What mysteries are you reading at the moment? (2023)

[Susan in NC]

Same here! Thank you, Carolien, take care of yourself, and I hope the persistent cough goes away soon.

[Jill]

Finished Night's Cloak Have now started Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?: A Victorian True Crime Murder Mystery by Kathryn McMaster Very sad.

Please could we have the frozen topics thawed out for the E R Punshon book

[Susan in NC]

Started a quick reread of Envious Casca, but just reread in December, so a quick skim ought to refresh my memory- hopefully! Also got the audiobook of And Then There Were None with Hugh Fraser narrating (he’s a favorite) from my library, while I read my used copy of the book for our July Challenge read. Funny how the audiobook calls it “Soldier Island”, and cleans up other ethnic and racial terms, while my old omnibus of Christie titles, published in 1977, still has the name “Indian Island”. Also has some sentences in it, which are deleted on the audiobook.

[Judy]

For anyone who hasn't voted yet, the poll for our August group read is currently open and there are five tempting titles to choose from - please take a look!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/voters...

[Judy]

Jill wrote: "Finished Night's Cloak,,, Please could we have the frozen topics thawed out for the E R Punshon book..."

I've opened the Night's Cloak threads now as requested.

It will be a little while until I get to that one myself though as I'm still rather behind.

[Jill]

Judy wrote: "Jill wrote: "Finished Night's Cloak,,, Please could we have the frozen topics thawed out for the E R Punshon book..."

I've opened the Night's Cloak threads now as requested.

It wi..."

Sorry Judy. I think I jumped the gun there a bit and got confused.

[Jill]

Have now started The Body in the Road by Moray Dalton. Liking it so far

[Judy]

I remember enjoying The Body in the Road, Jill.

[Susan in NC]

I went to pick up a requested book at the library, and started browsing and of course found several more to keep me busy! Jane and the Year Without a Summer by Stephanie Barron first up, I think…a very well-done historical mystery series I’ve followed and enjoyed for years.

[Jan C]

Jill wrote: "Have now started The Body in the Road by Moray Dalton. Liking it so far"

I liked it.

[Susan in NC]

Good! I’m looking forward to it

[Jan C]

I finished The Five Red Herrings the other day.

Have gone back to Treacherous Strand by Andrea Carter. 2nd in the series.

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "I finished The Five Red Herrings the other day.

Have gone back to Treacherous Strand by Andrea Carter. 2nd in the series."

I read that Wimsey many years ago, feel like I should give it another try! I’ve read more GA mysteries since then, so I think I’ll have more patience with it!

[Sarah]

Last night I finished a great Swedish contemporary thriller, Blaze Me a Sun
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
but I'm too tired to write a review and need to switch gears, so I started The Bangalore Detectives Club.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
The first in a new series by Harini Nagendra, who lives in Bangalore, set in 1920's colonial India.

[Jill]

Finished The Body in the Road and really liked it. Have now started Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indriðason which I am thinking will be a pretty dark read

[Jan C]

Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "I finished The Five Red Herrings the other day.

Have gone back to Treacherous Strand by Andrea Carter. 2nd in the series."

I read t..."

The last portion of the book requires a lot of patience.

[Susan in NC]

Thanks, best to be prepared! ;)

[Judy]

Our new batch of buddy reads are all open now, please take a look and join in. I'm off to work now but will be back later to comment on them :)

[Jill]

Finished Silence of the Grave which was very dark, about what we now call domestic violence and abuse.
Now more than ready for a Christie, and a reread of And Then There Was None for the July group read.

[Sarah]

I was having a bad day and went for a walk around the neighborhood, which features several Little Free Libraries, and snagged a paperback copy of Patricia Wentworth's "The Chinese Shawl."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I immediately felt better! Never read Wentworth, Miss Silver or her other books, so I'd welcome any feedback. Thanks :)

[Susan in NC]

I really enjoyed Jane and the Year Without a Summer, but not so much The Titian Committee, another library book. It’s not bad, just about halfway through and not grabbing me. Even if I chuck it in favor of other reads, id still continue with the series as a Buddy read, I like the characters and settings, it could have been a sophomore slump for Pears. Or could be me - after three straight days of rain! ;)

Also started a very entertaining reread of a favorite Heyer mystery, The Unfinished Clue, always entertaining! I have the audiobook as well, very amusing.

[Craftyhj]

Sarah wrote: "I was having a bad day and went for a walk around the neighborhood, which features several Little Free Libraries, and snagged a paperback copy of Patricia Wentworth's "The Chinese Shawl."
https://w..."

I've started working my way through the available Miss Silver books. I read The Chinese Shawl earlier this month. I am enjoying the series. I like Miss Silver and I thought this one was well done other than the reveal which was just a teensy bit awkward (as indeed the final reveals often are in any mystery book). Nonetheless I really enjoy these books and am gradually working my way through them.

[Sarah]

Thanks, Craftyhj. I started The Chinese Shawl last night; good that I don't have to read the previous books in the series to enjoy this one.

[Jill]

We only read the first Miss Silver book here, but I would love to read more

[Carolien]

Sarah wrote: "Last night I finished a great Swedish contemporary thriller, Blaze Me a Sun
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
but I'm too tired to write a review and need to switch gears,..."

At the back of The Bangalore Detectives Club is a corn and pomegranate salad recipe which I love. It's hot enough so I must make some soon!

[Carolien]

I very seldom start and finish a series in one go, but read my way compulsively through all the available books in the DCI Evan Warlow series by Rhys Dylan this past month. They can be read as standalones, but you will enjoy them much more in order. A team of police officers with some personal issues, but we are not bogged down in their misery and with some brilliant one liners. The first one is The Engine House: A Black Beacons Murder Mystery. It's about as big a compliment as I can give a series to have binge read them all.

Much, much darker is Looking to the Woods by French author Frédérique Molay. I have enjoyed each one in the series and again really liked the detectives, the plots are excellent, but the murders are definitely to the noir end of the scale.

[Sarah]

Carolien: Kudos for making the corn and pomegranate salad from the Bangalore Detective Club. The part about Kaveri being all thumbs in the kitchen seemed very relevant to me! Thanks, also, for recommending two new series, which I'd like to try.
Jill: The Miss Silver book I'm reading is much better than I expected. Perhaps another Wentworth as an upcoming buddy read? But I have an old paperback, and I don't know how available her work is, either in print or on Kindle. Such a shame, since her work, IMHO, is a Golden Age classic.

[Susan in NC]

I’ve enjoyed the Miss Silver mysteries I’ve read, and would like to read more, also - will definitely try to remember to nominate next time we vote!

[Keith]

There are lots of Wentworth's books available on Kindle, and generally relatively inexpensive

[Jan C]

Susan in NC wrote: "I really enjoyed Jane and the Year Without a Summer, but not so much The Titian Committee, another library book. It’s not bad, just about halfway through and not grabb..."

Looks like there is supposed to be two more days, too.

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I really enjoyed Jane and the Year Without a Summer, but not so much The Titian Committee, another library book. It’s not bad, just about halfway t..."

Well, see some clouds, but the sun is out right now, so fingers crossed! How are you in the mountains? Well,I hope!

[Jan C]

Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I really enjoyed Jane and the Year Without a Summer, but not so much The Titian Committee, another library book. It’s not bad, just a..."

It was pretty gray for a while but I think they may have passed over. And at least it has warmed up.

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I really enjoyed Jane and the Year Without a Summer, but not so much The Titian Committee, another library book. ..."

Good! Rained heavily again this afternoon, but the day is closing out sunny!

[Keith]

Lucky old you!

Here it is winter, very wet, extreme weather on our east coast with floods expected although not too cold yet. Our coldest month is July followed (of course) by August. Think of your Jan and Feb

[Susan in NC]

Keith wrote: "Lucky old you!

Here it is winter, very wet, extreme weather on our east coast with floods expected although not too cold yet. Our coldest month is July followed (of course) by August. Think of you..."

Brrrr! Stay warm and dry, sounds like good reading weather!

[Sandy]

I am currently reading The Noose's Shadow, an historical mystery set in 1680 Leiden and part of a series I enjoy. The books have a different setting from most of my reads, although the prior book was set in London as the hero was part of a delegation arranging the marriage between William of Orange and Princess Mary.

I recently read The Thin Woman, Time's Fool, (Shakepeare as a detective), and Six Ostriches. Of these, Six Ostriches is the only one where I will follow the series. It is set in Manitoba (another unusual setting for me) and involves a mildly autistic vet. Be warned: there is animal (and human) mutilation.

I am also listening to How to Raise an Elephant, but not sure if this series really counts as a mystery. Soothing listen and I've fallen behind in the series and my sister gives me the "new" paperback for my birthday in the Fall.

I have also read a couple of non-mysteries, so I'm off to that thread.

[Fred]

I have 144 books on my kindle so I decided to read "Forfeit" by Dick Francis from among the selections. I just started a reading challenge from the local library system which continues through August 13th. You read a book, give a short review and get points.
There is a grand prize winner and a winner from each library. The grand prize is a 10 inch Kindle Fire.

[Keith]

You will enjoy Dick Francis. I have all his books on my 10 yr old Kindle 5 (PW1) which is still just as good as new although I had to upgrade to Kindle 11 when Amazon stopped 'covering' it. I can still access my Cloud storage with it though and have a lot of books on it from my Calibre which has about 4500 sitting on my hard drive,

[Jan C]

Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I really enjoyed Jane and the Year Without a Summer, but not so much The Titian Committee, another ..."

We didn't have any rain yesterday and a mere sprinkling today. Although rain is expected for sometime tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully it will be brief.

[Jan C]

I've started Death of a Bookseller. So far so good. Of course, I am only at Chapter 3.

[Susan in NC]

Sandy wrote: "I am currently reading The Noose's Shadow, an historical mystery set in 1680 Leiden and part of a series I enjoy. The books have a different setting from most of my reads, although ..."

I love Master Mercurius, I think you put me on to the series, which I want to get back to, thanks for the reminder!

[Susan in NC]

Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I really enjoyed Jane and the Year Without a Summer, but not so much [book:The Titian Committ..."

Oh, I hope so, I know I’m rained out for now! We’re sunny and hot right now, glad things have a chance to dry out a bit.

I’m glad you’re liking Death of a Bookseller, I was thinking of reading next.

[Sarah]

I've started reading Michael Innes' The Secret Vanguard, Inspector Appleby # 5, published by House of Stratus in 2001. But this edition doesn't indicate the original date of publication, which I especially wanted to know in regards to setting before or after WWII.
Goodreads shows the first edition appeared on January 1, 1940, so Innes must have written it right on the cusp of the war's outbreak. Hard to imagine; a time of great tension, not knowing what will happen, looking at "immensely strong, immensely vulnerable" London, "to the vaster enigma of continental Europe..."

[Jill]

We read The secret Vanguard here in 2022 It seems I can't post the threads here any more for some reason

[Jill]

Managed to get the spoiler one if that helps
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Sarah]

Thanks very much for the link. I haven't been able to access Goodreads until today, with the message "system is undergoing repair," or something like that. Maybe just in US, or in my region in CA? I finished The Secret Vanguard and found it unlike any other Appleby I've read, a cross between James Bond and Peter Wimsey. I'll have to check out the spoiler thread to see what other readers thought.

[Susan in NC]

Sarah wrote: "Thanks very much for the link. I haven't been able to access Goodreads until today, with the message "system is undergoing repair," or something like that. Maybe just in US, or in my region in CA? ..."

No, same here in NC, unable to get on for hours yesterday evening.

[Jill]

Same in UK . Although back today it is being very temperamental, have to keep refreshing it

[Susan in NC]

I wonder what happened?

Started one of my own purchases, Post After Post-Mortem: An Oxfordshire Mystery by E.C.R. Lorac

[Jill]

I started Dark Clouds Over Nuala by Harriet Steel