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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Thanks Vanessa, I'd been wondering if the series gets better, and that sounds hopeful. Sorry to her about the slump and hope your next reads are better. :)

I'm getting towards the end of this book and enjoying it a lot, although I think I slightly preferred the previous book with the arrival of Barak. He and Shardlake are definitely making a good team in this one.

Hope the library finds the book, Sarah.

I really enjoyed listening to this one on Audible, which probably added a star on for me, but I do agree about the chase scene being rather silly - why on earth would Judy chase him herself instead of going to the house and raising the alarm? And I also thought the killer was a bit of a minor character, which is always disappointing - I'd forgotten all about him! Great humour and great characters, though. I was slightly surprised that we didn't get a happy ending for David and Judy, as it seemed as if he wasn't as "dim" as everyone thought.

I liked the Blandings references too, and they reminded me that I want to read more of that series!

I've finished this now and found it a powerful crime novel, with the tension building up steadily through that scene at the table. The characterisation is strong, especially of the Count of St Fiacre. I was slightly confused just at the end, but I take it that the culprit clears off after being beaten up by the Count.

I've nearly finished now and must agree with you, Sarah, that this is great writing.

I'm reading this now and enjoying it - Pamela, I agree that it's very atmospheric, and you can almost feel the freezing cold. Interesting to get glimpses of Maigret's youth.

Yes, I enjoyed Flavia's determination in ensuring that Jonathan doesn't lose out over the Titian.

I've finished this now and for me it was the best so far as I found the plot a bit easier to follow this time. I also enjoyed the low-key romance.

I'm reading this and really enjoying it - about 60% of the way through now. I like both Jonathan and Flavia. I was a bit surprised at the setting in LA rather than Italy - or as well as Italy.

We have a winner - it's Green for Danger by Christianna Brand, which will be our November group read.

Full results:
Green for Danger (Inspector Cockrill #2) 8 votes, 38.1%
The Footsteps at the Lock 7 votes, 33.3%
Due to a Death 3 votes, 14.3%
Death in the Night Watches (Thomas Littlejohn #8) 3 votes, 14.3%

I got a bit fed up with him after a while, I must admit, and partly changed my mind, as I thought some of his comments were in good fun but not all.

I'm listening to a new audible edition of this which only came out in July. It has a long introduction by Val McDermid - I usually save introductions for the end, but this one turned out to be a short biography with very little about the book, so I was happy to listen to it first. Crispin had a fascinating life and was so multi-talented, writing film scripts on occasion as well as writing scores and crime novels. I did look to see if there was a full biography of him, but the only one I found cost about £50 on Kindle and the same in paperback - or £150 in hardback! Maybe not.

I'm now into the story, and enjoyed the bit where a secretary in the studio's music department is telling a composer over the phone that he will have to stay up all night if necessary to finish his film score. According to the introduction, Crispin/Montgomery had a reputation for being late with his scores.

It's time for another Maigret. Who's reading this one? I have it ordered from the library but it hasn't come through yet.

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

Rejoining Falco for another in this acclaimed series.

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

Great to get back to Shardlake! Who's joining us on this one?

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

I've started listening to the Audible book of this but am not very far in as yet, just listening to the introduction - looking forward to getting into the story.

Who else is reading this one?

Just opening up our latest batch of buddy reads, with thanks as always to Susan for the introductions!

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

I really liked Accident by Design by E.C.R. Lorac - one of the best I've read by Lorac. I've now started our forthcoming buddy read Sovereign and am looking forward to becoming engrossed in this one too.