Kindle British Mystery Book Club discussion
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Just starting this. One of my favourite series about an Irish cop during "the troubles" & is a combination of smart mysteries & dry humour.
Sandy, with this series, is it essential to begin with the first book? Just wondering, they look very good.
Juliann wrote: "Sandy, with this series, is it essential to begin with the first book? Just wondering, they look very good."Hi Juliann. It is a great series & as with most, you can read each as a stand alone just for the mystery featured in each book. But there is a fairly large returning cast whose personal lives progress & change with each instalment. So while Ms. Griffiths does a good job of providing enough snippets of back story so you get the gist, you would miss out on the more subtle reasons behind the relationships between the characters.
I think I'd recommend reading the first book as it sets up a lot of what is to come. Later in the series it becomes less important to read them in order. I like it because the main female character is not a female supermodel or any of the more unrealistic tropes out there. She's an average woman like the rest of us & there is usually a modern day mystery/murder case that has ties to a historical event so it's a nice blend. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Sandy. I like her already. I am going to read The Crossing Places first and see how it goes.
I just finished Elric of Melniboné. This is the first volume covering the entire Fantasy saga of "Elric of Melniboné". A good reading with many stories full of magic, warrior, demon and other things, all of them having as main character Elric.Tomorrow, I'll start the second book, Elric il Negromante.
I had a hard time with Crossing Places. I wanted it to move faster I think. It's a good book though.
I'm reading The Masters of the House by Robert Barnard. It's not quite like his other books, but still very good.
Father Elijah: An Apocalypse (Children of the Last Days #4)
by Michael D. O'Brien
Love Michael O'Brien's writing style and stories. This, I read years and years ago, am loving it again. I did not know there were 3 books ahead of this one so will have to start hunting. This author is hard to find.
I've finished Neutron Star and I'm reading Ringworld. I like Larry Niven, these stories are funny and full of imagination. I would like to read more written by him.
David wrote: "Sandy wrote: "
Just started....new author for me."
Let the group know how it goes Sandy and what you think.
Potential future group read perhaps?"
Just finished last night so I have to get my act together & write the review, hopefully today. It's definitely a fast paced read, police procedural set in Lewisham station & kind of reminded me of the "Helen Grace" series by M.J. Arlidge. Strong female MC just back from bereavement leave who has to deal with office politics while hunting a serial killer.
Finally got this, a collection of short stories by some of my favourite authors.
Finally getting caught up on this series.
I'm reading something a little different from my normal, The Nothing Girl by Jodi Taylor. I am really enjoying the story.
I've been reading books by Douglas Gordon Browne; someone recommended What Beckoning Ghost (although I can't remember who now), and I read it and really enjoyed it. So I've been trying to find other mysteries by this author. He's out of print, and I've been getting the books through inter-library loan. This is the only bibliography I've run across so far: GA Detection
First time author for me, hope I don't regret starting in the middle of a series.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Deborah wrote: "Im reading Island of Bones"Love that series, I keep checking for the next instalment.
Sandy wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Im reading Island of Bones"Love that series, I keep checking for the next instalment."
I've thoroughly enjoyed them too.
SOOOO excited to get my hands on this.
David wrote: "Oh yes Sandy, I will be wanting that soon as. Please do post a review and me know how good/bad it is."
Can't wait to start, David. I'm frantically finishing the 3 books I have going so I can get to it.
Bones
by Jonathon Kellerman
You can always count on a good suspense/ murder book with Jonathon Kellerman.
I am reading "Mystery" by Peter Straub for the second time. Wonderful writing, great complicated plot. Pure reading bliss.
A stand alone from the author of the Tom Thorne series.
I tried the first one on audio from the library and sent it back after the first chapter. Maybe it was the reader. Maybe it was the writing - just not what I was looking for.
David wrote: "I think I am currently reading the worst book ever written. What is worse is I keep thinking it will get better and it isn't. I should pack it in but I am so far through now I may as well finish it..."They were written by the writers for the show. I've always steered clear because of my concern for the quality of the writing
David wrote: "I think I am currently reading the worst book ever written. What is worse is I keep thinking it will get better and it isn't. I should pack it in but I am so far through now I may as well finish it..."For the tv series (that I like), I read the three books with Derrick Storm. Actually, is one story, divided in three parts. Not bad, a classical spy story, with russians and americans on opposite sides, a world crysys, more action, intrigues and a misterious treasure.
I never read the series with Nikki Heat, but now I will be very cautious. :)
Book #7 in the Anderson & Costello series.
The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones
by Sandra Tsing Loh
I picked this book up at the library hoping for a fun and entertaining romp through the time of menopause...sort of in the mode of a Erma Brombeck book. Instead, it was not funny. It was a sad story of a woman who thought mostly of herself and hurt many people, mostly her 2+ families to satisfy her own desires with an affair that was poorly thought out. I only read about 1/2 of this book when I found myself angry and bored. Wasting my reading time is not what I want these days. So, if you are looking for a fun book to mix up your crime, thriller, murder stories, this is not the one. :(
Ashley Bell
by Dean Koontz
I have only read about 1/3rd of Koontz;s latest book. I am loving it. The story is unfolding and has definitely grabbed and sucked me in. So far the characters are interesting and likable with the promise of more to come. It is already full of suspense and mystery.
Koontz had a run of writing a different kind of story, well written and good stories but not the Koontz I know and love. He is back with his humor, political comments and a run from evil to good. I am so excited to have this to read.
About a third of the way in. Intriguing characters who are keeping me guessing as I try to tell the good guys from the bad.
I really recommend the Danish crime thrillers by Jussi Adler-Olsen - great characters and I'm going straight from one to the next....
Just finished The Kept Woman. Whew...may need a nap before I begin The Sea Detective, a series I've been wanting to try.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Keep stumbling across this on other lists so decided to give it a try. It's been compared to books by Stieg Larson & Jo Nesbo, 2 of my faves, so I may be setting myself up for disappointment.
Gritty, tartan noir set in Glasgow. So far, so good.
I'm reading the series "Percy Jackson and The Olympians", a light summer reading. I've finished The Titan's Curse and now I'm reading The Battle of the Labyrinth.
Kindle British Mystery Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Currently reading. Great addition to the series with an intricate spy vs. spy plot & dryly funny dialogue."
Can't say I've come across this author S..."
Hi David. Yes, I've read all in this series plus one of his stand alone's (Nobody Walks). The Slough House series is about a bunch of MI5 agents who have screwed up in spectacular fashion & been banished to Slough House, an office where they are submerged in mind numbing paperwork in the hopes they'll just resign.
Their boss is Jackson Lamb, a remnant of Cold War spy games, who is an equal opportunity offender. The plots are smart & extremely layered & there's not much to choose between the good guys & the bad. It's that & the dry wit/black humour that keeps me coming back. It's kind of like a Coen Brothers movie...you find yourself laughing at the most inappropriate moments.