Library Journal Review

When the body of a local teacher and artist is found in the woods surrounding the Canadian village of Three Pines, detectives from nearby Montreal arrive to solve a seemingly unmotivated crime. Leading the Sûreté du Québec team is Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, a career police officer. In the course of the investigation and after a few false starts, several of the Three Pines villagers come under suspicion before a final, exciting conclusion. Fans of award-winning and best-selling mystery author Louise Penny are legion, and this Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) version of the author's first novel may not please all of them. As Gamache, actor Nathaniel Parker (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries) succeeds in portraying the detective's intelligence and compassion, even while his acknowledged English accent is unexpected. Likewise, the production, filmed on location in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, captures some but not all of the fictional village's beauty and eccentricity. With characters and setting as popular as Penny's, adaptation to film isn't easy. Bonus featurettes include brief interviews with Penny. VERDICT One way to stay connected to Three Pines until Penny's next novel is published.-Linda Frederiksen, Washington State Univ. Vancouver Lib. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.