As followers of this blog may well be aware, I became an avid reader of crime and political fiction prior to my retirement in 2016, and most certainly since that time, and since I began to write this blog.
One of the things I am always on the lookout for, is a quote or passage from one of the books I am reading that just seems to stand out – really catches my attention. I can’t really explain it …
but I know it when I see it.
Here is the most recent addition to my “Pithy Quote Wall of Fame”.
As I began writing this, I realized that I also wanted to take this opportunity to introduce my readers to one of my favorite new authors.
This latest quote comes from a wonderful new series of books which I discovered and began reading in January of 2024. The novels are written by the Canadian author, Louise Penny. Penny is a lifelong native of Quebec, Canada. She still lives in the small town of Knowlton, located some 70 miles east of Montreal.
Her primary series of novels, which now totals nineteen, involve the murder investigations of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache – the Chief of Homicide for the Sureté du Quebec (the provincial Quebec police). They almost all take place in or around a fictional small town named Three Pines. While not an actual town, Three Pines is an amalgamation of many small towns around Knowlton, as well as of rural Quebec itself.
The first few books in the Gamache series have been turned into both a full length movie and also an eight episode limited series, both of which are available on Amazon Prime.
The 1hr 28min movie is titled Still Life and it is based upon, and also a quite faithful screen adaptation of, Penny’s first Gamache novel by the same name. My wife and I discovered the movie some time after I had finished reading the first few books in the series. We enjoyed the movie and I found the plot and characters in the movie very true to those depicted in the first book. I especially liked the lead actor, Englishman Nathaniel Parker, and his interpretation of Inspector Gamache.
The limited series, also available on Amazon Prime, is called Three Pines, as is the book on which it is based. It was released in 2022. The eight episodes (two for each novel) include investigations from four different early novels in the series. Unfortunately, Amazon Prime cancelled the series after only the one season.
While we enjoyed the limited series, and its adaptation of the books, I did not feel that the portrayal of the main characters was nearly as true to the books as they were in the movie Still Life. Well known actor Alfred Molina (perhaps best known as Doctor Octopus from the 2004 movie, Spider Man 2) portrayed Inspector Gamache. While I thought that he did a good job, I definitely preferred the much lesser known actor’s version of Gamache in Still Life.
The following is the trailer for the Prime Video limited series, Three Pines, starring Alfred Molina as Inspector Armand Gamache.
Louise Penny has a number of interesting interviews about many of her novels which you can find located on You Tube. Here is one of them.
Louise also collaborated with Hilary Clinton to co-write the political thriller State of Terror which was published in 2021. I really enjoyed that book and, for those of you who are familiar with the Gamache series, there are even a few Three Pines’ Easter Eggs embedded in that novel.
Here is a joint interview, available on You Tube, with both Louise Penny and Hillary Clinton where they discuss State of Terror.
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P.S. This is a footnote to my comments about Louise Penny.
My wife and I are planning our first trip to both Montreal and Quebec City this coming September (2024). Among the many other things to which we are looking forward, will be seeing some of the locations from Penny’s Gamache novels.
In particular I recently finished reading Bury Your Dead. While most of the novels so far have taken place primarily in or near the fictional Three Pines, and sometimes in Montreal, where the Sureté headquarters is located (in both fictional and in real life), much of the action in Bury Your Dead takes place in Quebec City.
I found particular enjoyment in Armand Gamache’s walks around both the Vieux and Basse Villes of Quebec City, many walks which were taken with only his dog Henri as his companion. (I can definitely relate!)
Having already done much research in advance of our trip, I greatly enjoyed experiencing a sense of my own newfound familiarity with the streets of Quebec City as they were walked by Armand and Henri. In fact, the AirBnB where we will be staying on Rue Saint-Jean is just around the corner from Le Petit Coin Latin – a local bistro where Armand met with his mentor for a drink. We will be certain to have a libation there as well.
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