Historical Mystery Lovers discussion
2016 Settings Challenge
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Historical Mysteries Settings Challenge (2016) - Particpant Threads
Carol wrote: "Veronica wrote: "How did you like that one, Carol? I've not read many books set in Russia, in any time period."I loved it, and Ryan should be better known than he is. If you like police procedura..."
That one's been on my TBR for quite awhile as well. Glad to hear it's good!
I finished my 12th book for this challenge:Kerry Greenwood's Murder On The Ballarat Train.My original post: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Aiming for Doctorate, current progress 17/20 books in 8/10 categories.Just finished Blind Justice for the Georgian england period. Quite a fun, fairly light book.
Still got quite a way to go if I want to reach history with honours. Trouble is, every time I finish a book in a series I want to keep going with it! Have to force myself to jump to another period now to get the numbers up.
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That's often my problem too, Nick. :-)
Mod
Nick, your original post link goes to your profile rather than your original post. Can you please fix it?
Thanks.
Lauren wrote: "Nick wrote: "Aiming for Doctorate, current progress 17/20 books in 8/10 categories..."Nick, your original post link goes to your profile rather than your original post. Can you please fix it?
Tha..."
Sorry about that, must have copied the wrong link. Fixed now!
Veronica wrote: "That's often my problem too, Nick. :-)"Good problem to have I guess ;) I loved the Japan setting ones, hadn't read anything set there before... ended up reading 5 in a row instead of moving on to the next category ;)
Just finished The Pericles Commission by Gary Corby. It was enjoyable, with a lot of fun twists and turns, but somewhat depressing in it's views of human nature particularly with regards to politics. Probably more so because it rings so true.Original Post
I have that one down to read for ancient Greece too. I think my library has it.
It's good :) Dangles quite a few threads throughout and ties them all up nicely at the end.
Shadows in Bronze, by Lindsey Davis, and only one more left to reach doctorate level.This is the second book in the series and as much as I enjoyed the first, this was much much better. It ends with such a bittersweet scene that it is almost painful to have to wrest myself away from the series and go on to the next category!
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I'm reading her Albia Flavia series right now and I'm looking forward to going back and picking up her Didio Falco series. A few of the Falco family members have made appearances and it makes me curious to meet them all.Doctorate level
Completed:7/15
Deadly Election - Ancient Rome
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I saw that when I was looking to see why the Didio series apparently stopped, Flavia is supposed to be a relative of Didio right?
Doctoral level complete, 20 books read in 11 categories. Finished Death Comes As Epiphany, which I didn't think I was going to like as the setting is drawn very sketchily without much detail, but the plot and characters were excellent and quite a different feel from similar-setting series i've read.
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Finished both A Terrible Beauty, the latest Lady Emily (loved it - it really had me hooked on the series again) and Lost Among the Living, which was fantastic as well.Updated list here.
I finished The Mingrelian Conspiracy by Michael Pearce, in the "early 20th century" category.Here's a link to my original post:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Mod
Congrats, Nick!And yes, Flavia Albia is one of Falco's family members.
Doctorate levelCompleted: 8/15
Medieval England: A Corpse at St Andrews Chapel
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I only have six categories so far. Need more!
I just completed my challenge with In Like Flynn by Rhys Bowen.This was fun! Even though I still stayed to true to some of my favorite authors, I have tried several new authors and settings throughout this challenge.
My original post: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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Have you tried P. B. Ryan for a Gilded Age mystery?
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This was fun! Even though I still stayed to true to some of my favorite authors, I have tried several ..."
Well done, Susan! I'm so glad you enjoyed the challenge and that you found new authors to enjoy.
Lauren wrote: "Veronica wrote: " I only have six categories so far. Need more! !"Have you tried P. B. Ryan for a Gilded Age mystery?"
Veronica, I enjoyed Still Life with Murder, the first of the series and Murder in a Mill Town, the next and plan on continuing. I'm hoping to get to ancient Greece or Rome, but its getting late in the year!
Finished What Angels Fear, on the trail of the final level now, History with honours :)Currently at 21/20 books and 12/19 categories, so one of each remaining category should do it.
Then i'm going back to read some more in some of these series, some of them have been really good! This challenge has been great for discovering series that we're not familiar with.
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Nick wrote: "This challenge has been great for discovering series that we're not familiar with."YES! I've found myself almost being unwilling to move on because I've discovered many new authors (thanks to the monthly reads as well) and want to just stay with them!
Meghan wrote: "YES! I've found myself almost being unwilling to move on because I've discovered many new authors (..."I have that problem too. I hadn't expected to enjoy the st cyr book at all for instance, but it was really an effort to move on to the next series instead of the next book in that one!
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We will have a different challenge for 2017. I'm working out the details now :0)
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That series is addictive. Its one of the rare times I've binge read a couple in a row.
Nick wrote: "Meghan wrote: "YES! I've found myself almost being unwilling to move on because I've discovered many new authors (..."I have that problem too. I hadn't expected to enjoy the st cyr book at all fo..."
The St Cyr series is one my favorites too.
Lauren and Sandy, I'll check out the Nell Sweeney series for Gilded Age. Thanks for the rec!
Lauren wrote: "I'm so glad that you have all been enjoying the challenge and discovered new authors and series to continue!We will have a different challenge for 2017. I'm working out the details now :0)"
Exciting, any advance hints you can give us? ;)
Veronica wrote: "That series is addictive. Its one of the rare times I've binge read a couple in a row"I'm dying to go back to it, but onwards first. Doesn't help that the next on my list was Hangman's daughter, and whilst it's very well written, i'm finding it way too grim to be really entertaining.
Finished The Hangman's Daughter. Remarkably good writing, good plotting, interesting character, speaks well of both author and translator.As mentioned earlier though, much too grim for my taste. Unlikely to go back to this series anytime soon, with so many other great options recently discovered.
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Mod
Nope, other than to say it is different to the Settings Challenge, but will hopefully be as successful at introducing members to new authors as well as enjoying familiar ones :0)
Lauren wrote: "Nick wrote: "Exciting, any advance hints you can give us? ;)"Nope, other than to say it is different to the Settings Challenge, but will hopefully be as successful at introducing members to new a..."
Looking forward to the announcement! And thanks for your time and effort.
Lauren wrote: "Nick wrote: "Exciting, any advance hints you can give us? ;)"Nope, other than to say it is different to the Settings Challenge, but will hopefully be as successful at introducing members to new a..."
Sounds great! I look forward to it. The settings challenge has been a blast and I, too, have found several new authors and series to enjoy, as well as time periods that I never thought I would be interested in. That's been the biggest thrill for me.
Likewise, I hadn't even realised there were historical crime books set in ancient japan, I devoured a bunch of those while travelling earlier in the year. I've found a couple of other series that i'll be jumping back to as soon as I've completed the challenge as well :)On that topic, finished Highgate Rise today. Back to a familiar series which was something of a relief after the unrestrained grimness of Hangman's Daughter. The pitt novels do have their share of grimness, but they tend to a touch of lightness and light as well, which makes all the difference.
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Finished Snobbery With Violence and really quite enjoyed it. It's a murderous wodehouse novel with Cartwright as the anti-wooster - lighthearted at times, deathly serious at others, and full of edwardian charm. A lot of fun.Original Post
Mod
Aubree - 10/15
Benjamin - 8/10
Candace - 1/3
Carol - 13/13
Dawn - 20/20
Denise -22/22
Gail - 9/9
Gretchen - 14/14
Gretchen II - 19/20
Jadetyger -5/10
Lauren - 10/10
Lindy-Lane - 4/15
Meghan - 23/23
Nick - 24/20
Paisley - 4/15
Rosina 2/10
Sandy - 14/14
Susan - 15/15
Veronica - 10/10 , 15/15, 7/15
Vicki - 25/25
Viji - 10/20+
Nick wrote: "Likewise, I hadn't even realised there were historical crime books set in ancient japan, I devoured a bunch of those while travelling earlier in the year. I've found a couple of other series that i..."Nice! I've read a few of the Monk books but never the Pitt ones. I'm starting the first Charlotte and Thomas Pitt book today.
I'll have to check out Snobbery With Violence. I've been looking for an Edwardian era mystery.
Veronica wrote: "Nice! I've read a few of the Monk books but never the Pitt ones. I'm starting the first Charlotte and Thomas Pitt book today.I'll have to check out Snobbery With Violence. I've been looking for an Edwardian era mystery. "
I'm the opposite, haven't read the monk books but read quite a few of the pitt ones. Actually, I listened to a lot of them as audiobooks, narrated by Davina Porter. She was an excellent narrator and they were quite good to listen to, but unfortunately a large number of the books in the middle of the series either don't have audiobook versions, or do but they have a different narrator which I find very annoying, so I actually read Highgate Rise rather than listened to it.
They're quite good either way, with a lot of focus on the tension between classes and especially the attitudes held by the upper class.
Snobbery feels a lot like a wodehouse novel, complete with oafish young drones making fools of themselves, young women anxious to make a good match, and of course imperturbable valets ;)
Nick wrote: "I'm the opposite, haven't read the monk books but read quite a few of the pitt ones. Actually, I listened to a lot of them as audiobooks, narrated by Davina Porter."She must be pretty popular in the historical fiction genre because she narrates the Sebastian St Cyr books too (which I love!). I started listening to the audiobook for Snobbery With Violence on my way in to work today and who should be narrating that but Davina Porter! lol
How did you like Gods of Gotham? I had bought that months ago at a Half-Price bookstore so was going to use that for the Antebellum category too. Earlier this year I read Jane Steele by the same author (a twist on the Jane Eyre story) and really enjoyed it.
I actually enjoyed gods of gotham more than I thought I would - i've left the american settings for last because they are generally the ones i'm least interested in (the civil war one i'm reading now isn't doing much for me).Gods of Gotham though was surprisingly engaging - I don't know much about New York in that era so the setting details were interesting, particularly the political stuff (talk about dodgy electioneering ;) ), and the crime itself was quite good.
It's all about children though, which puts me off a bit. For some reason I can read a hundred books about horrible, abominable things being done to adults without flickering an eyelid, but once children get involved... well, I don't enjoy it as much.
Not a grim as hangman's daughter, but pretty grim on the whole.
Just finished this one - Medieval Europe: Cure For A Charlatan by Caroline Roe (Nov. 5, 2016)Only one more category to get my Doctor of History.
My original post
Finished Faded Coat of Blue for the Civil War America category. Getting close to the end now.Original Post
Nick wrote: "It's all about children though, which puts me off a bit. For some reason I can read a hundred books about horrible, abominable things being done to adults without flickering an eyelid, but once children get involved... well, I don't enjoy it as much."I don't blame you. Thanks for the heads up. I'll go in a little prepared.
Doctorate levelCompleted: 9/15 books in 6/10 categories so far
Victorian England - The Cater Street Hangman
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Historical Mystery Lovers
Books mentioned in this topic
One for Sorrow (other topics)Shadows in Bronze (other topics)
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The Legatus Mystery (other topics)
Fire When Ready (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rebecca Kent (other topics)Paul Doherty (other topics)
Mary Reed (other topics)
Rosemary Rowe (other topics)
Lindsey Davis (other topics)
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Completed: 6/15
Regency England: Who Buries the Dead
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