English Mysteries Club discussion
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Currently Reading?
I actually loved that book, lol. I love picking up a thick mystery and getting lost in for long periods of time! I break it up with different books in between or I'll go straight through.
Kaye wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "I'm currently reading The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. It's funny how a small town like Three Pines can have so many mysterious deaths."The Canadian "Cabot Cove"? I love Penn..."
There was one in a special monastery for chanting and the one about the higher level guy in Toronto, but I didn't like them as much. So all killers head to Three Pines!
Brenda wrote: "It is difficult to keep a series afloat over many volumes, and the project is full of pitfalls. If you go for the Potholder strategy -- each novel is like a potholder, woven separate and not conne..."I hope the ew Eizabeth Gerge gets her back, Heen was the wrong one to kill off. Why kill off anybody? It's of people in UK are killers!
Tracy wrote: "I actually loved that book, lol. I love picking up a thick mystery and getting lost in for long periods of time! I break it up with different books in between or I'll go straight through."Didn't you feel as though both Barbara and her Pakistani neighbor were acting like complete idiots throughout the entire book? Barbara used to be a quirky, intelligent person and a pretty damned good detective. In this book, she spent 700 pages doing almost everything wrong because of her emotional involvement with the neighbor and his kid. I just couldn't take it any more. No more Elizabeth George for me unless someone I know and trust reads it first and assures me that George has gotten her groove back.
Currently reading
Chuckle! Chuckle! How true! What a lovely way to go. I am currently reading PG Wodehouse. I know he is NOT English mystery but whenever I lose my writing voice I read him and the quirky humour seems to trigger something in my dead brain. Do any other reader-writers find a particular author helps stir creativity?anna
There is a movie about PG Wodehouse's life currently screening on Rialto in NZ. I have recorded it and look forward to watching it. I have seen bits of it and it looks really good. Sorry, but the title escapes me at the moment.And yes, I have go to authors (Stephen King,Kate Atkinson, Susan Hill to name a few) for when my brain fails me. 8:D
Love PG Woodhouse! Hey - just starting my first Susan Hill mystery "The Various Haunts Of Men" - everyone seems to love this series - high expectations - not necessarily a good thing - hah!
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Elizabeth wrote: "Please would someone tell me some good Ruth Rendell books? I loved Judgement in Stone but have been disappointed with the last couple books I have read."I'm a big fan of Ruth Rendell and especially like her Superintendent Wexford series. (Btw, reading them out of order is not problematic.) The two I finished recently are A New Lease of Death and Shake Hands Forever. Give any Wexford novel a try!
Joan wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Hi all! I'm new to the group but not to English mysteries. How do you feel about Elizabeth George (Inspector Lynly) ..."I used to love Elizabeth George, but I think she's lost it...."
Joan, I completely agree about Elizabeth George, alas. Her earlier, shorter books seemed to have more humor (especially with Barbara Havers) and spirit. The last few I read were too heavy, not just in heft, ha ha.
Joanne wrote: "Joan, I completely agree about Elizabeth George, alas. Her earlier, shorter books seemed to have more humor (especially with Barbara Havers) and spirit. The last few I read were too heavy, not just in heft, ha ha."One of the many things that was completely wrong about Just One Evil Act is that George had more or less written that story very well and much more succinctly many years ago. There was a Lynley novel in which Havers gets all tangled up in Azhar's family problems, there is a murder, Lynley gets involved, Azhar's daughter gets tossed into the sea from a boat by an evil relative, Lynley dives overboard to save her, Havers gets in trouble for disobeying orders (what else is new?), etc. and so forth. It was a gripping, imaginative, successful story! Deception on his Mind, I think. Why did Elizabeth George feel the need to revisit that theme (and make a 700-page mess of it) when she'd done such a good job on it the first time?
Joan, you said it!! In fact, Deception on His Mind is one of my favorite EG books. I don't plan to read Just One Evil Act.
I agree, currently reading Just one Evil act, it is okay but not up to her other books and she could have wrapped it up in 400 pages or less.
I have recently started reading James Oswald's detective Anthony McLean series. It's set in Edinburgh. Has anyone else read Oswald?
Joan wrote: "I have recently started reading James Oswald's detective Anthony McLean series. It's set in Edinburgh. Has anyone else read Oswald?"I just picked up Dead Men's Bones at a nearby used bookstore because it looked good. I've never read any of his books before, though--hoping to read it on vacation this month.
Elizabeth, have you read No Man's Nightingale? I saw it on another group and it was highly recommended.
No I have not. Thanks for the advice.
You're welcome! I'm going to reserve it at my local library also!
Tracy wrote: "Elizabeth, have you read No Man's Nightingale? I saw it on another group and it was highly recommended."I read this one; it is the last Wexford novel. Rendell wrote it shortly before she died, and she was clearly no longer at the top of her game. As I said a few posts ago, however, all of the Wexford novels are at least good. This is one of the ones that's good but not great.
Just finished Terra Incognita by Ruth Downie. I'm enjoying the series set in Britain in Roman times.
I have finished Frost and have just discovered
which is the first in a series called 'Best Defence'.I have found several new Scots authors this year and this one is worth a look, with a bit of good old caustic wit going on too. The author is apparently a legal bod in the Scottish system so knows his stuff.
Penny wrote: "I have finished Frost and have just discovered which is the first in a series called 'Best Defence'.I have found several new Scots authors this year and th..."
This looks interesting. I'll take a look at it.
Just finished 'St. Mungo's Robin,' from Pat McIntosh's medieval Scotland series. Very well researched, with extraordinary period detail. And the mystery is always of interest, too. An added bonus is the wealth of characterization. Next up, I think I'll tackle 'Kith and Kill,' part of the Inspector Rafferty series from Geraldine Evans. Also very well done and entertaining.
I just finished Silence Observed, #19 in the Inspector Appleby series. This one was a more traditional mystery, though still a bit off-beat! Good fun book but not as interesting as many of the earlier books in the series were.
Leslie, the further one reads in the Appleby series, the less the books are interesting, IMO.
Helen wrote: "Leslie, the further one reads in the Appleby series, the less the books are interesting, IMO."Yeah, I have heard that from some other folks. My 'inherited' collection of Innes' books only has a handful more and the only one I really want to fill in is #4, Stop Press.
Helen wrote: "Just finished 'St. Mungo's Robin,' from Pat McIntosh's medieval Scotland series. Very well researched, with extraordinary period detail. And the mystery is always of interest, too. An added bonu..."Looked up Kith and Kill as I had never heard of this series. Was surprised to find that there are 3books by 3 different authors all with the same Kith and Kill title.......hah!
Yes, think that happens a lot, the reusing of titles. That's why I made sure I included the author's name in my post, so I'd be sure to get the name correct."Who Saw Him Die" is another one. There's the book by Sheila Radley (another good Brit Cop series, BTW) and the first in the Gregson/Percy Peach series. Different book, same title.
Thanks Helen, will add these to my TBR list as well :-)
Leslie, Helen - yes the very best Innes crime novels, Appleby or others, are the earlier ones, but as you know I have, and have read, them all, and I think they are all worth reading in comparison with others' books. Always erudite, amusing and quirky. And priceless sly whimsical.But with fewer pages, and fewer sub-plots and characters. But so good, in my view!
Just finished Carola Dunn's latest Daisy Dalrymple, "Superfluous Women". Not only are these stories well crafted but they're always entertaining and contain lots of interesting historical information. In this one, she refers to the 'superfluous women' left in England following the WWI death of nearly 800,000 men and how that changed their lives, and history. Thoughtful, entertaining English mysteries.
Meg wrote: "Just finished Carola Dunn's latest Daisy Dalrymple, "Superfluous Women". Not only are these stories well crafted but they're always entertaining and contain lots of interesting historical informati..."Thanks. I have this book on hold at the library.
I always buy the Carola Dunn in paperback, so will have to wait until June! I suppose patience is a virtue?
Trouble with Product X (published in the US as Beware of the Bouquet) by Joan Aiken. It's a sort of Gothic mystery set in Cornwall and is very amusing.
John wrote: "I always buy the Carola Dunn in paperback, so will have to wait until June! I suppose patience is a virtue?"That's what they say. One thing I really like about the Dalrymple books are the great covers.
I've been reading a few Patricia Wentworth's and then picked up an M.M. Kaye, Death in Cyprus. I have to say that Wentworth is a much better read. Her events are more plausible, even with the coincidences that pepper her early works, and her character development and scene settings are head and shoulders above not only Kaye's, but most writers, I think. In Kaye's defense, Shadow of the Moon and The Far Pavilions are masterpieces, but this little mystery is just not in the same league!
I've never heard of Carola Dunn or Patricia Wentworth and so now have two more authors to try. Thanks!
And the M.M. Kaye did have a nice ending. The murderer was so obvious that even I spotted him, but there was a little twist at the end that I enjoyed!But, Diane, Wentworth is a treat!
Betsy - yes the Daisy covers are evocative and amusing.Diane - think of Patricia Wentworth's female detective, Miss Maud Silver, as a kind of Miss Marple, knitting while listening to her clients and interviewees, and drawing out their secrets. Much revered by the Scotland Yard detectives. delicious! But as Karlyne says, lots of character development and good locales. 30+ of them.
For people who don't know, most of them are on Audible too, brilliantly read by Diana Bishop.
Was it you, John, who said that Miss Silver is like Miss Marple's intelligent sister?
No, not me, Karlyne, but it's a good basis for fisticuffs with some Agatha Christie addicts!
Karlyne wrote: "Was it you, John, who said that Miss Silver is like Miss Marple's intelligent sister?"I would put it as Miss Silver is the professional counterpart of Miss Marple.
Yes, indeed.I wonder why there has never been a television series featuring Miss Silver? Surely just made for it?
Leslie wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "Was it you, John, who said that Miss Silver is like Miss Marple's intelligent sister?"I would put it as Miss Silver is the professional counterpart of Miss Marple."
True, Miss Marple is fluffy and keeps her sharpness hidden (I do love her, too), but Miss Silver is instantly recognizable as intelligent and professional.
Miss Marple would have a hard time earning a living as a detective, because people have such a hard time believing that she's keen-witted.
John wrote: "Yes, indeed.I wonder why there has never been a television series featuring Miss Silver? Surely just made for it?"
Oh, boy, wouldn't that be great?!? (I mean, hopefully it would be.)
We'd need an aged actress who could turn a heel while knitting in the continental fashion, of course! Maybe a stunt double needed?
John wrote: "We'd need an aged actress who could turn a heel while knitting in the continental fashion, of course! Maybe a stunt double needed?"Yes, I am here with no one else around, laughing out loud! Thanks, John!
English Mysteries Club
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Just One Evil Act