John's comments
(member since Sep 27, 2007)
John's comments from the mystery lovers group.
(showing 1-20 of 27)
I like Carlotta, but don't care for her "little sister" Paolina much, being thankful she didn't appear often in the latest Lie Down with the Devil.I plan on listening to Maron's Sand Sharks from Net Library next year at some point - glad to read Deborah'll be out of town for this one; I disliked the abrupt married-with-instant-family, as well as the change from first person Deborah to rotating third person. Moreover, I wasn't too happy that Linda Barnes alternated Carlotta and Mooney last time either.
"VI Warshawski/Scarpetta book"They are two different series, by different authors, why are you calling them the same thing?
Warshawski was okay until the last couple of books, when the series was just non-stop grimness.
Scarpetta was great at first, but by the 10th book, with the introduction of the werewolf, it was time to call it quits.
Dog Day by Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, the first in her trilogy featuring female Barcelona police inspector Petra Delicado - wasn't sure if I'd like it, but by the second chapter I was hooked.
Agreed - and I'm willing to admit it can work, but generally doesn't for me.
Sandy wrote: "The only Florida mystery writer I have read is Carl Hiaasen, and he has kept me very entertained with every book. I especially like Native Tongue because it is a thinly veiled account of what theme..."I recommend the "petsitter" series by Blaize Clement set near Sarasota.
Barbara wrote: "I am from the great state of Massachusetts. Who could dispute the talents of Robert Parker, William Tapply and Dennis Lehane?"There's also the Carlotta Carlyle series by Linda Barnes.
Kari wrote: "I live in Alabama now and am working my way through the Southern Sisters mysteries by Anne George. Chicago is my hometown and I enjoy Eugene Izzi Books and Sara Paretsky. I shall have to read some..."You might try Mary Saums' "Thistle & Twigg" series set in Alabama.
I'm not fond of books written in first-person present either. If the action is supposed to be happening as they speak on page 1, then how can there be a "rest of the book" if it hasn't happened yet (from their point-of-view)?
I tried Carrion Death a few months ago, but just couldn't get into it.
I like the Spellmans, too, P. D.Forgot to mention earlier that I gave up on Paretsky a couple of (un-necessarily dark) books back.
Evanovich was funny ... for the first 10 books or so.
I've just started the latest Agatha Raisin book, which is okay so far, but I fear I may be suffering somewhat in not recalling the details of the previous one, over a year ago.
The narrator, Julia Gibson, does a great job ... with everyone except Bree, who disconcertingly doesn't have much of a southern accent at all. The rest of them sound exactly right; I'm willing to wait as long as a year for the sequel to come out on audio rather than read it.
Vickie,I'm listening on audio, and it's campy enough that the "dark force" aspect isn't all that scary - except perhaps for the scene where she comes across the dog Sasha.
I had thought so about Agatha a couple of books back, but kept going and she seems to have a bit of life left in her (series) yet.
I'm about halfway through Defending Angels by Mary Stanton, which is, indeed, fluff ... but, sometimes that's not such a bad thing. Savannah locale and a host of quirky secondary characters make this a promising debut (so far).
I vote for Tamar Myers - both of her series have jumped their sharks for me.
I'm halfway through Margaret Maron's Hard Row (on audio). I had my misgivings about the direction of her Judge Knott series when she suddenly married off the main character, as well as switching the books from solely Deborah's first-person point-of-view, to third-person omniscient (sorry for the technical writing term), making it possible to show the reader additional information, which she wouldn't know until later, if at all; her part in the story seems to have more to do with showing her as a wife and mother, than as being directly involved with the action. The series may not have jumped the shark, but there seem to be fins on the horizon.
I'm in the middle of An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear (unabridged audio) - the Maisie Dobbs series is terrific for those love historical fiction (inter-war years) along with a mystery.
I'm going to (once again) bring up the Jane Lawless series by Ellen Hart as it's a hybrid of both - Jane, her family, and best friend Cordelia are "constants", but the supporting characters (and often location, too) are "variables"; the latest one has a carried-over sub-plot from the previous couple of books, but those are rare.
