laurent Lepage doesn't cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village.
But... Read More »
Recommended
A Great Reckoning
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
Length: 13 hours 32 minutes
Abridged: No
When an intricate old map is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity. But the closer the villagers look, the stranger it becomes.
Given to Armand Gamache as a gift the first day of his new job, the map eventually leads him to shattering secrets. To an old friend and older adversary. It... Read More »
Glass Houses
By: Louise Penny
Narrated by: Robert Bathurst
Length: 13 hours 31 minutes
Abridged: No
"...the events in GLASS HOUSES challenge Gamache's conscience unlike any of the previous audiobooks, with Bathurst prying open the hero's heart and soul and laying it bare for listeners to experience at a visceral level." — Audiofile Magazine
AN AUGUST 2017 LibraryReads PICK!
When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day,... Read More »
Recommended
Kingdom of the Blind
By: Louise Penny
Length: 12 hours 19 minutes
Abridged: No
"[Narrator Robert Bathurst] engages us completely...If you haven't listened to this series, start at once. You'll love your stay in Three Pines." — AudioFile Magazine on A Great Reckoning
Kingdom of the Blind, the new Chief Inspector Gamache audiobook from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
When a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand... Read More »
A Better Man
By: Louise Penny
Length: 13 hours 8 minutes
Abridged: No
"Robert Bathurst's intelligent narration captures every nuance, every emotion, and each of Louise Penny's subtle revelations about the unique, completely engaging residents of Three Pines." — AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner
Catastrophic spring flooding, blistering attacks in the media, and a mysterious disappearance greet Chief... Read More »
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