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

[Susan in NC]

I just started Information Received .

[Judy]

Hope you enjoy Information Received, Susan - I enjoyed the interplay between Inspector Mitchell and Bobby Owen in that one.

[Susan]

I just started Snapshot

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "Hope you enjoy Information Received, Susan - I enjoyed the interplay between Inspector Mitchell and Bobby Owen in that one."

Thanks, I think I will - it’s a new author for me, but Bobby has just discovered the corpse and I’m enjoying the old school feel very much! Can’t wait to meet Mitchell.

[Annabel]

I am reading Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert.

It's set in a WW2 prison camp in Italy and there's a murder. It's not at all grim so far despite the setting - the tone is more like the early sections of A Great Escape.

I think it's one of the recent paperback reprints of 'Golden Age crime' although it doesn't quite fit that category. So far I'm really enjoying it - these reprints have been of variable quality but this one's well written and paced.

[Susan]

His daughter, Harriett Gilbert, does a BBC radio show - A Good Read

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/prof...

I keep meaning to read the re-printed Michael Gilbert books, Annabel.

[Annabel]

That's interesting to know, Susan. I find myself desperate to know whether the author was himself ever a POW but dare not read the book introduction until I've finished in case of spoilers. You would think you would have to have had that experience to write about it.

[Judy]

Annabel, according to Michael Gilbert's Wikipedia page, he served with the Honourable Artillery Company. in 1943, he was captured and taken as a prisoner of war in northern Italy near Parma.

[Susan]

He was a POW and sounded a very interesting man. I found his obituary, which says how he managed to fit everything into his very long, and busy life:

"How did he manage to do it all? By industry and application, of course, but also by taking advantage of the 50-minute morning train journey from his home in Kent to write some 500 words each day. This was an art he had learnt in wartime when, saving electricity as he felt was his duty, he took to reading for his law finals in the light provided by the Tube, three times round the Circle Line. The war, however, intervened before he was able to become articled as a solicitor."

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006...

[Susan in NC]

Susan wrote: "He was a POW and sounded a very interesting man. I found his obituary, which says how he managed to fit everything into his very long, and busy life:

"How did he manage to do it all? By industry a..."

That’s what you call resilience!

[Susan]

Yes, I trust the Circle Line was less busy than it is now :)

It reminded me of Churchill's fictitious tube ride, in "Darkest Hour," which never actually happened.

“He’s only been on the Underground once,” were the words of his wife Clemmie, “and that was during the General Strike. I deposited him at South Kensington and he went round and round and round not knowing where to get out.”

[Judy]

That scene made me cringe, Susan - it was so obviously made up!

[Susan]

Much of the film was made up, to be honest. All the books I have read, have suggested Halifax was not keen to be PM for example. He was more involved in having an affair with Baba Metcalfe at the time. Indeed, as I discovered in, Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister at the time that Halifax might have been expected to form a government, he disappeared discretely to a dentist appointment, so he couldn't be found!

[Judy]

I'm reading The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton (Cecil Street), which is set in an East Anglian village, and enjoying it - but not much point in me getting hooked on this series, about detective Desmond Merrion, as only 2 of the 61 books are in print! I've already read the other one, Death in the Tunnel. A few books he wrote under another pseudonym, John Rhode, are in print though.

This is one disadvantage of British Library Crime Classics picking up an author compared to Dean Street Press - BLCC often tends to just print one or two titles, whereas DSP usually republishes everything!

[Susan]

That's annoying, Judy. You do need to publish everything - preferably in order :)

[Judy]

To be fair, I suppose as BLCC prints a lot of copies it is probably hard to do too many titles at once. Anyway, I hope they bring out a few more by Miles Burton.

I'm also reading one of the BLCC collections of short stories, Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries.

[Susan]

I can see why publishers want to publish an author's most popular book, but, as you say, it is difficult if you like a book, or an author, and then can't get your hands on the first book in a series.

[Judy]

This actually is the first one, although they published it after one of the later ones, I think.

[Annabel]

Yes. DSP are being very thorough about Patricia Wentworth, which I appreciate. Love that cover of the Miles Burton one though.

[Sandy]

Its a snowy holiday here, my walk is shoveled, and I plan to reward myself by listening to Death in the Clouds.

[Susan in NC]

Perfect way to spend a snowy Monday - enjoy and stay warm! We’re looking at getting some freezing 🥶 rain midweek, I hope they are wrong, always makes such a mess...

[Sandy]

Freezing rain is much worse than snow. Hope you miss it.

[Jan C]

Susan in NC wrote: "Perfect way to spend a snowy Monday - enjoy and stay warm! We’re looking at getting some freezing 🥶 rain midweek, I hope they are wrong, always makes such a mess..."

They say tomorrow night. Hope it will miss us.

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Perfect way to spend a snowy Monday - enjoy and stay warm! We’re looking at getting some freezing 🥶 rain midweek, I hope they are wrong, always makes such a mess..."

They say t..."

Me, too - you’re further west, in the mountains, right? Be safe!

[Susan in NC]

Sandy wrote: "Freezing rain is much worse than snow. Hope you miss it."

Thanks! You be careful on the roads tomorrow when everyone heads back out there.

[Jan C]

It has been raining since noonish but freezing rain/ice storm is supposed to be from 6 tonight until 4 tomorrow afternoon.

[Jemima]

I’ve never heard of freezing rain. Is that like hail? We were discussing last night in our AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) class the word for blizzard-which is weird because we would never use that word here and if we went overseas the sign would be different anyway. 😳

[ShanDizzy]

I am currently reading this delightful series which was on my GR homepage, you know, in one of the 'because you read this, you may like this' and I am enjoying it so far.

[ShanDizzy]

Susan in NC wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I think Sunbathers cements the idea of how young and inexperienced is Bobby Owens and how he is perceived by other detectives, including his boss, Mitchell. I don't know ..."

Susan I'm happy to see that you are reading one of my current obsessions - the Bobby Owen series. I'm on #11.

[Susan in NC]

Jemima wrote: "I’ve never heard of freezing rain. Is that like hail? We were discussing last night in our AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) class the word for blizzard-which is weird because we would never use th..."

No, it’s more like a very cold winter rain - the ground and surfaces (roads, bridges, stairs), are so cold that the cold rain freezes on contact - very dangerous for getting around!

[Susan in NC]

S Dizzy wrote: "I am currently reading this delightful series which was on my GR homepage, you know, in one of the 'because you read this, you may like this' and I am enjoying it so far. [bookcover:Murder at Harti..."

Can’t wait to see what you think, that series has been recommended to me, too.

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "It has been raining since noonish but freezing rain/ice storm is supposed to be from 6 tonight until 4 tomorrow afternoon."

Oh, yuck, be careful! Hope you keep power, and stay warm and dry.

[Jan C]

Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "It has been raining since noonish but freezing rain/ice storm is supposed to be from 6 tonight until 4 tomorrow afternoon."

Oh, yuck, be careful! Hope you keep power, and stay warm a..."

I was just reading the keep safe alert from Duke. Our power did go out during a snow storm earlier this year. I think it was out about 4-6 hours. Went out about 10 PM but they had it fixed by 1-2 AM. I think they must try to get it back on faster when it is cold. I don't think it would bother me so much except that the gas heat is powered by the electricity.

My brother used to tell me about the ice storms in Dallas when he lived there. The only people on the road would be the northern transplants. I don't like driving on ice - I've done it in Chicago but it is a joy I would rather pass on if possible.

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "It has been raining since noonish but freezing rain/ice storm is supposed to be from 6 tonight until 4 tomorrow afternoon."

Oh, yuck, be careful! Hope you keep po..."

I was born and raised and learned to drive in Chicago, and I don’t drive on ice! Too dangerous.

I agree, I think they definitely try to fix the power outages faster when it’s very cold - hope all is well this time for you.

[Sandy]

Jemima wrote: "I’ve never heard of freezing rain. Is that like hail? We were discussing last night in our AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) class the word for blizzard-which is weird because we would never use th..."

It is a very cold rain, falling on ground that is already very cold, so it freezes on contact and all is covered with ice. It looks quite beautiful as the world is glazed but it is dangerous as footing is treacherous and tree branches are heavy and break.

From Wiki: Freezing rain is the name given to rain maintained at temperatures below freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike a mixture of rain and snow, ice pellets, or hail, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

What happens is the the air aloft is warmer than the air at or near the ground. So it falls as rain. In the short time I lived in Portland, Oregon, years ago, they had what they called a "silver thaw". As is feared above, power outages are common, because the rain freezes on the power lines and become quite heavy. Also freezing on trees and the branches fall and break - often on those same power lines.

As for danger, think about walking on a frozen lake without ice skates, driving on ice is treacherous because the tires have no traction, etc.

[Jess]

I've just finished The Mystery of the Yellow Room here's my review the first of the Routebille series. I think Gaston Leroux write mystery much better than he writes horror.

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

[Tania]

Jess wrote: "I've just finished The Mystery of the Yellow Room here's my review the first of the Routebille series. I think Gaston Leroux write mystery much better than he writes horror.

https://..."

I have been meaning to try this sometime. At the moment I'm reading Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer. I haven't found it as easy to get into as her ther mysteries. It's still good though.

[Jemima]

Sounds quite terrifying. I slipped while driving on black ice in NZ once. It was terrifying. Please be careful all of you! We are at the other extreme of weather here. It was over 40 degrees Celsius for more than a week and got to 47. We were very nervous of bushfire. Fortunately winds were not excessive so fires that broke out were contained quickly. Ok so far but we are all hoping for some rain soon.

[Susan in NC]

I’m just starting the latest in one of my favorite series, The Golden Tresses of the Dead .

[Jan C]

We didn't have an ice storm. Just a lot of rain. And it is above freezing.

[Jill]

Started A B C Murders for the next Poirot read.

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "We didn't have an ice storm. Just a lot of rain. And it is above freezing."

Phew!

[Susan in NC]

Jemima wrote: "Sounds quite terrifying. I slipped while driving on black ice in NZ once. It was terrifying. Please be careful all of you! We are at the other extreme of weather here. It was over 40 degrees Celsiu..."

Stay cool, and be safe!

[Susan in NC]

S Dizzy wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I think Sunbathers cements the idea of how young and inexperienced is Bobby Owens and how he is perceived by other detectives, including his boss, Mit..."

Hey Shannon! Yes, I read the first and enjoyed it, but it seemed to drag on a bit in the last three chapters or so, so I skimmed to get to the reveal - I expected I knew what had happened, but wanted to be sure. I’ve got a few other books queuing up before I can get back to Bobby - it’ll take me awhile to catch up to the group - I don’t know when I’ll catch up to you!

But I really enjoyed the interplay between Mitchell and Bobby, and hope for more of that in the next couple books!

[Tara]

Not strictly speaking a mystery, but in the true crime genre, I am listening to The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York on audiobook loan from the library. The narrator is a bit monotone, but otherwise its fascinating subject material. Its amazing to think that 100 years ago, when forensic science was in its infancy, that they were able to determine when someone was poisoned, especially in cases where it could have easily been confused with lots of other ailments.

[Sandy]

Tara wrote: "Not strictly speaking a mystery, but in the true crime genre, I am listening to The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York[bookcover:The ..."

I listened to that quite awhile back and learned a lot. I was also surprised at how much was possible.

[Susan in NC]

Just started one of the March reads, Richardson's First Case . Waiting for my used copy of Swing, Brother, Swing to arrive! That’ll be next for me.

[Susan]

I did it the other way round, Susan. Just finished the Marsh and just started, Richardson's First Case.

Having taken my children to the Tower of London yesterday, I am thinking of re-reading a Shardlake.

[Judy]

I’m about to start the Basil Thomson one. Just read a short story by him in one collection which was pretty good.