What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread, 2019-2020 Showing 1,151-1,200 of 1,516

[Tania]

I agree Judy, I like the TV show, but while the books were easy, quick reads, I felt they were very badly written, with terrible characterisation. Entertaining enough for me to read a lot of them before deciding I'd had quite enough. One of the few instances where I thought the TV series was better than the books.

[Tania]

I finished Five Red Herrings. I have enjoyed this series as a whole, but with this one I got a bit lost in all the train timetables and missing bikes. By the end I couldn't have cared less whodunnit. Looking forward to the next one, however.

[Lady Clementina]

Tania wrote: "I agree Judy, I like the TV show, but while the books were easy, quick reads, I felt they were very badly written, with terrible characterisation. Entertaining enough for me to read a lot of them b..."

I didn't like the books either-have only read a couple but I did like her Hamish Macbeth books

[Judy]

Tania, I also found the train timetables made me glaze over in Five Red Herrings, though I loved the Lord Peter Wimsey series overall!

[Judy]

I haven't tried the Hamish Macbeth books, but again I did enjoy the TV series, starring Robert Carlyle.

[Carolien]

Memo wrote: "I just finished read Dorothy Simpson Inspector Luke Thanet Mystery Series . These books are written in the old school of the greats like Agatha Christie. Muders in a small village, w..."

I want to reread this series. Enjoyed it long ago when I found a few in the library. Now that they are available as ebooks, I can actually read the whole series.

[Vijay]

I am reading The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie. Miss Marple provides the necessary solutions to the mystery puzzle told by her friends. I am liking it so far and recommend it for those, who are interested in mystery short stories. They are very engaging!

[Jill]

Now starting A Grave Mistake Like Susan, it is hard to believe that we have moved on so many years in the author's writing.

[Tania]

Yesterday I finished Have His Carcase, the second book with Harriet Vane. I enjoyed it, but found the end dragged on a bit.
I have finally got hold of a copy of A Man Lay Dead, so have started that today. Better late than never.

[Colin]

Tania wrote:
I have finally got hold of a copy of [book:A Man Lay Dead|..."

If this is your first Marsh, bear in mind that she gets better. She's very hit and miss overall but this is far from her best.

[Tania]

It is, I'm enjoying it so far, and I find that is often the case with the GA writers, so I will. Thank you.

[Jill]

Have just started A Taste for Death. Started well with a with a captivating first chapter.

[Susan in NC]

I’m reading Who Speaks for the Damned, want to start our July read, Fell Murder next.

[Jill]

Susan in NC wrote: "I’m reading Who Speaks for the Damned, want to start our July read, Fell Murder next."

Hope you like Fell Murder as much as I did Susan

[Marwan]

Started reading The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters

[Sandy]

I made a quick trip to Flaxborough with Lonelyheart 4122. It is book I took out of the library back when such things were allowed. They are now accepting non-contact returns so I felt I should turn it in.

It is very much in the style of the others: a rather irreverent and humorous look at crime in Flaxborough. I plan to return.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have started the next P.D. James - A Taste for Death. It opens with a grisly murder and we don' t have to wait many pages before Dalglieish is on the scene.

There is a quite a span of years between publishing the last one and this one. I haven't looked at her publishing history, but I feel this is more mature even than the last which I noted was best of the series so far.

[Susan in NC]

Jill wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I’m reading Who Speaks for the Damned, want to start our July read, Fell Murder next."

Hope you like Fell Murder as much as I di..."

Thanks, Jill, so far I’ve only gotten through the first chapter, but I really enjoy Lorac’s writing. This is my fourth Macdonald mystery, I really like him as a character.

[Judy]

I've just started Fell Murder too and am enjoying it so far. Looking forward to our discussion.

[Gary]

Current mystery reads:

About halfway through The Walkers of Dembley by M.C. Beaton Agatha Raisin #4

At the 25% mark King's Ransom by Ed McBain 87th Precinct #10

[Sandy]

I've started A Late Phoenix as I needed to return one of my Kindle Unlimited books. This is the 4th in the series and I haven't read them very regularly but each time I'm surprised how recently they were written. They feel very GA. This one has a murder victim discovered in a bombed building site thirty(ish) years after the war.

P.S. It was published in 1971. Which may not seem recent to many of you.

[Colin]

I'm at the 60% point in Detection Unlimited by Georgette Heyer. I don't really like anyone in the story and her detective Hemingway is an insufferable prig, in my opinion. Frankly, it's all a bit tedious. I don't think I really like Heyer, I've read three or four of her mysteries now and not been all that taken by any of them.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Colin wrote: "I don't think I really like Heyer, I've read three or four of her mysteries now and not been all that taken by any of them."

Well, that's a yeoman effort. I know she is well-liked, but I haven't seen a title and/or description that made me want to look inside the cover.

[Sandy]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Colin wrote: "I don't think I really like Heyer, I've read three or four of her mysteries now and not been all that taken by any of them."

Well, that's a yeoman effort. I know she is well-liked, b..."

I agree that you have more than fair Colin. I wouldn't give an author I disliked that many chances. I like Heyer myself, her Regency romances even more than her mysteries but there are many popular authors that I don't like. Its not a problem as I have too many books on my TBR.

[Annabel]

Tania wrote: "Yesterday I finished Have His Carcase, the second book with Harriet Vane. I enjoyed it, but found the end dragged on a bit.
I have finally got hold of a copy of [book:A Man Lay Dead|..."

I find Have His Carcase an interesting one. The murder method is astonishingly elaborate but it has some very entertaining elements to it. But the overall tone of the story is quite bitter and I can't help wondering whether this was due to some author uneasiness about the progress of the relationship between Harriet and Lord Peter.

I am having a very self-indulgent reread of Patricia Wentworth's cosy mysteries. It makes me realise, not for the first time, how much they vary in quality.

[Susan in NC]

Currently reading my paperback of Fell Murder , and to keep an audiobook on the go for hands-free listening, started the Audible and ebook Hickory Dickory Dock , for our July reads.

[Susan in NC]

Annabel wrote: "Tania wrote: "Yesterday I finished Have His Carcase, the second book with Harriet Vane. I enjoyed it, but found the end dragged on a bit.
I have finally got hold of a copy of [book:A..."

I reread “Carcase” not terribly long ago, and then watched the Edward Petherbridge dramatization to compare. You’re right, I think, the bitterness was very much from the conflict between Harriet and Peter, and her calling him, then pushing him away, and his growing resentment. At least that’s how the conflict came across in the drama!

[Susan in NC]

Sandy wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Colin wrote: "I don't think I really like Heyer, I've read three or four of her mysteries now and not been all that taken by any of them."

Well, that's a yeoman effort. ..."

I agree with Sandy, Colin, I’m a big Heyer fan (of her mysteries and romances, not her stultifying historicals, ugh!), but you’ve been more than fair! I try a new author maybe twice (if fellow reviewers who i generally agree with really like an author, I’ll give them a second try, as I may have inadvertently picked a lesser effort), but three or four times, no! Life’s too short, too many books out there - I want to be entertained, not do homework.

I know what you mean - sometimes in Heyer, and other golden age series, the Bright Young Things who are often suspects (and sometimes, the detectives even), are so brittle, sarcastic and unlikable, I want to chuck the book aside!

[Judy]

We're just about halfway through the year now, so I'm just wondering what everyone's favourite reads so far in 2020 are, and which authors are your top discoveries of 2020?

I've just been looking back through my list, and my crime fiction favourites so far have been rereads, especially Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham which is one of my all-time favourites. I have also really enjoyed lots of our other reads here, including Death in Captivity and our forthcoming group read Fell Murder, which I've just finished.

This wasn't in 2020, but, looking back through my books, I remembered that I really enjoyed Rest You Merry over Christmas, so have downloaded the second in the Peter Shandy series, The Luck Runs Out, via Kindle Unlimited - I was also pleased to see that it comes with the Audible version. Hope to get on to that one soon.

[Colin]

My favorites this year? The year started better for me - I guess we could all say that though! - and I've recently hit on a number of mediocrities, not everything but enough to be noticeable.
Anyway, those I've had the best time with would be:

Carter Dickson (AKA John Dickson Carr) - The Peacock Feather Murders
Rex Stout - Black Orchids
Stuart Palmer - The Penguin Pool Murder
Agatha Christie - Ordeal By Innocence, and a reread of 4:50 from Paddington

[Susan]

I also enjoyed Fell Murder and another group read, Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

Other favourites have been Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin, my find of the year and Nothing Can Hurt You, very different, but I thought it was brilliant.

[Roman Clodia]

I tend to dip in and out of Detectives so am delighted that I've now clicked with PD James through our Challenge. I didn't like her Cordelia Grey books at all, DNF'd the second one rapidly - but the Dalgleish series is getting more and more interesting as she takes GA conventions into the latter half of the century and makes them modern.

[Sandy]

My favorite discovery this year is Deborah Crombie's Kincaid and James series that I have been devouring one after another.

Second favorite is Michael Gilbert as I loved both of his that we read.

There have been a lot of great reads this year, mostly continuations of favorite series. And there have been so many more reads in total as my evening entertainments were cancelled. I'm embarrassingly far ahead of my GR reading goal.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

RC, I'm with you. I am thoroughly enjoying PD James and Dalgliesh. I have also met Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Mantalbano and hope to find room for more. I'm very glad we're continuing with Christianna Brand.

Late last year I read my first by Walter Mosley, a US noir author. I hope to find myself in front of more. And then there are the perennial favorites of Rex Stout and Georges Simenon. I'm sure there are others, but those the ones that came to mind quickly.

[Bicky]

The authors that I have first read this year and have already come to love are Craig Johnson, Donna Leon and Jean-Luc Bannalec.

Interestingly, Donna Leon and Jean-Luc Bannalec both write about lands in which they were not born and bring a love to their setting, which is breathtaking. I am not usually fond of books written about lands not native to the author. Of course, this does not apply to writers born in countries with English as their mother tongue writing about each other!

Donna Leon is an American who has long lived in Venice but does not want her work translated into Italian. Jean-Luc Bannalec is the pen name of a German who is in love with Brittany.

It has also been a pleasure to rediscover Michael Gilbert.

[Jan C]

Only new author for me this year is Mignon G. Eberhart and her Nurse Sarah Keate stories. I'm up to my 4th one now, From This Dark Stairway.

Fairly prolific - 7 Nurse stories and 53 non-series books. From Nebraska. I had a few of her books on kindle but not early ones. So I have been picking them up along the way.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Bicky wrote: "The authors that I have first read this year and have already come to love are Craig Johnson, Donna Leon and Jean-Luc Bannalec."

I am hoping to read some more Donna Leon. I have managed to pick up two by Bannalec, but haven't gotten to him yet. You have encouraged me!

[Tara]

In addition to returning to old favorites, Agatha Christie and Ellis Peters, my favorite new finds were The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton and The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart. I plan on reading more of both when I can squeeze them in!

[Susan in NC]

Same here, with all the tumultuous world events and trying to keep up on the news, I am finding comfort in some old favorites, Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, Elizabeth Peters, and Charlotte MacLeod (she wrote the Peter Shandy series Judy mentioned above). Also enjoyed recently the latest C.S. Harris St. Cyr mystery, Who Speaks for the Damned, and will soon read another favorite, Alys Clare’s latest, The Indigo Ghosts, and Abir Mukherjee’s Death in the East.

I’d say my favorite new discovery is ECR Lorac, although in all fairness, I guess I discovered her last year, along with Mukherjee and his excellent Sam Wyndham series.

[Judy]

Susan in NC wrote: "Same here, with all the tumultuous world events and trying to keep up on the news, I am finding comfort in some old favorites, Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, Elizabeth Peters, and Charlotte MacLeod..."

I have actually just started the second in the Peter Shandy series by Charlotte MacLeod, The Luck Runs Out - the Kindle Unlimited loan included the Audible edition, read by John McLain who has a wonderful voice. I just Googled him and found lots about Bruce Willis' character in Die Hard! Editing to say I've just realised John McLain's voice sounds extremely similar to John Wayne's.

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Same here, with all the tumultuous world events and trying to keep up on the news, I am finding comfort in some old favorites, Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, Elizabeth Peters, a..."

Lol - I’m assuming your narrator is a different John McLain! But sounds like John Wayne, hmmm, trying to imagine that. I will definitely check it out - I love audiobooks, but have several old paperbacks of MacLeod’s Shandy series. Now I want to read those yet again, and check out the audiobooks!

[Susan]

Great to hear all our new reading discoveries and re-discoveries :)

[Judy]

Susan in NC wrote: "Lol - I’m assuming your narrator is a different John McLain! But sounds like John Wayne, hmmm, trying to imagine that. ..."

Might just sound like him to me as a Brit, of course. :)

[Tracey]

My favourite book of the year so far is The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin. As someone currently on maternity leave, I found I could relate far too easily to the main character! I also really enjoyed The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. I'm usually not a fan of time traveling fiction, but this really surprised me.

[Icewineanne]

Tracey wrote: "My favourite book of the year so far is The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin. As someone currently on maternity leave, I found I could relate far too easily to the m..."

Glad you liked 7 1/2 deaths Tracey. It’s in my summer reading pile!

[Marwan]

Started reading The Canceled Czech by Lawrence Block

[Annabel]

Judy wrote: "We're just about halfway through the year now, so I'm just wondering what everyone's favourite reads so far in 2020 are, and which authors are your top discoveries of 2020?

I've just been looking ..."

My favourite new author discovery was Jonathan Carr's amazing Make Me A City. I have yet to encounter anyone else who has read it, let alone enjoyed it, but I thought it was astonishing.

I also have a new author discovery by proxy, as much to my surprise, I persuaded my teenage son to start reading the Jeeves series. He is enjoying it so far and I hope he will stick to it. (He wants to read them in order - I said helplessly that I didn't think there was much order in a PG Wodehouse series. Other than the progress of Madeleine Bassett's unsuitable husband choices, I suppose.)

[Colin]

I've made a start on The Case of the Haven Hotel by Christopher Bush.
Bush has become one of my favorite authors and Ludovic Travers one of my favorite detectives so it's always a delight to spend some time in their company again.

[Sandy]

Annabel wrote: "Judy wrote: "We're just about halfway through the year now, so I'm just wondering what everyone's favourite reads so far in 2020 are, and which authors are your top discoveries of 2020?

I've just ..."

Re Woodhouse: And some of the series are interconnected, so #3 in one will be the first in another. Good luck to him and I'm sure he will enjoy the journey regardless of the path.

[Sandy]

I'm finally starting A Taste for Death. I was surprised at its length and wish I hadn't waited as its due date is near. Luckily all (US) holiday celebrations have been cancelled and the weather is miserable.