Starting/joining in with buddy reads Showing 1,001-1,050 of 1,332

[Judy]

Susan wrote: "An updated list. I have realised there are some more of the Ocean mysteries, but not all are back in print yet. ..."

I was just looking at this series on Amazon, and it looks as if all 8 books in the series are available in paperback and on Kindle in the UK but the listings for the Kindle editions for the last couple on GR don't have any cover images for some reason! I'll see if I can add the cover images. I've been lucky that my local library has all of them.

[Divisha]

Anybody interested in reading with me right away..?

[Frances]

Divisha wrote: "Anybody interested in reading with me right away..?"

Hi Divisha-that may be a hard sell here-we're more focussed on Golden Age detective fiction or books that have adopted that style.

[Divisha]

Frances wrote: "Divisha wrote: "Anybody interested in reading with me right away..?"

Hi Divisha-that may be a hard sell here-we're more focussed on Golden Age detective fiction..."

Oh ok no problem :)

[Susan]

The good news is there are lots of other groups. Maybe find one that enjoys books of that genre and I am sure you will find some takers for a buddy read.

[Divisha]

sounds great!

[Susan]

Go to groups and search for the genre you like. I am sure you will find one that has similar titles to those you have suggested.

[Divisha]

Ok 👍

[Susan]

Please find below an updated list of buddy reads for the upcoming new year:

Buddy Reads:

Dec/Jan
It Might Lead Anywhere (Bobby Owen #22) by E R Punshon
Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
The Long Divorce by Edmund Crispin (Gervase Fen #8)
The Last Judgement by Iain Pears (Jonathan Argyll #4)
The Case of the Abominable Snowman by Nicholas Blake (Nigel Strangeways #7)

Jan/Feb
The Misty Harbour by Georges Simenon (Maigret #15)
Last Act in Palmyra by Lindsey Davis (Falco #6)
Revelation by C.J. Sansom (Shardlake #4)
Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon (Brunetti #6)

Feb/March
Helen Passes By (Bobby Owen #23) by E R Punshon
A Case of Perplexity in Piccadilly (Freddy Pilkington-Soames 7) by Clara Benson
Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer
Operation Pax (The Inspector Appleby Mysteries Book 12) by Michael Innes

March/April
The Madman of Bergerac by Georges Simenon (Maigret #16)
The Potter's Field by Ellis Peters (Cadfael #17) by Ellis Peters
Murder on the Oceanic (Ocean Liner Mystery series #7) by Edward Marston
Some Die Eloquent (Sloan and Crosby #8) by Catherine Aird
Murder at the Savoy (Martin Beck #6) by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

April/May
Music Tells All (Bobby Owen #24) by E R Punshon
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edmund Crispin (Gervase Fen #9)
Giotto's Hand by Iain Pears (Jonathan Argyll #5)

We will be on the last of the Gervase Fen books in April/May unless we decide to do the short stories. Also, the last of the Clara Benson books.

Does anyone have any other authors/series they would care to suggest as buddy reads? These can be from the original Golden Age or something more modern. Or the books from a particular publisher.

For example, I have not yet read the Mrs Bradley books by Gladys Mitchell. I also love Anthony Berkeley, but his books are difficult to get hold off, so it has to be a series available in both the UK and US fairly cheaply and preferably on kindle.

If anyone can come up with a good suggestion or an author you feel has been ignored so far, then please do suggest them here. I would not have discovered the Martin Beck series without buddy reads, which have become favourites, so if you have a favourite series you would like to suggest then this is your chance! If there is enough interest we will try out the first and then we can see if the group wishes to continue the series.

[Susan in NC]

Thank you for this, I’ve lost track of where we were in each series!

I knew we were coming to the end of a few series, the tough part is availability for all of our members. I’ve not read Mrs. Bradley, or all of Miss Silver. I thought of Anthony Berkeley and all the Detection Club members, it would perhaps make availability less of a problem, but I don’t know how we’d choose the actual books and order to read them. Perhaps pick 3-4 members of Detection Club, read their books in a rotation?

[Susan]

We did the Detection Club as a challenge one year, but that is a good idea, Susan. We could do the first novel of a few authors to see if there are any we would continue with.

https://crimereads.com/the-detection-...

[Susan in NC]

Susan wrote: "We did the Detection Club as a challenge one year, but that is a good idea, Susan. We could do the first novel of a few authors to see if there are any we would continue with.

https://crimereads.c..."

Yes, I took part in the Detection Club challenge, that’s what gave me the idea - pick a few lesser known members who have been rereleased, like Berkeley, Lorac, Bellairs, Moray Dalton, etc., read their reissued books in rotation. Guess availability depends on the authors we pick.

[Susan in NC]

Sorry, I don’t think Bellairs was a member of the club, so perhaps sub in someone like Freeman Wills Croft. I don’t know all the members, and that article doesn’t appear to have a list of members to choose from, but I may have missed it - it was quite long, I just skimmed.

[Susan]

I think we have had quite a lot of Lorac books lately and Berkeley is quite hard to get in the US. I do like him though.

I would prefer something which takes less organising, such a particular author or possibly a publisher.

Remember, with buddy reads we don't need to stick to GA authors. We can look outside the GA era but it would be nice to have something/someone that a member is particularly interested in. A personal suggestion - I love this series, you might like to try it, kind of thing.

[Sarah]

Susan in NC mentioned Anthony Berkeley, and I'm currently reading and loving his fifth Roger Sherrington mystery, "The Poisoned Chocolates Case," with an introduction by Martin Edwards. Which gave me the idea for Susan's suggestions for alternative reads: what about Martin Edwards himself? I think his Lake District series are readily available, but correct me if the group has already discussed them or if they are too expensive on Kindle.

[Susan]

I have only read a couple by Martin Edwards and didn't think much of them. Has anyone else read anything by him? I know he did Gallows Court which was set in the GA?

[Sandy]

A couple of series that I have only read the first and hope to continue:

Gallows View , Full Dark House

Then there are series that I love, but have read all the entries so might not participate too much:

Deborah Crombie, Louise Penny

I am intrigued to read Martin Edwards. I started the first of his latest series but did not finish it. It was due back to the library and I felt I did not give it a fair chance.

I think most of these books are 'full price' kindle books in the US but redily available in the library system.

[Susan]

I have meant to read Peter Robinson, Sandy. I have read Full Dark House and didn't like it, as I recall, but I know it is a popular series, so I should really give it another go. Perhaps it was the wrong time.

[Jill]

I have read 19 Peter Robinson's , one of my favourite authors. I really liked Full Dark House and read the next two by Glad you remined me as he died this year, and I must get back to him. Personally I think he is better than Ben Aaronovitch with peculiar crimes.

I would like to read Miss Silver books but think a lot of people here read them with another group.

We got a lot of Patricia Wentworth free here some years ago.

[Jan C]

I need to get back to Mrs. Bradley - I'm on the second book.

I like Moray Dalton, J.J. Connington. I've picked up some Anthony Boucher but haven't read any yet. I need to get back to Craig Rice - I think I'm on the third or fourth book of her John J. Malone series; she also ghost-wrote as George Sanders and Gypsy Rose Lee. I also read Andrea Camilleri - I think I'm on the 8th book.

And, of course, there is Christopher Fowler.

[Susan]

Some good suggestions, but either people have read all the entries or, like Anthony Berkeley, they could be hard for all members to get hold of. These things tend to happen spontaneously in the best way, I guess.

There are some series I have meant to start. Has anyone read the David Raker series by Tim Weaver? Chasing the Dead is the first one I think. Also The Detective's Daughter as I have read and enjoyed another series by Lesley Thomson. Or something like The Three Dahlias which seems to have something of a contemporary GA feel and has been on sale a lot. I am a huge fan of the crime fiction coming out of Scotland at the moment and also have a couple of lesser-known series from there on my radar, such as A Long Time Dead: A D.I. Duncan McAdam Mystery

Shardlake has been popular with the group, as has Cadfael, so perhaps another historical mystery series like Omens of Death, Of Blood Descended, The Holy Thief or Death on the Trans-Siberian Express

The first book in a series - we did that a while ago and some series were discreetly shelved, but others continued. We could pick three or four to try out. Full Dark House seems to have been mentioned a few times, but then so many people seem to have read it already and also Peter Robinson. However, we could put both on the list if some of us would read them?

[Susan]

I will not be online today, but will check back tomorrow. Perhaps if we could say which books of any suggested so far we'd like to read, we can pick three or four which have the most suggestions. If there are no obvious choices, we can have another look in the New Year.

[Jill]

As Cadfael as done well, has anyone thoughts on Bernard Knight Crowner John mystery’s

[Sandy]

Another suggestion for a Cadfael replacement: . I haven't read it, nor Jill's suggestion, but it is on my TBR.

[Sandy]

A couple of authors on my TBR are Simon Brett, particularly his Mrs. Pargeter series, and Ann Cleeves.

Susan's suggestion of The Three Dahlias sounds interesting and is available in US for $7. My library systems only have a couple of copies.

[Jill]

Sandy wrote: "A couple of authors on my TBR are Simon Brett, particularly his Mrs. Pargeter series, and Ann Cleeves.

Susan's suggestion of The Three Dahlias sounds interesting and is available ..."

Yes . I like Simon Brett I have read most of the Feathering series and a few of the Charles Parish but none of Mrs Pargeter I would be up for that.

Just thought of Priscilla Royal or maybe Merrily Watkins by Phil Rickman

I have to write them down or I forget!

[Susan_MG]

I am a fan of Ann Cleeves too.

[Susan]

Ooh, Merrily Watkins... I have read a couple of those, Jill, and loved them. The first is: The Wine of Angels
If anyone is keen, that's definitely a series I would do as a buddy read.

A Nice Class of Corpse is the first Mrs Pargeter

Ann Cleeves has a few series. Shetland, Two Rivers, Vera Stanhope, George and Molly Palmer-Jones, Inspector Ramsay
I have only read a couple. The first Two Rivers and possibly the first Shetland. Is there a particular one people are thinking of?

[Susan]

The Complete Mrs Pargeter Crime Mysteries 1–8

Currently 99p. Is it a sign?

[Susan]

An Ann Cleeves series with a few books, rather than her newer series, would be good. Otherwise it's astonishing how quickly we finish them.

I think Mrs Pargeter, one of the Ann Cleeves and possibly Merrily Watkins (pretty please, if there are any takers?) would be enough for now, but we could still think about others, as we have another couple of series about to finish.

[Jill]

I am definitely in for Merrily and Mrs Pargeter. Some of Ann Cleeves I have read so depends on which were chosen

[Pamela]

Yes please to the Merrily Watkins, and possibly the Mrs Pargeter too

I’ve read all the Shetland but would be up for any other Ann Cleeves

[Jackie]

I recently read the Mrs Pargeter series and would be up for a re-read of the first one at least.

[Michaela]

Sandy wrote: "Another suggestion for a Cadfael replacement: . I haven't read it, nor Jill's suggestion, but it is on my TBR."

I´m in for this one! :)

Another series I´d like to read is the Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen.

[Pamela]

Oh yes I read the first Sarah Hawkswood and really enjoyed it, so I’d be up for that series too

[Rosina]

I was/am enjoying the Sarah Hawkswood series, and I started the Merrily Watkins series, but dropped off after a couple - I think I was not in the mood.

[Susan]

We could go for the Phil Rickman, Mrs Pargeter and the historical series?

[Susan]

Sorry for the poor/short post, I was out.

So, shall we add:
Servant of Death? Not too like Cadfael, do we think?
A Nice Class of Corpse
The Wine of Angels

[Pamela]

Sounds great to me, Susan. Thanks for all your hard work (and the other mods) and merry Christmas!

[Sarah]

Yes, echoing Pamela, thanks to Susan and the other group leaders for their research and time well spent. I just put a library hold on Brett's first Pargeter and hunted down Rickman through Link+. I've never read either author, so looking forward to fresh fields! Thanks to other members, too, for their suggestions. Goodreads lives up to its name in this community.

[Susan]

Well, let's add some details to the two series we definitely have added in case anyone wants to know a little more:

First, the Mrs Pargeter series by Simon Brett.

Mrs Pargeter
1. A Nice Class of Corpse (1986)
2. Mrs, Presumed Dead (1988)
3. Mrs. Pargeter's Package (1990)
4. Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh (1992)
5. Mrs. Pargeter's Plot (1996)
6. Mrs Pargeter's Point of Honour (1998)
7. Mrs Pargeter's Principle (2015)
8. Mrs Pargeter's Public Relations (2016)
9. Mrs Pargeter's Patio (2023)

https://simonbrett.com/

Mrs. Pargeter is the main character in a series of mystery novels written by a bestselling English author of children’s books, humour, mystery and thrillers novels. Mrs. Pargeter is a widow with a dark past who with some help from her dead husband’s friends is able to solve some complex mysteries. Simon Brett began publication of Mrs. Pargeter series in 1986 when A Nice Class of Corpse the first in the series was published.

https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/mrs...

[Susan]

Then, Phil Rickman, who has a bit of a cult following. I have read more of his stand-alone novels than his Merrily Watkins series, so am greatly looking forward to these.

Merrily Watkins
1. The Wine of Angels (1998)
2. Midwinter of the Spirit (1999)
3. A Crown of Lights (2001)
4. The Cure of Souls (2001)
5. The Lamp of the Wicked (2003)
6. The Prayer of the Night Shepherd (2004)
7. The Smile of a Ghost (2005)
8. The Remains of an Altar (2006)
9. The Fabric of Sin (2007)
10. To Dream of the Dead (2008)
11. The Secrets of Pain (2011)
12. The Magus of Hay (2013)
13. The House of Susan Lulham (2015)
14. Friends of the Dusk (2015)
15. All of a Winter's Night (2017)
Merrily's Border (2018) - This is a nonfiction book about the places the series is set.
16. The Fever of the World (2022)

http://www.philrickman.co.uk/

PHIL RICKMAN:
‘This is my attempt to do something different, because writers should. If you don’t, it’s just another day job.
Merrily Watkins has what is very much a night job. She’s Deliverance Consultant or Advisor on the Paranormal for the Diocese of Hereford. Or Exorcist, as it used to be known.
It’s a real job; there’s at least one in every diocese in the UK. They work with psychiatrists, social workers… and also the police. Inevitably, in this series, this is the aspect of the job that predominates.
And their own beliefs are often tested. There are few certainties. The borderline between psychology and the unexplained is often laid out in barbed wire.
Each novel stands alone. There are threads, but you can pick them up. You don’t have to read them in order.

[Susan]

Then we have Sarah Hawkswood

Bradecote and Catchpoll Investigation
1. Servant of Death (2014)
aka The Lord Bishop's Clerk
2. Ordeal by Fire (2016)
3. Marked to Die (2017)
4. Hostage to Fortune (2019)
5. Vale of Tears (2019)
6. Faithful Unto Death (2019)
7. River of Sins (2020)
8. Blood Runs Thicker (2021)
9. Wolf at the Door (2021)
10. A Taste for Killing (2022)
11. Too Good to Hang (2023)

http://www.bradecoteandcatchpoll.com/

The Bradecote and Catchpoll series are set in Worcestershire during the Anarchy of King Stephen’s reign, and commence in June 1143. They follow the investigations of Hugh Bradecote, a vassal lord of the Sheriff, William de Beauchamp, and the Sheriff’s Serjeant, the wily Catchpoll. Catchpoll is ‘the professional’, having been ‘serjeanting’ for twenty years. He knows nearly all the low life of Worcester, and works on the principle that outside of thefts for survival and crimes of passion, criminals are mean bastards, and the way to keep crime under control is to prove you are a meaner bastard than they are. He is observant, can think clearly, and is, above all, pragmatic. From the second book they are joined by Walkelin, whom Catchpoll has selected as his 'serjeanting apprentice'.

Servant of Death
June 1143.The Lord Bishop of Winchester’s Clerk is bludgeoned to death in Pershore Abbey, and laid before the altar in the attitude of a penitent. Everyone who had contact with him had reason to dislike him, but who had reason to kill him? The Sheriff of Worcestershire’s thief taker, the wily Serjeant Catchpoll, and his new and unwanted superior, Acting Under Sheriff Hugh Bradecote, have to find the answer when nobody wants the murderer apprehended - until the next death.

The first in a new series of twelfth century murder mysteries set in Worcestershire during The Anarchy. First published as The Lord Bishop’s Clerk.

[Susan]

Updated Buddy Read list.
As both Merrily Watkins and the Shardlake books are long, I have not put them together. Likewise, due to similarities between Cadfael and Sarah Hawkswood, I have kep them in separate months.
Series which will finish soon are: Gervase Fen, Freddy Pilkington-Soames and the Ocean Liner Mysteries.
If anyone wishes me to change the order, let me know and I will happily tweak.

Dec/Jan
It Might Lead Anywhere (Bobby Owen #22) by E R Punshon
Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
The Long Divorce by Edmund Crispin (Gervase Fen #8)
The Last Judgement by Iain Pears (Jonathan Argyll #4)
The Case of the Abominable Snowman by Nicholas Blake (Nigel Strangeways #7)

Jan/Feb
The Misty Harbour by Georges Simenon (Maigret #15)
Last Act in Palmyra by Lindsey Davis (Falco #6)
Revelation by C.J. Sansom (Shardlake #4)
Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon (Brunetti #6)

Feb/March
Helen Passes By (Bobby Owen #23) by E R Punshon
A Case of Perplexity in Piccadilly (Freddy Pilkington-Soames 7) by Clara Benson
Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer
Operation Pax (The Inspector Appleby Mysteries Book 12) by Michael Innes
The Wine of Angels (Merrily Watkins #1) by Phil Rickman

March/April
The Madman of Bergerac by Georges Simenon (Maigret #16)
The Potter's Field by Ellis Peters (Cadfael #17) by Ellis Peters
Murder on the Oceanic (Ocean Liner Mystery series #7) by Edward Marston
Some Die Eloquent (Sloan and Crosby #8) by Catherine Aird
Murder at the Savoy (Martin Beck #6) by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

April/May
Music Tells All (Bobby Owen #24) by E R Punshon
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edmund Crispin (Gervase Fen #9)
Giotto's Hand by Iain Pears (Jonathan Argyll #5)
A Nice Class of Corpse (Mrs Pargeter #1) by Simon Brett

May/June
Liberty Bar aka Maigret on the Riviera by Georges Simenon (Maigret #17)
Servant of Death aka The Lord Bishop's Clerk ( Bradecote and Catchpoll #1) by Sarah Hawkswood

[Lady Clementina]

Rosina wrote: "I was/am enjoying the Sarah Hawkswood series, and I started the Merrily Watkins series, but dropped off after a couple - I think I was not in the mood."

I've read a couple of these too and quite enjoyed them; I have one waiting on the TBR as well.

[Susan]

Sounds good. I will juggle the books above as series finish. Good that we have added some new series before the New Year.

[Jill]

Thanks for that Susan. Think I have got that all sorted to rummage around the many books I have.

Merry Christmas to all

[Susan]

Thanks, Jill. Also, thanks to our other members who made, as always, great suggestions.

Look forward to reading along with you all next year.

[Susan in NC]

Sorry I missed this whole discussion, but some great suggestions, looking forward to a new year of reading with the group. Thanks, mods, for all you do in getting us sorted, and Merry Christmas, everyone!

[Susan]

Thanks, Susan for all your help with the discussion.

We will need one or two more series this year at some point, so any suggestions - just pop them in this thread.