Well, my next stop is… Canada! On September 1st I started reading the first of Louise Penny’s “Inspector Gamache” novels: Still Life. These books are set primarily in a small town near Montreal, Quebec. And it’s the kind of town or village that I would love to live in, as I’m sure would many people.
While I’m not all that fond of “typical” murder mysteries in general, these books are a bit different: Ms. Penny has a unique (and wonderful) writing style – witty and clever; often very humorous – and her characters are so richly drawn that you very soon fall in love with them and feel that you know them personally. In fact, it almost seems as if the mystery is secondary to the rest of the story; the backstory, setting and characters are so richly drawn. And the mystery itself is orchestrated well – I didn’t figure out the solution before the end and it took me by surprise, as a good mystery should.
I thoroughly enjoyed this first book, which I finished on the 5th, and 
I’m already enjoying the next one, “A Fatal Grace,” which I started on the 6th.
What’s better than reading a wonderful book by a wonderful author? Knowing you have 8-10 more of the same thing ahead of you!