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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Susan wrote: "I initially thought I was reading the previous book by mistake! It was very, very similar."

I've read about a quarter and so far I must agree - it seems as if the same types of characters turn up every time, and everyone is still swooning over George and Genevieve!

Susan wrote: "I agree, Pamela. They are a wonderfully well-rounded bunch of characters - not overly brilliant, just fed up and annoyed like most of us! I like the way that some members of the group dislike each other..."

I agree - all the workplace rivalries and niggles seem very realistic. I'm getting towards the end now, and so far I think this is the best yet in the series.

Susan, I thought of you when Beck wondered how anyone could tell the difference between the Beatles and the Stones!

Thanks, Sandy and Jill, downloading now!

The Sharon Penman books do look enormous - I'll bear them in mind for a long holiday read. Thank you Keith.

I've started this now and am immediately pulled in by the atmosphere. I see we are back to cold weather - I know one or two of these books have been set in heatwaves, but somehow I tend to think of Beck in icy temperatures and probably in the dark as well. I must agree this is a great series.

Yes, must admit I find it hard to keep track of the war between Stephen and Empress Maud, but it's often interesting to look up episodes that are mentioned on the web. I know more about that conflict now than I did before reading the Cadfael books, though I still don't know all that much about it.

I've just watched the film which was reasonably close to the book although with not so much humour and some things changed/left out.

I forgot to record it so streamed it from the Talking Pictures TV station's catch-up website, but it wasn't a very good print, with very loud music and quiet dialogue - I've belatedly noticed there is what looks to be a better print on YouTube. Alistair Sim is great as Cockrill.

P.S. Another Frances Faviell fan here - I also thought both A Chelsea Concerto and The Dancing Bear were excellent.

Susan in NC wrote: "I hope if Crosby gets married, she loves him; I’m not sure how aware he is about being the police station joke, but that’s got to wear a person down..."

I get the feeling he isn't aware of it but I think he seems a lot more competent in this book (except for his driving!), so maybe his colleagues will get bored of the joke. Sloan seems to be unsure what to think of Crosby at times in this book.

I found a page about the Salsette with some good pictures - the ship was sunk in 1917 and has become one of the most popular wrecks for divers to visit.
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/art...

I've started this but am not very far in as yet - I was surprised to see that our heroes are no longer working for Cunard, but I suppose they need to get in a couple more well-known ships. It certainly feels rather samey so far!

Keith, my sister lives very near to Trent Bridge - it's a small world sometimes!

Susan in NC wrote: From the bit I listened to, it seemed the abridged bits were descriptions of scenery, buildings, background on the status of the Stephen/Maud conflict, etc...."

It would be a shame to lose those bits, Susan - sounds like it is all the period atmosphere that gets lost. Shame they didn't cut out the lovers instead (only joking! I'll shut up about them now.)

Craftyhj wrote: "This was my first experience of Brand's writing. I enjoyed it, period-inevitable misogyny aside, and will definitely read more. The first one int eh series doesn't have great reviews - what do othe..."

I didn't really enjoy the first Inspector Cockrill book, Heads You Lose, but that may have been partly because I could only get it as an audiobook at that time and found it slow in that format. I also think there was more misogyny etc in that one, as far as I remember. I have really liked most of the others that I've read by Brand though, and am hoping more will become available in the UK.

I thought Gervase would have been a bad choice for Woody - not much chance of him being faithful or even considerate! So although it was a poignant moment, I saw it as a narrow escape.

I definitely agree about the list of characters in War and Peace, Susan, and I find similar lists useful in mysteries which include them! Must admit though that I find maps hard to follow unless they are extremely simple - I persuaded my husband to get a sat-nav rather than ask me for directions ;)

Happy Thanksgiving to all our US members from me too - have a wonderful time

I quite liked this and enjoyed the lyrical descriptions of the countryside, but yet again we had young lovers who fall for one another at first sight (well, except that they knew each other when she was a child).

I thought the discussions about heresy were quite interesting to start with but then went on and got a bit repetitive. I would have loved to see a picture of the amazing book!

Susan in NC wrote: "Same here - I got the impression the student they wanted reinstated was trouble, there were mentions of Ireland, didn’t get that really, I assumed linked to The Troubles?.."

Good point, I thought we would probably find out why he had been expelled but I don't think we found out anything about it. I also assumed his activities were somehow linked to The Troubles - a red herring, I suppose, but a bit odd how this storyline just seemed to fizzle out.

I agree with Jill that there were a lot of characters - I couldn't keep track of them very well and I didn't really remember the one who turned out to be the killer. I had the same typo-infested character list as Sandy and agree it wasn't much help!

I liked the academic atmosphere and enjoyed seeing Crosby develop as a detective, even though he didn't get much credit from Sloan, but must admit I found the actual mystery plot a bit boring and the solution wasn't very convincing imo.
I remember that campus novel The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury was published in 1975, but I think the atmosphere is much more outrageous in that than in this one - then again Calleshire is a traditional Oxbridge-style university, so maybe not surprising if it feels a bit behind the times.

I agree with everyone else that Sloan's "son" is bound to be a daughter! I'm also wondering if Crosby is about to get married, as he mentions marriage a couple of times.

I've started reading this now and am enjoying it so far. The visiting cleric certainly sounds full of himself.