Still Life is the inaugural episode of the Chief Inspector Gamache/Three Pines series by Louise Penny. These books are set in rural Quebec, in an area known as the Eastern Townships, which lie southeast of Montreal and just north of Vermont. Armand Gamache works for the Surete du Quebec, the provincial police force. The Surete's main office is based in Montreal, and Gamache investigates crimes that take place in or around the remote village of Three Pines.

Three Pines has a character all its own. The village is not marked on maps, and people sometimes discover it simply by accident. It's the kind of place that many of us would like to find for ourselves. It's separated from mainstream civilization and is surrounded by natural beauty. It seems like an inviting and idyllic paradise. Its residents know and care about one another. And yet, these are modern, knowledgeable -- and, okay, a bit eccentric -- people who still face regular challenges, as we all do. They eat some amazing food, too.

When a retired schoolteacher/artist is found murdered here, the whole community gets involved in solving the case. After all, Jane Neal was a kind and gentle person and, seemingly, a friend to all. Who could possibly want her dead? Now we meet for the first time the small handful of key Three Pines residents who are interested in identifying the killer. (Simultaneously, we may also wonder if one of them will turn out to be the main person of interest. After all, we don't know these people yet.) We are introduced to B&B and bistro owners Olivier Brule and Gabri Dubeau, poet Ruth Zardo, bookseller Myrna Landers, and artists Clara and Peter Morrow. Clara had been close to Jane, so it makes sense that the narrative naturally focuses more in her direction. These are realistic, multi-dimensional characters who have quirks and backstories of their own. Only a few of their truths will be revealed here, however.

And then there are the members of the Surete investigative team, led by Chief Inspector Gamache. He is a kindly yet savvy officer. His right-hand man, Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir, is 20 years younger and sometimes seems daft enough to be amusing. Agent Isabelle Lacoste is an adept collector of details and documentation. New to the team is agent Yvette Nichol, who wants desperately to make a good impression, but who seems (to us, at least) to continually sabotage her chances at doing so. These officials are human beings too, and they have intricate lives and feelings. And their operation doesn't always run without some kind of administrative hitch that interferes with procedure. Hints of a past contentious endeavor, "the Arnot case," linger in the background. More is at work here than we can know.

Informal gatherings and puzzle-unravelings take place in the village bistro, where the warmth and the satisfaction come not only from companionship, but also from the scrumptious gourmet dishes that are served. And just when you think that the investigative finger points to a certain and obvious perpetrator -- or at least, to one specific household -- you suddenly find a variety of other threads leading in other directions, until you soon believe that the murder could have been committed by nearly anyone in Three Pines. This is an example of accomplished storytelling.

As a fictional character, Armand Gamache reminds me of Jim Qwilleran of The Cat Who... mystery series written by Lilian Jackson Braun. Both are mild-mannered men who are thoughtful and intelligent, and "of a certain age." Both seem to have "storied pasts" for which we catch hints of at first, and for which we get more puzzle pieces to fit in, as time goes on. Both are centered in remote and lovely locations; except, of course, that mysteries and dead bodies keep surfacing. When I picture Gamache in my head, I see a revision of the man I once thought of as Jim Qwilleran.

And just as we learned what life was like in Qwilleran's home, "four hundred miles north of everywhere" -- was it in northern Michigan? Minnesota? Wisconsin? -- here, we learn about life in rural Quebec. The setting may not be one that is initially familiar to most American readers. We learn more about Quebec's seasons and holidays. (This particular murder takes place on Thanksgiving Day, in mid-October, for example.) We witness the combinations and contrasts of the English-speaking residents and the French ones (especially from Beauvoir's critical point of view). And at times the characters of either background may interject French words and phrases into their conversations. Most of the time, the context allows us to figure out what they mean. But also quite nicely, the author has posted a pronunciation guide with audio files on her website, and she voices the character names and popular vocabulary for us as a handy reading reference. Talk about a teachable moment! It's fun to learn more about an exotic-to-us place.

Still Life is a well-crafted and intriguing story, well told. And it marks only the beginning of this wonderful series. As a reader, you can use this first book as a test. If you like the characters and the setting, you can move on to the next book in the series, A Fatal Grace. Please note that Penny's plots get trickier as she gains momentum, and the reading experience gets richer too, as we begin to have to hang on for the ride. Because the cases involve the rural police of Quebec, these books combine the cozy mystery setting with the approach of the police procedural. They're topped off with an interesting array of characters on all sides, too. This appealing mix becomes more addictive as the series progresses. Read on!