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I'll give Ms Tey a fair chance I promise :-)
Josephine Tey. Strange. I love them all except Brat Farrar and The Franchise Affair, which I only last week avoided re-buying second-hand at the marvellous Barter Books in Alnwick (Northumberland) when on a visit to our son and his two little girls.I love The Man in the Queue, The Singing Sands, and Miss Pym Disposes.
And of course, The Daughter of Time is unique and brilliant.
Based on all the recommendations I may have to bump Josephine Tey up my TBR pile.
John wrote: "Josephine Tey. Strange. I love them all except Brat Farrar and The Franchise Affair, which I only last week avoided re-buying second-hand at the marvellous Barter Books in Alnwick (Northumberland) ..."I really like The Franchise Affair but you did pick out two of the three that are atypical mysteries (the 3rd being Daughter of Time)!
Of the others, I also really like A Shilling for Candles (which is soooo much better than the Hitchcock film - and I am a huge Hitchcock fan).
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Leslie wrote: "Trelawn wrote: "That's a great bargain! I picked up The Man in the Queue in Charing Cross last year but haven't read it yet. Josephine Tey came highly recommended by someone who said she is simila..."Too funny! I have Brat Farrar on the way and The Man in the Queue (that is an almost impossible word to type, by the way!) by my side, so I can compare them soon!
Leslie wrote: "John wrote: "Josephine Tey. Strange. I love them all except Brat Farrar and The Franchise Affair, which I only last week avoided re-buying second-hand at the marvellous Barter Books in Alnwick (Nor..."Leslie - you're right. I suppose 'Brat'' and 'Franchise' aren't in my crime novel zone. More troubling, maybe, than I like to stomach. But really popular, so it suggests that when a novelist gets a really good idea, even if off the usual track, it's best to run with it, as it will have real author's heart in it.
Most writers seem to keep to a style, for sales reasons, I suppose, but then they can become mechanical. Recent comments re Elizabeth George, Peter Robinson and others suggest that.
Yes, John, the "author's heart" is more important than sales. (Says she who's not making a living by writing!)
Just finished Waiting for Wednesday by Nicci French. I really enjoyed reading it (and actually found much of it pretty funny, which is not what I expect from a murder mystery), but I'm starting to lose patience with Frieda Klein and her friends. They behave truly ridiculously almost all of the time. The authors (Nicci French is a couple) really should make these characters behave plausibly most of the time and spice it up with intermittent ridiculousness.
Trelawn wrote: "Just started The Man in the Queue."This is next on my list! I'm finishing up one of the "lost" Louisa May Alcott's, A Long Fatal Love Chase. It's very Victorian and full of flashing eyes, etc., but I'll persevere!
I'm reading A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George, the first of the Thomas Lynley series. Very good so far, so much that I've put a hold on the 2nd in the series.
Yes, Lorraine, her early books were excellent. Until What Came Before He Shot Her, she did pretty well - not a home run every time but at least a good 2-base hit. What Came was terrible, and she still has not recovered her focus.
Jean wrote: "Yes, Lorraine, her early books were excellent. Until What Came Before He Shot Her, she did pretty well - not a home run every time but at least a good 2-base hit. What Came was terrible, and she has not recovered her focus."I could not agree more.
Have you read any of Graham Ison's books? I love his police series - I've now bought them all.
I am currently reading death on the cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay. It's a vintage british crime classic that has been brought into print again. It started off a bit slow but am really enjoying it now. The story is set in an Oxford girl's college at the beginning of the last century.
Lorraine wrote: "I'm reading A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George, the first of the Thomas Lynley series. Very good so far, so much that I've put a hold on the 2nd in the series."Just finished it and can't wait to read more. I've been told by another reader that her later books were not as good.
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My review contains nothing about the plot, in this case, so you are quite safe to read it, Lorraine :)
I just read your review and agree completely. I want to read mysteries, not soap operas. I know I won't find a book with no personal stuff at all, and I put up with it as long as the actual mystery is engaging and the personal stuff not too messy - but enough is enough. In too many books and most TV series and movies, if the detectives had nice settled home lives and normal friends and relatives, there'd be no plot.
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We don't seem to have many writers capable of those real puzzlers. Everybody takes the easy way. There were, in the 80s or 90s (I found them at used book stores), books which were presented as police case files: police reports, lab results, crime scene photos, autopsy results, etc. There was no narration or character development other than the small amount in the police reports. I loved them! I could use my puzzle-solving abilities to catch the villain without all the angst.
Trelawn wrote: "Just started The Man in the Queue."What are you thinking of it? I'm finding it interesting, and I thought I'd already found two bloomers in the first 30 pages or so, but on researching, it was me and not Josephine!
Arpita wrote: "I am currently reading death on the cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay. It's a vintage british crime classic that has been brought into print again. It started off a bit slow but am really enjoying it no..."Hi there! Glad to see you posting again :)
Jean wrote: "It's odd isn't it, that mysteries seem to be getting longer and longer, yet the mystery element is no more complex! As you say, it's so often the "soapy" element which is developed."A pet peeve of my dad's (and me too)!
@ Karlyne I'm enjoying it so far but not loving it. That said I'm only 40 pages in so we'll see. I have heard this one isn't her best work so I'll reserve judgement.
So far, it's reminding me of early Allingham, and maybe early Ngaio Marsh. It feels like she hasn't quite developed as the author she's going to be.
Mike wrote: "Just finished.
A Place Of Execution by 
Val McDermid 1963. 13 year old Alison Carter disappears wi..."
I read that book earlier this year. Did you feel that it dragged on in the final third? I really like this author's work, but I felt this particular one could have been cut down by 100 pages or so. My favourite of hers so far is The Grave Tattoo.
Karlyne wrote: "I just picked up The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson, Shake Hands Forever by Ruth Rendell, The Hollow by Agatha Christie (pretty sure I don't already have it!), and The Man in the Queue by J..."I love Carter Dickson though I've never read that one, love Agatha Christie and Josephine Tey. If you haven't already read it I would suggest Tey's Daughter of Time. It's a classic.
I forgot to say that thrift stores are one of my primary ways to get books.
Bev wrote: "I forgot to say that thrift stores are one of my primary ways to get books."I picked up Daughter of Time (at a thrift store!) a few years ago and I do love it. Carter Dickson has been elusive for me, though, so I'm looking forward to making his acquaintance.
I'm reading "an Outlander novella" on Kindle by Diana Gabaldon called The Space Between. Of course, being DG its the size of most small novels. I just finished Bad Karma in the Big Easy by D.J. Donaldson. This is a series set in New Orleans that was mostly in the 1990s. I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. He wrote Bad Karma to catch up with the characters one last time after Katrina.
I liked the Donaldson books and was sorry the author stopped doing them. I'll look for Bad Karma. I don't like Carter Dickson/John Dickson Carr so much - his plots are inventive and he does play fair with his clues, but the main characters are so bombastic they make me crazy. His detective also does another thing that I hate - he says he knows who did it but won't tell until some picky detail is confirmed - meanwhile 2 or 3 more characters die. Accessory to murder!
Trelawn wrote: "@ Karlyne I'm enjoying it so far but not loving it. That said I'm only 40 pages in so we'll see. I have heard this one isn't her best work so I'll reserve judgement."I didn't think the book came alive until page 91 in my copy, Mrs. Everett's debut. Grant seems a bit stereotypical and not real?
I agree he doesn't seem quite all there or something. He's no Peter Wimsey but then so few men are :-) I'm going to keep going with it for now.
Trelawn wrote: "I agree he doesn't seem quite all there or something. He's no Peter Wimsey but then so few men are :-) I'm going to keep going with it for now."It's definitely getting better and might even have a good ending!
I'm in the unusual position of reading 2 books at once so i'm getting through both slower than normal but I'll look forward to this one picking up
I got the two new D. J. Donaldson mysteries - Bad Karma in the Big Easy and New Orleans Requiem - at Amazon for 99 cents each on my kindle. If you like NOLA murders, you might want to get them too before the price goes back to normal.
waiting for Barbara Cleverly's "The Bee's Kiss" to arrive along with GGK's "River of Stars" & Elizabeth Chadwick's "The Greatest Knight" (eclectic reading). I am going through the Joe Sandilands series & quite liking them.
Just started Gallows Lane, by Brian McGilloway.
@Mike: I started this book precisely because you liked the last McGilloway you read!
Helen wrote: "waiting for Barbara Cleverly's "The Bee's Kiss" to arrive along with GGK's "River of Stars" & Elizabeth Chadwick's "The Greatest Knight" (eclectic reading). I am going through the Joe Sandilands se..."I enjoy Barbara Cleverly's books. I've started my first Elizabeth Chadwick, but it must take a backseat while I read Long Walk to Freedom with another group.
Carolien wrote: "I enjoy Barbara Cleverly's books. I've started my first Elizabeth Chadwick, but it must take a backseat while I read Long Walk to Freedom with another group"this will be my first Elizabeth Chadwick, I really enjoy historical fiction that takes place in the Plantagenet then Tudor eras (as well as before & after ;>))I think my predilection for history is why I prefer the 'period' mysteries so much.
I'm about 33% through the 2nd Thomas Lynley book, Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George. Enjoying it a lot so far.
Helen, I read Long Walk to Freedom over the past couple months -- 770 pages! -- & missed quite a few other books along the way. Worth it, though. A vital chronicle of our time.
I find Long walk to Freedom to actually be a reasonably easy read, but it just takes time since it is such a tome! I'm South African so I know quite a lot of the history, but it is still worth the read. Next week is 20 years since the 1994 elections so there are quite a lot of exhibitions on at the moment which is adding to the read at the moment.
English Mysteries Club
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I love both Tey and Sayers! However I think that The Man in the Queue is not one of Tey's best, so if you don't like it, please try another (perhaps Brat Farrar…)