
Still Life
Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Ralph Cosham
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By:
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Louise Penny
About this listen
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 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.
©2005 Louise Penny (P)2006 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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During intermission at the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, a notoriously difficult and widely disliked German conductor is poisoned—and suspects abound. Guido Brunetti, a native Venetian, sets out to unravel the mystery behind the high-profile murder. To do so, he calls on his knowledge of Venice, its culture, and its dirty politics. Along the way, he finds the crime may have roots going back decades—and that revenge, corruption, and even Italian cuisine may play a role.
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Hercule Poirot in Venice...!!!
- By Emil Grancagnolo on 10-09-22
By: Donna Leon
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Deadhead and Buried
- English Cottage Garden Mysteries, Book 1
- By: H.Y. Hanna
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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City girl Poppy desperately wants to pay off her debts, quit her dead-end job, find her father...oh, and keep a plant alive. But she knows that these are just hopeless dreams - until the day a letter arrives. Suddenly, Poppy is on a train heading deep into the English countryside to claim a mysterious inheritance. And the last thing she expects to receive is a cottage garden nursery - complete with romantic climbing roses, scented herbs, a bossy, talkative ginger cat...and a dead body.
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English cozy comfort
- By cstardancer on 08-02-19
By: H.Y. Hanna
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The Cuckoo's Calling
- By: Robert Galbraith
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, creditors are calling, and after a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, he’s living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with a shocking story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry - known to her friends as the Cuckoo - famously fell to her death a few months earlier.
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Unbelievable debut mystery set in London
- By Tracey on 05-26-13
By: Robert Galbraith
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Maisie Dobbs
- Maisie Dobbs, Book 1
- By: Jacqueline Winspear
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Maisie Dobbs got her start as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton, soon became her patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan’s friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts. The outbreak of war changed everything. Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets out on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive.
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All ‘round tip top
- By nancy M on 01-10-23
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A Year of Marvellous Ways
- By: Sarah Winman
- Narrated by: Sarah Winman
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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A Year of Marvellous Ways is the much anticipated and utterly beguiling new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international bestseller When God Was a Rabbit. Cornwall, 1947. Marvellous Ways is a ninety-year-old woman who's lived alone on a remote creek for nearly all her life. Recently she's taken to spending her days sitting on a mooring stone by the river with a telescope. She's waiting for something--she's not sure what, but she'll know it when she sees it.
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Great story-telling
- By Carol on 07-27-15
By: Sarah Winman
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In the Woods
- A Novel
- By: Tana French
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret.
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Detection with a Difference
- By Lesley on 07-18-07
By: Tana French
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Case Histories
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Susan Jameson
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Case One: A little girl goes missing in the night. Case Two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack. Case Three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.
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Trippy book
- By mary on 01-20-09
By: Kate Atkinson
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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
- By: Alexander McCall Smith
- Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Mma "Precious" Ramotswe sets up a detective agency in Botswana on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, making her the only female detective in the country. At first, cases are hard to come by. But eventually, troubled people come to Precious with a variety of concerns. Potentially philandering husbands, seemingly schizophrenic doctors, and a missing boy who may have been killed by witch doctors all compel Precious to roam about in her tiny van, searching for clues.
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Transcends its Genre
- By Gene on 12-07-03
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The Charity Shop Detective Agency
- The Charity Shop Detective Agency Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Peter Boland
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Fiona, Sue, and Daisy, three retired ladies who volunteer at the local charity shop, Dogs Need Nice Homes, can’t believe their favorite customer is dead. Eighty-six-year-old Sarah Brown was found murdered in her hallway by her delivery man, a domino clutched in her hand—with a name scratched on it. When another person is found dead with a domino in their hand, and with the police making no progress, the ladies will need to help unmask a serial killer. At least they have Fiona’s scruffy-haired terrier cross to assist them.
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Very easy listen
- By Madison Lindley on 01-11-24
By: Peter Boland
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Sandstorm
- A Sigma Force Novel, Book 1
- By: James Rollins
- Narrated by: John Meagher
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum and the race begins to determine how it happened, why it happened, and what it means. Lady Kara Kensington's family paid a high price in money and blood to found the gallery that now lies in ruins. Her search for answers leads Kara and her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's curator, into a world they never dreamed existed.
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Liking James Rollins and his scientific mind!
- By Michele on 12-15-11
By: James Rollins
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One Lost Soul
- A Chilling British Detective Crime Thriller (Hidden Norfolk, Book 1)
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Greg Patmore
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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When a body is found on a lonely cliff top path, the angelic face of a murdered teenager lies facing the rising sun. Strangled by the hands of an unknown killer, it falls to DI Tom Janssen and his fledgling team to find out how she came to be there. Destined for a career in medicine, one to rival that of her parents, Holly Bettany’s future was as bright as it had been privileged. Seemingly, all that could threaten this promising teenager’s life was Holly herself.
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Common
- By GoForItOldLady on 12-06-20
By: J M Dalgliesh
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A Most English Princess
- A Novel of Queen Victoria's Daughter
- By: Clare McHugh
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 17 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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To the world, she was Princess Victoria, daughter of a queen, wife of an emperor, and mother of Kaiser Wilhelm. Her family just called her Vicky...smart, pretty, and self-assured, she changed the course of the world. January 1858: Princess Victoria glides down the aisle of St. James Chapel to the waiting arms of her beloved, Fritz, Prince Frederick, heir to the powerful kingdom of Prussia.
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A most delightful audiobook
- By Trudy D on 10-28-20
By: Clare McHugh
I did not read Book 1 first.. I read three of the novels before reading this story (book 1) and I have three or four more books in the series to go. So far, all the stories have held my interest throughout, however, I would strongly suggest reading this series in order if possible which will help the listener appreciate and fully understand the back stories that are referred to in each story.
What I've found is that Ms. Penny builds each novel upon the previous story in some way. Yes, I have had to "suspend my disbelief" a little too much but I think the stories give me what I am after and that is a good whodunit while transporting me to another place even if its a fantasy/made up place. Three Pines is described so well that I feel that I could find it. Character development is very good, you get to know the reoccurring characters very well.
In addition to the whodunit aspect which has good twists and turns, there are mystical and otherworldly undertones in this little village where everybody knows everybody and it's become a second home for investigator Armand Gamache.
An Easy Listen....
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Inspector Gamache is a smart and extremely humane hero. He doesn't have flaws or demons like Robicheaux or Hole, but he does share their extreme sensitivity in crime solving. And unlike those two great detectives, he doesn't resort to violence, or at least he hasn't been forced to yet. What sets him apart is the absolute devotion he receives from his peers and everyone he meets. His squad loves him, the community loves him and even his enemies respect and fear him.
The second feature I love is the setting. the village of Three Pines is quite literally a real life version of Narnia. It's filled with young and old living in cottages nestled in hillsides with one church, a general store and tavern. It is described on several occasions as a village no one finds until they are lost. It is never a destination, but once you've found it you'll never forget it. There's even a rundown mansion of sorts. The villagers are more like a family, in that they get along because they have too. They are rude, cantankerous, funny, diverse, talented and charismatic. There are poets, artists, drunks, gurus, Christians and atheists. In much the same way I felt when I read the Chronicles of Narnia, I find myself engrossed in the community of Three Pines.
Finally Still Life revolves around a baffling murder that takes great police work to solve. The clues are entirely unique and wonderful to discover. The story is top notch.
I liked the narrator a lot. He captures the ambience of Thrre Pines as well as anyone could.
A Remarkable Detective In A Remarkable Setting
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Any additional comments?
So nice to have books with recurring characters seeing the newest one advertised on audible made me get the first one and i have the others ready to readGreat new series
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Where does Still Life rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
The best book I've read, and the best audiobook I've listened to!Who was your favorite character and why?
Inspector Gamache is just a lovely person, and then I adore Clara as well.What does Ralph Cosham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Ralph brings the whole story to life - I am now reading the second book in the Inspector Gamache series, but without the audio book to complement it there is a distinct difference in the feel of the 2nd book. I really do prefer reading the e-book, whilst at the same time listening to the audio book.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, definitely!Any additional comments?
Incredibly gifted author - I am planning on reading every single one of her books!Incredible book!
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However I am pleased to write that I enjoyed the story, after adjusted my listening style and perspective.
Little slow, but a worthy listen
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loved it !
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Monotonous
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Any additional comments?
Characters were one dimensional (almost caricatures) and the plot was overly simple with weak attempts at developing suspects other than the killer. The narrators’ almost monotone delivery didn’t help add dimension. It was a fine simple story but nothing more.Guessed the killer in right away
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And especially who'd kill 76-year-old Jane Neal, a retired teacher who seems to have been universally liked (and loved) in Three Pines? It must've been a hunting accident! But most hunting accidents involve guns, while Jane was shot through the chest with an arrow, which is missing. And once Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Quebec Surete shows up with his homicide investigation team (including Jean Guy Beauvoir, his second in command of ten plus years, and Yvette Nichol, a rookie desperate to fulfill the dreams of her family and to impress Gamache), they start asking questions and poking around, and suspects surface. . .
In Still Life (2005), her first Inspector Gamache novel, Louise Penny doesn't cheat or trick her readers. She hints at the identity of the killer unobtrusively but fairly. (I kinda started suspecting the person based on little signs about a quarter of the way into the novel, but kind of forgot about it or changed my mind here and there as the plot progressed.) She effectively sometimes uses Three Pines locals to provide us a bit of intel before the police get it, so we feel suspense as to whether Gamache will get it in time.
As in the best mysteries, Penny's characters talk and think and act like real, interesting, and sympathetic people. Penny understands a wide range of human personalities and behaviors. She tells her story from the third person points of view of multiple characters: police like Gamache, Beauvoir, Nichol and locals like artist Clara Morrow, Jane's former student Matthew Croft, and bookshop owner Myrna Landers (the only black woman in town). It irritates me no end when mystery authors narrate stories from the points of view of culprits who never think about their crimes, unfairly throwing us off their scents… Penny I think avoids this slimy ploy.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is an appealing detective character to follow. A big man in his mid-fifties, bilingual in perfect French and English, well read (given to quoting from the Bible, Virginia Woolf, and Abbie Hoffman), observant, and full of empathy and sympathy. Unlike many fictional detectives, he is happily married and untroubled by inner demons or hidden skeletons. He wants the members of his homicide team to collaborate rather than compete, which, along with the fact that he's shocked by death (from a mouse caught in a trap to human shot in the woods), has led to the stalling of his career. His advancement has been hindered by his "fatal flaw" of helping people who don't deserve it and by his habit of stubbornly sticking to his instincts and principles to the point of insubordination. Refreshingly, he's fallible, as with the Arnot case, alluded to without explanation (one of Penny's techniques for making her characters feel like real people with their own present-affecting pasts).
Nichol is another interesting character, because she runs so against the genre stream of earnest female rookie homicide investigators who appreciate the greatness of their male police officer mentor and eventually (despite early hiccups) build a mutually trusting, affectionate, and effective relationship. Instead, Nichol seems stubbornly unable to learn the investigative practices and life wisdom Gamache is teaching. She is manipulative, prickly, resentful, and smug. The kind of person who, after looking in a mirror at a sticker saying, "You're looking at the problem," searches the room behind her for answers. She disobeys orders, lies, screws up, blames other people, and acts abrasively superior when she (thinks she) does something right. How long Gamache will put up with her?
There is plenty of interesting Quebecois culture in the novel: Thanksgiving in October, "tabernak" (tabernacle) as a strong swear word, cultural contrast if not conflict between Francophones and Anglophones, the dangers of hunting season for more than the prey. It is refreshing to read a mystery set in Canada instead of America.
Lots of neat motifs woven in: still life (= arrested development, blaming others for your problems, waiting for others to solve your problem, etc.), long house (we enter it when we're born, leave it when we die), memory, etc.
There is also plenty of neat literary stuff: like Gamache's quotations and references by other characters to Diogenes, Auden, etc.
Lots of neat lines:
"In the country death comes uninvited."
"He was always delighted when a digital clock had all the same numbers."
"Either that wallpaper goes or I go." (Oscar Wilde's last sentence, opportunely quoted in the novel)
The audiobook reader, Ralph Cosham, is always understated and fine; nothing fancy or dramatic, just spot on, intelligent, understanding reading with perfect timing, pausing, pacing, emphasizing, etc.
I'd been considering a five-star rating, but… The climax action is over the top given the rest of the novel and, to me, almost absurd and almost certainly unnecessary. "Please Penny," I pled after finishing the book, "you could get to the same moving resolution you end with without trying too hard to write an exciting climax with a bunch of people running around on a stormy night like keystone cops."
Nevertheless, Still Life is as well done as a murder mystery can be, and quite funny and moving. If you like quietly and powerfully literate mysteries involving real fictional people, you'd probably like it.
An Excellent Mystery with an Unfortunate Climax
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Underwhelmed
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