Still Life
Still Life is the first novel in Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. When Jane Neal, a retired teacher and amateur painter, is found dead in the woods near the village of Three Pines, the locals assume it was a hunting accident. Gamache of the Surete du Quebec arrives and slowly uncovers that the death was murder. As he questions the close-knit community of artists, shopkeepers, and eccentrics, he pieces together long-buried tensions and secrets. Penny pairs a traditional whodunit structure with warm character writing and a strong sense of place. The novel introduces the recurring cast of Three Pines and Gamache's patient, humane approach to detection, which has made the series a long-running favorite among mystery readers.
What you might want to know about Still Life
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache investigates the death of a beloved retired teacher in the small Quebec village of Three Pines.
Yes. Still Life, published in 2005, is the first novel in Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series.
It is set in the fictional village of Three Pines in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.
Still Life was written by Louise Penny, published in 2005 by St. Martin's Paperbacks.
Still Life is 336 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Still Life takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Still Life is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.