This debut novel is set in Canada, in the village of Three Pines where no one locks their doors. One morning the body of Jane Neal - a long time and much loved member of the community - is discovered. During the hunting season, accidental death is unfortunately not rare, and Jane Neal’s death is initially attributed to a tragic hunting accident.
But Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, known for his quiet but meticulous investigation of a crime, is not wholly sure that it is an accident. In his inimitable way he relaxes on a bench in the village and watches the life of the village as it proceeds in its daily regime.
New to his team is Agent Nicole, keen to get on, with her sights set on being an Inspector, but Agent Nicole is a curiously unsympathetic character that I liked less and less as the story progressed. Whereas Armand Gamache I started off liking, and then just fell in love with.
The story has many twists and turns, and I learnt much about hunting with a bow and arrow - I love it when a murder mystery actually increases my knowledge on a subject. There are, as Armand Gamache discovers, many secrets in Three Pines, some which date back sixty years and may, just may have a bearing on the death of Jane Neal.
A really riveting read which I now find has been declared the winner of the Arthur Ellis best first novel award and which since writing this review has won the Dagger for best first novel.. Well, all I can say is that it is well deserved.
Adam Sims is a great narrator but an especially marvellous Armand Gamache. I unreservedly state that he enhanced for me an already terrific book .
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Lizzie Hayes