What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread Showing 851-900 of 4,475

[Susan]

A Mind to Murder (2nd) or Shroud for a Nightingale (4th) are both excellent early mysteries, if you don't mind reading books out of order. Cover Her Face is the first in the series, but it really isn't her best.

[Judy]

Lynne wrote: "It is a challenge to me to read series books close enough so I remember recurring characters and certain situations, and far enough apart so as not to get ho-hum..."

That's so true! There are a few series where I've picked up the next book after several years and found myself struggling to remember the details of the detective's private life - it's handy if the writer includes a few brief recaps for those who aren't coming to the book straight from the previous one!

[Susan]

I am the same, Judy. There are SO many series that I sort of follow and it is easy to forget things...

[Sandy]

I've finished The Mistletoe Murder: And Other Stories by P.D. James. The first three stories are excellent and very inventive. Oddly the weakest story is the last (I expect those to be buried in the middle). Not that it is bad, but it has just an average, 'as expected' plot.

[Susan]

I am enjoying Good Me, Bad Me - promising debut if anyone likes psychological thrillers.

[Lynne]

Sandy wrote: "I've read the first two, of four, stories in The Mistletoe Murder: And Other Stories by P.D.James. Both had interesting twists that got me thinking. I believe the next two are early..."

I find PD James' books to be more than mysteries---they definitely are good mysteries, but also good solid fiction. Many mysteries are such quick reads, a person can whiz through them. But I never whiz through PD James.

[Susan]

No, I agree, Lynne. I love P D James.

[Jill]

Just finished The Complaints by Ian Rankin, which I found to be very good. I liked the character Fox , and think he is every bit as likeable as Rebus.

[T.G.]

Hello! I've just finished reading Death at Delphi by Edward Turbeville . It's not set in the 1920s etc era but it is definitely in the vein of a classic golden age whodunnit. I'd highly recommend it and Murder on the Strike of Five by M.P. Peacock. Both had me guessing to the very end and I loved them both!

[Lady Clementina]

I just started Towards Zero by Agatha Christie- after a long long time. I found, I don;t actually remember very many of the details which is making it all the more fun to read.

[Susan]

I just started Rattle. Quite creepy!

[Lynne]

I have a confession to make----I started too many lengthy books (like Middlemarch for the Victorians Group and Barnaby Rudge for my periodic Dickens fix) and haven't even got a mystery going at the moment. I can't remember the last time that happened! I am truly ashamed and hope all here will take it for only the lapse that it is. Actually I am chipping away at the Hercule Poirot Complete Short Stories, and also I think PC Doherty's Hawk Amongst Doves may count, sort of. Most of his are historical mysteries. Confession over and I shall try to do better in the future!

[Lynne]

Susan wrote: "I just started Rattle. Quite creepy!"

Is Rattle a mystery? Horror? What exactly? Trying to decide if it needs to go on my TBR pile?

[Lynne]

Lady Clementina wrote: "I just started Towards Zero by Agatha Christie- after a long long time. I found, I don;t actually remember very many of the details which is making it all the more fun to read."

I read Towards Zero a long time ago and also cannot remember what it is about. I generally like most Christie's, but definitely not all. My favorites are definitely Poirot and Marple, but I remember liking some of her non-series too.

[Lynne]

Susan wrote: "I am enjoying Good Me, Bad Me - promising debut if anyone likes psychological thrillers."

I tend to like psych thrillers so will look up more about Good Me, Bad Me. Seems to me I have heard about or read something about it somewhere.......

[Susan]

Lynne "Good Me, Bad Me," was really good. "Rattle," is a crime novel. I hardly think you need to be ashamed of your reading matter, when it is choc full of classics :)

I am also reading Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars: A Novel, which is set in Sixties London.

[Lynne]

Susan wrote: "Lynne "Good Me, Bad Me," was really good. "Rattle," is a crime novel. I hardly think you need to be ashamed of your reading matter, when it is choc full of classics :)

I am also reading [book:Miss..."
Thanks Susan!

[Carl]

Guys I need some advice, I've read all the Roy grace books I've read all the rebus books, I've read most of the d.i. Banks novels but have found the last few a little boring, I need someone new to start, someone modern that is going to keep me turning pages like Peter James managed with Roy grace, please guys, suggestions and a reason would be much appreciated

[Jill]

Carl, have you tried Mark Billingham?

[Lynne]

Maybe Harlan Coban? Or look on Amazon under Ian Rankin and see what other folks have bought after looking at him?

[Miss M]

Have you tried Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae? He's pretty rough around the edges but also very smart - puts procedure and good old-fashioned spade work back into crime fic just like Rebus...

Or for something different (yet still a crusty old copper), there's the Sheriff Walt Longmire series set in Wyoming -- or, Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch who's a hard bitten loner like Rebus...though no alcohol.

ETA: Rebus, Banks and Bosch are my all-time top three
ETA II: plus, the Icelandic Insp. Erlendur

[Abigail]

Well, there are always the classic Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker.

[Leslie]

Carl wrote: "Guys I need some advice, I've read all the Roy grace books I've read all the rebus books, I've read most of the d.i. Banks novels but have found the last few a little boring, I need someone new to ..."

I suggest trying Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series.

[Susan]

I would second McBride and Billingham as similar authors to the ones you liked. Christopher Brookmyre is another author that might appeal to you.

[Jan C]

I like McBride,. Another one I like is Robert Crais.

[Michelle]

Carl wrote: "Guys I need some advice, I've read all the Roy grace books I've read all the rebus books, I've read most of the d.i. Banks novels but have found the last few a little boring, I need someone new to ..."

J K Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith. The first one is The Cuckoo's Calling and it has a very crusty detective!

[Susan]

I liked that, Michelle. I read it without knowing it was J K Rowling (thankfully did not give the original to the charity shop!) and really should carry on the series.

[Phyllis]

Just finished Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart - not a mystery exactly, but very interesting historical fiction about the Kopp sisters - Constance Kopp was one of the first female deputy sheriffs in the U.S. Very well done, and the next in the series - Lady Cop Makes Trouble - is also out now.

[Sandy]

Phyllis wrote: "Just finished Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart - not a mystery exactly, but very interesting historical fiction about the Kopp sisters - Constance Kopp was one of the first female deputy sheriffs..."

I enjoyed both.

[Phyllis]

Sandy wrote: "Phyllis wrote: "Just finished Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart - not a mystery exactly, but very interesting historical fiction about the Kopp sisters - Constance Kopp was one of the first female..."

Good to know - I have the second one on hold at the library!

[Jill]

Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond is another detective

[Michelle]

Susan wrote: "I liked that, Michelle. I read it without knowing it was J K Rowling (thankfully did not give the original to the charity shop!) and really should carry on the series."

I've read them all. I think there is a TV series or film soon which may be worth a look

[Leslie]

Just finished The Long Lavender Look, a Travis McGee mystery by John D. MacDonald.

[Sandy]

I just finished Death Comes as the End, by Christie and set in ancient Egypt.

The book was okay. Christie knew archaeology and the facts and flavor seemed true to the times. The mystery was fine but most of the suspects were dead by the end. I gave it two stars as it just didn't engage me. I listened to the audio.

[Michelle]

So Carl, do any of these take your fancy? Let us know how you get on.

[Susan]

Just finished Rattle , which I loved. Have started Ragdoll, which is currently making a big noise and looks like being a huge hit for the author and also Plaid and Plagiarism , which is a bit so-so, at the moment.

[Judy]

I love the title 'Plaid and Plagiarism' - somewhat tempted by that one with its Highlands setting, so I'll be interested to read your review, Susan!

I've just finished a collection of short stories by GA authors, Serpents in Eden: Countryside Crimes. I loved this, although the non-Holmes short story by Arthur Conan Doyle is not one of his best.



I have really enjoyed a couple of other collections compiled by Martin Edwards in this series, and will try to fit in reading one of the BLCC seasonal collections in the next few weeks, Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries or the new one, Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries

[Susan]

I have nearly finished Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions which is about a sort of Bavarian Miss Marple in Sicily. Quite good, although I am not really clear why Auntie Poldi is so keen to investigate the murder in question!

[Susan]

I finished Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions. Not a fantastic read, although I think some of the book was lost in translation...

[[deleted user]]

Carl wrote: "Guys I need some advice, I've read all the Roy grace books I've read all the rebus books, I've read most of the d.i. Banks novels but have found the last few a little boring, I need someone new to ..."

Three of the modern series I really enjoy are Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ Bill Slider series (great characters and truly absorbing procedurals)—read them in order for the full benefit, beginning with 1991’s Orchestrated Death; John Harvey's wonderful Charlie Resnick series (details after this sentence); and Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series (set in Canada, the author's country). Gamache is a highly respected inspector who handpicks his team, including one we get to see grow with the series. The stories, the settings, the characters...all are brilliant. Regarding the Charlies Resnick series, I'd like to share a quote from Le Monde: “In total, Harvey paints a sensitive portrait of social and moral confusion in post-industrial and post-Thatcherite England, with its isolation, poverty, unemployment, and rising violence. On a more general level, he also paints a picture of life’s miseries, stroke by bluesy stroke; those indefinable emotions that are so difficult to talk about: life passing, death approaching, and love which does not last. And all with a keen sense of observation and an unerring eye for detail, well served by an understated style.”

[Judy]

Christine, I read a few of the Resnick books years ago and remember liking them a lot - some time I'd like to read the whole series through in order, and see the characters grow.

[[deleted user]]

Judy, for the last few years, I've been reading detective/mystery authors in order. Since some of the key authors began writing shortly after the turn of the century, I'm still reading several books written in the early 1930s. It seems each time I think I'm making headway, I "discover" yet another writer I wasn't aware of. I've been having a great time with it. I have to keep dozens of tables I created for each author so I can keep track of books as I read them. I began this project because, like so many others, I tired of finding out halfway through a book that I had read it before. It never happens to my anymore.

[Lynne]

Christine wrote: "Judy, for the last few years, I've been reading detective/mystery authors in order. Since some of the key authors began writing shortly after the turn of the century, I'm still reading several book..."

Christine, glad to find I am not the only list-maker and for the same reason. Some of the early authors were so prolific that without a list, it would be a mess to track. I would be interested to see your list of authors---like I really need more books!

[Judy]

Great idea to keep lists, Christine and Lynne. I think this is also one of the great advantages of Goodreads, that it's easier to keep track of what we've read by any author. I've also often found halfway through a book that I've read it before, but that doesn't seem to happen to me as often as it used to.

[Lynne]

Doesn't exactly fit the classic detective mode, but I am reading "A Rare Benedictine", the short story prequel to Ellis Peters Brother Cadfael series.

[Jill]

I have made a list of every paper book I have read since 2004, with the date I finished it. This was to make sure I didn't read books again, and also for me to store the ones I want to keep. The kindle ones I rely on Goodreads to tell me and Amazon. I always try to read books in the order they were written. My books are kept in order but the rest of my life is pretty much chaos (probably down to reading when I should be doing other things LOL)

[Jan C]

I don't keep lists of books I have already read. I have enough trouble with the books I am reading/waiting to read. I rely on Goodreads or Bookcrossing to find out whether I have already read it (when I can't remember the specific book).

[Susan]

I do sometimes make copies of lists of series I want to read - Fantastic Fiction is good, but sometimes they get things wrong, so you need to do a little research. I really hate reading a series out of order! I don't mind re-reading books though - I enjoy it. The Nicholas Blake I am reading at the moment is a re-read.

[Lynne]

I keep a "Book Journal". Authors, dates finished, etc. I just started a couple years ago, so everything before then is chaos. Sometimes something on GR will remind me, "Oh! I read that once-upon-a-time and loved it (or hated it)." A new section for every year divided into months.---also helps me keep track of where I am for the 75 book challenge. I know GR does that too, but even though I have a Kindle and do read books on it I can't get in "real" book-shape form, I still am an old-fashioned book reader at heart. I am 65, so that tells you where I am coming from. Though I have also been a professional geek, so am not a Luddite!

[Jill]

Yes ,Lynne, as I said ,I only started the list in 2004 so I am finding lots of books that I read before then but cannot put a date to. I have to admire authors, as if I think of a storyline, I am convinced that I must have read it at sometime and can't possibly be original.