Judy’s Comments (group member since Oct 01, 2015)

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Definitely! I'm not sure how old he is supposed to be, but I'm guessing still early 20s?

Great, thanks Susan!

Great, thank you Susan. We could slip it in for May-June, if you like, as we 'only' have 4 buddies then and 2 of those are very short (Maigret and Mrs Pargeter). Or, if that's too soon, would you prefer June-July or July-August?

I've often felt that Sloan is a bit mean to Crosby, but in this one I feel like being mean to Crosby myself - he comes up with so many inappropriate comments! I find him an amusing character but suspect he would drive me mad in real life ;)

I know the feeling, Frances! Good to hear you are hoping to join in on this one, anyway.

I've started this now - the start seemed fine but now things are starting to get weird. I'm slightly wondering if any other weeds were around anywhere...

And the winner is... To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey, which will be our group read in June. Thanks to all who nominated and voted.

Full results:
To Love and Be Wise (Inspector Alan Grant, #4) 6 votes, 40.0%
Murder on Tyneside (Agnes Lockwood Mysteries, Book #1) 5 votes, 33.3%
The Bellamy Trial 3 votes, 20.0%
Juggernaut: A Golden Age Mystery 1 vote, 6.7%

Great comments, Susan. I thought the previous book was also quite political, which I hadn't noticed so much in the earlier books.

As you say, the way the book looks at arming of police is very interesting and thought-provoking. I think the incident where the original gunfight takes place, and the irony of how the cop is actually killed, is brilliantly done. However, the Keystone Kops type stakeout later on is a bit too similar to an incident in the previous book, I thought.

I could also have done without the long resignation letter from Kollberg, which seems too heavy-handed, but I suppose the authors wanted to make sure their readers at the time got the message.

I'd love to buddy read any of these Brand novels, Susan - I'd be especially keen on Death of Jezebel as I don't really remember it at all from my previous read, but would also be happy with any.

Death of Jezebel, Green for Danger and Suddenly at His Residence are all currently on Kindle in the UK, and it looks as if London Particular may be available from June.

On the subject of Christianna Brand, I'm excited to see that British Library is bringing out Cat and Mouse next month, which up to now has been incredibly rare and expensive.

Martin Edwards wrote a nice tribute to her.

The author died very recently, Susan, but I'm not sure when her latest book came out.

I'm always surprised that there is quite a bit of humour in these, as you say, Pamela, but I agree it gets dark quickly.

The start is very similar to the start of Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter, the first Inspector Morse book, which I read recently, but I think it must be a coincidence as both books were first published in the UK in 1975. I wonder if dangers to women catching buses and hitching were particularly topical at that stage in the 1970s, although it was before the Yorkshire Ripper.

Just a quick warning to anyone who hasn't read Roseanna, the first book in this series - if you're planning to, it's advisable to read it before Cop Killer. The solution to Roseanna is an important element in this book.

Wow, the 30th book in the series, and getting well into the 1950s! How do those who have stuck with the series feel it has changed since the start?

Here's a link to the spoiler thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I haven't started this yet, but have borrowed the edition shown in Susan's introduction from the library.

I am excited to get back to Wimsey again! Who else is reading this? The spoiler thread is linked below:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thank you for setting up the threads, Susan. Who is reading this one? I hope to get to it a bit later in the month.

Interesting that we have ravens at the start of this one, and crows at the start of our latest Catherine Aird book.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's mid month, so let's start this buddy read! Who is reading this one - I believe a couple of members have finished it? From the reviews, it looks a bit weird...

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Who's reading this one? I've read about a third and am grabbed by it, as always with this series. Good to see that Beck is still happy with his new girlfriend, but apart from that it all feels pretty dark so far.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hope Jill is OK. Thank you for the update, Susan, and also for opening up all our new buddy read threads.

Thank you for setting up and opening our new threads, Susan. Who is reading this one? I really enjoyed it and almost read all of it in one session!

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...