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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Many thanks for setting all our buddy threads up and opening them for the weekend, Susan. Our first buddy reads of 2024!

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

Hope you have some good luck with finding a copy, Anne

Susan in NC wrote: "Sometimes these reissues have a lot of spoilers in Martin Edwards’ introduction, ..."

I always try to read introductions at the end for this reason - sometimes I read the beginning of the introduction first though to get a bit of background, but stop if it looks as if they are going to get into plot details! It's also annoying when introductions to reissues have spoilers for other books by an author, although I'm not very likely to remember anyway unless I'm reading the book in question very soon.

As I mentioned, the company where I used to work was recently hacked (not a library) and it caused a lot of chaos with computer systems going down and not working properly, but sounds like we got off lightly by comparison! I do hope your library's systems are restored soon, Anne.

There is a Kindle edition of The Invisible Host from Dean Street Press but I'm not sure which countries it is available in.

Marcus wrote: "Confessions, by Saint Augustine."

What's that like to read, Marcus? I've always wondered about it - I don't know much about Saint Augustine beyond the famous early prayer "Oh Lord, make me pure, but not yet."

Sorry to hear your library was hacked, Anne. Such a pain - this happened at my previous work. Hope that it's soon sorted out so you can get hold of the book in time for the discussion but if not the threads will stay open so you can join in later if you want.

I've finished this now and, although I really liked the first half, I got a bit bogged down in the second half and didn't think it was as good overall as the first book. I agree with others' comments about it being good to have characters with some nuances and shades of grey, and a sympathetic portrayal of the plight of ordinary people in Germany between the wars. Tommy's relationship with Ludmila is touching and delicately portrayed.

However, as the book goes on, I think there are just too many amazing coincidences. I also find it extremely difficult to believe in Tommy's character remaining the same at heart during his years in his other persona, as a leading Nazi.

Looking good for The Invisible Host at the moment - it's way out in the lead.

Leslie wrote: "I read through most of this series a few years ago (thanks to my mom, for the strong recommendation!). Tommy Hambledon is a fun main character and lots of the books have wonderful secondary characters..."

Good to hear, Leslie. I just looked at the list of books in this series and was surprised to see that there were 25 books altogether, with the last one being published in the 1960s. I think I may well read a few more.

I've read about 40% now and am finding it a powerful book. I'm glad I read Drink to Yesterday first but I think this would still be a good read on its own.

This is last year's thread and we now have a new Kindle deals thread for 2024 - please follow the link here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Our poll is now open - please vote for the book you most want to read and discuss:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Thanks Jan! And the list of nominations now is...

Ellen: The Litmore Snatch by Henry Wade

Jill: The Blind Side by Patricia Wentworth

Carolien: The Viaduct Murder by Ronald Knox

Susan in NC: The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow

Jan: Death in the Tunnel by Miles Burton aka a/k/a Cecil John Charles Street.

This is a new thread for 2024. Please feel free to post Kindle/ebook deals from your part of the world.
The previous thread is linked here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We have a new thread for 2024 - please follow the link here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Are you reading a good Golden Age or more modern mystery at the moment, or have you just finished one? Please share your recommendations and reviews!

This is a new thread for 2024. The previous thread has been archived but you can still refer to it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've started this now and am finding the start of the book both gripping and moving - so glad this was nominated, thanks Rosina!

I'm currently listening to A Spoonful Of Murder by J.M. Hall on Spotify, the first in a series about retired primary school teachers who become detectives.

There seem to be a lot of these series with older amateur detectives now in the wake of Richard Osman's books. I'm really enjoying this one, which I think is largely because the narrator is actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who is doing a fantastic job and bringing a lot of personality and warmth to the narration. Anyway, I'm wondering if this type of gentle detective series works best for me on audio - I may give the third Richard Osman book a try in that format.

I thought the author's note at the end about the real-life inspiration for the book was interesting as far as it went, but I'd have liked a bit more detail.
I've just read an article about the English Mistery on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English...

I've finished this now and must agree with everyone's comments that the plot is confusing and disjointed, and also that Guy is not very impressive as a detective!

I also found Rodie a rather unconvincing character, though giving the series detective a burglar sidekick could work well for future plots. Having said all that, I quite liked Guy and enjoyed the setting and the writing style, so I'll be happy to try book two.

I was torn between a 2-star and 3-star rating, as I had a lot of problems with it, but went for 3 as I found it a fairly enjoyable read.