A Rule Against Murder

Well, basically I'm blogging this to make fun of it, though perhaps I should make fun of myself for actually finishing this murder mystery by Louise Penny. Yes, this is the kind of mystery in which the word "murder' and "murderous" is thrown about casually by the characters before any such act takes place. No, I don't mean people are casually discussing murder. I mean the author has them say things like (and I kid you not) "Tomorrow, the weather will be murderous." and "the maitre d' stopped dead." Ah yes, the mystery that doesn't realize it's making a mockery of the whole concept.
And really? The Butler did it? Are you sure that's where you want to go with this, Ms. Penny?
I read the first one in this so-called "Three Pines" series because it got great reviews. I found the second one unreadable and dropped it after, oh maybe 2 pages. I picked this one up out of curiosity and a bit of desperation for something frothy. Apparently I've missed another book along the way but it shall probably remain missed. Or unmissed, really.
I do like that the mysteries take place in the Quebec countryside and I like the tension between the Anglos and the Quebecois, the smattering of French, all the talk of cafe au lait and hot croissants. The main character, the head of homicide for all of Quebec is a good, respectable murder mystery character. He's the sort of man who quietly commands respect, who quietly solves mysteries by thinking about them, who loves his wife, and still manages to have a sense of humor in spite of his job.
The author does go on a bit about a statue as if it were alive which became kind of amusing after awhile and yes, there's a LOT of talk about the statue because it's the murder weapon!
There's a whole boring bit at the end where they all have to sit around and hash out who did what, when, and why, and there are lots of unlikeable characters and weirdos that I regret having met, but I did have a bit of fun reading it for all its silliness.
Here's a great line which is only great taken out of context, as it will be here:
"Teeth?...He'd heard many motives for murder, but never teeth."

A little addendum on the title, A Rule Against Murder. I never notice the titles to mysteries because they tend to be lame and not really important to the plot. This one does stand out for its blatant awfulness. Thanks to husband Ben for making fun of it so that I noticed. And, yes, the location of the murder does, indeed have a "rule" against murder.