The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
General Chat
>
Currently reading? Just finished? 2022
Murder at Mallowan Hall
by Colleen CambridgeVery cute and enjoyable English cozy about a murder at Agatha Christie's home. We are introduced to Phyllida Bright, the likeable housekeeper who is our stand-in for Jane or Hercule. Clearly this is the first of a series to come. A fun, easy-to-read mystery.
Patty wrote: "Just finished The Woodwitch by Stephen Gregory. Mushrooms, impotence, and Wales.
https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-w..."
I haven't yet read that one, but I really loved his The Cormorant -- such a good book.
https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-w..."
I haven't yet read that one, but I really loved his The Cormorant -- such a good book.
My review of The Complaints
by Ian Rankin, the 1st Malcolm Fox mystery. Very entertaining. 4 starshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Starting the first book in the Leithen series The Power-House
by John Buchan
Nancy, I guess I’ll be buying another book! Stephen Gregory is a new name to me, and as it is and always will be, I’ll need to buy all of his books.
Patty wrote: "Nancy, I guess I’ll be buying another book! Stephen Gregory is a new name to me, and as it is and always will be, I’ll need to buy all of his books."
I get it.
I get it.
The Darkness Knows
by Arnaldur IndriðasonIn this first book in the 'Detective Konrad' series, the retired detective looks into a very cold case.
Good police procedural. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Wild Bunch: Gods, Guns and Gangs
by John H. SibleySibley postulates that violence may be an inherent characteristic of human beings, as shown in movies like Sam Peckinpah's 'The Wild Bunch.'
Interesting conjecture. 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read Beatle Wives: The Women the Men We Loved Fell in Love With
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished listening to The Plea
A well done legal thriller. My four star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I’m currently reading We Were Liars. I know it’s not a mystery or thriller. I just wanted to take a break from this genre. But just a few days ago, I finished my first book for my reading goal. It’s called Girl, Taken by Blake Pierce (book #2 of FBI Ella Dark).
I am currently reading The Things They Carried. Stories about Vietnam from a soldier who survived it. Its honest and raw about the brutality and ugliness of the war and what those soldiers had to endure. It has hit me in the feels more than once. I hate politics even more after hearing how this young man almost ran to Canada because he didn't want to be drafted into fighting a war he didn't believe in. Most of them were only 17 or 18, their whole lives ahead of them. Only to be shot down or blown up. It's so brutal.
Finished
by Ruth Ware. Really good! Never read a thriller in this setting before and it definitely has a tense and claustrophobic feel to it. Enjoyed the plottwist, the discovery of who-dunnit very much! Did not see that one coming! 4 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jackie wrote: "I am currently reading The Things They Carried. Stories about Vietnam from a soldier who survived it. Its honest and raw about the brutality and ugliness of the war and what those sol..."
One of the great story collections in which the stories work off each other so it's not quite a novel but still more than the sum of its parts, like Winesburg, Ohio or even The Martian Chronicles.
Not Vietnam related, but appropriate for the themes of this site, In the Lake of the Woods which is one of those books, for me, that seems better in memory than it did on first reading. I should reread. (Maybe someday.)
One of the great story collections in which the stories work off each other so it's not quite a novel but still more than the sum of its parts, like Winesburg, Ohio or even The Martian Chronicles.
Not Vietnam related, but appropriate for the themes of this site, In the Lake of the Woods which is one of those books, for me, that seems better in memory than it did on first reading. I should reread. (Maybe someday.)
Jackie wrote: "I am currently reading The Things They Carried. Stories about Vietnam from a soldier who survived it. Its honest and raw about the brutality and ugliness of the war and what those sol..."
That is a great book. I also loved his Going After Cacciato, which I highly recommend.
That is a great book. I also loved his Going After Cacciato, which I highly recommend.
Randy wrote: "Jackie wrote: "I am currently reading The Things They Carried. Stories about Vietnam from a soldier who survived it. Its honest and raw about the brutality and ugliness of the war and..."
Actually, in In the Lake of the Woods, the Vietnam War is central to the story.
Actually, in In the Lake of the Woods, the Vietnam War is central to the story.
So obviously I need to reread it. Anyway, I appreciated how O'Brien played with what's real and what's imagined, and the creepiness of it from someone who may or may not be a murderer.
A Good YearA little bit of horror fo
r Christmas.3 of five stars. Read my review below.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I enjoyed reading The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe and rate it a solid 4 stars. It is a revisionist history of the middle ages in Europe, sometimes called The Dark Ages. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...It was a GR giveaway.
The Christie Affair
by Nina de GramontIn real life, author Agatha Christie 'vanished' for eleven days in December, 1926. This book is a fictional treatment of that incident, told by woman who stole Agatha's husband.
Good imaginative story. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Starting today Reading Behind Bars: A True Story of Literature, Law, and Life as a Prison Librarian by Jill Grunenwald
I finished the last of the Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr. I didn't read them in order, but that wasn't a problem. Good entertaining reading though
Started and finished The Embezzler (1940) by James M. Cain late yesterday. Have you ever picked up a book, made your way to page 12 and then realized you know exactly what's going to happen from that point on? That was this book.
Once again I stayed up well into the wee hours to finish reading Whisper by Chang Yu-Ko. Liked it, didn't love it but I will say it got my heart racing at times.
The Man That Got Away
by Lynne TrussConstable Twitten #2, probably best to read the series in order. This is the further adventures of the too-smart-for-his-own -good Constable Twitten in Brighton England in 1957 involving a wax museum, a night club, gold bricks and death by candy (I think taffy). Very cute, sort of English Keystone Kops, but I could never believe the characters were close to real people. 3 stars.
Finally, a believable psychological thriller. The Younger Wife
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Enjoyed the very imaginative The Order by Daniel Silva
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Currently reading The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Books mentioned in this topic
Foster (other topics)Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest (other topics)
Echoes from the Dead (other topics)
Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest (other topics)
Death in Brittany (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Claire Keegan (other topics)Johan Theorin (other topics)
Gregg Olsen (other topics)
Joanna Bourne (other topics)
Joanna Bourne (other topics)
More...











An excellent book to spend a Sunday afternoon with. Here's my three star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...