Book 7: Still Life by Louise Penny


This book fulfills the Favorite Prompt from 2018 on the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. That prompt was Audio Book. Honestly, I’ve read most of the books on the blog as audio. I love audio. Love is the theme for this blog post because I love reading. Anyway…

I’m a cozy mystery junkie. I love to read all the little mysteries and wallow in the fun, hobby info, and, usually, romantic elements. I also love a traditional mystery. I’ve been trying to finish up Agatha Christie for the past year. Every one of her books makes me happy on some level. I enjoy a police procedural with all the details, gritty forensics, and bold/broken heroes/heroines. In short, I love a mystery. I did not love this book.

Sigh.

I work at a library and I see Louise Penny books go out often. I’d heard so much hype about her books and especially Still Life, I assumed it would be the read of the year. Yeah, I assumed. I know what that makes me. It’s not that it’s a bad book. Not really. It’s okay. Right in the middle. I’d probably read another Penny if I needed a bland book about a detective with no quirky qualities. Like I said, cozies are my jam.

Even then, perhaps I’m comparing our beloved Gamache to Poirot or Cormoran Strike is unfair. But these are the detective that catch my focus, have particularities about them, and keep me interested in them as much as the story. Gamache seemed flat. He could read others well, but if that’s all, it’s not enough to keep me reading a series.

Also, I disliked the way he dealt with Nichol and thought the subplot with her was handled poorly. Yes, he let her rise or fall on her own. And when she fell, I was sorely disappointed he allowed it to happen. I don’t know if she shows up in other books to cause problems, but why waste a character with real and interesting flaws if she’s gone forever? Nichol reminds me of the sass-mouthed detective in the start of the Sherlock TV series, Sgt. Sally Donovan. I loved how she hated Sherlock and was having an affair with Anderson. She was the opposition and then she disappeared. Rather like Nichol.

As for the mystery itself, I liked the bit of history thrown into the story. But no big bells and whistles, no subtle clues, no high drama, no gross bloody corpses (thank you, Robert Galbrath). There wasn’t much to the book at all. I won’t spoil, because that would be so wrong to tell who done it. But it was kinda obvious even for me, who never seems to figure out who the killer is.
I won’t give up on our Penny. I gave Ruth Ware a few chances. (Hit or miss on those, let me tell ya) So Still Life was not my fav, but I’ll still give it 4 wooden arrows.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book 46 The Kiss Quotient

Image
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang fulfilled the “Debut Book” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. Ms. Hoang's book debut to great acclaim in 2018. It is a steamy romance with a happy ending. The book is perfect. I’ve studied romance writing for about ten years. The natural arc of a romance has been tattooed on my brain by many workshops, professional books, and colleagues. If you read Romancing the Beats by Gwen Hayes, it sounds so easy, so formulaic. But trust me, a good romance has that arc well buried under layers of great story, interesting characters, and conflict. Ms. Hoang perfected the model on her first go. The story depicts a wealthy Asian woman with autism. She wants to find a soul mate or at least a date and settle down, fulfilling the expectations of her parents. Her intellectual mind says “hire an escort and practice” to get versed in sex and relationships. Thank goodness she finds the right guy on the first try. The Kiss Quotient
Read more

Book 49 Lost in Austen

Image
Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emily Campbell Webster fulfilled the “ Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Book ” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. As a child of the 80s, I read Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories voraciously. In fact, I can remember with the first five writing all the page numbers and rereading until I hit every page. I’m not obsessive. Why do you ask? When I saw the category, I was thrilled. Tons of the new versions have come out in the last thirty years. (Man, I ’m old.) I recently found The Oregon Trail Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. There are two old obsessions rolled into one, right there. I joked that every ending but one had to be “Your party dies of dysentery.” But for this super serious blog, I wanted a grown-up novel. But not too adult that it wasn ’t super fun. Because I’m six. I was thrilled to see the huge list of books in this genre for adults. In fact, I found one very adult story the other day. Choose-Your
Read more

Extra Book 2: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

Image
The puzzle book was another category I doubled up on. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello ’s Library by Chris Grabenstein fulfilled the category “Book revolving around a puzzle or game” in the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. I read the book for the challenge not realizing I had already fulfilled the category with The Lying Game . I went with Ruth Ware’s book instead of this one because it was a kid’s book. I have a great affinity for children ’s stories. Some of the greatest stories ever written were intended for children. But I didn’t want to bog the blog down with too many choices in the children’s lit category. The blog is for adults and how many adults still read kid’s books? I know you’re out there but not the majority. The story was perfect, an escape room in a novel. My family has become obsessed with escape rooms. I ’ve always loved a good puzzle. Many of the computer games I enjoy are puzzle-oriented. And this book hit all my favorite things. The tale begins with thre
Read more