Reading the Detectives discussion
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What mysteries are you reading at the moment? (2024-2025)
I vaguely recall from my first read long ago,,The Winter Queen was entertaining but didn’t really pull me in at first, so putting a side for now to read our next Brunetti, A Noble Radiance. Audio has become available through my library, so switching to that for now.
Hi Everyone,I am carrying out research on the crime genre readership, which will be used solely for my MA publishing project. It is only 10 multiple choice questions. If anyone can take two mins to share their thoughts regarding preferred genre tropes and front cover design choices, it will be hugely appreciated! It is an anonymously completed questionnaire thus submission of answers will be considered informed consent. The link is here:
https://570p6ykwgrd.typeform.com/to/u...
Thank you so much!
Jaime
I have just finished Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood A bit racy as always but entertaining. Have now started Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer I have read a couple of this author's ( the first two in the Exmoor Trilogy ) but this is something different, as it includes a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Looking interesting so far.
I enjoyed A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon, and Time to Depart by Lindsey Davis, now I’m leaving Italy and heading to England for Heartstone by C.J. Sansom for our upcoming Buddy read. It’s been over 10 years, and I don’t remember much, so I’m looking forward to it! Matthew Shardlake can be dark, I do remember the later mysteries accurately reflected the growing paranoia and darkness of the later years of Henry the Eighth’s reign, so I’ll probably start the next Mrs. Pargeter for a lighter story. ;o)
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I have a couple of new books from my library requests by Elly Griffiths and Anthony Horowitz that will be read very soon. And yet another book that I took out when I thought I had time, The Other Half. Exciting reading ahead.
A non-fiction book I finished discusses gardening in mystery books:Gardening Can Be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers. It added a few books to my TBR.
I recently finished The Cheltenham Square Murder and The Luck Runs Out both of which I enjoyed--the second a little more than the first. This was my first time reading MacLeod and I loved her writing and humour and the Wodehousean elements. Cheltenham was good too even if the police seemed slow to pick up on an obvious point.
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Good to hear, Lady C! You're very welcome to join in the current buddy read discussion of The Luck Runs Out. I like MacLeod's humour too. :)
Judy wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "I recently finished The Cheltenham Square Murder and The Luck Runs Out both of which I enjoyed--the second a little more than the first. This w..."Thanks Judy :) Just heading there!
I finished Seicho Matsumoto's Inspector Imanishi Investigates dating from 1960, it's a classic and a bestseller in Japan, a glorious mix of detection and social realism that rivals the work of Sjowall and Wahloo. Link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Reading the first Henry Tibbett police procedural from Patricia Moyes. "Dead Men Don't Ski." I really enjoy this series. I have some paperbacks, but the bulk are my Kindle.
I really loved the Tibbett series by Moyes, but read them about 15 years ago. My library had a terrible General Manager who decided to "upgrade" and pour money into building renovation, computers, buying DVDs and Blu-Ray, creating "lounge areas," and providing space for this by dumping huge numbers of books into the dumpster. Patrons and library staff protested, and the library board dumped HIM. But no way to retrieve classic PB and HB books. I'm reading the just-published novel in the DI Adam Fawley series by Cara Hunter, "All the Rage." Like Sandy, I'm also on the wait list for the latest Elly Griffiths and Anthony Horowitz.
Fred wrote: "Reading the first Henry Tibbett police procedural from Patricia Moyes. "Dead Men Don't Ski." I really enjoy this series. I have some paperbacks, but the bulk are my Kindle."I just read that one a month or so ago! It was my first time reading a Henry Tibbett novel, and I too really enjoyed it!
I finished A Noble Radiance and have now started Murder on the Celtic by Conrad Allen The last book in this series
Alwynne wrote: "I finished Seicho Matsumoto's Inspector Imanishi Investigates dating from 1960, it's a classic and a bestseller in Japan, a glorious mix of detection and social realism that rivals..."Must add this to my TBR. I enjoyed his Tokyo Express.
I just read an updated edition of a Mary Roberts Rinehart mystery The Man in Lower Ten- an interesting mystery (mysteries in fact since there are several threads), though in some senses it does feel of its time.
Jackie wrote: "I'm currently reading The Crime at Black Dudley mostly because I plan to read Mystery Mile next."I read the mixed reviews so my expectations were low, but I ended up enjoying it for what it is. The plot is kind of Way Too Much and the 20s slang is out of control but still held my attention to say the least.
Looking forward to more books in the series.
Jackie wrote: "Jackie wrote: "I'm currently reading The Crime at Black Dudley mostly because I plan to read Mystery Mile next."I read the mixed reviews so my expectations were low, but I ended up e..."
I loved the Campion series, hope you enjoy them
Lady Clementina wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I finished Seicho Matsumoto's Inspector Imanishi Investigates dating from 1960, it's a classic and a bestseller in Japan, a glorious mix of detection and social rea..."I liked Tokyo Express too but this felt more mature in terms of characters, there are the drier elements but also some very moving/poignant ones.
Alwynne wrote: "I finished Seicho Matsumoto's Inspector Imanishi Investigates dating from 1960, it's a classic and a bestseller in Japan, a glorious mix of detection and social realism that rivals..."I liked this book. Found it interesting how he was going all over the country trying to find the answer. Lucky he's got a smaller country than we do.
Sarah wrote: "I really loved the Tibbett series by Moyes, but read them about 15 years ago. My library had a terrible General Manager who decided to "upgrade" and pour money into building renovation, computers, ..."I have a number of these books, both print and kindle, but somehow haven't gotten to them yet. Sounds good.
Jill wrote: "I finished A Noble Radiance and have now started Murder on the Celtic by Conrad Allen The last book in this series"I just finished Murder on the Celtic. I was thinking it was a buddy read but not enough people wanted to talk about it?
and now that I've read it....not really much to say. it was not too bad, so I had low expectations and then enjoyed it. no closure to the series for sure.
Mod
I just finished the Shardlake yesterday, and after such an immersive read, it was a delight to sink into the next Mrs. Pargeter mystery- I do like her!
Judy wrote: "Murder on the Celtic is going to be a buddy read in June, so we can discuss it then, Jill and Jackie. Good to hear you enjoyed it, Jackie."OK thanks, Judy!
Yes I think I got a bit ahead of myself on the buddy reads.
I'm reading a Judge Dee mystery, "The Emperor's Pearl," part of Robert van Gulik's series. Judge Dee is based on a real statesman and and detective who lived during the Tang Dynasty, though it remains unclear under which emperor or which dynasty events take place. I love van Gulik's hand drawn illustrations, simple black and white lines. What's different in these books but traditional in Chinese detective fiction: solving more than two unrelated cases in each mystery. A bit unnerving at first, but it becomes great fun.
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I've read a couple of the Judge Dee stories and they are interesting especially as a view of the culture. I agree about the illustrations. After getting the impression that Dee was old, something convinced me he was actually a young man. Of course, like us all, he was once young and then old, so I may have been reading them out of order.
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I've also started A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle, a novel by a current author set on a cruise ship in the 1920s. I like the cruise ship descriptions but so far am not really grabbed.
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Jackie wrote: "I just started Mystery Mile"I'm liking it much more than I expected to and will finish by the end of the weekend.
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I've just finished A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle. I quite enjoyed the cruise ship setting but had major issues with the plot, so it wasn't really for me.
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I've just finished A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle. I quite enjoyed the cruise ship se..."
You did better with Fatal Crossing than I; I didn't finish it.
Am going to start Mrs, Presumed Dead by Simon Brett. Bit late starting as I hadn't realised it was coming up so soon.
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Hmm, I'm wondering why it got so much success - maybe it was the cruise ship setting. I wonder if his later books are better, as often detective writers do improve after the first book.
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Sorry Jill, we slipped it in where we could find space, as they are quick reads. I hope you enjoy it.
Alwynne wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I finished Seicho Matsumoto's Inspector Imanishi Investigates dating from 1960, it's a classic and a bestseller in Japan, a glorious mix of ..."I managed to get a copy via NetGalley, now to read it!
Recently finished The Noh Mask Murder which I very much enjoyed--the last twist I didn't see coming at all and he plays with the structure much like Horowitz writing himself into the book as the detective!Also Eleven Huskies-this was not so strong in its mystery element as in the previous books in the series (one part in particular felt a letdown) but still an enjoyable read.
Sarah wrote: "I'm reading a Judge Dee mystery, "The Emperor's Pearl," part of Robert van Gulik's series. Judge Dee is based on a real statesman and and detective who lived during the Tang Dynasty, though it rema..."Glad you're enjoying this. I have a couple of these waiting on my TBR and hope to get to them soon.
I have now started The House of Godwinsson the next E.R. Punshon buddy read.This is the 25th book and I am still enjoying them.
I’m reading and listening to The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie. I picked up a paperback with a very attractive vintage cover, but GR doesn’t have it (published by Vintage Books in 2023, I think). Anyway, always fun to read/listen to Poirot’s adventures, narrated wonderfully by Hugh Fraser.
Recently started The Brooklyn Murders by G.D.H. Cole and his wife. Interesting start. I think I read the first 3 chapters - and I saw that it was 3:30 A.M.
Susan in NC wrote: "I’m reading and listening to The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie. I picked up a paperback with a very attractive vintage cover, but GR doesn’t have it (..."I remember enjoying this very much though I think the mystery elements didn't entirely satisfy.
Lady Clementina wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I’m reading and listening to The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie. I picked up a paperback with a very attractive vintage cover, but ..."Yes, I’ve got a few chapters left, it’s been fun, but it’s clearly in the “international crime ring” era of the 20s! A bit melodramatic, and I find it humorous how “legendary” Poirot is, yet everyone refers to him as retired…and it’s book #6 out of how many?! Interesting to compare to later books, where Christie has characters referring to Poirot as, “is he still alive?!” Boy how times change! But shows Christie’s humor, too, I think - like Ariadne and her Finnish detective, Christie seemed to wish she hadn’t boxed herself in with the little Belgian, who just happened to become very popular.
But it’s fun - I’ve been rereading Marple and Poirot casually over the last several years, and treated myself to a Britbox subscription so I can watch the David Suchet series. Trying to read the books and stories before viewing, the scripts hew pretty close to the books, but still fun to refresh my memory!
P.S. if it’s Britbox over here, what do British people call it? TVBox?
Susan in NC wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I’m reading and listening to The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie. I picked up a paperback with a very attrac..."Yes, I love how she handles and plays with the age element in both Poirot and Marple. And indeed her own predicament through Ariadne Oliver. In Marple I also enjoy the social commentary that comes through in many of the books.
As for Blue Train, I don't remember details now but see from my review that i thought it fast paced and fun.
Reading the Detectives
Books mentioned in this topic
Maigret Gets Angry (other topics)Death in the Andamans (other topics)
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (other topics)
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (other topics)
They Do It With Mirrors (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
M.M. Kaye (other topics)Agatha Christie (other topics)
Agatha Christie (other topics)
Charlotte MacLeod (other topics)
Charles Osborne (other topics)
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Very true! It's sometimes quite hard to give up on a series when you're, say, 10 books or more in and they're not living up to the early ones... you just keep hoping.