Starting/joining in with buddy reads Showing 1,351-1,376 of 1,376

[Susan]

As nobody was feeling the George Gently series, we have abandoned that one and replaced it with Brian Flynn. Please find an updated buddy read list:


Buddy Reads:

Oct/Nov
Dark is the Clue (Bobby Owen #33) by E R Punshon
One Virgin Too Many by Lindsey Davis (Falco #11)
Willful Behaviour by Donna Leon (Brunetti #11)
Gently By the Shore (Inspector George Gently #2) by Alan Hunter
Cat and Mouse (Inspector Chucky #1) by Christianna Brand

Nov/Dec
Postern of Fate (Tommy and Tuppence #5) by Agatha Christie (last book)
The Vanishing Box (Brighton Mysteries #4) by Elly Griffiths
The Blood-Dimmed Tide (#2 John Madden) by Rennie Airth
The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr (Bernie Gunther #2)
Knots & Crosses (Rebus #1) by Ian Rankin

Dec/Jan
The Night of Fear (#2 Hugh Collier) by Moray Dalton (Christmas buddy read)
Triple Quest (Bobby Owen #34) by E R Punshon
The Body Politic (Sloan and Crosby #13) by Catherine Aird
Vane Pursuit by Charlotte MacLeod (Professor Shandy #7)
Red Bones by Ann Cleeves (Shetland #3)

Jan/Feb
Faithful Until Death (Bradecote and Catchpoll #6) by Sarah Hawkswood
The State Counsellor by Boris Akunin (Erast Fandorin #6)
Mrs Pargeter’s Principle (Mrs Pargeter #7) by Simon Brett
The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander #2)
Strong Poison by Dorthy L. Sayers by Dorothy L Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey #6)

Feb/March
Six Were Present (Bobby Owen #35) by E R Punshon (last book)
Ode to a Banker by Lindsey Davis (Falco #12)
Uniform Justice by Donna Leon (Brunetti #12)
The Billiard Room Mystery (Anthony Bathurst #1) by Brian Flynn

March/April
Now You See Them (Brighton Mysteries #5) by Elly Griffiths
The Dead of Winter (#3 John Madden) by Rennie Airth
A German Requiem by Philip Kerr (Bernie Gunther #3)
Hide & Seek (Rebus #2) by Ian Rankin

April/May
The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey #7)
A Going Concern (Sloan and Crosby #14) by Catherine Aird
An Owl Too Many by Charlotte MacLeod (Professor Shandy #8)
Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves (Shetland #4)

May/June
River of Sins (Bradecote and Catchpoll #7) by Sarah Hawkswood
The Coronation by Boris Akunin (Erast Fandorin #7)
Mrs Pargeter’s Public Relations (Mrs Pargeter #8) by Simon Brett
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander #3)

[Judy]

Thank you, Susan! I think the Brian Flynn books will be more fun than Gently, and spend less time rambling on about peppermint creams!

[Susan]

As some readers found the combination of this months buddy reads a little too dark, I have swopped the Brian Flynn books with Ian Rankin. This means our future buddy reads looks like:

Dec/Jan
The Night of Fear (#2 Hugh Collier) by Moray Dalton (Christmas buddy read)
Triple Quest (Bobby Owen #34) by E R Punshon
The Body Politic (Sloan and Crosby #13) by Catherine Aird
Vane Pursuit by Charlotte MacLeod (Professor Shandy #7)
Red Bones by Ann Cleeves (Shetland #3)

Jan/Feb
Faithful Until Death (Bradecote and Catchpoll #6) by Sarah Hawkswood
The State Counsellor by Boris Akunin (Erast Fandorin #6)
Mrs Pargeter’s Principle (Mrs Pargeter #7) by Simon Brett
The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander #2)
Strong Poison by Dorthy L. Sayers by Dorothy L Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey #6)

Feb/March
Six Were Present (Bobby Owen #35) by E R Punshon (last book)
Ode to a Banker by Lindsey Davis (Falco #12)
Uniform Justice by Donna Leon (Brunetti #12)
Hide & Seek (Rebus #2) by Ian Rankin

March/April
Now You See Them (Brighton Mysteries #5) by Elly Griffiths
The Dead of Winter (#3 John Madden) by Rennie Airth
A German Requiem by Philip Kerr (Bernie Gunther #3)
The Billiard Room Mystery (Anthony Bathurst #1) by Brian Flynn

April/May
The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey #7)
A Going Concern (Sloan and Crosby #14) by Catherine Aird
An Owl Too Many by Charlotte MacLeod (Professor Shandy #8)
Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves (Shetland #4)

May/June
River of Sins (Bradecote and Catchpoll #7) by Sarah Hawkswood
The Coronation by Boris Akunin (Erast Fandorin #7)
Mrs Pargeter’s Public Relations (Mrs Pargeter #8) by Simon Brett
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander #3)

[Susan]

There are only six Rennie Airth books, but I have left him with Philip Kerr, but added Brian Flynn. Rankin has been moved to keep company with Brunetti, Falco and the last Bobby Owen.

[Judy]

Good idea, Susan, thank you for rearranging them. :)

[Susan]

We need some new buddy read series for 2026.
We have the Fethering mysteries listed to replace Mrs Pargeter, plus suggestions of Dark Iceland and Peter May but both are short.

Any ideas?
For buddies, series do not need to be GA. We can think outside the box, but preferably a series with at least 10 books and which is easy to get on both sides of the pond.

[Judy]

Thank you Susan! I'll put on my thinking cap. Just on the Fethering mysteries, has anyone read many of them? I know some of us are finding Mrs P a bit boring so just wanted to check if those are more varied?

[Judy]

I think we had mentioned possibly reading more of the Antony Maitland Mysteries by Sara Woods, after we had a group read a little while back of the first in the series, Bloody Instructions: An Antony Maitland Mystery. There were only 5 of them in print but Dean Street Press has just published 5 more, so that series might be a possibility?

As we only read the first book this year, we could start with book 2 and just bump the previous threads for anyone who wants to start with book 1.

[Ellen]

There are 24 books in the John Putnam Thatcher series. One of my favorites. The first title is Banking on Death: Emma Lathen.

[Sandy]

Ellen wrote: "There are 24 books in the John Putnam Thatcher series. One of my favorites. The first title is Banking on Death: Emma Lathen."

This is available on Kindle Unlimited. I saw the word Christmas and immediately downloaded it.

[Susan]

I liked the Sara Woods mystery, Judy.

As for Feathering, I have read a couple of them. I think I liked them more than Mrs Pargeter. We can perhaps try one and see.

[Susan]

Emma Lathen, I don't know at all. Sandy, as our US mod, have you read them?

[Judy]

Sandy wrote: "Ellen wrote: "There are 24 books in the John Putnam Thatcher series. One of my favorites. The first title is Banking on Death: Emma Lathen."

This is available on Kindle Unlimited. ..."

Thanks Sandy, on KU in the UK too.

[Sandy]

Susan wrote: "Emma Lathen, I don't know at all. Sandy, as our US mod, have you read them?"

No, never read, never even heard of them.

[Ellen]

Sandy wrote: "Susan wrote: "Emma Lathen, I don't know at all. Sandy, as our US mod, have you read them?"

No, never read, never even heard of them."

Emma Lathen is the pen name of two American businesswomen: economic analyst Mary Jane Latsis (July 12, 1927 – October 29, 1997) and attorney Martha Henissart (born 1929). The pseudonym is constructed from two authors' names: "M" of Mary and "Ma" of Martha, plus "Lat" of Latsis and "Hen" of Henissart.
For each book they determined the basic structure and major characters, then wrote alternate chapters, with Latsis writing the first chapter, and Henissart the last. They would then do a joint rewrite to eliminate inconsistencies or conflicts. When they began writing mysteries in the early 1960s they decided to use a pseudonym and maintain the secret of their identities to avoid any conflict with employers and clients. Their identities as co-authors of the popular Lathen books remained a secret until 1977.

At the time of Latsis' death in 1997, the duo were eighty percent through a new book using the setting of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but Henissart elected not to finish it

[Sandy]

Ellen wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Susan wrote: "Emma Lathen, I don't know at all. Sandy, as our US mod, have you read them?"

No, never read, never even heard of them."

Emma Lathen is the pen name of two American bus..."

Interesting. Thank you. Too bad the 1991 Gulf War book wasn't finished; it is a very different premise.

[Sandy]

I am planning to read the Bryant and May series. The first book is Full Dark House and we read it sometime in the past. The kindle books are full price in the US but the books are readily available in my libraries.

[Susan in NC]

Susan wrote: "We need some new buddy read series for 2026.
We have the Fethering mysteries listed to replace Mrs Pargeter, plus suggestions of Dark Iceland and Peter May but both are short.

Any ideas?
For bud..."

I like the sound of the Sara Woods and Emma Lathen, especially now that both are on Kindle Unlimited. Availability is always an issue for me.

I don’t know if Bryant & May is up for a buddy read, but I read the whole series over the years and loved them, own several, and wouldn’t mind at all revisiting. For a historical series, I think I suggested, and have seen another member here comment on the Mamur Zapt series by Michael Pearce, set in Egypt in Victorian period. First book is The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet There are several books in the series.

[Susan]

I am interested in the Sara Woods. I haven't read Bryant & May. I think I read one and never really enjoyed it, but perhaps it was the wrong time and I would be happy to give them another try.

Mamur Zapt I haven't read, so that's a possible.

Emma Lathen would be out of my comfort zone. I am happy to set them up if there is interest though.

Anything else? It's amazing how we get through them.

[Susan]

Thank you everyone. I have added the second Sara Woods first, as we have already read the first.

I have Bryant & May, Mamur Zapt and Emma Lathen down to replace those series we finish.

What do we think about a classic crime author we may not have read in the group, like Ruth Rendell?

[Judy]

Susan in NC wrote: "I like the sound of the Sara Woods and Emma Lathen, especially now that both are on Kindle Unlimited. Availability is always an issue for me.."

I think only the first Emma Lathen book is on KU in the UK, but the others look to be available, around £2.30 each. Some of them say "updated and re-edited", not sure whether that just means that typos in the e-book have been corrected.

The Sara Woods books aren't on KU in the UK but they are around £2.99 on Kindle.

I'll probably give the first Lathen a quick try over Christmas - I see the author has been compared to Rex Stout, which sounds promising.

[Judy]

Thanks for doing this, Susan. I'd be happy to try any of these if there is enough interest.

I also only tried the first Bryant and May. I read some Rendells many years ago and remember liking the 'As Barbara Vine' titles which are standalones and a bit Gothic - I think I only watched the Wexford series on TV. Both of those series are full price on Kindle but libraries may have them? I hadn't heard of Mamur Zapt before but again would be happy to try one, looks like prices vary for those with some full price and some a bit cheaper.

We could always try a book or two and see if people like them, as we did with George Gently - every time I mention his name, I have visions of peppermint creams!

[Jackie]

I am currently reading my second Sophie Hannah The Monogram Murders and wonder if there is interest in more by this author. (Forgive me if this has already been discussed in such a long thread).

I have never heard of Bryant and May, but I'd be willing to try them as my library has Full Dark House.

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "Thanks for doing this, Susan. I'd be happy to try any of these if there is enough interest.

I also only tried the first Bryant and May. I read some Rendells many years ago and remember liking the..."

Peppermint creams are at least holiday-ish, I guess!

Thanks for checking Mamur Zapt, Judy, it was the first historical series that popped into my head, I’ve read many over the years, but I had no idea of availability.

I agree, best thing is to try the first one or two books, see if members can even get them, or like them. As I said above, I was a huge Bryant & May fan, read every book, and was saddened to hear the author Christopher Fowler died. The first book takes place in WWII, I think (been so long since I read it), the rest of the series is set in modern London, and B&M are seen as old cranks hanging on by a thread (budgeting concerns) to their Peculiar Crimes Unit.

[Susan in NC]

Susan wrote: "Thank you everyone. I have added the second Sara Woods first, as we have already read the first.

I have Bryant & May, Mamur Zapt and Emma Lathen down to replace those series we finish.

What do we..."

I’ve never read her, but of course know the name. As Judy says, I think my library would have some of her books-if I could get whatever the group wants to try, I’m game.

Another GA author I thought of who has a long series available is George Bellairs. I’ve committed to reading more of his books in another group, so thought I’d throw him out there. Also Moray Dalton.

[Susan]

Sophie Hannah did the 'new' Poirot books didn't she? I am afraid that has turned me off her personally as it was so out of character and then, in an interview, she virtually admitted she knew nothing about him!

I agree though, we can try a book or two and see how we get on.