What mysteries are you reading at the moment? (2021) Showing 751-800 of 1,557

[Jill]

I have now started the next group Sparkling Cyanide which I know I read in my early teens, but although it seems familiar, I can't say I remember much about it

[Judy]

I started listening to Evanly Bodies, the last in the Constable Evans series by Rhys Bowen, but judging by the start I think it is really going to be a struggle - the last few books in the series haven't been as enjoyable as the first ones, but unfortunately I splashed out for all of them on Audible!

I think I'll have to try to get hold of this one in print so I can whip through it more quickly and satisfy my completist tendencies.

[Judy]

Does anyone else feel you have to complete a series even if the last book is clearly going to be awful?

[Sandy]

Judy wrote: "I started listening to Evanly Bodies, the last in the Constable Evans series by Rhys Bowen, but judging by the start I think it is really going to be a struggle - the ..."

Follow up on Rhys Bowen, author of the Evans series:
I "attended" an interview with her and seven of her fellow writers (they blog as Jungle Red Writers). Rhys mentioned her daughter convinced her to revive the Molly Murphy series to be written in conjunction with the daughter. I haven't read those though I've read a few Evans and am following Royal Spyness. I also recently read her historical stand alone, The Venice Sketchbook which I enjoyed well enough. I stayed up late to finish it - always a good sign.

[Sandy]

Judy wrote: "I started listening to Evanly Bodies, the last in the Constable Evans series by Rhys Bowen, but judging by the start I think it is really going to be a struggle - the ..."

Judy, I sympathize with your print vs audio decision. I found a print version of our next Flavia because I don't have the time right now to listen to the audio even though I've downloaded it and love the narration.

Its one of those times when several library request have come in at once.

[Sandy]

I've started yet another series, The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet set in Cairo in 1908. I enjoyed the mystery (no murder), the setting and the characters. I tried really hard to understand the political set up in Egypt at the time, nicely explained by the author in the preface. I hope it will become clear to me eventually but my confusion did not detract from the book.

The blurb compares it to the Amelia Peabody series, but the only similarity I see is Egypt.

[Rosina]

Sandy wrote: "I've started yet another series, The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet set in Cairo in 1908. I enjoyed the mystery (no murder), the setting and the characters. I tried really h..."

I did enjoy the Mamur Zapt series - I read them decades ago, borrowed from the library, and picked up a second hand hardback edition of The Return of the Carpet.

[Susan]

Judy wrote: "Does anyone else feel you have to complete a series even if the last book is clearly going to be awful?"

If I am being honest, I rarely seem to complete any series outside of this group, although I am trying to - slowly - read all of Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian books. However, if I get quite far in a series, I do want to continue. I feel quite conflicted by the Campion books - I like him as a character, but he seems to hardly appear in the later novels and I have not really enjoyed many of the recent reads. However, as I have nearly reached the end, I feel the need to get to the finish line now.

[Colin]

I'm in the mood for some short stories so I've decided to have a look at Foreign Bodies , one of the British Library line and with the added curiosity value of being entirely comprised of tales in translation.

[Judy]

Sandy wrote: "Follow up on Rhys Bowen, author of the Evans series:
I "attended" an interview with her and seven of her fellow writers (they blog as Jungle Red Writers)..."

Thanks very much for the info, Sandy - I will look up the Jungle Red Writers. I have enjoyed other books by Rhys Bowen, even though I feel the Evans series becomes less enjoyable as it goes on. I've read a couple of the Molly Murphy books which I liked, and also liked a couple of her historical standalones, In Farleigh Field and The Tuscan Child.

[Judy]

I'll be interested to hear what you think of Foreign Bodies, Colin. I like the British Library anthologies and this one sounds especially intriguing because of being in translation, meaning it will have some different authors from the other collections.

[Judy]

Susan wrote: "Judy wrote: "Does anyone else feel you have to complete a series even if the last book is clearly going to be awful?"

If I am being honest, I rarely seem to complete any series outside of this group..."

Sounds as if we have the same urge to complete when we do get near the end of a series, Susan!

On Campion, I thought I'd read them all but in fact I don't think I had ever read the last two or three, and I do agree it is a shame that Campion doesn't come in more in these books. I do enjoy her writing style, though.

[Carolien]

Sandy wrote: "I've started yet another series, The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet set in Cairo in 1908. I enjoyed the mystery (no murder), the setting and the characters. I tried really h..."

I read a few of these years ago and enjoyed them very much.

[Lady Clementina]

I started a children's historical mystery via NetGalley, Mystery of the Night Watchers

[Susan in NC]

Jill wrote: "I have now started the next group Sparkling Cyanide which I know I read in my early teens, but although it seems familiar, I can't say I remember much about it"

I really enjoyed this, did not think I read it before, but I swear, I remember seeing a tv version with David Suchet as Poirot, in a similar situation - nightclub, party of diners, one keels over suddenly from poison! So I’m not sure if Christie recycled a plot point, or what! Either way, I thought it very well done.

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "I'll be interested to hear what you think of Foreign Bodies, Colin. I like the British Library anthologies and this one sounds especially intriguing because of being in translation, meaning it will..."

I’ve enjoyed those anthologies as well, and have added this one to my list, sounds interesting- great way to sample new-to-me authors I might not otherwise encounter.

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "Does anyone else feel you have to complete a series even if the last book is clearly going to be awful?"

Yes, I do - I agree with Susan, I am also conflicted with Campion - like him as a character, but he’s not as involved in the later books, it seems to have become the Charles Luke series! He’s a great character, also, but the audiobook narrator gives him an almost impenetrable cockney accent! I don’t mind that so much, I went through an East Enders phase in college so I can grasp the words, but combined with Allingham’s dialogue, I often find myself at sea to get to the point.

As for current series, ones where authors are still writing and generally putting out a book a year, I find it much easier with this site, Amazon and others that notify you well in advance of an upcoming book, gives me time to put in a request at my library, if they are buying it. That still takes months, by the time it’s published, purchased, and available to borrow, but I generally read the new book one time, so don’t really care to purchase and house a new book! I wonder if they realize, by making it easier to track and request a new book, they’re actually selling less books? Unless someone just has to buy every new book…

[Susan in NC]

Sandy wrote: "I've started yet another series, The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet set in Cairo in 1908. I enjoyed the mystery (no murder), the setting and the characters. I tried really h..."

Oh, I loved that series - all the reasons you say, but also the setting and humor. I remember the comparison to Amelia Peabody, and I felt it more in the later books, when Ramses is older, the political situation heating up, and WWI is looming.

[Susan in NC]

I just started Carl Hiaasen’s latest, Squeeze Me . I had my first lunch out with a friend a couple weeks ago, and she said it was hilarious, and I had to give it a go - so far, just a chapter in, it is funny.

Also started Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay for our July read. Perfect to listen to while knitting - I must say, if I ever make it to England and found out undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge no longer paddle about in boats on their respective rivers, I’d be crushed… ;)

[Sandy]

Susan in NC wrote: "Jill wrote: "I have now started the next group Sparkling Cyanide which I know I read in my early teens, but although it seems familiar, I can't say I remember much about it"

I really..."

Sparkling Cyanide does come in two versions, short story and novel, with different titles. I think the ending changes. I'll do some googling and report back.

[Rosina]

Susan in NC wrote: "Jill wrote: "I have now started the next group Sparkling Cyanide which I know I read in my early teens, but although it seems familiar, I can't say I remember much about it"

I really..."

I don't think the TV series did Sparkling Cyanide*, but they did its predecessor The Yellow Iris, which had been published as a short story, and expanded into Sparkling Cyanide.

*Presumably because Poirot isn't in it ...

[Sandy]

From Wiki:

The plot of this novel is an expansion of a Hercule Poirot short story entitled "Yellow Iris," which had previously been published in issue 559 of the Strand Magazine in July 1937 and in book form in The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories in the US in 1939. It was published in book form in the UK in Problem at Pollensa Bay in 1991.

The full-length novel has Colonel Race as the central investigative character in place of Poirot, who had that role in the short story. The novel uses the basics of the short story, including the method of the poisoning, but changes the identity of the culprit(s) – not for the first time, when Christie rewrote her own work.

[Susan in NC]

Rosina wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Jill wrote: "I have now started the next group Sparkling Cyanide which I know I read in my early teens, but although it seems familiar, I can't say I remember much..."

Ah, that’s why it seemed familiar, thank you!

[Susan in NC]

Sandy wrote: "From Wiki:

The plot of this novel is an expansion of a Hercule Poirot short story entitled "Yellow Iris," which had previously been published in issue 559 of the Strand Magazine in July 1937 and i..."

Thanks, Sandy, glad to know I’m not imagining things - can you OD on Christie?!

What a clever bunch of readers you are - thank you!

[Judy]

I've started a short period mystery I picked up when it was free (thanks to Susan's postings!), A Shot in the Dark, which is the first in the Mydworth Mysteries series by Neil Richards and Matthew Costello. I hadn't tried this series before or their better-known Cherringham one. Quite fun so far - I think it will be a very quick read.

[Susan]

Re: Christie, I think author's had an easier time when readers got books from the library and didn't necessary notice the odd 'borrowing' from a short story that had appeared in a magazine...

I am reading, "Death on the Cherwell." I imagined punting in the glorious, summer sunshine, but oddly it takes place in January!!!

[Jill]

I am just about to start Death on the Cherwell and looking at the cover I was also expecting a summer setting.

[Susan]

Me too, Jill :)

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Judy wrote: "Does anyone else feel you have to complete a series even if the last book is clearly going to be awful?"

Other than the Hannasyde/Hemingway series (Georgette Heyer) I've never completed a series.

I came very close with Sue Grafton's Kinsey books.

I looked them up & I thought W & X were over 500 pages. They weren't - it just felt like that! So I decided not to go any further with them as I no longer cared what happened to Kinsey!

[Susan in NC]

Jill wrote: "I am just about to start Death on the Cherwell and looking at the cover I was also expecting a summer setting."

Me, too, but it is definitely winter - the Oxford inspector keeps harping on why the four undergraduates would be on the metal boathouse roof on a January afternoon at teatime? This one is fun, drew me right in…I’m listening to the audiobook and enjoying the different students and their interactions, but I’m glad Scotland Yard has arrived- I feel like the investigation will really begin now!

[Jackie]

I enjoyed a lot of Sue Grafton's Kinsey novels all the way through ..S? T? at some point it got too dark.

[Kanishka]

I've started reading Poirot Investigates

[Jill]

Here are the two threads from when the club read this, in case you would like to see them

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


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

[Gary]

Currently at the 18% completed point of High Five by Janet Evanovich. I am reading this and book 6 this month for a challenge in another group.

[Rosina]

Kanishka wrote: "I've started reading Poirot Investigates"

I have just got this from Audible - there is an absolutely terrible narration, on the Amazon page linked with Goodreads, but there is also a version read by David Suchet - so I snapped it up in case they discontinued that reading.

[Gary]

Rosina wrote: "Kanishka wrote: "I've started reading Poirot Investigates"

I have just got this from Audible - there is an absolutely terrible narration, on the Amazon page linked with Goodreads, bu..."

I listened to the Suchet version recently. It is the longer version of Poirot Investigates which includes stories not in the public domain version. I think the longer version is the "approved" one from William Morrow.

[Tara]

Jackie wrote: "I enjoyed a lot of Sue Grafton's Kinsey novels all the way through ..S? T? at some point it got too dark."

The Kinsey novels are one of the few series I have completed (despite having grand goals to do this with every series I read.) Unfortunately Grafton stopped at Y, and died before she was able to write Z. But I respect that her family will not allow her books to be ghost written or adapted for TV/film. Her legacy will stand as it is.

[Tara]

Colin wrote: "I'm in the mood for some short stories so I've decided to have a look at Foreign Bodies , one of the British Library line and with the added curiosity value of be..."

I started this anthology last year, but like so many short story collections, I put it aside and haven't picked it back up in a while. Looking forward to your thoughts on it Colin.

[Tara]

After a few months away from Amelia, I am back for the next installment in the Peabody/Emerson adventure tales, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog. The audiobook version my library has is a different narrator from the previous books, and I do not enjoy her performance as much, but I am powering through.

[Sue]

Tara wrote: "The audiobook version my library has is a different narrator from the previous books, and I do not enjoy her performance as much, but I am powering through ..."

The narrator makes a world of difference, doesn't he/she? I recently gave up on the audiobooks for the Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen. But I'm reading it in a print version instead and loving it. I just started the 7th one Tell Me, Pretty Maiden last night and I think it's going to be another corker!

[Sandy]

Tara wrote: "After a few months away from Amelia, I am back for the next installment in the Peabody/Emerson adventure tales, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog. The audiobook version my library ..."

Which one do you prefer? I have definite preference but I know other disagree.

[Colin]

Colin wrote: "I'm in the mood for some short stories so I've decided to have a look at Foreign Bodies ..."

I've finished this and can't say I was all that enamored of it.

As usual with these collections, the stories are presented chronologically with the earlier efforts (the first is a bit of fluff from Chekov) tending towards the kind of sensationalist fare of the Victorian/Edwardian era, which never appeals much to me.
Generally, the offerings are a bit weak as detective stories and even as crime stories in a broader sense I found they ranged from facile to macabre.

Most tales are European in origin, but a couple of Japanese efforts did nothing for me - one involving spiders and set in a cylindrical research lab atop a tower was too preposterous even for me, while the other was so shockingly grim in its resolution that I came close to ditching the whole volume at that point.

I guess the one I enjoyed the most was the Maurice Leblanc mystery Footprints in the Snow.

[Tara]

Sandy wrote: "Tara wrote: "After a few months away from Amelia, I am back for the next installment in the Peabody/Emerson adventure tales, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog. The audiobook versio..."

I like Susan O'Malley. Barbara Rosenblat is too flat and stiff for the humor of the book to come through for me.

[Susan in NC]

Colin wrote: "Colin wrote: "I'm in the mood for some short stories so I've decided to have a look at Foreign Bodies ..."

I've finished this and can't say I was all that enamor..."

Thanks for the overview, sounds like this is not worth rushing to the library for a copy! I have found that with other short story collections from British Library Crime Classics - usually a real mixed bag.

[Colin]

Everybody responds differently of course, but I can only pass on my own impressions. Any anthology will by necessity be varied and that's only to be expected but I've generally found, both with the BL publications and in a more general sense, that there are usually a handful of standout stories that more than make up for those which miss the mark for me, and of course the mid-range efforts. Here I thought there was no genuine standout while the bad ones were really poor and that mid-range was consistently weak.

[Judy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Foreign Bodies, Colin - a pity, I had fairly high hopes for it. I may still give it a try but will not expect so much.

[Sandy]

Tara wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Tara wrote: "After a few months away from Amelia, I am back for the next installment in the Peabody/Emerson adventure tales, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog. The au..."

Luckily there is variety. I am a Rosenberg fan, perhaps because I listened to her first, but also because I like her Emerson.

[Margaret]

Rosina wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I've started yet another series, The Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet set in Cairo in 1908. I enjoyed the mystery (no murder), the setting and the characters. I ..."
Like you, I read them years ago (when they were first written) and have reread them on and off since, including some fairly recently. A very evocative sense of place. I think that they have greater drama and tension than his Russian series, e.g. Dmitri and the Milk Drinkers, although I did feel that some of the later books in the Mamur Zapt series weren't as interesting as the earlier ones. Owen's struggles with administration are amusing.

[Margaret]

I've started the July read Death on the Cherwell early, although I should have saved it... Enjoyable, although I'm not hugely enamoured of Basil so far.

[Carolien]

I've just finished Death on the Limpopo, the third in the tannie Maria series. As usual, lots of nice food and lovely characters.