The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion
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Currently reading? Just finished? 2024
Head Cases
by John McMahonFBI agents in the Patterns and Recognitions Unit are hunting a serial killer who's murdering serial killers. (Not a bad idea, right? This reminds me of the TV series 'Dexter.')
Good suspense novel. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Bright Silver Star
by David HandlerBerger and Mitry #3. In this volume of the very likeable series the visit of 2 married movie stars descends into murder and lots of rather tawdry hanky-panky. Not the best of the series but still I liked it. 3 stars.
The Devil at His Elbow
was just mind boggling. My five star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Isola
is a fascinating tale of survival. My four star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Now starting TOOTH AND CLAW (2024) the latest novella in the Walt Longmire mystery series by Craig Johnson.Looks like this is another prequel to Johnson's first novel, taking place a few years after Walt served in Vietnam.
⭐⭐⭐ for
Heavy Are the Stones by J.D. Barker and Christine Daigle https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Beautiful Ugly
by Alice FeeneyA grieving author with writer's block goes to a Scottish island to 'get inspired', but the isle is a peculiar place.
Twisty thriller. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
James wrote: "Now starting TOOTH AND CLAW (2024) the latest novella in the Walt Longmire mystery series by Craig Johnson.Looks like this is another prequel to Johnson's first novel, taking place a few years af..."
I like the Longmire books.
I've made it back to the Braxton Campus Mysteries with
Flower Power Trip by James J. Cudney https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fiddlers
by Ed McBain87th Precinct #55. Very well-written police procedural about the hunt for a serial killer featuring the well-known and well liked cops of the 87th. Sorry to say that McBain has died and I assume this will be the last in the series. There's a reason why this series has lasted through 55 episodes and that is they are very good. 4 stars. Goodbye Ed.
just finished Den of Iniquity by J.A. Jance. Book was OK, but I had really weird dreams/nightmares last night. The book was set right before the Covid shut down and ended right as it started, so I had dreams I was working in a hospital during the epidemic
I read Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson It is historical/literary fiction, set in the present day, with flashbacks to the pre US Civil war era. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Beautiful Ugly
is getting lots of positive buzz but the ending ruined it for me. My three star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/qu...
Not quite as engaging as the near-contemporary Sherlock Holmes collections, but then what is? These still give a sort of snap-shot of an earlier era, and the Old Man is an interesting raconteur who seems surprisingly amoral for the time period. Mostly clever stories, fairly well-written, though the characters are at best 2-dimensional and somewhat stereotypical. I read them through Project Gutenberg.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 for this Australian Gothic Mystery novel set in the remote northwest Pilbara region.
Jasper Cliff by Josh Kemp https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
An Island of Suspects
is a fun, atmospheric mystery. My four star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I loved
Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh, a twisty thriller with a "Strangers on a Train" type plot with more than a few surprises.review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm closing out this week with
A Summit in Shadow by Sarah E. Burr https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Living Medicine: How a Lifesaving Cure Was Nearly Lost―and Why It Will Rescue Us When Antibiotics Fail by Lina ZeldovichFascinating book about phages (viruses that destroy bacteria) and their use as cures for diseases.
Well-researched and well-written. 5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley possibly appeals to readers as it rides the current wave of lighthearted stories about canny oldies using their natural invisibility to go unnoticed so they can get away with things - not murder, I hasten to add. 
My review of How To Age Disgracefully
I wondered if Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love might be another formulaic feel-good story, but I think Marianne Cronin got the vibe right in mixing young with old, as she did in her previous book, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, which I loved.
My review of Eddie Winston Is Looking For Love
Cavalcade
by Walter SatterthwaitPinkerton Detectives #3. ................ Germany, 1923. Phil and Jane are hired to go to Germany to find out who tried to kill Adolf Hitler. Very well done with lots of period details BUT their previous mystery adventure in Paris of 1922 was fun but this book is much darker. Tough to write a light fun mystery about Nazis. But I do like Phil and Jane so 3.5 stars. Plus Satterthwait has died so the series is over. Bye Walter.
I read Bone Canyon by Lee Goldberg It is book 2 in the Eve Ronin series, but can be read as a stand alone. I rate it 4.5 stars rounded up. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
King of the Armadillos
is an interesting look at a leprosarium in the 1950s. My 3.5 star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Run
by Blake CrouchThis is Blake Crouch's debut novel from 2011, re-released in 2024.
In this thriller, a good portion of the American population has gone insane, and these crazed people are out to murder everyone else. A family of four 'normal' people goes on the run.
Exciting adventure story. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
⭐⭐⭐⭐.1 for this dark and gritty detective thriller
Past Redemption by David Mark. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished The Stranger in the Room by Luca Veste
Sadly I was a bit underwhelmed: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Now starting BLACK SUN by Owen Matthews, the first novel in his mystery series set in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and featuring KGB investigator Major Alexander Vasin.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for
The Summerfield Saddler by Penelope Janu which gave me so much more than I expected. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wuhan
by Liao YiwuIn this 'documentary novel' Chinese expat/dissident Liao Yiwu paints a picture of the early days of the Covid pandemic in China - and the Communist regime's attempts to cover up and deflect.
Unusual, and very human, addition to the Covid literature. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A fun way to find new authors, new books. Not all were my cup of taste, but they may be yours! The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 13: New Books to Make Your Heart Race
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm kicking off the week with the delightful
Fondue or Die by Korina Moss. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group
Books mentioned in this topic
The Yard (other topics)In Too Deep (other topics)
The Jackal's Mistress (other topics)
Dream Town (other topics)
Flesh and Blood (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Alex Grecian (other topics)Lee Child (other topics)
Lee Goldberg (other topics)
Patricia Cornwell (other topics)
Erin Crosby Eckstine (other topics)
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In this addition to the 'Easy Rawlins' series, the private detective's search for a missing man morphs into a complicated saga involving blackmail, gangsters, murder, and more.
Gritty thriller. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...