This is a village cozy and police procedural, complete with eccentric characters, long-hidden secrets and a detective with staying power. The village is Three Pines, Quebec, the victim is a senior citizen with no apparent enemies, and the mode of death is a hunter’s arrow through the heart. Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete Du Quebec resists the prevailing hunting accident theory and pursues unanswered questions about the dead woman’s life. As with many village cozies, the pace is slow and the appeal lies in the interaction between the characters and the eventual exposition of their secrets and motives for the murder. Gamache is an even-minded, intelligent and likable character with a strict moral code – in fact he is suspended in the middle of the investigation because he refuses to arrest a suspect who he believes is innocent. Fans of M.C. Beaton’s Hamish MacBeth or Ann Granger’s Mitchell and Markby Village series should enjoy this series.
