English Mysteries Club discussion
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What are you Currently Reading?
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I read The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by Sharyn McCrumb This book is set in 1991-92 rural Tennessee Appalachia. It is a story of tragedy and hope. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black It is book 4 in this series, set in 1950s Ireland. I have read the previous 3 books in the series. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Maid by Nita Prose It is a mystery about a quirky heroine that was a Good Morning America pick. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...This is my 971st GR review. I hope to make 1,000 next year.
Thomas wrote: "I read The Maid by Nita Prose It is a mystery about a quirky heroine that was a Good Morning America pick. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7..."Good luck with your reading goal. Sounds very doable with the number of books you read each year.
Sue wrote: "Thomas wrote: "I read The Maid by Nita Prose It is a mystery about a quirky heroine that was a Good Morning America pick. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.co..."Thanks Sue
I read The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz: A Story of Survival by Anne SebbaIt is not an easy book to read, but informative. The author was able to interview some surviving members of the orchestra. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read As Texas Goes...: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda by Gail CollinsIt is not a mystery, but an explanation of how Texas damaged our nation. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Robert B. Parker's Hot Property by Mike Lupica I enjoyed it and recommend it to Parker fans. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Art Detective: Fakes, Frauds, and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasures by Philip Mould The author is the owner of an art gallery and appears regularly on BBC's Antiques Roadshow. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Hard Margins by Edward J. Delaney It is set in two time frames: Book I, 1958 and Book II, 1872, both in rural Wyoming. My 3 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Gray Dawn by Walter Mosley It is set in 1970 or 71 Los Angeles, California. My 3.5 star review rounded up. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm book-visiting the Scottish islands this summer. After (parts of) the Shetland series I have now landed on the Isle of Skye with the Misty Isle series. I like them both once I manage to overlook the incredible accumulation of murders in such small communities (much like the Iceland mystery phenomenon: there's a whole school of Icelandic mystery writers, each one merrily inventing murders galore in an island with about 1 actual murder case per year). The Shetland series consists of 2 tetralogies. I read 2 books in the first one (for reasons) beginning with Raven Black and all 4 of the second one, beginning with Dead Water. There will be a new series with the same MCs but set in the Orkneys.
The Misty Isle series has 6 books so far, beginning with A Long Time Dead.
... and while I have loved the subgenre "regional mystery" for a long time, I enjoy it even more in this era of google maps ;-)
Sabagrey, I know exactly what you mean! I also managed to suspend disbelief and fell madly in love with those series. If you’d like to linger a bit longer on the islands, Peter May’s Lewis Trilogy is a great choice. It’s set in the Outer Hebrides rather than Skye, but the atmosphere is just as powerful. I’ve read the first book, The Blackhouse, and actually found it even better than the Misty Isle series. I am planning to read the second one soon, but not to soon because I want to make It last.
Lucia wrote: "Sabagrey, I know exactly what you mean! I also managed to suspend disbelief and fell madly in love with those series. If you’d like to linger a bit longer on the islands, Peter May’s Lewis Trilogy ..."thank you for the hint! - yes, will definitely add the Outer Hebrides to my island collection, seems like a good idea!
I've been on Skye and to the Orkneys, long ago, as a student. Although you could buy ferry tickets at reduced rates with the Interrail pass, the more distant islands were out of my - financial - reach. And also the climate ("four seasons in a day" is a stark understatement) was hard on a continental European. My nose never stopped running. ;-)
sabagrey wrote: "Lucia wrote: "Sabagrey, I know exactly what you mean! I also managed to suspend disbelief and fell madly in love with those series. If you’d like to linger a bit longer on the islands, Peter May’s ..."Thanks for sharing your experience! I really wish I had had your chance. It must have been such an adventure, even if the more distant islands remained out of reach. I’ve never been to those places, and as things are now, it seems unlikely I’ll ever make this dream come true. The only thing I can do is let books carry me there… and try to imagine surviving the wild weather!
I read Picket Line: The Lost Novella by Elmore Leonard It is not a western or crime story, like Leonard's other books. It is a story about an effort to unionize farm workers in Texas. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens It is more of a thriller than a mystery, set in Canada. My 3.5 star review, rounded down, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've been reading a lot of Elizabeth Cadell, especially her mysteries. Recently finished Shadow on the Water and highly recommend. Just began Journey's Eve. Any Cadell fans?
Sharon, I have enjoyed a few Elizabeth Cadell and currently have two ordered from my library: Out of the Rain and Honey for Tea. But I didn't realize she's written books considered mysteries!
I read Cut Off from Sky and Earth by Melissa F. Miller. It is a psychological thriller with flashbacks to incidents in the past. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have read one or the other Inspector Rebus book over the years - many years. Some of them in translation, so I do not even know which ones in the series. Now I have decided to revisit them in order, and so I am reading Knots and Crosses. Not that Rebus is that young even at the beginning of the series, but he does still seem to be in his pupal stage: all there, but yet to unfold. (not that the chrysalis will be that splendid ;-))
I read The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery by Siddharth Kara. It is the story of a slave trader ship and the murder of some of the abducted people. It is history. My 5 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg It is book 6 in the Eve Ronin series. Both my wife and I enjoy this series and recommend it to mystery/police procedural fans. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
reading Devil Bones, no. 11 in Kathy Reichs' series. Middling so far ... lots of info-dump, and squeezing out more pages by repetitive details. Also, the attempts at flippant style seem forced. I find myself skimming the pages. I think I know more of the earlier books in the Temperance Brennan series, but I cannot be sure - my library has only German translations with wildly deviating titles, and some of them I have read years and years ago. Does the series generally go down the drain after, say, no. 10, or is this one merely a slump?
I read A Season for Spies by Iona Whishaw It is a spy story, set in WWII Britain. This book is a prequel to the Lane Winslow series, and can be read as a stand alone and/or a starter to the series. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor by Christine KuehnIt is a little known story of German spies paid by the Japanese government to gather information about Pearl Harbor ships, defenses, etc. My 4.5 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Murder with a Glass of Malvasia by Alexander Marriott It is a murder mystery set in Greece. The author is an American and the protagonist is a retired US police detective. My 3.5 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Murder in the House of Omari by Taku Ashibe It was somewhat difficult to follow. My 3.5 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read 1936: A Novel by John H. Grandits It is historical fiction, set in 1936 Buffalo,NY.My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read King City by Lee Goldberg It is a police procedural thriller/mystery set in Washington state, US. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I put the anthology
Golden Age Detective Stories, edited by Otto Penzler, on my "being read intermittently" shelf earlier this year; but since I read only a couple of pages then (long story!) I didn't mention it here. Now, however, I'm dipping into it seriously before starting a common read in another group on Oct. 1; and after that, I plan to get back to it later this year, while I wait for an interlibrary loan book.
I read True Fiction by Lee Goldberg It is a somewhat fanciful spy story. My 3.5 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee It is a police procedural set in 1920s Calcutta, India. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Alaska Bloodlust by J.L. Askew It is book 2 in a trilogy and I have read book 1. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read
by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland series. This is something of a continuation with the same detectives, but after a hiatus of four years, and set on the Orkneys. 3 stars,
I'll continue reading if this is a new series - but with caution, because with this author, I still dread some personal tragedy to hit the MCs.
... and somehow I'm too stupid today to show my review in the form in which I can link to it.
I’m reading the Alan Grant mysteries by Josephine Tey. I think I started the first one, The Man in the Queue, about a week or so ago, and now I am on the third one. My house is a mess, my dog is hardly walked, and our dinners are rushed—I lie around reading most of the day! So good to find a writer I like this much
I read Berlin Shuffle It is literary fiction, set in Germany about 1930. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just started A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths. This is the fifth in the series and I've discovered not only great stories but a truly believable, likable character.
Pamela wrote: "Just started A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths. This is the fifth in the series and I've discovered not only great stories but a truly believable, likable character."I appreciate being reminded of this series since I've been wanting to read the first one and see what I think.
Debbie wrote: "I’m reading the Alan Grant mysteries by Josephine Tey. I think I started the first one, The Man in the Queue, about a week or so ago, and now I am on the third one. My house is a mess, my dog is ha..."your post reminded me that I had long planned to read Josephine Tey. I'm still on the first ... I really like her writing, too.
i read Nightshade by Michael Connelly It is a police procedural set on Catalina Island, California. My 4 star review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee It is a historical fiction police procedural set in 1919 India. It is book 1 in the series. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just begun The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman. Its been awhile since I read the first one, so I'm trying to gain familiarity with the characters all over again. And this time I won't wait so long to read the third and fourth in the series — I have them in my stash!
Thomas wrote: "I read A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee It is a historical fiction police procedural set in 1919 India. It is book 1 in the series. My 4 star review https://www.good..."This sounds like a good read — one of these days I'd like to check it out.
I read Skylark by Paula McLain It is historical fiction with dual timelines: Paris, 1664-65 and 1939-42. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Books mentioned in this topic
Skylark (other topics)A Rising Man (other topics)
The Man Who Died Twice (other topics)
A Rising Man (other topics)
Nightshade (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Paula McLain (other topics)Abir Mukherjee (other topics)
Richard Osman (other topics)
Abir Mukherjee (other topics)
Michael Connelly (other topics)
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I borrowed this eBook from the New York Public Library, which will grant a library card to anyone who lives in New York state. My library does not have all the books in this series, so I am happy to be able to read more of the series using NYPL. See nypl.org if you want to get a library card there.
My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...