Judy’s Comments (group member since Oct 01, 2015)

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Susan, I thought I might have to give this one a miss too as my local libraries don't have it and it's £10.99 on Kindle! I agree they all feel like standalones so it's not a huge problem to miss one.

However, I suddenly remembered that Kobo Plus (their answer to Kindle Unlimited) has some of the Aird books available, and was able to get a free trial as I haven't used it for a few years. I don't have a Kobo but have the app on my phone. I'm now under way with this one - it has an intriguing start.

I think it's a sort of crossover between Moray Dalton's two series detectives. From looking at the series lists on Dalton's page, she had written one book each about Collier and Glide before this one where they both feature. As Susan mentioned, I also wondered if she was trying to decide which one to make her series detective.

I enjoyed the writing style and the characters, but I do have some issues with the plot twists. For one thing, why does Glide swap over the drinks instead of telling neither of the women to drink them, as he admits he could have done? It seems as if he could have saved Ruth without the old lady having to die.

It also seemed a bit of a stretch for there to be two killers, and I didn't like one of them getting away with it. I agree with you, Sandy, that she could easily go on to kill someone else - Glide even says that killers often carry out further murders. But anyway, I enjoyed it overall and would like to read more by Dalton.

Jackie wrote: "Sometimes it isn't the book, it's the mood I'm in...."

Definitely - sometimes I love a book first time around and it doesn't grab me so much when I go back, or the other way round!

I've finished this now and enjoyed it a lot overall although I did get a bit bogged down in the middle. There are some great characters and it's interesting how the author keeps finding different aspects of life in the islands, such as the archaeological dig in this one.

I didn't guess the killer until near the end, when I suddenly thought that the viewpoint used in the prelude bit at the start might point to the murderer's identity.

I've started my reread and am enjoying it so far although there are a lot of characters to keep track of!

Oh no! You're putting me off before I start ;)

Quite a list, Susan! I really liked Marble Hall Murders too, and also liked The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading, although I thought it spent a bit too much time on potted biographies of the authors.

I really like the Elly Griffiths Brighton series but must agree with you about George Gently! I've liked some of the Mrs Pargeter ones but they have got very samey.

sabagrey wrote: "so you're waiting for the one detective who will put down the phone and simply say "no use going there, he'll be dead on my arrival" ? - I'd love it!..."

Yes, or maybe ask them on the phone what the important piece of information is, and/or arrange police protection for them!

You can also look back at our Christie challenge during 2025 and discuss which titles you thought were best in this thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

To answer these myself:

The best crime/detective books read with the group:
I absolutely loved White Nights by Ann Cleeves and am enjoying the Shetland series overall a lot so far. I also gave 5 stars to A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon, best of the Brunettis so far, and to several of the titles in our Christie challenge (I posted about those on our main challenge thread, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...)

The best crime/detective titles read on my own:
I was very impressed by A Pin to See the Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse, one that I've been meaning to read for years, which is a novel based on the famous Edith Thompson case. I found it fascinating and hard to put down.
I also really loved getting back to the Perveen Mistry series by Sujata Massey, which is set in India during the British Raj, after leaving it for too long - it's not so much the crime content that has me hooked on this series, more the characters and the writing style. I read The Bombay Prince this year and need to get fully caught up with the series before the next book comes out in 2026.

The best non-crime
I realise that my reading this year has been mainly crime - I must try to be a bit more varied in 2026! I was overwhelmed by ‎Crooked Cross by Sally Carson, a Persephone reprint of a novel about the rise of the Nazis as experienced by a family in a small Bavarian town, and also by the Thomas Mann classic Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family which I read with our sister group, Reading the 20th Century. I haven't read many new books, must do better on that front, but I did really like the audiobook of James by Percival Everett.

Disappointments
I have had a few disappointments but I'll just mention one, The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester, which I thought was a very poorly-written book to be chosen as a British Library Crime Classics reprint.

Anyway, hope everyone has had a good reading year in 2025, and I'm looking forward to more great reads together in 2026.

I've just set up a separate thread for the best reads of 2025:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

As we're getting towards the end of the year, it's time to look back!

What were your favourite books from the past year? The best crime/detective read with the group, and the best that you read on your own? The best non-crime? And any disappointments?

Now that we are at the end of the year, has anyone's favourite detective changed over the year, and also which were your favourite books from the challenge?

I see I gave 5 stars to 4 of the books - The Murder at the Vicarage, A Murder Is Announced, Sleeping Murder and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Three of those are Miss Marples, so from that I think she must still just be my favourite, even though I really like them both. I would say my absolute favourite out of those is The Murder at the Vicarage - I love it.

I haven't finished this book yet but I see no one has posted over here yet, so I'm safe visiting for now!

I've just been reading about the second murder - I am liking this book a lot, but it's such a cliché when someone rings up/writes to the detective saying "I must tell you something, come and see me!" You just know they are going to die before they have a chance to say their piece.

Sandy wrote: "I think these sisters appear again in a later book. They did not seem at all like sisters!"

Ooh I hadn't remembered that, I will watch out for them!

Sandy wrote: "... the only thing I remembered from my first read was mince pies are unlucky before Christmas (what?)..."

I just tried Googling this superstition, which I'd never heard of, and found a few sites saying it used to be thought lucky to eat one on each of the 12 days of Christmas, starting with Christmas Eve. This article on the Walkers shortbread website has the details, but doesn't claim it's unlucky to eat them before then - I didn't find anywhere saying that and I'm sure a food company wouldn't mention it anyway...
https://www.walkersshortbread.com/the...

It seemed a bit like a spoof of Christmas mysteries as so many elements were present - Santa costumes, festive food, the snowman, footsteps in the snow, a house party, etc, etc!

However I do agree that it wasn't as entertaining as I expected it to be at the start. I also thought the jokes about murdering Uncle Willie wore thin after a while, and the numbers of characters and plot twists were hard to keep track of.

I also found some of the plot twists hard to swallow - particularly first the chocolates and then the corpse being hidden in the snowman without it falling to pieces as a result, and also everybody being totally fooled by the Santa disguise and fake cough so that they don't notice the first Santa Claus is not Uncle Willie! However both these plot elements also occur in other mysteries and I suppose we have to suspend our disbelief. :)

And the winner is... The Chinese Shawl by Patricia Wentworth, which will be our group read in February. Thanks everyone!

Full results:
The Chinese Shawl (Miss Silver, #5) 5 votes, 41.7%
Death Walks in Eastrepps: Merlin Classic Crime 4 votes, 33.3%
The Two Tickets Puzzle (Clinton Driffield Mystery) 3 votes, 25.0%

Thank you, Susan, lots of exciting reads in store. I'm looking forward to Brian Flynn.

Last but one in this long-running series! I have to say that Marmaduke Groan is a fantastic name. I had a cat called Marmaduke many years ago.

Anyway, here's the link to the spoiler thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...