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

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

This may be my favorite Maigret yet (though I might have said that before). He is retired from the police so has to investigate without any authority but with a bit of help from former colleagues, and hinderance from others. I'm not sure how that telephone trick at the end worked (how was the line open to the police?) but it was imaginative and appropriately tense.

I hope his nephew finds a job he likes and is good at.

Jill wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I finished A Messy Murder, the latest in Simon Brett latest series. Compared to Mrs. Pargeter, these are less cozy / more realistic. I found the murder..."

Definitely! A series that doesn't get a lot of attention but must be active is Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King's Daughter. I see entries in my library's new arrivals section.

I finished A Messy Murder, the latest in Simon Brett latest series. Compared to Mrs. Pargeter, these are less cozy / more realistic. I found the murder plot a bit weak in this one, but the other 'mysteries' with Ellen's family and friends kept the story moving along nicely. Her mother is a hoot! To be read in order as the family relationships develop.

My copy of the book lists this book as third series entry, so we may be reading them in translated order.

Correction: next book as Fandorin aboard ship so we are reading in the correct order.

Interesting ... I read this in one evening and enjoyed it but started out really confused as to who these people were and whom they were fighting. So many names, formal and informal. Fandorin is taking a secondary role in this book as the action centers on the woman. Not sure how I feel about the series.

NOTE I just read the synopsis above and it GIVES AWAY the ENDING! Why does Amazon / GR / publisher do things like that?

New series I'm enjoying:

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, as mentioned earlier. Two entries so far and a third scheduled for Christmas.

The Last Dance, two entries, must be read in order!

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp, only two have been translated and I have the second out from the library as I type

The Busy Body, the only book so far

Fortune Favors the Dead, a take-off of Nero Wolfe and Archie.

Death and the Conjuror, locked rooms a specialty

Courting Dragons, two or three books with Henry VIII's jester as protagonist

Wow! I know what I will be reading months from now. Thanks Susan.

I have this from the library though I haven't started it yet. The different periods are a great benefit of historical fiction. I am reading a Mamur Zapt series set in Cairo in the early 1900's when Egypt was under British 'protection'. The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet (Mamur Zapt is his title in the police force.) There is our challenge series set in Singapore. And I mean to get back to another couple of series by Colin Cotterill and Arthur Upfield

The Coroner's Lunch Laos 1970's

The Barrakee Mystery Australian outback, written in the 1920's and 30's

These are fun and light. Very easy reads and this one has the benefit of taking us to Corfu. The dramatic ending was unlikely but fit in well with the tone of the book. St Spiro looking after his namesake!

I agree that she is a fun character, very secure and determined. I love meeting Mr. P's associates. I wonder where she ended up living after the last book. We may find out in the next book.

Without Archie Nero would be a fat man with no way to support his orchids.

Judy wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Like Judy, I have been missing Nero Wolfe! Another series I want to continue."

Sandy, the second story in Three at Wolfe's Door is a lot of fun because it starts with W..."

Are you reading the series in order? If so, I'm impressed. My next is Curtains for Three, #18. I like the three novellas in one book concept.

Like Judy, I have been missing Nero Wolfe! Another series I want to continue.

As happens often, several of my requested new books have arrived. In the next two weeks I should read Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime, The Murders in Great Diddling and A Messy Murder. The last is a new entry in Simon Brett's new series. The first is the second book in a wonderfully quirky set of elderly characters. 'Great Diddling' I know nothing about.

Like Fred, I hope to read Moonflower Murders and stay ahead of the PBS show.

I will be working our buddy reads in there somewhere! The Simon Brett is in process. (I can't link to the book because I can't spell her name! Grr)

Ann Cleeves has been on my TBR "forever". The Icelandic setting is interesting ( I have been there twice; quite a dramatic country) but I would want the books to be available from my library.

Loved the spell check fill in after Henning!

The Icelandic series books range from $6 to $12 in the US.

Sandy wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: Hell Bay is $3.49 used paperback on Abe books, ship from 🇬🇧. Makes me wonder if it’s available in 🇺🇸?"

From what I find none of the Hell Bay series are available on kindle in the US."

I am reading a new book, Death at the Dress Rehearsal. It is set in 1972, starring two older actors as the amateur detectives. Enjoying it. It is billed as the start of yet another series.

Loved the book; the setting of London during the Blitz was dramatic and added complexity to the investigation. All the characters were interesting and well-drawn; I felt I knew them all. Mr. Ramses might be my favorite; there was a hint he could pop up again. I would willing spend time with any of them, even the murdered man.

As discussed above, I also have a problem with elaborate murder methods that require timing and luck. In addition, I wonder how the murderer explained his 'missing' fifteen or twenty years. I remember some mention of visiting his homeland. Finally, I doubt people born in the tropics age quicker. While there is sun damage to skin, he left at age six.

I second the Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect recommendation. There is a Christmas book due next.