What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread Showing 1,551-1,600 of 4,475

[Jill]

Just starting The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin. The second of the Malcolm Fox books. I liked the first one although I was apprehensive about the new character after the long run of Rhebus, but he has certainly lived up to the mark.

[Annabel]

I've just started The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards, which is about the Detection Club. It has some good reviews on here and seems quite interesting so far. I am hoping it will touch on non-DC authors of the time too, like Patricia Wentworth. I know so little about her.

[Judy]

I really enjoyed The Golden Age of Murder but I don't think there was anything about Patricia Wentworth in it, as far as I remember.

[Gary]

My current mystery reads are Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes by fellow Michigander Janel Gradowski and Tagged for Death by Sherry Harris.

[Abbey]

Judy wrote: "I really enjoyed The Golden Age of Murder..."

oh, goody. I downloaded it on Kindle a couple of days ago, looking forward to it!!

currently reading "The Mad Tea Party" long story (or short novella, 45 pages small type) from ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN, 1934
and likely to finish up rereading Ngaio Marsh ARTISTS IN CRIME, 1937 this weekend.

[Jill]

Keep reading those Golden Age mysteries, Abbey!!!!

[Carolien]

Gary wrote: "My current mystery reads are Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes by fellow Michigander Janel Gradowski and [bookcover:Tagged ..."

Tagged for Death is on my TBR so would like to hear what you think of it.

[Sandy]

I've started Dear Old Dead, the father's day entry in the Gregor K. series. Jane Haddam must have felt confined by her holiday theme as this book has little to do with the holiday.

[Susan]

Just finished The Incredible Crime by a relative of Jane Austen. Very much a Golden Age mystery, but gets a bit lost, plot wise.

[Jill]

Am just starting this book and it is rather odd. I saw it at a book sale and the cover was extremely eye-catching. The protagonist is a world famous magician who somehow gets caught up in the mystery surrounding the death of President Warren G. Harding. It is certainly different but I am not far along enough to decide about it.

Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold

I have read several book in the Great Merlini series in which the detective is a magician and they were fun reads.

by Clayton Rawson

[Sandy]

I am half through The Woman in Blue and loving it, for the personal relationships as well as the mystery. I had to read this fairly soon after the prior entry in the series as I am on the waiting list for the latest entry. Always feels good to be caught up. Then I get upset by having to wait.

[Annabel]

I mentioned earlier that I am reading The Golden Age of Murder, which is about the Golden Age writers and in particular those in the Detection Club. Just to say that this book is giving me such a long list of classics I had never heard of to add to my TBR pile!

Having read all of Christie, Sayer, Heyer, Wentworth, and some of Allingham, Marsh etc, I thought of myself as an expert on the Golden Age but am only now realising that I had only scratched the surface. Trent's Last Case (I know it's a group read at present so I am staying well away from that thread until I can find a copy), The Poisoned Chocolates Case, Malice Aforethought...

When it comes to short stories, I am less embarrassed as I read a few anthologies of detective stories when I was young which, I now discover, unsurprisingly selected the best ones. The Tea Leaf, for example, which I think is one of the most ingenious locked room mysteries I've come across. But I certainly have a lot of catching up to do on novels.

[Abbey]

Annabel wrote: "I mentioned earlier that I am reading The Golden Age of Murder, which is about the Golden Age writers and in particular those in the Detection Club. Just to say that this book is giving me such a long list..."

ohhh, yeah, Mis A, y'know, THAT way lies madness!!! (grin)

and if you'd like a, um, "deeper" (g) view, check out my Fems Project Shelves at My Books: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

my feeble attempt to (eventually...) read fem authors who I believe wrote in styles similar to Christie (she used many, many!) and were originally published around the same time as she was, and to also try and read them sequentially (sigggh). Started out only being for books/authors who wrote/pub'd 1920s, 1930s, but "somehow"... has grown exponentially.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED...

[Abbey]

btw, if anybody would be interested in such things, my bookshelves are rather large (grin) so if you'd like a quick(ish) list of names of particular fems Christie-style authors (remember, that's totaly, only per my personal opinion) let me know, can set up one and send in a bit, my own lists are a mite "complicated" (grin) ...suspect that ain't a surprise to anyone here!

but, as A is finding out, there's a TON of GA authors "out there"! that many, if not most of us haven't heard of! I'd also recommend btw, the current books by Sarah Weinman, not sure spelling, each reprints several great mysteries from 1940s, 1950s, of now-forgotten female authors who were, at the time, very famous and loved. She also writes extremely interesting and beautiful introductions, histories, etc, for these authors and suggests others.

[Marcus]

The Golden Age of Murder seems interesting Annabel. I will read it (that's is a promise!). Wanna be someday an expert in GA books like the ones we have here in the group.

[Judy]

Annabel wrote: "I mentioned earlier that I am reading The Golden Age of Murder, which is about the Golden Age writers and in particular those in the Detection Club. Just to say that this book is giving me such a l..."

I found just the same when I read this, Annabel - it gave me loads of names of authors to try. I've tried a few of them but still have many more to go. The Poisoned Chocolates Case is fun - I haven't read Malice Aforethought yet.

If you read on Kindle, Trent's Last Case is cheaper under the alternative title The Woman in Black (nothing to do with Susan Hill's book) at Amazon and there is also a free edition under that title at Gutenberg.

[Susan]

I just started Woman of State which is more a thriller than a crime book.

[Marwan]

Started The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

[Annabel]

The Daughter of Time is amazing. Possibly my favourite Josephine Tey, although it needs to contend with Brat Farrar for that honour. (The Franchise Affair trailing in third.)

[Sandy]

I am reading The Secret of Chimneys, in my feeble attempt to read Christie in order. Lots of humor, a likable scamp for the male lead, a bright and interesting female lead, enjoyable!

I want to reread Daughter of Time someday. Just seems unlikely with so many first reads.

[Abbey]

oh, Sandy, CHIMNEYS is one of my fave Christies, lots of fun. have you seen the film? Wonderful! Can't remember whether it's #1 or #2, but both it and SEVEN DIALS feature my second-fave Christie heroine, Bundle Brent, and Cheryl Campbell's portrayal is wonderful too. DIALS is avail for streaming but have had lots of trouble locating the film of CHIMNEYS I *know* I saw late 70s!

btw (grin) my MOST-fave Christie heroine is Anne Beddingfield of MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT - and it's obvious that Elizabeth Peters had her in mind when she wrote the Amelia Peobody series, the similarities between several Christie novels and the earliest Amelia books are lots of fun to spot!

[Abbey]

...and I know many, if not most Tey fans consider DAUGHTER OF TIME to be her very best (of several extremely good-to-superb novels), but my fave is MISS PYM DISPOSES, from mid-1940s, set in and around an exclusive girls' school, and the psychological - and physical - machinations and power plays that go on there both within the faculty and the student populations, and, most tellingly, between them. Absolutely chilling, but very, very subtly done, she slides things past you oh-so-softly.....

[Lady Clementina]

Abbey wrote: "oh, Sandy, CHIMNEYS is one of my fave Christies, lots of fun. have you seen the film? Wonderful! Can't remember whether it's #1 or #2, but both it and SEVEN DIALS feature my second-fave Christie he..."

I love Chimneys too - Seven Dials a little less because it is a tad silly but both are great fun nonetheless and very Wodehousian.

[Abbey]

Lady Clementina wrote: "I love Chimneys too - Seven Dials a little less because it is a tad silly but both are great fun nonetheless and very Wodehousian."

that was VERY popular style at the time, mid-1920s, Christie was playing to what her publishers thought the audience wanted, and those light'n'fluffy mysteries were big big sellers!

Allingham did the same sort of thing, initially (1929) Albert Campion was exTREMEly Bertie Wooster-ish and slowly moved into sharp-tongued and sharper-witted detective as the series progressed; she continued to use "that sort of bloke" as his camoflage (can't spell it...) for a long time, but readers became more accepting of the intelligence rather than the physical presentation of the detective in the 1930s. So did Sayers with Lord Peter circa beginning ~1923, initially "a total ass" but over time showed more overt brains and less "flummery".

[Jill]

The "silly ass" upper class detective persona began wearing thin on readers and Allingham and Sayers were wise enough to moderate Campion and Lord Peter into more likeable fellows. Ellery Queen did the same but S.S. Van Dine didn't get the message and his Philo Vance series has not held up as well over the years, although his early books still are interesting reads because of the plots and in spite of Vance.

[Annabel]

I adore Anthony Cade. As a teenager I thought him awfully dashing. And I would have loved to be like Anne Bedingfield, far more accessible an aspiration for a teenager than the wealthy, established Virginia Revel.

I can see the flaws in both those books now but I still love then for their irresistible liveliness.

[Sandy]

Abbey, I love the Amelia Peabody series but never spotted similarities to Christie. I hope to re-do Amelia on audio someday (having discovered Barbara Rosenblatt's narration) and will pay more attention. Thank you for the excuse to re-visit one of my favorite families.

And, another author has taken up the series: The Painted Queen. I'm excited but apprehensive.

[Susan]

The Amelia Peabody series is another I started and never finished. I must go back to it as I recall enjoying it a lot.

[Judy]

I seem to be mainly reading non-mysteries at the moment but am about to start next month's Miss Marple, The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.

[Judy]

Re the 'Silly Ass' detectives, I remember being disappointed as a teenager that Albert Campion became less silly in the later books! I can understand it more now though... as Jill says, this type of character could wear thin after a while.

[Abbey]

Sandy wrote: "Abbey, I love the Amelia Peabody series but never spotted similarities to Christie. I hope to re-do Amelia on audio someday (having discovered Barbara Rosenblatt's narration) and will pay more atte..."

CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK by Peabody, 1975 #1 Amelia, has tons of similarities to Christie's MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT, particularly the beginning, where we see Anne at home when and just after her anthropologist father dies - same family set-up, same Independent New Woman ethos for Anne and Amelia.

And CURSE OF THE PHAROHS (Amelia #2 or 3, not sure, its the one with Lady Baskerville) is a deliberate re-working of Christie's MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA, with the archeological dig set-up AND most of the characters being similar, and Amelia as the Poirot detective, lovely!

and Barbara Rosenblatt's narrations are wonderful.

[Lady Clementina]

Abbey wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Abbey, I love the Amelia Peabody series but never spotted similarities to Christie. I hope to re-do Amelia on audio someday (having discovered Barbara Rosenblatt's narration) and will..."
I haven't read the first Amelia Peabody yet but the ones I read made me think very much of the Mummy movies - though teh characters in the book were far "crazier" if anything. I wondered if they were an inspiration.

[Abbey]

Lady Clementina wrote: "I haven't read the first Amelia Peabody yet but the ones I read made me think very much of the Mummy movies - though teh characters in the book were far "crazier" if anything. I wondered if they were an inspiration.
"

well, I *do* remember that in the early-to-mid-1990s there was a lot of talk about an Amelia Peabody movie being made, but they producers wouldn't come to terms with Elizabeth Peters. They essentially stole some of her material tho, because I definitely remember that just around that time there was a movie with maybe Stephanie Zimbalist? as a suspiciously Amelia-like archeologist! and then the two famous Mummy movies were 1999 and 2001 or so, and Evie *is* smart and brave and wild at times like Amelia, but the plots are quite different, plus they're set in mid-1920s and early 1930s; the Amelia stories ran from ~1885 thru the early 1920s.

and another connection to an earlier topic: around 1980 Stephanie Zimbalist played Anne Beddingfield in a wonderful production of MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT, lots of fun, plus it had Rue McClanahan as Mrs van Zant the worldly-wise wealthy widow who befriends Anne.

[Lady Clementina]

Abbey wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "I haven't read the first Amelia Peabody yet but the ones I read made me think very much of the Mummy movies - though teh characters in the book were far "crazier" if anythin..."

The plots are very different of course but the characters felt to me similar - in their temperament and actions.

I didn't know about the series. And I ahven't seen that adaptation of Brown Suit either. Stephanie Zimbalist was the one in Remington Steele, right?

[Jill]

Has anyone here read the Peter Gammon series by David Whellams? I am now reading the first book, Walking Into the Ocean and can't figure out if I like it or not. It has sections that are quite interesting and then the author goes off on side trips into philosophy and inter-office politics. It got pretty bad reviews on GR but I am keeping at it since I am curious about the identity of the murderer. It is a rather odd British police procedural/mystery set in modern times.....and "odd" being the key word. Plus at 400+ plus pages, the story could have been cut down by deleting all the detective's musings to about 250.

[Abbey]

whoo hoo! Library just coughed up:

THE GIRL I USED TO BE, April Henry, reviews etc are great, sort-of YA (ykwim) but she's a good strong plotter usually, so have high hopes, the premise sounds wonderful: 3-yo's Mum killed in front of her, and Dad vanishes, he believed to have done it, she sent to Foster Care but 14 yrs later HIS body turns up close to where the Mother's body found and it's obvious that he was killed the same time and same way too. The now-17yo girl wants answers, goes home for the Dad's funeral and realizes nobody recognizes her sooo... a bit soapy, but might be fun, it's my weekend treat!

also received:
ISLAND OF TEARS, Troy Soos, NYC immigrants, and those who use and abuse them circa 1890s as a reporter searches for a missing woman. First in series, I *loved* his baseball historical mysteries from a decade or two ago!

DEATH IN THE OFF-SEASON, Francine Matthews, #1 Merry Folger, Nantucket, my summerish treat, if I can't GET to the islands physically, then...! and will probably also reread Phoebe Atwood Taylor's "Asey Mayo, Cape Cod" series this summer too, yum! She's one of my all-time faves, another of those "forgotten Fems" authors from between-the-wars that I so love!

[Susan]

Just started The Blind and plan to start Hamlet, Revenge! for next months buddy read.

[Judy]

I've just started The Quiet Girl by Peter Høeg which so far seems extremely well-written but confusing! I remember being both hooked and infuriated by Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by the same author years ago... this one could have the same effect.

[Jan C]

Trying to get back to Marsh's The Nursing Home Murder.

[Judy]

I'm giving up on The Quiet Girl - it jumps around too much for me to understand what is going on.

[Jill]

Jill wrote: "Has anyone here read the Peter Gammon series by David Whellams? I am now reading the first book, Walking Into the Ocean and can't figure out if I like it or not. It..."

I finished this book. No, no, no!!! Won't be reading any more in that series.

If anyone is interested here is my short review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Gary]

Carolien wrote: "Gary wrote: "My current mystery reads are Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes by fellow Michigander Janel Gradowski and [book..."

It was really good. I will be reading the second in the series as soon as I finish two of my current reads.

[Judy]

I've just started reading Italian noir novella Almost Blue by Carlo Lucarelli, set in Bologna. It's a compelling start - partly narrated by a blind witness who hears colours in people's voices.

[Carolien]

Gary wrote: "Carolien wrote: "Gary wrote: "My current mystery reads are Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes by fellow Michigander [author:Janel Gradowski|5..."

Thanks, I'm completely overloaded at work at the moment, but will get to this one soon.

[Jan C]

I've just gone back to/started Hag's Nook, the first Gideon Fell story by John Dickson Carr. Really enjoying it although I'm only 70 pp in.

[Susan]

Hag's Nook is one I keep meaning to read, but it isn't on kindle and I am really trying not to buy any more books, so it goes on the back burner again, Jan.

[Jan C]

I went to a used book sale yesterday (possibly going back today or tomorrow). Brought back a number of books for less than $20. Appear to have also picked up 4 books I have duplicates of or read years ago and totally forgot about. Oh, well, a head start on next year's donations.

[Jan C]

Susan wrote: "Hag's Nook is one I keep meaning to read, but it isn't on kindle and I am really trying not to buy any more books, so it goes on the back burner again, Jan."

Why has Hag's Nook been on my shelf for so long? I put it down at 3 AM and seriously considered continuing to read.

[Jill]

Jan C wrote: "I went to a used book sale yesterday (possibly going back today or tomorrow). Brought back a number of books for less than $20. Appear to have also picked up 4 books I have duplicates of or read ye..."

I'm glad that I am not the only one who often buys books that I already have!!!! Happy reading, Jan C.

[Emma]

The Big Four by Agatha Christie. I am loving it, it's magic!