On Thanksgiving weekend, an elderly woman is killed by an arrow in the sleepy town of Three Pines, outside of Quebec. Why did Jane Neal never let people into her house? Could her newly released painting of the local inhabitants be connected to her murder? Called in to investigate, Inspector Armand Gamache quietly observes the secrets of the small town in the first book of the Three Pines series.

Readers have been raving about Louise Penny's latest Inspector Armand books, so I though it was time I checked out the hype. Although I was warned that the series takes a few books to get into, I was hooked right away by this cozy mystery. Expecting an action-hero style detective, I was delighted by Inspector Gamache, a wholesomely polite yet observant older investigator. The quirky small town was full of charming characters. I'm not sure how such a small town could produce enough murders to sustain the series, but I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out.