Sandy’s Comments (group member since Dec 14, 2015)

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Welcome. Books are a good thing.

I have started and am about a third in. While this is a reread, the blessing of a short memory (at least regarding the numerous mysteries I read), is that I don't remember the plot. It is like a new book.

Another upcoming read: in the US Tombland is $2. Really cheap per page!

In US: Capital Crimes: London Mysteries is $1.

Loved The Last Dance and its follow-up. Great lead character.

In the US: The Santa Klaus Murder is $1. I was tempted but my library has it so I requested it from them instead. Thus I will be reading it a bit early for Christmas.

The one I am looking forward to is the Ann Cleeves series, Raven Black. She has been on my radar for quite awhile.

I am reading two non mysteries: The Lion House: The Coming of a King, a history of Suleiman written in an novelistic style, and Rants from the Hill: On Packrats, Bobcats, Wildfires, Curmudgeons, a Drunken Mary Kay Lady, and Other Encounters with the Wild in the High Desert, humorous essays.

My next mysteries are a new short story collection by Elly Griffith and our two monthly reads (both re-reads for me). I have other books from the library that I have sadly neglected and now forgotten.

Then all Shardlake's efforts and much death and injury turned out to be unnecessary as Henry had the book all the time. Grrr.

Another 5-star entry in the series. The portrayal of life under the dying Henry VIII is vivid and frightening. Shardlake is drawn once again into court politics and makes, as mentioned earlier, some very rash decisions regarding how far he should go to apprehend the villains. The side plots of another court case involving a brother and sister, the wealth and will of a despicable dead lawyer, and the suspicious servant are interesting in their own and woven neatly into the story. Excellent book; excellent series. I am very sorry that we will only get to see Shardlake and QE I work together for one more book.

Another entertaining outing with Bobby Owen though Punshon certainly had a strange view of women. Interesting start. The science of the explanation is definitely suspect, though may reflect a fear of the time. This may be first time a murderer escapes Bobby.

As it is not convenient to listen to audio for a couple of days, I put aside Lamentation and picked up Everybody Always Tells. It is off to an interesting start.

I am listening to this so proceeding slowly. I am almost as interested in Shardlake's other case - the fight between siblings over a mural - as in the major plot. What is going in between the 'kids' and what was Mom thinking?

Very happy to see Barak and Tomasin happy.

The fourth (of a trilogy??) is $1 in the US. The others are $7.

Looking forward to sampling the series. I read a few Perry Mason in my teens and my father might have read them all. I remember questioning him about their racy (for the day) paperback covers.

Finished my re-read and while I agree this is a confused plot (I checked that list of characters quite a lot), I always enjoy spending time with Falco and am happy to participate in his adventures. Vicariously of course, I don't want any parts of the fights, especially with a slippery dancer.

The uses a desperate man can find for olive oil! I wonder if the first old midwife had it in her bag of tricks.

What really brought back memories for me were the flying toasters on the computer screen. I hadn't thought about those for years. Or the annoying paperclip pop-up.

In the US, our next Brunetti book, Friends in High Places is $2

I hadn't noticed that the question of the pizza chef's wife was left unresolved and now I'm annoyed. Like Judy said, it is true to life but I hold my fiction to higher standards.

Once I got past my disbelief in Paola's actions the mystery was quite good. I can understand why the books are not translated into Italian; Leon is quite harsh on Italian corruption.

This is the second time I've noticed how apt the title is once you know the resolution. The other was Noble Radiance.

Jill wrote: "After the previous book ,I was hoping these books had become more to my liking. Alas, not to be. This was strung-out so long. There were so many characters, that I gave up on trying to sort them ou..."

I enjoy, and use frequently, the character list.