What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread Showing 651-700 of 4,457

[Susan]

The Anthony Horowitz, so called, 'Golden Age' novel, is set in 1955, so I guess that just about works, Leslie. I always, personally, think of the GA as being between the wars, but of course, authors like Christie wrote far beyond that period.

[Sandy]

I've started the Rabbi series by Harry Kemelman by re-reading Friday the Rabbi Slept Late, this time on audio. I read a few in the series a few years & years ago. Excellent. And I think I was reminded of them by this group, perhaps Everyman, so thanks to whomever.

[Leslie]

@Susan - I too tend to think of the GA as being the period between the wars.

[Susan]

Books earlier than the 1920's (I've read some set in the early 1900's) don't have the same feel to me, or writing style. I have read later books, 1950's, and they work better for me than those earlier novels somehow...

[Susan]

Just started a really good, contemporary crime novel: Missing, Presumed. Set in Cambridgeshire and looks to be the first in a series.

[Judy]

Susan and Leslie, I tend to love early 1900s detective novels, but agree they feel different from the later ones.

I've just finished The Quiche of Death which I enjoyed - looking forward to reading more Agatha Raisin!

At the moment I'm reading one of the early Patricia Wentworth books republished by Dean Street Press, The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith: A Golden Age Mystery.

So far I'm enjoying the characters but finding the plot extremely far-fetched, as with the other early Wentworths I've read so far. Once again this is more of a thriller than a mystery, with a strong element of romance.

[Susan]

I read the first couple of Agatha Raisin's and then stopped, Judy. I liked them too and should go back to them.

[Ellen]

Just received The Shattered Treewhich is the latest in the Bess Crawford series byCharles Todd. I am looking forward to starting it.

[Carolien]

I finished Blood of the Wicked last night and it was an interesting read. For some reason, I have not read many South American books, but as a South African, I can relate fairly easily to the Brazilian context. Both countries have a similar economic structure and share similar challenges regarding poverty, inequality and high levels of crime and violence. In addition, I deal with land reform and agriculture in my professional life and so found that specific aspect of the plot very informative.

This book has a high body count and the conclusion captures the complexity of the society and characters involved. It is well written and as far as I can ascertain, it is one of those series that improves over time, so I'll be reading more of them. Not a mystery as such, bit more to the thriller side of the spectrum.

I read it as part of a reading challenge that I am doing in another group which involves reading books written by authors from the Murder is Everywhere blog. I've mentioned quite a few of them in this thread during the year. The link to the list of books and challenge is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'm having great fun reading the stories set across the world this year and in the process discovered a new term in the mystery/thriller genre namely Sunshine Noir http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.co.... Some of the authors have now launched a book of short stories based on the idea and I'm very keen to read Sunshine Noir. There's a lovely list of authors involved in the book.

[Susan]

Carolien, that sounds a good idea - I like reading novels set in different places.

[Judy]

Yes, I think it's a great idea to read books set in a lot of different places. I'd been vaguely wondering if I might read a detective story set in each European country - maybe I could start doing that next year.

[Susan]

That would be fun, Judy. Pushkin Press have released some good European crime novels with their Pushkin Vertigo series.

http://pushkinpress.com/pushkin-verti...

[Judy]

Thanks, Susan - by coincidence, I'd had an email about this imprint just the other day, but it had completely slipped my mind! It sounds as if there are some great titles on their list.

[Susan]

Yes, I've read a couple. Lots of European Noir and many set in our time period. If you decide to do a tour across Europe, I will try to join in as much as possible. I love European crime novels.

[Judy]

That's great, Susan - I'll give it some more thought! As you say,lots to choose from - I haven't read any of the popular Scandinavian crime novels as yet...

I've just started the secondE.R. Punshon Bobby Owen mystery,Death Among The Sunbathers, and was intrigued to see the introduction say there are striking similarities with Murder Must Advertise. Serendipity strikes again!

[Susan]

Wonderful, Judy. Plus I will set up a buddy read for the first Nigel Strangeways perhaps the beginning of October? A Question of Proof .
If anyone is interested in joining in then please do.

[Judy]

Carolien wrote: "I finished Blood of the Wicked last night and it was an interesting read. For some reason, I have not read many South American books, but as a South African, I can relate fairly easi..."

Carolien, I've just been reading your thread - many thanks for posting the link. What a fantastic challenge. I'm tempted by the sound of quite a few of the books - Sunshine Noir sounds particularly intriguing. It looks as if you are well on course to complete the challenge by the end of the year!

[Judy]

Susan wrote: "Wonderful, Judy. Plus I will set up a buddy read for the first Nigel Strangeways perhaps the beginning of October?

That's great, Susan. I'll get hold of it and look forward to joining in.

[Leslie]

For several years I have been working on a Read-the-USA mystery challenge (to read a mystery set in each of the states plus Washington DC). I am finally down to the last two states and am currently reading Dead Aim for Idaho. After that, only Oklahoma will be left!

[iasa]

Well done Leslie! That's quite an accomplishment.

[Carolien]

Well done Leslie! That's quite an effort to find all the books in the correct states.

If anybody is considering Europe, I would highly recommend The 7th Woman for France. I cannot remember who recommended the series - it may even have been Cara Black in a long ago blog post on Murder is Everywhere. I started it yesterday evening and have been compulsively sneaking it in all morning around my errands.

[Judy]

Leslie, well done and hope you enjoyed your long reading journey! It would be great to hear more about it - do you have a list of all the books you've read for this challenge, or a shelf/thread about it?

Also, Carolien, thanks for the France recommendation. I know that feeling of having to put life on hold as much as possible to get on with a book...

[Susan]

Oh, I've read that, Carolien. Fun series, although I found the love story a little too much at times! The Lying-Down Room, Arab Jazz and The Dark Angel are all great French crime books.

[Leslie]

Judy wrote: "Leslie, well done and hope you enjoyed your long reading journey! It would be great to hear more about it - do you have a list of all the books you've read for this challenge, or a shelf/thread abo..."

copied from the Cozy Mysteries Group
Here is my READ AROUND THE USA Challenge (starting 8/2012)
Progress: 43 mysteries + 7 non-mystery books = 50 completed out of 51

Alabama -- Dog River Blues by Mike Jastrzebski (1/10/14)
Alaska -- Alaska Virgin Air by Izzy Ballard (4/13/13)
Arizona -- The Ghost Orchid Murder by Nancy Jill Thames (5/26/13)
Arkansas -- Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank (1/30/13)
California -- Death Turns a Trick by Julie Smith (9/1/12)
Colorado -- Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson (7/20/13)
Connecticut -- Elected for Death by Valerie Wolzien (11/17/12)
Delaware - Corpus Delectable by Mike Billington (2/22/14)
District of Columbia -- Murder on Capitol Hill (8/31/16)
Florida -- Artifacts by Mary Anna Evans (10/8/12)
Georgia -- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (not a mystery) (5/7/13)
Hawaii -- Maui Widow Waltz by JoAnn Bassett (9/1/13)
Idaho -- Dead Aim (9/3/16)
Illinois -- Opal Fire by Barbra Annino (10/22/13)
Indiana -- Death of the Couch Potato's Wife by Christy Barritt (12/11/15)
Iowa -- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (not a mystery) (7/18/13)
Kansas -- Murders on Elderberry Road (2/6/16)
Kentucky -- I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas by Molly Harper (not a mystery) (12/21/13)
Louisiana -- The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke (5/15/13)
Maine -- The Book of Old Houses by Sarah Graves (9/14/13)
Maryland -- The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart (3/8/13)
Massachusetts -- Going, Going, Gone by Phoebe Atwood Taylor (8/31/12)
Michigan -- Winter Study by Nevada Barr (12/31/13)
Minnesota -- Bingo Barge Murder by Jessie Chandler (8/7/12)
Mississippi --- The Collected Stories by Eudora Welty (not a mystery) (6/19/13)
Missouri -- If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton (9/20/15)
Montana -- Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (7/13/14)
Nebraska -- One of Ours by Willa Cather (not a mystery) (11/20/12)
Nevada -- Pumpkins in Paradise by Kathi Daley (11/16/13)
New Hampshire -- An Appointment With Murder by Jennifer L. Jennings (6/24/14)
New Jersey -- Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich (9/11/15)
New Mexico -- Red, Green, or Murder by Steven F. Havill (2/19/13)
New York -- Sailor, Take Warning! by Kelley Roos (8/12/12)
North Carolina -- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney (10/27/12)
North Dakota -- January Exposure by Sunny Benson (1/9/15)
Ohio -- A Shot in the Bark by C.A. Newsome (7/28/14)
Oklahoma
Oregon -- The Gray and Guilty Sea by Jack Nolte (11/12/15)
Pennsylvania -- Never Buried by Edie Clair (10/31/12)
Rhode Island -- Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva (1/10/16)
South Carolina -- Oolong Dead by Laura Childs (3/1/13)
South Dakota -- Nearly Departed in Deadwood by Ann Charles (1/29/13)
Tennessee -- Out on a Limb: A Smoky Mountain Mystery by Carolyn Jourdan (4/15/15)
Texas -- Buck Fever by Ben Rehder (2/13/13)
Utah -- Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (not a mystery) (11/11/15)
Vermont -- Moonlighting in Vermont by Kate George (9/29/13)
Virginia -- Carbs & Cadavers by Ellery Adams - J.B. Stanley (9/17/12)
Washington -- Murder Spins a Tale A Flock and Fiber Mystery by Veryl Ann Grace (3/24/13)
West Virginia -- Moon Signs by Helen Haught Fanick (6/1/14)
Wisconsin -- Uncommon Grounds by Sandra Balzo (8/12/12)
Wyoming -- A Deal on a Handshake by Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton (6/18/15)


visited 49 states (98%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Brazil travel guide for Android

[Judy]

Thanks for that list, Leslie, that's very interesting - quite a feat to read all those. Looking through the list, I think I've only read some of the non-mystery titles.

Was it difficult to find books for some of the states?

[Leslie]

Judy wrote: "Thanks for that list, Leslie, that's very interesting - quite a feat to read all those. Looking through the list, I think I've only read some of the non-mystery titles.

Was it difficult to find b..."

Well, I haven't really gone out of my way to find certain states until this year (I was starting to get tired of this dragging out so long!) so it is hard to say how difficult some states might be if someone tried to complete this challenge in just a year. For me, the hardest have been the states with small populations -- Oklahoma, North Dakota, Idaho, etc.

[Abigail]

What fun! Thanks for the list.

[Susan]

I just finished Missing, Presumed . Very good - literary crime and a good start to what will, hopefully, turn out to be a series.

[Susan]

I have opened a thread for the first Nigel Strangeways mystery A Question of Proof, which I am going to offer up as a Buddy Read in October.

Although not a Golden Age mystery, I wondered if anyone would be interested in a Buddy read of Not a Creature was Stirring, the first Gregor Demarkian novel, in December?

[Judy]

I'm intrigued to read Not a Creature was Stirring, Susan, after reading your review of it - I'll get hold of a copy in time for December so I can join in!

[Susan]

Good news, Judy! Although it was not written during our period, it has a very traditional flavour and is a mystery that I enjoy re-reading.

[Leslie]

I am currently enjoying some Gervase Fen short stories in Edmund Crispin's Beware of the Trains.

[Carolien]

Susan wrote: "Oh, I've read that, Carolien. Fun series, although I found the love story a little too much at times! The Lying-Down Room, Arab Jazz and [book:The Dark Angel|1920635..."

These all look interesting, thanks so much, Susan.

[Judy]

I've decided to go ahead and try to read a crime novel set in each European country - found a list of countries here to work from:

https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com...

I suspect it might be difficult to include the former Soviet countries apart from Russia, though, as there seem to be very few books from these countries available in English translation. Anyway, I'll probably get started early next year - looking forward to discovering some Euro-crime.

[Leslie]

Judy wrote: "I've decided to go ahead and try to read a crime novel set in each European country - found a list of countries here to work from:

https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com...

I..."

That is an ambitious challenge Judy! If you want a visual aid, you can mark your progress on a map:

http://bighugelabs.com/map.php

Lots of good Scandinavian mystery writers & there is always Georges Simenon for France. Nicolas Freeling has a series set in the Netherlands - I have only read one but it was pretty good.

[Susan]

Great idea, Judy. Let us know where you are, so we can follow your progress and maybe join in :)

[Judy]

Thanks, Leslie and Susan! That map site looks great and thanks also for the suggestions.

[Sandy]

Re: reading thru Europe - I enjoyed the first of a series set in Vienna at the turn of the last century, The Empty Mirror,, though I never did go in to the second.

[Sandy]

I just finished one of the Ruth Galloway series: A Dying Fall. I particularly enjoy the characters and the atmosphere of this series.

[Abigail]

Love the Gervase Fen stories, Leslie!

[Susan]

Judy, if you plot your route, I am sure we can all offer lots of suggestions for each country ;)

[Jay-me (Janet)]

I like the idea of reading around somewhere. I probably have quite a chunk of the USA covered if I could check the location of all the books I have read. I'm not that well up on US Geography so I might not always work out whereabouts the book is set.

I don't fancy reading through Europe - I think I would rather have a bash at the counties of England and Wales - not sure whether to include Scotland or try that as a separate challenge.

[AngryGreyCat]

Sandy wrote: "I just finished one of the Ruth Galloway series: A Dying Fall. I particularly enjoy the characters and the atmosphere of this series."

I loved that series and you are right the atmosphere building is so well done it it.

[AngryGreyCat]

I am currently reading by P.D. James. I am trying to finish the series.

[Susan]

I am also, slowly, re-reading P D James, Fanficfan. However, I just finished the very clever homage to Golden Age detective fiction by Anthony Horowitz Magpie Murders .

[Elinor]

I've just finished the August read, The Red house mystery, and I really loved it ! Now I just need to buy the September pick, because I want to start this serie.

Susan wrote: "I have opened a thread for the first Nigel Strangeways mystery A Question of Proof, which I am going to offer up as a Buddy Read in October.

Although not a Golden Age mystery, I wo..."

Well, I'm also interested in those two... So I guess I'm in for those reads as well !

[Susan]

Excellent news, Elinor!

[Judy]

Jay-me (Janet) wrote: "I don't fancy reading through Europe - I think I would rather have a bash at the counties of England and Wales - not sure whether to include Scotland or try that as a separate challenge. "

That sounds like a great idea for a challenge, Jay-me! If you decide to go ahead with that or a US challenge, let us know.

[Jan C]

I, too, am (re-)reading PD James. I think I am up to #7 - A Taste for Death.

I'm also reading the Ruth Galloway stories.

[Susan]

I never liked Ruth Galloway when I tried the first one - not sure why, as they are popular. I do love P D James and am, slowly, re-reading them.