Rachel Kennedy

I’ve read most of Louise Penny’s novels which combine the genres of police procedural with the cozy mystery. The novels are known and loved by readers for the characters residing in the fictitious Quebec village of Three Pines-the cozy mystery setting. Along comes the main character, Armand Gamache, who is a cross between Pere Noel (Father Christmas for you anglophiles) and Hercule Pierrot to solve the latest murder. It’s the Quebec French Canadian culture clashing with those Anglo outsiders that makes this series so fun. In my opinion, Ms. Penny’s police procedural story lines can be a bit awkward and contrived, particularly in her first couple of novels. As these are the novels done for TV’s season 1 and focus on the action driven police procedural, less on the cozy village of Three Pines and it’s cast of characters, no surprise it’s a slow start. I hope Amazon and Sony Pictures TV produce more. The novels get better so should the TV series.