Three Pines is based on the books in the winning Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, but the show also takes inspiration from other sources.
It makes sense for studios, fans, and authors to try and turn successful book series into television shows.
Three Pines, one of Prime Video’s most recent series, is also an adaptation of the award-winning Chief Inspector Armand Gamache book series by Louise Penny, even though it is considered a very loose adaptation.
Why are so many books being turned into shows?
There has been a long history of popular books being turned into even more popular television shows.
In fact, in the last few years, many of the most popular shows, like Bridgerton, Game of Thrones, The Sinner, The Queen’s Gambit, Big Little Lies, and more, have been adaptations of novels and series of novels.
The reality is that turning a popular book into a television show is often a win-win for everyone involved.
This is because not only do the authors get the increased exposure and sales from the show, but the studio also gets to produce content quickly and easily.
Moreover, fans get to experience their favourite novels in a new, well thought-out way and form.
Which book is Three Pines based on?
Streaming services have been at the forefront of adapting these popular novels into shows, as this allows them to create good quality content that already has an established fanbase, without having to write the shows themselves, which makes for much faster turnaround times.
One of the most recent examples of this is the Three Pines mystery series, of which, the first two episodes were released on the Amazon Prime Video streaming platform on 2 December 2022.
This show is actually an adaptation of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache book series by author, Louise Penny.
The books and the show follow Gamache as he investigates various murder mysteries in the fictional town of Three Pines.
The award-winning book series that Three Pines is based on, actually consists 18 books, starting with Still Life, which was released in 2005, and ending with “A World of Curiosities”, which was only released in 2022.
However, even though this adaptation has been long-awaited for many fans of the books, the show is quite a loose adaptation of three of Penny’s novels and one novella.
The first four standalone murder mysteries each contain two episodes, like the simultaneously released first two episodes that are based on the second book of the series, titled A Fatal Grace, which will be released with every following week.
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How does Three Pines differ from the books?
The fact that Three Pines begins with the second book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series is not the only reason why the series is considered a very loose interpretation of the original work.
The show also introduces a whole new sub-plot to the show that does not exist in the books, by giving Inspector Gamache a secondary season-long mystery whereby he investigates the disappearance of an Indigenous girl named Blue Two-Rivers.
Although it is unconventional for a show to include a new character and storyline that was not present in the source material, critics and fans have praised Three Pines for adapting the series to reflect a more modern version of Canada’s history and for giving the show a darker tone overall.
How successful has this adaptation been?
So far, the reception of Three Pines has been favourable, and even though it is difficult to get a complete picture of how fans and critics feel about the show after only two episodes, the show has a 7.2 out of 10 rating on IMDb and currently has a critic score of 78 percent and an audience score of 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
This indicates that the rest of the first season should be successful.
Other inspirations for the Three Pines series
The Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels may be the most apparent inspirations for the characters and events in Three Pines, but the show also takes inspiration from many other places.
The lead character, of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who is played by Alfred Molina in the show, also definitely takes some inspiration from other star-detectives like Poirot and Holmes.
When Louise Penny started writing her books, she drew inspiration from literary classics like Charlotte’s Web, The House of the Spirits, and Never Cry Wolf.
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She also drew inspiration for the town of Three Pines from the real town in which she grew up, called Knowlton, which is also located in Quebec, Canada, and idea of this quiet Eastern Quebec township is definitely an integral part of the show.