Louise Penny has been on my TBR for some time. Thought mysteries are not usually my thing, I thought Id give it a go because she is Canadian. What I will say first is I can definitely see why this series is well loved. Three Pines and it's residents have a lot of character. I enjoyed it; I liked some characters and really disliked others (was I supposed to?). Some felt underdeveloped, but maybe they have their spotlight further in the series? I did feel like it has aged, being written almost two decades ago, and not all the ageing was good.  Penny's writing is solid, but unique, though I can't say exactly how. I felt it worked for the story and the setting. Will I pick up the next book in the series? That is yet to be determined.

I wanted to like this book. I can say that I did enjoy some aspects of the characters but the story was just okay. It felt long and unnecessarily drug out which gave way to boredom. My biggest issue is that this book was written in 2014 and it is filled with anti-fat, ableist, anti-gay, and racist descriptions of characters. A lot of the them are fat (well the female characters) but not described with that exact word. Instead, other characters wonder how they fit through doors or comment on how much food is on their plates or how much they must've eaten. There is the stereotypical, one dimensional gay couple. Bad metaphors using ableist comparisons. It's ridiculous. I can't believe that people rave about this series based on that alone. It's a shame that the characters and setting are ruined by the author's lazy use of outdated and mean tropes. I will not be continuing this series. 

If you're looking for a much better cozy mystery, check out The Noodle Shop Mystery Series by Vivien Chien. The first one is titled "Death By Dumpling."

Still Life follows the first story of Detective Gamache as he searches for who killed an elderly woman in a small Quebec village. Overall, I found the story to be decent. However, I found the character development to be lacking. There are two gay characters in the book and one Black woman, and each of these characters seems to be fulfilling some kind of stereotypical role. For example, the gay couple run the only town’s cafe/B&B, talk about musicals, and are overly sexual and “sassy” in a way that other characters are not. There is some development outside of these roles toward the end, but it comes far too late and is not fleshed out like other main characters. They mostly feel like unsuccessful comic relief and intruders in the town where they’re supposed to be living. Ultimately, I think the cast (aka the entire village and several police officers) was far too large for this novel to have any significant amount of development for everyone. The pacing feels off as the author attempts to include everyone and thus makes time for almost no one. 

Still, it was a good story and once you pass the midway point, it’s worth finishing. 

I reread Still Life this year and it holds up. It's a very good cozy mystery set in Three Pines, Quebec, where a local woman has been murdered. On a reread, knowing who the killer was made me look for the clues about them, and it was still a surprise

Wasn't sure if I'd like the humor at first, but it grew on me. A quirky book, but also mostly delightful. Liked how the mystery came together in the end, though I'm not sure the reader could have guessed the motive without the Big Explain at the end. Also not sold on why a character acts a certain way at the end

Why did Clara go confront Ben? He's a MURDERER. Did you think he'd stop at 1 (technically 2)??

I'm conflicted over Agent Nichol's character, because if it wasn't for the convenience of 3rd person omniscient POV letting the reader know that she's egotistical, super arrogant, "I can do no wrong/admit to being wrong. Ever." then I'd think she reads as neurodivergent. Also kind of frustrating that no one actually calls her on her bullshit and just plainly points it out. Idk if she'd understand it then, but clearly she's not getting the "hints" Gamache tries to point her toward.