Still Life, by Louise Penny

Retired schoolteacher Jane Neal is found dead in the woods near her home, in a small village on the Canadian-US border. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team travel from Montreal to investigate whether this is murder or an accident covered up by an errant bow hunter. This involves looking into Jane’s unpleasant family and delightful artist friends and digging into the history of the small historic town. There are too many points of view and too much disconnected dialogue in this crime novel, which has a lovely sense of place but a very confusing sense of time. Published in 2005, it was acclaimed and sparked a series featuring the wise detective. This is odd because so many plot elements and characters just don’t ring true. Perhaps subsequent stories improve, but there are too many other books in the world to be bothered finding out.