Still Life

After initial selecting Matthew 10:36, Clara selects “Surprised by Joy” as the inscription on Jane’s headstone. How was Jane, and perhaps Clara, “surprised by joy”? What does the change from one inscription to the other suggest about Clara’s evolving feelings about Jane’s death?

In many mystery novels, the detective is a private, consulting, or amateur sleuth, making the official police appear incompetent. What is the significance of Penny’s decision to position Gamache as a member of Quebec’s official police force?

Drawing on one of the books in her shop, Myrna posits that “life is loss.” Identify two or more characters who experience some kind of loss, then contrast their responses to that loss. How do their actions compare to Myrna’s ideas?

Which personal attributes and choices lead to Nichol’s downfall as a Sûreté agent? What does her arc suggest about Gamache’s methods and techniques?

How does Penny’s choice of setting, the fictional town of Three Pines, impact the thematic material of her novel?

Allusions are made to works by such writers as W. H. Auden, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and C. S. Lewis. What function do these textual excerpts serve in the lives of the characters who quote and discuss them? Does Ruth’s poetry, which is also popular among the characters, serve a similar or different purpose?

Gamache offers four key statements that he suggests “lead to wisdom” (82): “I don’t know,” “I need help,” “I’m sorry,” and “I was wrong.” Examine the use of these (or roughly synonymous) statements throughout. Does Gamache’s assertion hold true? How so?

Some readers and critics of mystery fiction maintain that an effective mystery must be solvable by readers but not obvious. Does Still Life seem to fit this criterion? What techniques does Penny employ to obscure the solution and mystify readers?