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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Jackie wrote: "I'm reading Murder on Bedford Street which is part of a long running series I have to be in the mood for. ..."

I don't think I've tried this series, though "gaslight mystery" sounds intriguing, but I know what you mean about needing to be in the mood for some series, Jackie.

I started the second book in the Richard Osman series, The Man Who Died Twice, but it hasn't really grabbed me so far (I've read about a third), and I'm getting irritated with one or two of the characters. I enjoyed the first book in the end after a false start, but I think I definitely have to be in the mood for this series - maybe when I'm feeling mellow over Christmas!

While I'm really enjoying the actual story, I've been struggling with this because the type size on the Google Play Books etext is so small - now I've at last found out how to make it larger!

Aside from the mystery, I'm intrigued by Flavia's annoying ex and wondering why she liked him - he seems very different from Jonathan.

I've started this now and am enjoying it so far - such a fun series.

I've finished this now but didn't enjoy it as much as I did first time around - I had forgotten how much there is about drugs, which is pretty grim. I had thought there was more about the children and Christmas than there actually is, so maybe I was getting it mixed up with another book. I did remember some of the twists from previously reading it.

Although the scene of the snowman with the corpse inside is amazing to read, I can't believe it would really be possible to hide a body in this way - then again, many murder methods and ways of hiding bodies in mysteries are very unlikely!

I enjoyed The Poisonous Seed - thank you for the reminder, Jill, I've read a few of that series but had forgotten about it. Must get back to it soon!

Welcome Ellen and Susan, great that you have joined us.

I enjoy reading short stories if I'm in the right mood (I love the Sherlock Holmes stories), but I think it's often best to space that out. Having said that, I ended up rushing through the second half of this book as it was due back at the library.

I'm not planning to read this one as I find this series a bit heavy-going these days - but I've just found an interesting blog review which also has snippets from some contemporary reviews at the end:
https://grandestgame.wordpress.com/20...

I thought this bit was very interesting:

"In Ch. XVIII, Punshon beats Monty Python to one of their most famous jokes: “Here there was a choice of spam jardinière, egg and fish cake, omelette au spam, fish cake hors d’oeuvre, spam pie, fish cake varié, and finally, nobly alone – Spam.” Was one of the Pythons a detective enthusiast?"

Strikes me it could also be that the Pythons remembered being offered similar menus as children during rationing!

Thank you, Susan and Susan! Yes, lots of fun thank you - hope you are both having some too :)

PS this is the cover with the cat!

Jill and Susan, I also spotted Fen right away - the dark hair slicked down with water was one of the many giveaways! I thought we were probably supposed to realise it was him and to be amused by his attempts to go undercover - he even admits to being a professor of English.

I was a bit surprised by the publisher's blurb putting so much emphasis on the cat, which doesn't really come in very much - I listened to part of this book on audio, but then got hold of a paperback from the library which has a cat on the cover! So I was just waiting for the cat to come in again - it did, but, much as I love cats, I thought it might not deserve quite so much prominence in the descriptions.

Sorry to be late to announce the winner of this poll... ahem, I've had a lot of Christmas jollifications this week and it has slipped my mind :)

Anyway, the winner is Murderer's Mistake aka The Theft of the Iron Dogs by E.C.R. Lorac which will be our group read in February.

Thanks to all who nominated and voted.

Full results:
Murderer's Mistake (Robert Macdonald #28) 9 votes, 42.9%
The Lyttleton Case 7 votes, 33.3%
The Poisoned Chocolates Case 3 votes, 14.3%
Thrones, Dominations (Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane #1) 2 votes, 9.5%
Murder Intended: A Golden Age Murder Mystery (Merlin Classic Crime) 0 votes, 0.0%

I've just finished this and agree that Waxworks is great - I think this was the only one I remembered well from reading this anthology a few years back, along with the Sherlock Holmes one but I'd also read that in a Holmes collection in between! It feels more like a Halloween story though!

Those two are probably my favourites. I also enjoyed the Crispin and Sayers stories but found some of the others a bit boring, especially the chess one - I also thought the Nicholas Blake one was not one of his best and the clever but complicated solution to that one at the end of the book made me glaze over, but I expect it was fun when originally published at Christmas. His novels are much better than this story, Susan in NC!

I do agree these collections are a great way to try out writers. :)

I agree this is a bit of a mixed bag - I have to say I don't feel it is all that Christmassy overall! I previously read it 6 years ago in this group's early days, but didn't remember many of the stories.

Just opening up our latest Bobby Owen buddy read. Who is reading this one?

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks very much for posting the threads for this one and all our new buddy reads, Susan, and also for finding the links to our previous discussion.

I've started rereading and am enjoying it a lot - I have a feeling this is one of the best Nigel Strangeways books and it's a great Christmas read.

Our new spoiler thread is linked below:

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

Just opening up this buddy read - who is joining in on this one? I'm planning to read it and looking forward to rejoining the characters, but need to finish one or two other books first.

The spoiler thread is linked below:

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

Just starting our discussion of this book of Christmas stories. Thanks very much for the introduction and list of stories, Susan.

Who is reading these festive mysteries? I've read a few of the stories so far, spacing them out between other reads.

If discussing spoilers for any of the stories, please visit our spoiler thread, linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's mid month, so time to open up our latest batch of buddy reads! Thank you for setting up the threads, Susan. :)

Who is reading this one? I've finished it and found it very enjoyable - one of the best in the series I thought. Shame we only have one more novel to go.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'm about halfway through listening to Death of an Author, a standalone title by E.C.R. Lorac - really enjoying it but I'm absolutely mystified as to what the solution can possibly be!