Reading the Detectives discussion
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What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread, 2019-2020
Susan in NC wrote: "Judy wrote: "I also enjoyed that piece - especially "The village shop. They sell cheese, stamps, tea, and death."My mum used to run one years ago!"
I’m so glad you survived- probably never knew ..."
Glad everyone is enjoying it- I did too!
I've just started A Death of No Importance, which is set in 1900's New York. I like the change of scenery: so many historical mysteries (in English anyway) have English settings (mainly so the authors can get all gooey over titles and manors, IMHO).
Judy wrote: "I've started A Mind to Murder for our challenge."I'm set to start this later today. Looking forward to it!
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Looks good, Doris. I wouldn't mind authors getting gooey over titles, but they, so often, get them wrong :)
A Death of No Importance is currently 99p on kindle, if anyone wants to give it a try.
Susan wrote: "I wouldn't mind authors getting gooey over titles, but they, so often, get them wrong :)"I will abandon a book who doesn't know the rules. They are not immensely complicated, there's any number of reference sites, and they choose to introduce peers, and baronets - all of whom seem to have married daughters of Earls or Dukes, since their wives are Lady Mary X. (On the other hand, I have noticed this sloppiness with the BBC in recent years ...)
Susan wrote: "Doris wrote: "I've just started A Death of No Importance, which is set in 1900's New York. I like the change of scenery: so many historical mysteries (in English anyway) have Englis..."I do like that series, it’s well done and interesting. I decided to listen to the Miss Silver I started, The Clock Strikes Twelve, as the narrator is very enjoyable. Also reading And Dangerous to Know from my library, then I want to get back to Arrest the Bishop?.
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Judy wrote: "A Death of No Importance looks interesting - as well as the change of scenery, I like the idea of a ladies' maid being the detective, and showing things from a different angle. I agree there are ra..."It is an interesting and different POV to have a servant as the detective - she is close to the family she serves, not treated as invisible, but she does see and hear a lot that helps in her investigations.
Jill wrote: "I have started Arrest the Bishop? for the group read. Seems interesting."I'll be starting that soon!
Ha ha ha! It looks like I have started a trend :)Susan in NC wrote: "Judy wrote: "A Death of No Importance looks interesting - as well as the change of scenery, I like the idea of a ladies' maid being the detective, and showing things from a different angle. I agree..."
Susan wrote: "Doris wrote: "I've just started A Death of No Importance, which is set in 1900's New York. I like the change of scenery: so many historical mysteries (in English anyway) have Englis..."
Doris wrote: "I've just started A Death of No Importance, which is set in 1900's New York. I like the change of scenery: so many historical mysteries (in English anyway) have English settings (ma..."
Leslie wrote: "I have finished several mysteries recently - Hag's Nook (as part of the buddy read here), A Quiet Life In The Country & A Death of No Importance (the l..."
Susan wrote: "Doris wrote: "I've just started A Death of No Importance, which is set in 1900's New York. I like the change of scenery: so many historical mysteries (in English anyway) have Englis..."Sadly not here. Our kindle price is $10.99 😢
P.D. James is even better in A Mind to Murder than in Cover Her Face. I hope others are looking forward to it.
I just finished A Right to Die, the 40th book in the Nero Wolfe series. It is an interesting entry in the series in that Wolfe discusses race relations & the Civil Rights movement with his black client (the book was published in 1964) - generally Stout doesn't include social commentary. Plus, his client was a minor character in a much earlier book (Too Many Cooks); his character has aged appropriately for the passage of time between the books (26 years) making him a middle-aged man starting to turn grey in this book. Of course, as readers of the series will know already, none of the regular or semi-regular characters in the series age at all. So Archie, who had been at least 10 years older than this man in the earlier book is now about 15 years younger! And somehow, Stout manages to pull this off.
I started Unnatural Causes by PD James
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Oh the magic of fiction! I have followed series in which the characters age and those where they don't. Either can work. But having one character age while Wolfe and Archie don't shows how much the readers were invested in life in the brownstone.
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I also like A Mind to Murder better: more Dalglish and an interesting setting and cast.
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I liked N or M and By the Pricking of My Thumbs the best of the Tommy and Tuppence stories.
Sandy wrote: "Oh the magic of fiction! I have followed series in which the characters age and those where they don't. Either can work. But having one character age while Wolfe and Archie don't shows how much the readers were invested in life in the brownstone."Reginald Hill's detectives Dalziel and Pascoe did age slightly over the series - Pascoe married and had a child who must have ended up around 10 (never quite stated, I think). But over the course of the series the real world continued - from the 70s, through the Miners' Strike to mobile phones. He explained that the recurrent characters were on an express train, while the real world was on the slow train. They called at the various stations, but took far less time between stops.
Rosina wrote: "the recurrent characters were on an express train, while the real world was on the slow train. They called at the various stations, but took far less time between stops. ..."I like that!
It never bothers me if characters get out of sync with the world they live in though. I'm just glad that there are more books to read about them. Imagine if Poirot had only done on or two cases and then really retired.
Well, actually, if Agatha Christie had had her way, I think that's exactly what would have happened of course. She got fed up with him didn't she.
A few months ago I read Cat Among the Pigeons. It pootles along quite happily for about three quarters of the story. Then Poirot rocks up to investigate. As I was reading it I imagined that perhaps originally he didn't appear at all, but then the publishers insisted on shoe-horning him into the plot! I might be quite wrong of course, but he felt 'bolted on' rather than integral to the story.
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I have just started End of Chapter
, one of next months' buddy reads. This mystery is set in a publishers and Cecil Day-Lewis did work in one - always a favoured occupation for GA authors I think - so I am looking forward to lots of office gossip, sniping and murder...
Doris wrote: "I've just started A Death of No Importance, which is set in 1900's New York. I like the change of scenery: so many historical mysteries (in English anyway) have English settings (ma..."If you like that New York setting, I highly recommend Cuyler Overholt's series starting with A Deadly Affection.
Sandy wrote: "I finished N or M? today. It is Tommy and Tuppence in middle age and fighting espionage in WWII. I enjoyed this one more than many of the duo's other adventures."N or M? was my favorite T&T book by far. Sometimes their overexuberance can be annoying, but it worked well here.
Sue wrote: "Rosina wrote: "the recurrent characters were on an express train, while the real world was on the slow train. They called at the various stations, but took far less time between stops. ..."I like..."
I often thought the Miss Marple books felt like she was shoe-horned in. You always wanted a bit more!
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I couldn't resist this after previously enjoying another collection of railway-themed mysteries which the actor originally read on the radio, Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Thrilling Stories of the Railway. These are 30 rather than 15 minutes and a lot of fun. I also think writer John Taylor gets the Conan Doyle tone well, judging by the two I've listened to so far, although his version of Holmes doesn't quite have the tortured genius quality of the original.
Tara, I agree. I thought the villain in The Secret Adversary and his motive was incredibly far fetched. The villain in The Man in the Brown Suit’s motivations we’re almost identical, if I remember correctly. Don’t get me wrong, I still liked both books. The short stories were good as well. I’m on the third Ngaio Marsh/Alleyn book, and I’m noticing the same thing with her books and not being too realistic when trying to talk about the issues of the time, mainly in the first and third book.
Bruce wrote: "Leslie, I’ve so far found the first two Maigret audiobooks on YouTube. You have to know what title to look for though, as his books have multiple titles."I asked for the first Maigret book for Christmas (Peter The Latvian) and have started it but I must admit I am not really warming to it yet. I want to persevere though as so many people love them and long-running series often become more likeable as they go along.
I also picked up the first in the Russian Erast Fandorin series, The Winter Queen
. It's quite fun but I didn't really like the ending so am unsure whether to continue with the series.I also have the new John Le Carre, Agent Running In The Field, on my TBR pile.
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I asked for the first Maigr..."
I had the same reaction to Winter Queen and didn't continue the series. Please report back if you do read the next.
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They do! Hope you continue. We have threads for all the books including a couple current day additions..
Thanks Sandy. I intend to carry on with them. I'll pop over and take a look at those threads.
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I finished a reread of Clouds of Witness via audiobook narrated by Ian Carmichael. Carmichael has the perfect voice for narrating these books, at least for me - ever since I watched him play Lord Peter on the PBS TV adaptations decades ago, he has been my mental image of the character (much as David Suchet has become Poirot for me).
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Currently reading Information Received by E. R. Punshon. The first of his books that I've ever tried. Very good so far.
Tania and Annabel, it’s hard to know what Maigret is doing most of the time, but he always has a purpose. Very much a bloodhound. The novels are closer to noir than golden age English detectives, and indeed were written close to the time of Dashiell Hammett’s novels.
In addition to playing Wimsey, he also played Wooster on the 60’s series. I believe all or most of the episodes are lost.
Bev wrote: "Currently reading Information Received by E. R. Punshon. The first of his books that I've ever tried. Very good so far."I've read a few of these Punshon books having picked up a fair few free or for a pittance on Kindle. So far, I've found them just OK... ish.
The author has not especially enthused me and I don't feel the need to rush back to the series any time soon.
Right now, I'm in the middle of Meet Me at the Morgue by Ross MacDonald, a non-Archer title, and it's working out just fine.
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Author Celia Fremlin is another that has - fairly recently - been re-published. This is a very creepy psychological, domestic thriller, before they really existed. If anyone likes Patricia Highsmith, you might want to give her a try.
Other obligations will keep me from reading so much this week, but I’ve got two library books I’ve been waiting for and want to get to, Death Comes to the Nursery
and The Case of the Reincarnated Client
. I’ve read every book in both series and have enjoyed the characters and settings, so I’ll be working on those along with Poirot! Hope everyone has an enjoyable reading week!
Susan wrote: "I am currently reading The Hours Before Dawn Author Celia Fremlin is another that has - fairly recently - been re-publishe..."
I'm looking forward to that one soon, Susan.
Reading the Detectives
Books mentioned in this topic
The Constant Rabbit (other topics)The Thursday Murder Club (other topics)
Gallows Court (other topics)
The Thursday Murder Club (other topics)
Gallows Court (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
P.D. James (other topics)Vanda Symon (other topics)
Michael Robotham (other topics)
Domenica de Rosa (other topics)
Elly Griffiths (other topics)
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I have only read the first Miss Silver, which I think I read here with this group, but would love to get back to them.