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

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I have mixed feelings about the book. While I was interested in how the characters interacted, I was also skimming a lot because so many of the traits were repeated over and over. I'll post more after I digest it a bit.

I've finished my 35 hours with Strike and Robin in The Running Grave. Excellent story, and, for quite a long section, very immersive. I thought it was a seven-book series (this is #7) and if true, I will be annoyed. P.S. Editted to say I can contentedly live with a seven-book series.

Now onto our buddy reads. Penhallow will be first as that is due back soon.

Rosina wrote: "I'd forgotten that - as I read it Dorward was someone's heir, if he survived the testator. Which he presumably hadn't, since he died immediately after he was last sighted. If it wasn't a family beq..."

There are many explanations for why there is no inheritance, but I was expecting something once it was mentioned. Like: if you introduce a gun in act one, you must use it by act three.

Rosina wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I was expecting the inheritance to be mentioned at the end. I suppose that means the boy did not become wealthy."

The 'inheritance' from the boy's adoptive mother was a future one - ..."

It was the Doward inheritance I was thinking of. I thought one of the reasons the US gave for researching that death was to see when he died for inheritance purposes.

Jill wrote: "I am still trying to decide whether I will join in with these, as I have so many of the traditional books from the GA period still to read. Maybe the discussions will sway me."

So true, it's not as though we have read all the GA but I am always lured by the shiny new stuff.

Finished The Secret Hours, Herron's latest Slough House adjacent book. Excellent, as expected, and supplies some of the older characters' backstory.

Now onto the latest Cormoran Strike, The Running Grave, which is 35 hours on audio. What is this author thinking!

Rosina wrote: ""I am going to travel nearly 8,000 miles in a small boat to find the criminal, who will then go mad and shoot himself (with the revolver I convenienly leave lying around)."

"Go for it, Inspector! ..."

Made me smile. Thank you

Rosina wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Frances wrote: "I'll nominate The Amethyst Box by Anna Katherine Green. It's more of a novella, and described as a mystery/romance, first published in 1905. I believe ..."

Quickly I found versions for free, $1, $2 with 50, 100, and 200 pages. Confusing but I grabbed the short, free version.

Frances wrote: "I'll nominate The Amethyst Box by Anna Katherine Green. It's more of a novella, and described as a mystery/romance, first published in 1905. I believe that there is a Kindle Edition..."

I see it available in the US for $3 with a warning of errors due to scanning.

The red herrings made the police work all the more realistic: neither the woman 'writer' on the train nor the suspicious brother-in-law had any involvement in the crime. However, I disagree with one of MacDonald's reasons for suspecting the killer. He suspected him because he identified the victim by his hands (as well as his clothes) after saying earlier that he kept his hands in his pocket. But they wouldn't have been in his pockets always and the killer did say he kept a close watch. A minor point.

I was expecting the inheritance to be mentioned at the end. I suppose that means the boy did not become wealthy.

Susan wrote: "I don't think we have read this for a while, so I will nominate:

The Corpse in the Snowman aka [book:The Case of the Abominable Snowman..."

I am not seeing this available on kindle in the US although I read it on Kindle Unlimited with the group 'years' ago.

Michaela wrote: "I want to nominate a collection of short stories by Martin Edwards: Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries."

That is one of our buddy reads in December, so no need to nominate.

I am about halfway through and, as always, like MacDonald, his kindness and professionalism. The plot is engaging and the atmosphere threatening.

I wish the author had another way of telling what happened on the island. It explained the plot in a very dramatic way, but having all the characters converge on the island was very far-fetched. Does Scotland Yard allow their detectives that much leeway? Was the discovery of the diary really a threat to the murderer?

I enjoyed the book as an adventure story and read it in a single evening - a good sign I was engaged.

I agree with most of the comments. I was glad the denouement explained the murderer was the one who took Gloria home, otherwise I didn't remember him at all. It made sense that he was the only one who would know about the broken contract before the letter was published.

Unlike many, I am quite liking Seven Dead, perhaps more as an adventure story than a GA mystery.

/?Susan in NC wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Oh dear! No longer looking forward to Seven Dead but will give it a try."

You may enjoy it, sometimes it’s a matter of right book, right time, but I’ve tried this author three times,..."

Susan, do you have a new picture, and thus a new pet?

Oh dear! No longer looking forward to Seven Dead but will give it a try.

Susan wrote: "He's also handy in a fight, which gives more options to the author in terms of being able to have action scenes or to be a little more daring."

Oh yes. I depend on him to keep Shardlake alive.

I have finished The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp and recommend it highly as a fun read, though with dark overtones of ageing. The characters are all interesting, including a tortoise. The plot is not realistic but plausible enough to hold my interest.

I have postponed the library's delivery of The Last Devil to Die as I could completely confuse the two sets of elderly detectives.