What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread Showing 2,951-3,000 of 4,457

[Jill]

It does tell you which ones are the Tremayne series.
Just finished The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill A ghost story but still a mystery.
Now starting Artists in Crime for June group read

[Judy]

Only the 5 reprints - I think some of the others are Tremaine books too. Sorry I wasn’t clear before.

[Susan]

https://prettysinister.blogspot.co.uk...

According to this article there are 2 other Tremaine books outside the reprints - "Five of Francis Duncan's mystery novels featuring Mordecai Tremaine have been reprinted by Vintage Books in their Death's Head Moth imprint. The other two are In at the Red and Murder for Christmas".

Sounds an interesting find, but I am not sure how complete that list is.

[Susan]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

He sounds a fascinating man, Judy. This article suggests there are nine titles! Confused?!

http://moonlight-detective.blogspot.c...

"five of (reportedly) nine titles from the author's series about a retired tobacconist, Mordecai Tremaine – who's also an amateur criminologist and professional murder-magnet".

[Judy]

Thanks so much for posting the links, Susan! If there are nine titles altogether, I hope Vintage gets round to reprinting the others. The one I'm reading at the moment works well on its own, but does mention that there were earlier cases.

I think the first blogger is just mentioning the other two books in the five reprints, after discussing three of them in his post. Murder for Christmas was the first one to be reprinted, and In at the Red looks like a typo for In at the Death. I will bookmark this post to return to after reading more of the books.
:)

[Judy]

Sorry everyone, Goodreads went mad and posted my last comment about 10 times. I have removed the duplicates! Hoping it does not do the same with this one.

[Elinor]

I finished Murder Most Unladylike and really liked it ! It was fun, well written, with endearing characters, and the plot was good, especially for a children's book. I have found a new series ^^

[Fred]

I just finished "The Dain Curse" by Dashiell Hammett. Even though this is a hard-boiled the mystery the solution and the crimes that happened could have and probably were used by Agatha Christie.
I am reading at Michael Shayne mystery that I got at a library sale.
Whereas "The Dain Curse" was more literary, the Shayne mystery is more of an easy read.

[Pamela]

I'm reading a medieval (14th century) mystery The Merchant's Partner by Michael Jecks. It's the second book in a long series, I read the first one a while ago. I like the main characters, the mystery is OK.

[Tania]

Pamela wrote: "I'm reading a medieval (14th century) mystery The Merchant's Partner by Michael Jecks. It's the second book in a long series, I read the first one a while ago. I like t..."

They look interesting. I've downloaded a sample.

[Pamela]

Tania wrote: "I've downloaded a sample."

I'm interested to hear what you think.

[Jan C]

I've just started the second Craig Rice, The Corpse Steps Out and Ellery Queen's The Egyptian Cross Mystery is starting to get interesting.

[Annabel]

Reading Erle Stanley Gardiner's The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife. . I am reading these out of order, as I find them in secondhand bookshops. (They're quite hard to find these days.) I find them very soothing - the crime is always some incredibly complex white-collar fraud or domestic entanglement. It makes you realise how bizarre and unnecessary the contemporary obsession with violence against women and children in crime fiction is. They simply didn't seem to need that borrowed emotional capital in the Golden Age and the odd book that does have it (eg The Body In The Library) is all the worse for it, as far as I can see.

[Paperbackreader]

Jill wrote: "Now starting Artists in Crime for June group read ."

I listened to Artists in Crime narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch and was surprised by how good a narrator he is!

[Susan]

I look at that version, Paperbackreader, but it was abridged. I do need to start this one soon, though.

[Amy]

Annabel wrote: "Reading Erle Stanley Gardiner's The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife. The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife (A Perry Mason Mystery) by Erle Stanley Gardner. I am reading these out of order, as I find them in secondhand bookshops. (They're quite hard to find these days.) I find them very soothing - the crime is always some incredibly complex white-collar fraud or domestic entanglement. It makes you realise how bizarre and unnecessary the contemporary obsession with violence against women and children in crime fiction is. They simply didn't seem to need that borrowed emotional capital in the Golden Age and the odd book that does have it (eg The Body In The Library) is all the worse for it, as far as I can see.(..."

That is a fascinating observation and I've thought about it quite a bit since I originally read your post. It would be really interesting to keep a running tab of the mysteries I read (since it's one of my favorite genres!) with respect to publication date and gender/age of victim.

[Amy]

Just started:

The Devil's Novice

I'm reading the series in order at the rate of one or two a year. Great series. I remember my grandmother reading these books when I was a kid and later we watched all the Cadfael shows together. I find that I remember almost none of the plots though.

[Tara]

Amy wrote: "Just started:

The Devil's Novice

I'm reading the series in order at the rate of one or two a year. Great series. I remember my grandmother reading these books when I was a kid and l..."
I was drawn to these books as a kid, mainly because I loved the cover art that was reminiscent of stained glass windows. I've read a bunch of the books, but not in order, and spread out over many years. I recently got an abridged collection of the audiobooks from audible that were fun to listen to as the narrator is Derek Jacobi, who also starred in the shows. One suspects that a lot of murders from that time period went unsolved (if they were classified as murders at all), so its interesting to see how they can be solved before modern technological advancements (or even fingerprinting) were available.

[Susan]

Annabel makes a good point about modern victims. Often, in GA novels, they are wealthy businessmen; rarely are victims children. I agree that GA authors did not need that kind of tragic, emotional pull. In fact, often, the victim was a blackmailer, or other ne'er do well (to borrow the slang of the time!) and readers were not meant to care too much about their fate, but just puzzle out who did it.

[Annabel]

I've been wondering where all that started - the intense focus on victims and their vulnerability and their tragedy and the suffering of their bereaved/worried family members. In the UK, was it Nicci French? Or is it an influence from television drama?

I've often heard it said that GA novels were deliberately cosy, with unpleasant victims no one cared about, because everyone was traumatised about the world wars and needed something gentle. Which may partially explain it, I suppose. But I certainly don't feel that the opposite is true now!

[Roman Clodia]

On the other hand, there are certainly Christie books where the victim is someone we care about. I don't want to give spoilers but am thinking of, say, The Body in the Library, Nemesis, Peril at End House.

I seem to remember both Poirot and Miss Marple commenting on the wickedness of depriving a young woman of her future life. Granted they're not gory or focused on rape and/or torture as has been the case in more modern books, but I've never found Christie as 'cosy' as she is sometimes claimed to be.

[Amy]

I feel very silly and like I probably should know the answer to this but who is GA?

[Jan C]

Amy wrote: "I feel very silly and like I probably should know the answer to this but who is GA?"

Golden Age - as in most of the mysteries read in this group.

I sometimes have brain freezes about it, too.

[Paperbackreader]

Roman Clodia wrote: "On the other hand, there are certainly Christie books where the victim is someone we care about. I don't want to give spoilers but am thinking of, say, The Body in the Library, Nemesis, Peril at End House. "

I agree. Christie often had victims who were sympathetic. She even had children/teenaged victims. Also, I can think of a Ngaio Marsh victim whose rather cruel death shook me! But it is true that, overall, GA authors wrote books that had 'evil' or 'unsatisfactory' people as the victims.

[Amy]

Jan C wrote: "Amy wrote: "I feel very silly and like I probably should know the answer to this but who is GA?"

Golden Age - as in most of the mysteries read in this group.

I sometimes have brain freezes about..."

Thank you!

[Judy]

I'm reading Artists in Crime now too, and enjoying it so far - I had remembered it as one of my favourites in the series. Looking forward to or discussion.

[Judy]

I've read some GA books with sympathetic victims - one or two by Nicholas Blake come to mind. But they don't usually dwell on the details of the death in a gory way.

[Susan]

Yes, there are sometimes sympathetic victims, but a great deal more male victims than seem to appear in current crime books - almost every victim seems to be a young woman or a child these days.

[Sandy]

I am reading a new Ruth Galloway, The Dark Angel (no link!). A favorite series. No murder in the first third, but tension and all the lead characters.

I am next in line for the latest Maisie Dobbs so expect to be reading that next weekend, with Artists In Crime and a quick review of A Quiet Life in the Country during the week.

[Jill]

I am reading A Quiet Life In The Country. I had not realised this is really a collection of overly-long stories rather than one. I have read the first two, but as none of the reviews on Goodreads or Amazon say that this is more than one story, I am wondering if I need to read the whole book, or will the discussion only be on the first story?

[Lorraine]

I'm reading The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz, interesting twist. Started A Quiet Life in the Country, a cozy, cozy, should be a fast read. 25% through, only one mystery so far.

[Judy]

I've also started A Quiet Life in the Country - 40% of the day through, only one mystery so far. This seems like a very quick read, so as soon as I finish I will report back on whether there are any other stories in my edition!

[Jill]

Judy wrote: "I've also started A Quiet Life in the Country - 40% of the day through, only one mystery so far. This seems like a very quick read, so as soon as I finish I will report back on whether there are an..."

Thanks

[Judy]

I've now discovered the answer to this, after looking at the author's page on Goodreads. This was originally a self-published collection of separate stories, but was reworked to turn it into a novel - so it sounds as if you have an older edition, Jill.

It says on the author's page:
"The first two books were originally self-published. They were each a collection of four "episodes" (longer than short stories, shorter than "novellas"). When they were republished by Thomas & Mercer I reworked them so that they became novels.

It's difficult to describe the exact process without giving away spoilers, but some of the stories were merged and interweaved to form two single narratives.

[Judy]

This means we will be discussing all the storylines as I think for most of us they are all in one novel - but it is of course up to you whether you want to read them all, Jill! :)

[Jill]

Thanks for looking into that for me Judy. I was going to read them all anyway, but having seen people's reviews and them only tying up with the first story, and with them being more of a cozy nature than we usually read , I wanted to make sure I was reading the correct book.

[Bruce]

I’m currently reading the Winner by Baldacci, Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris, Jack and Jill by Patterson, and A Secret Rage by Charlaine Harris, and other non mysteries. (Mostly on audiobook). I agree with what the others above me have been saying about the current trend of crimes against vulnerable people, rapes etc,. I enjoy stories with social content, but it can be done without resorting to violence porn. Brilliant authors like Graham Greene used to be able to write mysteries and espionage with content without making them too disturbing.

I’m mostly reading some of these because I’ll be looking for a new library job at some point (I moved recently). Baldacci however is one of the better mainstream mystery writers and so far his content hasn’t been too disturbing. Patterson is a poor writer who somehow appeals to a mass audience, and sometimes has good stories, but I actually like his Alex Cross novels the least of his output. Still, even those are gripping.

The Charlaine Harris novel, although it deals with rape, is good, and even more so because she’s writing from her own experience as a former victim.

Actually, some of the disturbing elements in mysteries can probably be traced at least as far back as Arthur Conan Doyle’s the Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, and stories such as the Illustrious Client and the Veiled Lodger. Probably further back.

Doyle wrote the Casebook after losing his son in WWI, so he had a much darker outlook on the world by that point. In many cases authors write darker literature in the periods following darker and violent times.

[Lorraine]

Judy wrote: "This means we will be discussing all the storylines as I think for most of us they are all in one novel - but it is of course up to you whether you want to read them all, Jill! :)"

Which means, I believe, I should also read In the Market for Murder and Death Around the Bend.

[Judy]

Lorraine wrote: "Which means, I believe, I should also read In the Market for Murder and Death Around the Bend. ..."

Thanks for checking, Lorraine - no, we will only be discussing the one book, A Quiet Life in the Country. The confusion has been caused because in some editions the story is broken up into separate episodes.

The books you mentioned are sequels, which won't be included in our discussion. Hope this makes sense, but it is a bit confusing!

[Susan]

I listened to the audio version and, I have to say, if the author turned some short stories into a novel, she did a pretty good job. It didn't read like anything other than a novel, to me.

[Lorraine]

Judy wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "Which means, I believe, I should also read In the Market for Murder and Death Around the Bend. ..."

Thanks for checking, Lorraine - no, we will only be discussing the one book, A ..."

Thanks, got it.

[Amy]

Finished Why Kings Confess. Pretty splendid. Not cozy but a good mystery. I liked it better than others in her series because the "love interest" I hate wasn't featured in it.

[Susan]

Love interests can be tricky things, Amy. I must admit I was nervous about meeting Agatha Troy in our next Alleyn book, but I am enjoying it so far.

[Paperbackreader]

Susan wrote: "Love interests can be tricky things, Amy. I must admit I was nervous about meeting Agatha Troy in our next Alleyn book, but I am enjoying it so far."

I remember liking Troy when I read Artists in Crime and Death in a White Tie, two of the novels pivotal for the introduction and development of her character. I remember enjoying Final Curtain too, where we see most of the other characters through her eyes. I would say she is not as terrible as some of the other love interests we meet in mysteries.

[Pamela]

I am currently reading Arrest the Bishop? by Winifred Peck. It's quite sweet but a bit slow, so I've started Artists in Crime as well. I think I've read it before though, it seems very familiar!

[Judy]

I like Agatha Troy, but agree that love interests in detective novels can be a problem, especially if they are over- perfect! Often Mr or Miss Wrong is more interesting. :)

[Annabel]

Also, I think a lot of crime novels have moved from the pure problem-solving puzzle, usually involving professional investigators after the crime, to focusing on the tension and fear experienced by witnesses, victims, suspects etc DURING the phase of the crime. We're seeing an awful lot more kidnappings and domestic abuse scenarios, because these can drag out for ages and be played out in the narrative of the person experiencing or witnessing the nightmare, whereas once you've been murdered, you've been murdered! You can't continue to narrate how awful everything is (unless you're the girl in The Lovely Bones...).

There also seems to be this idea on the part of authors and publishers that we readers can't properly relate to anything unless we're put right at the heart of the mystery, experiencing every second of the drama inside the skin of someone like ourselves - ie, ordinary person, possible victim. Personally, I feel I can relate at will to being a brilliant courtroom lawyer with a mind like a steel trap or a ruthless secret agent, but there it is.

[Roman Clodia]

Well put, Annabel! I agree with all your points, and it's precisely the puzzle-solving that draws me back to Christie, Tey and other GA writers. Oh, and Sherlock Holmes, of course.

[Jill]

Finished A quiet life in the Country . Have now started The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer I have read Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective and as this is set in a place I know well , I thought I would try it. I am finding it quite repetitive though

[Tr1sha]

I have just finished reading Raven Black - Ann Cleeves. This is the first of the series & I will definitely read more. I tried to watch the tv series Shetland but couldn’t get interested. In my opinion the book is much better.