The TPSG (Three Pines Support Group) is here for you!

A few months back I read an article about fans of the movie Avatar forming support groups to help them deal with the fact that Pandora was not a real place and that they could not go there and live among the  Na‘vi.  I was tempted to make fun of this (I hated that movie) until I had a conversation with another librarian about our beloved Three Pines, the tiny (and fictional) French Canadian hamlet in the Louise Penny mystery series. Penny’s latest novel,  A Trick of the Light, came out August 30^th and two days later Anne and I had already read it and were in a post Three Pines funk.  We longed for Three Pines.  We talked everyday about how we would spend the morning in Clara’s garden followed by a five course lunch at Olivier’s Bistro with dessert and coffee in front of the fire.  Then we would wander across the bridge over the Bella Bella River and sit on the common with Ruth, the local poet/curmudgeon, and let her hurl insults at us.  We would end our day by sinking into the fluffy white down comforters at Gabri’s  B&B and dream of murder and mayhem and charming Inspector Gamache. With the exception of the ridiculously high homicide rate Three Pines seems like the most idyllic place to live, great food, quirky smart companions, charming vistas in every direction, and most importantly a bit of trouble to keep it all interesting.  Even though we don’t have a proper support group for Louise Penny groupies we can offer up the follow suggestion to hold you over until your next trip to Three Pines; try the three Inspector Bruno mysteries by Martin Walker.  They are set in the Perigord region of Southern France and even though it is not exactly the same it is equally charming, with much talk of food, a cast whimsical locals, and of course a grisly murder or two. 

BW