Monday Mystery Spotlight - Louise Penny

As promised in my post last week, I've decided to start a series of reviews featuring Canadian mystery authors. Even to dedicated Canadian mystery fans, there seems to be a whole field of our own authors that are sadly neglected, except in the occasional write-up in a local newspaper. I also had quite a few comments from last week's post that many of you, my dear Gentle Readers, are interested in reading Canadian mysteries. So I am thrilled and delighted.

My first author is Louise Penny. She is fairly new to the Canadian mystery scene; her first book was published in 2004. Since then she has put out a book a year, to ever-increasing acclaim and mystery award nominations. Her official site is here, Louise Penny. On here you will find her books listed, and the awards for each of them. I'm going to list them all here anyway, since I want to make this part of the regular features that I do. Her site is very friendly and welcoming, and she is giving a free draw away for her latest book, A Brutal Telling. Here is a link on CBC Canada to Louise talking about her books, here.

I saw A Brutal Telling this past Saturday at Collected Works (one of Ottawa's best indie bookstores), and it looks very good. A Brutal Telling is the fifth in the series, however, I don't have the fourth - or I didn't until Saturday. I looked with big eyes at my husband as I held The Murder Stone in my hands, the 4th one, just out in mass market size. Because I'd had a particularly difficult Friday at work, my husband said, "Go on, you know you want it," after I murmured about her being a Canadian author. The tricks I use to get books in the door sometimes!!! So I can't give a review on The Murder Stone yet, but I will give a brief synopsis on the last two books - including a very brief (one line! but the best ever for ) synopsis for The Brutal Telling.

I will advise here that if at all possible, no spoilers will be given away. I hate knowing what happens in a mystery before I've had a chance to read it! So I'll do my best to do the same for you.

I also have a confession to make: I didn't hear about Louise Penny until I read the review in the paper about her, and if I recall the article, it was featuring The Cruellest Month, and gave the titles for the previous two books. I also chose Still LIfe over another mystery because it had a big red sticker on it proclaiming it was a Winner for the CWA for Crime Fiction, and I thought, ok, it can't be that bad then. See how hard our Canadian mystery writers have to work to get read?

THE BOOKS
The series features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec, which is the provincial police force. This means he is assigned to major crime outside the main cities - he covers the rural and village territory, where only a local police force exists in the larger towns, which don't investigate serious crime. When a violent crime occurs, the Surete are called in to investigate. He has a team of detectives under him, featuring Jean Guy Beauvoir, who has been his second in command for more than a decade; and starring a new recruit to the team, Yvette Nichol, and an officer from the local police force, Robert Lemieux. Enough about the team. The real star of the books is Three Pines and the people who live in it.

Three Pines is a fictionalized village in the province of Quebec, in the Eastern Townships. The Eastern Townships do exist, east of Montreal, south-east of Quebec City, just north of the border with the US. If you find the village of Sutton on a map, that is where Louise Penny lives, in the Eastern Townships. Here is a link to a description of the area. So for anyone afraid that there wouldn't much familiar - ie mostly French words or names, the Eastern Townships were settled by the Irish, Scots, English as well as the French and other nationalities. Most of the principal characters are either English, or bilingual. This is a mystery written for anglophiles, set in Quebec. which, seeing as that is endangered now (many, many Anglophiles left Quebec in the 1980's and 1990's; I was one of them), makes this a heritage series! What you will find is local Quebec flavour, from the descriptions of the woods, to the seasons, to the different festivities celebrated in each of the books.

One of the charms of the mysteries is that we see the characters, the village, the police, and the crime, through both the villagers eyes, and the police team's. There are many different points of view offered in each book, which gives a complete view of life in Three Pines, as well as allowing Penny to show the effects of the murders on different villagers and members of the investigation team.

One of the other elements is that Gamache has earned some enemies in the Surete, and the first three books is discovering that one of the team, if not more, are planted there, to watch and record his moves, and eventually to find a weakness to bring him down. This adds to the claustrophobic feeling as Gamache is unable to trust anyone outside the village in the police force, or depend on support, as well as having to suspect everyone in the village while investigating the crimes.


Still Life - The first book in the series. Nominated and runner-up for CWA Debut Dagger, 2004. Winner of the New Blood Dagger in Britain, Arthur Ellis Award in Canada for best first crime novel.

On Thanksgiving Sunday, the village awakes to find the body of one of the long-time residents in the woods. Who killed her? And most of all,why? Introduces the permanent residents of the village who we also see the mystery through, particularly Clara, an unconfident artist. She was one of the closest to Jane Neal, the victim, and her death has hit her hard.
Here is
my original review.




Dead Cold - Book 2.
Set in winter, through the Christmas holidays. This is a good mystery to read during winter time, if only so you can experience just how cold our winters can get! And the suddenness of snowstorms. Curling is one of Canada's winter hobby sports, and in this second mystery,it is highlighted. A spectator at the annual Boxing Day curling match is electrocuted, but despite the crowd, there are no clues and no witnesses. This was a thoroughly good mystery to read, with a mystery that was a real who-dunnit and why. So many people wanted the victim dead. At the heart of the village all the regular villagers are there, and we are getting to know them better, particularly the marriage of Peter and Clara, and how these two artists struggle to support each other's work. I find this theme of creativity very interesting to watch, and fully pull for Clara to gain some confidence in her work. I also really enjoy seeing how the village celebrates Christmas. There is a real sense of community with this book, and this series, that I think sets it apart and is part of its charm.
Dead Cold and The Cruellest Month were reviewed by me at the same time, link here. By the way, the Christmas window at Ogilvie's in Montreal does exist.



The Cruellest Month - Book 3. Winner of the Agatha Award for Best Novel. Nominated for the Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards in the US. (notice the absence of any Canadian awards for this book?)

The ghosts from the first book are still not settled. The old Hadley house, the house that is key in book one, the house belonging to the victim from book two, is still empty in Book Three, and everyone is beginning to think it is haunted. They are right; they are all haunted by the events of the past two years, so they decide to hold a seance. But something goes wrong during the seance, and someone dies.

I have to say the scene of the seance is a little chilling. And the village does try to heal from all the deaths it has experienced. Gamache too, also has a time of reckoning; the person behind the whispers, the betrayer, is finally revealed. I will say that I suspected who it was before the Inspector did, though I think this was the author's intention; she wanted to show that even the best of the best (and Gamache is generally taken as the best Chief Inspector the Surete has)has a blind spot, which is echoed by the murder investigation itself. What is the cost of love? And the fear of loneliness? When love comes into your life, in whatever guise, would you protect it no matter what?

This book is set in April, at Easter time. There is featured one of the most delightful Easter Egg hunts ever put into a book. I so want to move to Three Pines and raise my children there!! I'd run Myra's bookstore!!



The Murder Stone Book 4. Named one of Booklists Top 10 Mysteries of the Year.
Set in a hunting lodge not at Three Pines, the Gamaches - Armand and his wife Reine-Marie - have taken their annual summer holiday in late June. Another, very wealthy family, The Finneys, have taken up most of the rooms at the lodge, and when one of them is discovered dead, the Inspector is the logical choice to investigate.....that's all I know since I haven't read it yet! I read about 10 pages, just to get a feel, and now I want to read it all, but I have two other things on the go I promised myself I'd finish first. And Three Pines does show up, though how they connect, I am most curious to discover!



The Brutal Telling- Book 5. A Barnes and Noble Main selection for this fall, in the US. Also an ABA (made up of independent booksellers) choice also for this fall. (But other than being on the CBC book club list, will anyone in the Canadian Literary scene pay attention?)

I know nothing. But any blurb that includes " a trail of clues and treasures from first editions of Charlotte’s Web and Jane Eyre to a spider web with the word “WOE” woven in it" has me hooked right away. I really want this one for Christmas! That I do know.

To end this, this is a wonderful interview in Canada's national book newspaper, The Quill and Quire, with Louise, here.

And no, Three Pines does not exist. I would go live there though, in a minute, despite all the murders!!! It sounds like a wonderful village, and I think that is why it is highly recommended as a traditional closed-setting mystery in the Agatha Christie tradition. I love the different characters, the artists, the poet, the gay couple running the restaurant/hotel and bistro - some of the food described in the mysteries sounds so delicious that I get hungry reading the books!! The shared traditions of the village, the close-knit spirit of the community. And the setting of course, the forest all around. This is an excellent series for getting to know some of rural Quebec - and rural Canada, and how we co-exist with the forest and natural wilderness.

Next week: Giles Blunt

Weekly Geeks 13

Well, I am behind! Or, rather, I finally have some time to do the Weekly Geeks again! The summer rush of travelling and visiting is slowing down, and we are already gearing up for school. The youngest (the one the angels are working overtime on now keeping safe) is getting ready to start Junior Kindergarten in September, so he is changing daycares - tomorrow is his last day at the only one he's known, and on Monday he starts at the one his big sister goes to, which is a smaller daycare and right down our street. All this to say, I am thrilled to be doing the Weekly Geeks this week, as it will take my mind off the changes - I'm sad to say goodbye to ABC daycare, who have taken wonderful care of both Holly-Anne and Graham for 4 years, and very excited that they are both at Vicky's daycare, together for the first time, and in a home setting. And he is starting school, which since he saw Holly-Anne get on the schoolbus a year ago Graham has been asking and counting down towards! We are getting a little gift to say goodbye to the daycare, and of course, you know me - it's a gift certificate to my favourite independent bookstore, Collected Works, which is in the same neighborhood as the daycare centre, and has a great children's selection of books.

Now, on to this week's Weekly Geeks: favourite author photos! I am picking:
- photos of my favourite authors (all represented)
- photos of any authors I have met (even briefly) - 1
- and photos of the hottest authors! -2
Guess who they are correctly - they have all been mentioned on my blog at some time, and let me know. I'm giving away a book as a prize to the one who gets the most right. Because I'm doing this so late in the week, I am going to extend the deadline to Sunday Aug 10 at midnight. I can't tell you the book title yet because it will give away the author!!

Here they are:























And, I have to admit, that just adding the photos of the two authors who I think are 'hot' has me kind of breathless (they're on my blog!!) kind of like revealing a secret crush...well,yes, that's exactly what it is!!! I was never any good at this in high school either, so I'm soooo glad no one can see my face right now!! You would think that after having been married twice and having three children I would be past this, but it seems not. I still blush as much as I did when I was much younger. And link here if you want to go back to Dewey's site to see more bloggers pick their favourite/hot authors.....

Book Meme

Finally! I can do this meme, that Rhinoa tagged me for on July 2. A most excellent book meme, so thank you to Rhinoa, and here goes:

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
We were always read to, there are pictures of my sister (a year younger than I) and myself sitting on my father's lap while he read books to us, I would have been 3 and Patricia 2, if not younger. My father taught English most of his life, first as a teacher of English literature at various schools across the country, and later he taught English to French civil servants for the Federal Government. We always had books, and I don't even remember learning how to read. I always could. The first -presents I ever bought, that I could choose for someone else - was for my first best friend, when I was 8 years old - were books! it never really occurred to me to chose anything else! and I was so excited and pleased to give them. I'm not sure she read them, though she was the first person I also co-wrote a mystery with, so all was not lost! From an early age I read the cereal box, the milk carton, or anything else I could find at the breakfast table, and any other time we were allowed books there, and everywhere else. I would read under my blanket at night when I was 12, with a flashlight. (Did we all have to go to bed too early, since I think a few of us bloggers have mentioned this habit in our childhood?) While no one has ever said I was born with a book in my hand like Rhinoa's family do to her, my love of books is legendary and almost no one in my family will willingly enter a bookstore with me now!

What are some books you read as a child?
Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, The Bobbsey Twins, Dr Seuss, The Hobbit, Cherry Ames, Meg mysteries, LM Montgomery (almost everything she wrote), Gene Stratton Porter, Enid Blyton mysteries - Famous Five, Adventurous Four, especially. Laura Ingalls Wilder, I loved her! This is all before I was 12, when I began to branch out, and discovered Harlequin Romances.

What is your favorite genre?
Fantasy and mystery are tied. I read widely in both areas, above and beyond anything else. I think I always have - see the books I read as a child. I'm sure if there had been fantasy being published then for kids I would have read it! I'm interested in lots of areas, so I have books on a lot of different topics. I love mysteries and fantasy, though.

Do you have a favorite novel?
A favourite for this year, or for always? Hmm. Persuasion by Jane Austen, Bellwether by Connie Willis, Bridget Jone's Diary by Helen Fielding, Black and Blue by Ian Rankin, Bones by Jan Burke, It by Stephen King, are some of my all-time favourites that I reread every other year or so. For this year, so far I have added Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman as one I know I will come back to again.

Where do you usually read?
In my chair by the window in the living room, or at the kitchen table. On the bus on the way to work, at work, and in bed (though that never lasts more than a few minutes before I start yawning). Never in the bath - I take only showers now, and I ruined some books though I love the idea of reading while taking a long bath!! someday, i will read again at the park, but my kids keep me far too busy to even think of bringing a book there.

When do you usually read?
Whenever I can, but mostly in the evenings after the kids are in bed, on the bus to and from work, and at work on my lunchtimes.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Yes! I usually have a fiction book that I have at the table (or in my bag for work), and a short-story collection somewhere -either at the kitchen table or waiting by my bedside, or poetry there - poetry somewhere, and a non-fiction book, which gets moved around depending where i can find time to sit. It's the only way I can make headway on all my challenges, is to have a book nearby to grab! Usually I read one all the way through, though, but if I'm really interested in two, I'll go back and forth.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
See above, no!! It takes me longer to read non-fiction because I like to think over and absorb what I'm reading, whereas I read fiction straight through. Poetry I read a poem at a time, and the same with short stories.

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
I buy most of the ones I read. I much prefer knowing they are mine, mine, mine! I will use the library, especially when money is tight or I'm really not sure about an author, and I want to try one or two books, or when I have a whole list of new authors to try. Otherwise, and mostly in the past two years, I have been buying books over anything else.

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
Oh yes!! I occasionally buy a book that I end up feeling lukewarm about, or can't finish, but that is rare, and they get given away to charity shops as soon as possible. Most of the books I buy I keep. I love Rhinoa's answer to this, by the way, which I completely agree with, and have said myself many times to other people here. I think a house without books has no soul, and certainly doesn't hold my interest for long!!!

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown - I don't recall this as a child, but my eldest son I think I gave a copy to, and the daycare I ran at the time with my two nieces LOVED this book. So I give it now to almost everyone with a child. Currently my two little ones are reading it, and it's fun to see that they react to different things than Duncan (the eldest) or their cousins did, but they all love it.
Dr Seuss is another, although my kids aren't as keen as I was. I have some MOther Goose books that we are starting to read, that I remember from when I was a little girl, and I have piles of books waiting - all my favourites listed above, I'm starting to collect again for my daughter in the hopes she will read alot.

What are you reading now?
-Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde,
-Secret Language of Signs by Denise Linn
-Harrowing the Dragon by Patricia McKillip
-This Year You Write Your Novel - Walter Mosley (ongoing)
-Tarot for Yourself - Mary K Greer (ongoing)

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Oh yes! Several! In my purse, on the shelf, all compiled from various sources. Mostly it's a list of books I want to acquire to read, and I update it fairly often - I add to it constantly, but every so often I take satisfaction from crossing off what I've bought or read and making a new list. I love my TBR lists!

What’s next?
Finishing some more challenges - the non-fiction 5 is up next, and catch up on my posts - I have to do reviews of several books I've read, and start seeing what I'm missing in order to complete some of the challenges I'm in. I also have just discovered one of my co-workers reads widely and he has some books I'm interested in borrowing.....

What books would you like to reread?
Persuasion (see above in favourites) is on my list to reread in December in honour of Jane Austen's birthday; Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights I am rereading this summer for two challenges, I am rereading several Charles de Lint books for the Canadian Challenge 2, and I really want to reread It by Stephen King (just because it is a book I associate with summer and I'm due to reread it now!)and Natalie Goldberg - Writing Down the Bones, and Julia Cameron The Vein of Gold, to get me started writing again. Some books I reread often - every couple of years - and others I am rereading for the first time in 10 or 15 years, or even 20 years, because I've forgotten much about them (at least until I open the book) and I find myself wanting to reread them and see if I like them as much this time, and to refresh my memory about them.
Dune by Frank Herbert is another book, and if I can find it, Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein, which was one of the first science fiction books that I loved (as opposed to fantasy which I loved from day one). Bellwether is due too for a reread soon, as is Doomsday Book, which I consider one of the best time travel books ever written, both by Connie Willis.

Who are your favorite authors?

So many!! Ian Rankin, Phil Rickman, Patricia McKillip, Jane Austen, Charles de Lint, Connie Willis, Sara Paretsky, Neil Gaiman, Mary Oliver (poet), Henning Mankell, JRR Tolkien, Robin McKinley, Jan Burke, Jasper Fforde, May Sarton (poet), James Lee Burke, Tanya Huff, Liza Cody.....I have so many authors that I love for various reasons, that I have not listed half of them. But these are all authors of books that I devour, that I love and in almost all cases, come back to read. Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Dan Simmons...... As Rhinoa says, the list goes on and on......and that's not counting the writing books - Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Walter Mosley, Stephen King, Eric Maisel, some of my favourites, my spiritual books, astrology books, history books.......but first and foremost, I think of the above authors first when asked this question.

So, who are your favourite authors? I would like to tag Nymeth at Things Mean Alot, Charlotte at Charlotte's Web, and Ann at Table Talk and Geraniumcat at Geranium Cat's Bookshelf.

Happy reading!