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

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I have finished the Maigret and am listening to Flavia (a re-listen). Heyer will also be a reread and I always enjoy her wit. Then Cadfael and the next Knox is waiting for me at the library, with 2 - 4 other requests in transit.

Susan wrote: "Good point, Indeneri. She obviously has some kind of independent income we don't know about."

Maybe from her mysterious past.

Judy wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Diane wrote: "I do not have a kindle but am thinking of buying one. Too many books I want from the library, golden age mysteries, are only available now as ebooks and I don’t enjoy re..."

I had no idea I was so lucky! I will try to be more grateful the next time a borrow a kindle book.

P.S. Ask your librarian. I have always found them very helpful.

Diane wrote: "I do not have a kindle but am thinking of buying one. Too many books I want from the library, golden age mysteries, are only available now as ebooks and I don’t enjoy reading them from my computer...."

My library uses Overdrive and that makes it very easy to download their ebooks onto a kindle. There are a small number not available for kindle. The formats available are listed.

In addition, there are lots of free books available, even through Amazon, though some are very poorly edited. Other have mentioned Project Guttenberg as a free source but I have never used that.

Jill wrote: "I’ve only read 14 of the Hamish series as I got distracted by the Agatha Raisons and have read 24 of those. Too many series that I mean to follow up on, so trying my upmost to not start any new one..."

I was just the opposite: started with Agatha then found I liked Hamish better and hope to continue Agatha some day.

I am reading my 'blind date' book, a book that the library wraps in brown paper with a short description, so you don't know what you've got. (Tempted to sing the Joni Mitchell song). The book is The Lost Book of the Grail and, while I'm enjoying it, I am only half way in and feel it should be wrapping up. I may need to put it aside for a couple of books I can't renew and our upcoming reads.

The book is set in current day but each chapter starts with a few pages giving a bit more of the manuscript's history moving forward from 560 AD.

I recently finished Death of a Green-Eyed Monster, by the late M C Beaton. According to the preface, the current author and Beaton worked closely together when her health failed. There is another scheduled for next year and a short story already published.

I thought the new author did a good job portraying Hamish and his community (the books are quite formulaic) but other reviewers disagreed.

I enjoyed my bittersweet trip to the Scottish highlands.

Judy wrote: "Thank you very much for looking these up, Sandy. Did you notice if Silk Stocking Murder was available at a reasonable price in paperback?"

If you really want a paperback there is a used one for $40. However, the hardcover is $10. Most are used so the prices range widely.

P.S. The British Crime Classic editions (aka Martin Edwards) are usually available in my library systems.

In US on Amazon:

Capitol Crimes: $8

Death of an Airman: $10 for Martin Edwards edition, $4 for earlier edition

Weekend at the Thackery: $9.50

Silk Stocking Murder: not available on kindle

Mayfair Mystery: $5

Abigail wrote: "Just finished Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym, which I found dreary, and moving on to a bit of escapism, [book:The Longbourn Letters: The Correspondence between Mr Collins & Mr Benne..."

The letters between Mr Collins and Mr Bennet intrigues me. I've added it to my TBR.

Horatia wrote: "Is one of the Cadfael books too late to qualify? If not I'd like to nominate The Rose Rent"

We have a buddy read of the Cadfael series in progress and are planning to read #10, The Pilgrim of Hate, this month. The Rose Rent will be on the schedule in a few months. Join the conversion if you are reading the series (and can remember ones you've read already).

Jan C wrote: "I finished it last night. I was apparently reading it (off and on) for 10 years. Who knew?

But I wound up enjoying it."

That is real stick-to-it-ness.

Jill wrote: "When I was small, we had a gas tap in every room and the hall for the lighting. We did not use them as we had electricity. There was one above my bed. One day I climbed up to it and turned the the ..."

We also had unused gas taps in my parents' house and my brother-in-law broke into one of the lines during a repair project. Such a surprise to find out it was still active.

I enjoyed this book a lot and already requested the next from my library. It is the only other they have, and only a single copy, so thought I should read it in case it disappears.

The bet between the two friends / detectives did not bother me at all. It seemed a likely follow-on from their former relationship and more a test of their skills than disrespect to the dead. Dalglish would never have stood for it however.

I thought the victim's plot to test the bishop's honesty was too elaborate to be convincing, but I could imagine the accident with the taps happening very easily. Safety regulations have their place.

I'm not too far in and loving it: the interplay between Bredon and his wife, as well as between Bredon and his friend from the Yard, is a treat. And I like Knox's humor.

I agree that Augusta reminded me of Marchmont; however, I didn't like Marchmont, and it carried over to Mrs. Peel (unlike the original Mrs. Peel from The Avengers TV program). All those hints of a mysterious past grate on me. Nor did I care much for the rest of the cast. The semi-mysterious Frechman who save Mrs. Peel's life was the final straw.

I did like Sparky and Fisher and would have loved to meet Herbert, and maybe Fisher's wife. And I liked the giant bouncer and wish he could have extricated himself from the mobsters.

I've started The Three Taps: A Detective Story Without a Moral and love the writing.

Susan in NC wrote: "Afraid only trip in our immediate future is a sad one - my father in law died in October 2020, but Covid restrictions put off a funeral. Then Covid spiked again last October, had to cancel memorial..."

So sorry. It looks promising for May (knock wood!).