A Trick of the Light: Reading Between the Brushstrokes

I always find it interesting to read authors who aren’t from the United States—it adds another dimension to the experience. Not only do you have to orient yourself to the characters, but you also get to immerse yourself in a different cultural and geographic setting. That’s certainly the case with this book. Louise Penny, a Canadian author from Montreal, sets this mystery in and around her home province of Quebec.

A Trick of the Light is a murder mystery centered around Clara, an up-and-coming artist celebrating her first solo show. The morning after the opening and the party that follows, a woman is found dead in Clara’s garden. To Clara’s shock, the victim is her estranged childhood friend, Lillian. As it turns out, Lillian had no shortage of enemies, and many of them were present at the party—making for a long and tangled list of suspects.

While the book isn’t fast-paced, Penny excels at character development and atmosphere. She draws the reader in slowly, layering relationships and motives with care until the murderer is finally revealed. 

This book was published in 2005 and in total she has written twenty books in the Inspector Gamache series.

Louise Penny’s novels are known for their rich character development, philosophical depth, and the atmospheric setting of Three Pines, Quebec.  Her books are best enjoyed in order, since each book published adds a little more depth and insight to her reoccurring characters.  So, if you are just discovering Louise Penny, start with Still Life where you meet the wonderful and often eccentric characters of Three Pines. And if, by chance, you've picked up one of her later novels without reading the one that started it all, consider adding Still Life to your reading list. 

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