Sill Life - Louise Penny

As the early morning mist clears on Thanksgiving Sunday, the homes of Three Pines come to life - all except one…
To locals, the village is a safe haven. So they are bewildered when a well-loved member of the community is found lying dead in the maple woods. Surely it was an accident - a hunter's arrow gone astray. Who could want Jane Neal dead?

In a long and distinguished career with the Sûreté du Quebec, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has learned to look for snakes in Eden. Gamache knows something dark is lurking behind the white picket fences, and if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will begin to give up its secrets…

I had heard so many good things about Louise Penny that I was really looking forward to read this one. I found it on Bookmooch a couple of months ago but while I don't exactly consider myself a mood reader it is true that sometimes I'm not in the mood for a certain genre. It took me some time but last week I finally decided to pick it up.

This was a book that I really enjoyed reading and so I am glad that I waited for the right time to read it. The action develops at a leisurely pace. There's time to get to know the main characters, to see the village of Three Pines come to life and while I was reading I kept thinking how nice it would be to go for a visit and check out that second hand bookstore or Gabri's restaurant... It seemed such a nice, artistic community. I think Louise Penny knows how to write a really good story!

But what I liked the most was meeting Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I don't think I remember reading about a member of the police force as polite and humane as Gamache. I loved him! I especially loved it how he spoke about his wife, Reine Marie want to know more about him and I want to read more books with him!

The crime he has come to investigate in Three Pines seems at first to have been a hunting accident. The victim was a well beloved member of the community and no one seems to have a motive to kill her. Gamache and his team have their work cut out for them but they are very good at questioning and especially at listening and they eventually find the truth. I started to have an inkling of who the culprit might be near the end but the motivation was indeed a surprise

I can't wait to grab the next book and meet Gamache again.

Grade: 4.5/5