There’s something really charming and stimulating about the way Louise Penny writes. I don't often find myself completely lost in fiction, but there were a few times where I’d be reading this book and I’d find myself in a kind of trance. As soon as something would shake me out of it, it would take me a few seconds to remember where I was. 

I accidentally stumbled upon book 16 in this series a while ago, without realizing that it was part of a long-running series. I absolutely fell in love with Gamache and his friends/family on the spot. I’ve been waiting to get “Still Life” from the library for months, to start the series properly, from the beginning. It did not disappoint. 

That said, this wasn’t a straight five stars for me because the depiction of Agent Nichols was almost cartoonishly incompetent and bullheaded. Though I did like the inclusion of this kind of character as a foil for Gamache, it was all laid on a bit too thick. 

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