Worried for nothing!

I love this series and author dearly. But I was afraid to buy these in audiobook format as I couldn't have stood listening to the French get all mangled up. Thankfully the narrator made me feel right at home. I am very impressed and glad to know I can safely continue to purchase this series!

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Love Louise Penny's writing

I read Still Life out of order. I had already read a number of books in the Inspector Gamache series and decided that it was a good idea to go back and start from the beginning. One of the disappointing things about this decision was hearing the rendition by Adam Sims. Had I not heard Ralph Cosham's masterful rendition in later books, I would not have had anything to compare this book to. But I have, and Mr. Cosham brings something special to Ms. Penny's books that Mr. Sims was not able to accomplish, despite a good performance overall. As usual, this was a twisted, convoluted story that left the reader wondering "who dun nit" until quite far into the story. I just love the characters... especially Ruth Zardo.
This is a fascinating group of people and I will keep reading until I have caught up. Can't wait to read the new book!!!

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Brilliant Story-Telling

Louise Penny is a brilliant story-teller. She has mastered the balance between character development and plot. In this first installment of the Gamache series, she sets up all of the characters (and the village of Three Pines) for the remainder of the series! She pulls no punches! The narrator is great as well!

Captivating Murder Mystery

This book is so well written. Captivating and entertaining. Amazing character knowledge which brought them to life.

Warm British-style mystery

As mentioned by other reviewers, this is a fun, character-driven story in the vein of the British murder-mystery canon. Smart and a good listen, if you're into that sub-genre, which I am.

It was alright

After being recommended many, many times, I finally got around to reading Still Life by Louise Penny.

I have mixed feelings.

First, in terms of the negatives, I found that this book tended to be quite dry in its narrative; causing me to lose interest in the plot at times - needless to say, I had to press rewind on the audiobook more than a few times.

Additionally, I found that the author didn't make it much of a challenge to guess who the killer was, which was a bit disappointing.

As for the characters, I adored Inspector Gamache, as a detective, he seemed to be kind and fair - but was capable of sternness when needed.

Agent Nichol was a total and utter cow that drove me up the wall.

Finally, as a side note, I must add that I did learn a lot about bows, arrows, and hunting from this book, which was cool, it is always fun to finish a book feeling like you gained some new knowledge.

Overall, while Still Life failed to capture my entire interest, I found it a decent enough novel to give the series another chance.

the dullest detective story I've ever heard

i can't finish this. I've only 4 hours left and the story is so dry. the characters are flat and uninteresting. The mystery is only slightly interesting but the whole story is told in such a plodding and boring fashion i just can't be bothered to find out what happened.

Better the second time around.

I read this book first and then decided to listen to audio version several years later. While I actually enjoyed the story more the second time around, I did not enjoy the performance. I found the english/french versions of Gamache very distracting, irritating and unnecessary. I know Penny indicates that he speaks like a British royal in english, but I found the switch too jarring.

The story is wonderful. Penny has great storytelling ability. If you enjoy cozy mysteries then this series does not disappoint.

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Realistic and brilliant

Beautiful story of Life, and friendship. Very well written, narrator was brilliant. Slow beginning but then was sucked in, transfixed till the last word.

Loved it

So glad to find the beginning of a great series. I'll be looking up more!

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