Steph’s Comments (group member since May 07, 2020)

Steph’s comments from the Death on the Shelf group.

I certainly understand the frustrations Ben and Linda! I guess I gave it more latitude due to it being written for another age in another place and all that.

I was not surprised to enjoy a Dorothy Sayers novel, I just read my first one late last year and was really blown away by the depth of the characters. That book was actually Have His Carcase, the previous story featuring Harriet Vane. Anyways, on to Gaudy Night. I enjoyed the amount of work spent inside the different college buildings but I do admit that I got a bit lost in some of the history and references.
I loved the characters but also lost track of them due to not having their first names mentioned much instead going by Miss X and such. I did begin to suspect Annie after the mention of the spurned ex-colleague of Miss de Vine but I was also totally ok if Miss Hillyard or someone else turned out to be the Poltergeist. The dog collar protection was a bit bizarre especially considering the nature of most of the gender equality discussions of this book, it felt a little tongue and cheek.
And the equality discussion of Gaudy Night is still relevant today as we have seen in the pandemic with men's employment being given more priority than women's.
I was pulled me into the mystery, cared about characters and the book had some very important discussions about societal expectations and the self-torture that guilt can inflict on people. 5 stars!

I enjoyed Death at the Flamingo. I agree with Linda and Ben's comments about the plot being caught in a round-about. I did wonder about Hamish's condition being talked about so much but the author's note at the end about her own experience with anxiety put it into perspective. I would say that another book with that much attention on Hamish's condition would wear thin.

I really liked Nate and Mrs. Louci (sp?) and the other people in the neighborhood, that all was very interesting. Luca was the big mystery and I liked that Hamish was aware of his faults while still loving him. The ending wore on a little long and seemed to be trying to set up a love triangle but never fully committed to anything resembling physical attraction on Reggie's part. I would read the second book in the series if I have a slow month. :)

You will be missed, Greg but I hope you get a wonderful retirement full of lots of late mornings and plenty of time for hobbies!

May I suggest the 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle for a future month? It looks really good and is available on Hoopla.

Hi all,
Sorry this is early but I'm closing on a house on the 15th and will be moving the couple days after that. I enjoyed this book, it was well written and the author had some good knowledge about what I call the themes of this mystery which is the music world and the art forgery, fabric crafts world.
The ghosts were an extra bit that I enjoyed but didn't have to have. I enjoyed all of the additional friends and enemies included in the story as well as the surroundings. I did have to roll my eyes at Gethsemane a couple of times due to her putting herself in unnecessary danger for no reasonable explanation other than "she never gives up". I didn't really buy the bit about her needing to stop Ray right there and then on the train with no backup. Is your getting yourself killed because of not thinking through a plan considered giving up?
I did guess Ray was someone high up on the suspicion list early on but was given no information to correctly figure out why he would want to kill Olivia other than that comment about "she can't sell Essex House, she just can't". The extra bit about Yseult being dirty seemed like a web you weren't meant to untangle and were just supposed to be surprised by at the end. All in all, a good book though.

Hello,
I vote Flamingo for January.
Gaudy Night for February although both are going to be great.
March and April seem like pretty standard cozy mysteries to me so I'm good with any of them, sorry I know that's not helpful.

Sounds good thanks

Greg is this our November book officially?

I was hot and cold on this book for the first half, I could not decide if I found Heloise relatable or not. Also some of the past/present tense writing seemed a little mixed up to me.
Only after learning much more about her and seeing her have to come to terms with some of her mistakes did I start to really root for her.
The story did end up being a mystery but not an especially difficult one.

Heloise's solitude felt very real to me. She also had some astute observations about the people she observed around her. I was interested but I wasn't immersed so this is a 3 out of 5 for me.

Sounds like a fun one to me. The cozier the better around the holidays.

Looks pretty intriguing!

This book was a little slow for me. The twists were good, I thought I had it with Maree's images but was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Corte was hard to like, which kind of payed off in the end with him having a double life
but was not a big enough payoff for spending that much time with someone who has basically no opinion about most things that happen around him. The board game analogy was a little tired by the end of the book and what was up with the words mentor and protegee? Does anyone love those words as much as this guy?

Henry Loving was interesting to me and I enjoyed learning about the area of DC, including some history. The tactical information was interesting and informative but just not something I relish learning about all the time. Otherwise, it was a fine thriller but didn't have enough personality in the writing to keep me coming back.

Not sad I read it though.

I genuinely enjoyed the Magpie Murders. I read a lot of classical mysteries so having one in the middle of a modern mystery was comforting while still giving you something else to chew on.

I was hoping from the introduction about the story changing Susan's life that there would be something innately sinister (Lovecraftian perhaps) in Magpie Murders the book, that changed her life. I was happy enough to realize that it was the publication disaster of the Magpie Murders that would change her world but was still disappointed that there wasn't something in the story that flipped a switch, a murder mystery turned sci-fi would be new for me.

I thought the author did a good job writing from a woman's perspective. Sometimes, it is very obvious that the characters' inner dialogue is what a man thinks a woman would spend her time and energy on.

I do find constant references tiresome so I do not think I would have liked to learn of all of them in the Atticus Pund stories. A story should be good on its own merits, whether or not you've read the seven obscure references the author was so clever to include.

Murder in real life can be very exciting especially if the case is unsolved. There are so few mysteries left in everyday life that even though it is awful, and there are real people involved, when you're on the hunt for answers there is little else that will stack up to it. Murder in mysteries is the same, it gives you something to really care about. Often set in otherwise calm and idyllic locations, a murder can be a one or two-time exciting event. Murder mysteries often involve convoluted motives and M.O. so that the local townsfolk don't feel like their local village is suddenly going to hell. A carjacking/murder by a drugged-out local kid would never be in classical murder mystery. There has to be a reason for the murder, and that reason has to be one that would be unlikely to happen again.

The fact that I was unable to guess the end of Magpie Murder while guessing who killed Alan Conway was something that made sense to me. A real-life crime would have real-life clues. A murder mystery would have a convoluted story about long-ago slights and secrets and would have a solution based mainly on conjecture and the assumption that a criminal, when pressed, will admit guilt.

All in all, bring the new perspectives on. I want the sheep in the field and the pastor in the old church but feel free to add something new. Even with the flaws it's great to see something that has brought so many people joy continue to grow.

Just wanted to pop in and say I enjoyed My Soul to Take, although the way the first victim was spoken about was a little jarring just in terms of peoples' aggression towards her and using the bitch word quite a bit. Maybe culturally it isn't as big a deal in Iceland though...or maybe it is.
The history about the small Nazi party in Iceland was interesting and seemed like something the locals wouldn't be bringing up to tourists which makes it extra interesting.
I do feel like there maybe was too many details included about possible suspects and motives. I like for the murderer to be a surprise but it felt a little cluttered to me.

Sounds great, thanks!

Sounds good, Melinda, and thanks! Excited to be reading a novel set in Iceland in this hot hot weather. I can at least be comfortable in my mind.

Hello! Just wanted to ask when we are discussing July's selection and what the title is. June snuck up on me and I hadn't even looked for the book by the time you all were discussing it. Stay safe and cool. :)

Hello! I met most of you in October and November and then couldn't come for a couple months due to scheduling conflicts but I'm glad to be back in some capacity.

I'm enjoying the scenery building going on in this book, lots of sights with flora and fauna we aren't used to which is always nice to learn more about. I've read a mystery series set in South Africa and enjoy learning about the different mix of cultures resulting from colonization. I also like that the author is at least touching on the racial tensions of the area.

I always enjoy a detective with eccentricities and Kubu doesn't disappoint even if he is a bit more socially adept than a Sherlock. How he views his girth will be telling, right now I'm getting the impression that he views it as simply him enjoying life and nothing to do with lack of drive. I also am interested in learning more about his marriage since all we currently know about his wife is that she puts him on diets and makes him sandwiches, a happy marriage is not that common for police officers.

The Shakespearean quotes aren't that out of place for me just because it seems like something Kubu would add while he was writing up the case, like his singing he would probably keep it to himself though. :)