The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

10 favorite romantic relationship (or almost relationships) in a mystery series

1. Adelia Aguilar and Rowley, the Bishop of St. AlbansinThe Mistress of Death series
2. Eve Dallas and Roarke of the In Death series
3. Rev. Clare Fergusson and police chief Russ Van Alstyne, Millers Kill series by Julia Spencer-Fleming
4. Lady Julia Grey and Brisbane in the Lady Julia Grey mysteries by Deanna Raybourn
5. Tuppence and Tommy (Dame Agatha Christie)
6. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt in the Pitt series by Anne Perry
7. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes in Laurie R. King's Mary Russell Series
8. sara linton/jeffery tolliver from Karin Slaughter series set in Georgia
9. Stephanie Plum and Ranger in the Plum series by Janet Evanovich (plttthh to all you Morelli fans) ;-D
10. Lori Shepherd and Bill Willis in the Aunt Dimity mysteries

We never finished this one, so I'm starting it again:

10 Villains or Heroes with great names.

1. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs
2. Jeffrey Tolliver (The Grant County books by Karin Slaughter)
3. Carson Ryder (The Hundredth Man)
4.norman bates ( physco)
5.Professor James Moriarty--According to Wikipedia, he is widely considered to be the first true example of a supervillain, Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes (Sherlock, of course) as the "Napoleon of Crime."
6. Hellboy
7. Lt. Joe Leaphorn in Tony Hillerman's series

We never finished this one, so I'm starting it again:

10 Villains or Heroes with great names.

1. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs
2. Jeffrey Tolliver (The Grant County books by Karin Slaughter)
3. Carson Ryder (The Hundredth Man)
4.norman bates ( physco)
5.Professor James Moriarty--According to Wikipedia, he is widely considered to be the first true example of a supervillain, Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes (Sherlock, of course) as the "Napoleon of Crime."
6. Hellboy
7. Lt. Joe Leaphorn in Tony Hillerman's series
8 freddy krueger

how come it wasnt finished

10 Villains or Heroes with great names.

1. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs
2. Jeffrey Tolliver (The Grant County books by Karin Slaughter)
3. Carson Ryder (The Hundredth Man)
4.norman bates ( physco)
5.Professor James Moriarty--According to Wikipedia, he is widely considered to be the first true example of a supervillain, Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes (Sherlock, of course) as the "Napoleon of Crime."
6. Hellboy
7. Lt. Joe Leaphorn in Tony Hillerman's series
8. freddy krueger
9. Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, Michael Connelly's hero. His name is very appropriate and ironic.

Teresa wrote: "how come it wasnt finished"

Another one got started before this one was finished. I didn't like leaving it with only 7 entries on its list. I guess I do have a touch of OCD. :)

1. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs
2. Jeffrey Tolliver (The Grant County books by Karin Slaughter)
3. Carson Ryder (The Hundredth Man)
4.norman bates ( physco)
5.Professor James Moriarty--According to Wikipedia, he is widely considered to be the first true example of a supervillain, Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes (Sherlock, of course) as the "Napoleon of Crime."
6. Hellboy
7. Lt. Joe Leaphorn in Tony Hillerman's series
8. freddy krueger
9. Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, Michael Connelly's hero. His name is very appropriate and ironic
10 jason

Okay New list : )

MYSTERY BOOK that you didnt finish

1)The Bodies Left Behind A Novel
Highly recommend, Author I normally read but after 75 pages all I got from this book was a headache.

MYSTERY BOOK that you didnt finish

1)The Bodies Left Behind A Novel
Highly recommend, Author I normally read but after 75 pages all I got from this book was a headache.
2)Daddy's Little Girl, completely lost interest about halfway through and gave up.

MYSTERY BOOK that you didnt finish

1)The Bodies Left Behind A Novel
Highly recommend, Author I normally read but after 75 pages all I got from this book was a headache.
2)Daddy's Little Girl, completely lost interest about halfway through and gave up.
3) L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker: The main character in this wasn't likeable at all, and the storyline wasn't interesting enough for me to keep reading.

MYSTERY BOOK that you didnt finish


1)The Bodies Left Behind A Novel
Highly recommend, Author I normally read but after 75 pages all I got from this book was a headache.
2)Daddy's Little Girl, completely lost interest about halfway through and gave up.
3) L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker: The main character in this wasn't likeable at all, and the storyline wasn't interesting enough for me to keep reading.
4) The Yiddish Policemen's Union picked it up twice and both times stopped at page 10 (!). Confusing, contorted and didn't grab me.

I sympathize, Hayes. I couldn't get through that one either.

Mystery/Crime books adapted into movies:

1. Murder on the Orient Express - That's my all time fave!!
2. Murder at the Gallop (After the Funeral, but with Miss Marple instead of Poirot!)
3. A Time to Kill
4. Death on the Nile - Fantastic Film, one of my favourites
5. Angels & Demons - have you seen it yet? I liked it much more than The Da Vinci Code movie.
6. The Pelican Brief - very good movie
7. Kiss The Girls
8. The Client( i know too much Grisham but they do adapt a lot of his novels)

Mystery/Crime books adapted into movies:

1. Murder on the Orient Express - That's my all time fave!!
2. Murder at the Gallop (After the Funeral, but with Miss Marple instead of Poirot!)
3. A Time to Kill
4. Death on the Nile - Fantastic Film, one of my favourites
5. Angels & Demons - have you seen it yet? I liked it much more than The Da Vinci Code movie.
6. The Pelican Brief - very good movie
7. Kiss The Girls
8. The Client( i know too much Grisham but they do adapt a lot of his novels)
9. The Hound of the Baskervilles

Did we not finish Mystery Book You Didn't Finish and so are trying to now? If so...
1)The Bodies Left Behind A Novel
Highly recommend, Author I normally read but after 75 pages all I got from this book was a headache.
2)Daddy's Little Girl, completely lost interest about halfway through and gave up.
3) L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker: The main character in this wasn't likeable at all, and the storyline wasn't interesting enough for me to keep reading.
4) The Yiddish Policemen's Union picked it up twice and both times stopped at page 10 (!). Confusing, contorted and didn't grab me.
5)Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell I think that counts, and it's one of the very few I allowed myself not to finish, although I own it and will try again.

Kandice wrote: "5) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell I think that counts, and it's one of the very few I allowed myself not to finish, although I own it and will try again."

I bought this in a weak moment... and it's been sitting there staring at me ever since... will I or won't I start it?

Mystery/Crime books adapted into movies:

1. Murder on the Orient Express
2. Murder at the Gallop
3. A Time to Kill
4. Death on the Nile
5. Angels & Demons
6. The Pelican Brief
7. Kiss The Girls
8. Devil in a Blue Dress
9. The Bone Collector

Deirdre wrote: "Mystery/Crime books adapted into movies:

1. Murder on the Orient Express
2. Murder at the Gallop
3. A Time to Kill
4. Death on the Nile
5. Angels & Demons
6. The Pelican Brief
7. Kiss The Girls
8..."

We were already on #9 in this list, so I guess these would be 10 and 11?

Kathy wrote: "Deirdre wrote: "Mystery/Crime books adapted into movies:

1. Murder on the Orient Express
2. Murder at the Gallop
3. A Time to Kill
4. Death on the Nile
5. Angels & Demons
6. The Pelican Brief
7. K..."

Oops!
7. Kiss the Girls
8. The Client
9. The Hound of the Baskervilles
10. Devil in a Blue Dress
11. The Bone Collector

Deirdre wrote: "Kathy wrote: "Deirdre wrote: "Mystery/Crime books adapted into movies:

1. Murder on the Orient Express
2. Murder at the Gallop
3. A Time to Kill
4. Death on the Nile
5. Angels & Demons
6. The Peli..."

Nothing wrong with 11 instead of 10, especially with #11 being The Bone Collector.

Let's start this again!

10 things that bug you in a mystery/thriller:

1. When you know who dunnit too early.

10 Things that bug you in a myster/thriler

1. When you know who dunnit too early.
2. When the central character has a hopeless love life (Kay Scarpetta, Lindsay Boxer etc).

3.When it is absolutely, totally, and completely obvious the "detective" should not go down into the basement, into the dark woods, into the abandoned warehouse, etc. - and they go anyway.

4.When you read till the end of the book just to find out that the whole plot has no sense!

5. When the mystery/thriller follows the romance formula of girl meets boy/girl hates boy/boy steps up/they fall for each other. Disgustingly predictable.

10 things that bug you in a mystery/thriller:


1. When you know who dunnit too early.
2. When the central character has a hopeless love life (Kay Scarpetta, Lindsay Boxer etc).
3. When it is absolutely, totally, and completely obvious the "detective" should not go down into the basement, into the dark woods, into the abandoned warehouse, etc. - and they go anyway.
4. When you read till the end of the book just to find out that the whole plot has no sense!
5. When the mystery/thriller follows the romance formula of girl meets boy/girl hates boy/boy steps up/they fall for each other. Disgustingly predictable.
6. When the "red herrings" (misleading clues) are too totally ridiculous, but the detective goes chasing after them anyway to make the book longer.

7. When the ending is inconclusive, so that you know you're being set up for a sequel.

8. When the author doesn't "play fair" with the reader, holding back essential information/clues until the very end, so there's no chance of the reader solving the mystery on his/her own.

9. When there are so many characters that you have to keep looking back to keep them all straight.

10. When the main character has a name that could be pronounced a couple of different ways and you're always getting distracted by trying out the different pronunciations when the name appears, which is often, of course.

Oh, Kathy, I agree. I so appreciate an author who lets you in on the correct pronunciations of the names of people and places. I always have this urge to write them a thank-you note!

10 things that bug you in a mystery/thriller:


1. When you know who dunnit too early.
2. When the central character has a hopeless love life (Kay Scarpetta, Lindsay Boxer etc).
3. When it is absolutely, totally, and completely obvious the "detective" should not go down into the basement, into the dark woods, into the abandoned warehouse, etc. - and they go anyway.
4. When you read till the end of the book just to find out that the whole plot has no sense!
5. When the mystery/thriller follows the romance formula of girl meets boy/girl hates boy/boy steps up/they fall for each other. Disgustingly predictable.
6. When the "red herrings" (misleading clues) are too totally ridiculous, but the detective goes chasing after them anyway to make the book longer.
7. When the ending is inconclusive, so that you know you're being set up for a sequel.
8. When the author doesn't "play fair" with the reader, holding back essential information/clues until the very end, so there's no chance of the reader solving the mystery on his/her own.
9. When there are so many characters that you have to keep looking back to keep them all straight.
10. When the main character has a name that could be pronounced a couple of different ways and you're always getting distracted by trying out the different pronunciations when the name appears, which is often, of course.


Kathy, you finished the list. If you want you can choose another topic, or pass to someone else.

OK, since we did favorite great names for heroes and villains and they were all male, let's do a favorite great names for female characters. These don't have to be your favorite characters (although often they are), just great names. I'll start with the first one, which is a favorite female name and favorite female character for me.

1. Adelia Aguilar from Mistress of the Art of Death series (I love alliteration, so this name really appeals to me on the basis of that)

Irene Adler, who outwitted Sherlock Holmes. Adler - based on addle (to confuse) - is so appropriate.

Good list. I particularly dislike mystery/thrillers that follow the romance formual. Yuk!

Luann wrote: "10 books with lawyer in them.

1. Everywhere that Mary Went
2. The Firm
3. To Kill a Mockingbird
4. The Case of the One-Eyed Witness
5. A Time to Kill
6. Final Jeopardy
7. Silks"

8. Try Dying
9. The Lincoln Lawyer

10 favorite great names for female characters.

1. Adelia Aguilar from Mistress of the Art of Death series (I love alliteration, so this name really appeals to me on the basis of that)
2. Irene Adler, who outwitted Sherlock Holmes. Adler - based on addle (to confuse) - is so appropriate.
3. Precious Ramotswe, from The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The name rolls right off the tongue. I love it.

Nike, having trouble replying to your post.

My #10 would be Swimming to Catalina, a Stone Barrington novel.

I think the name Nevada Barr is so appropriate for the character, reflecting her love of the land and her prickly, defensive personality.

Scout wrote: "I think the name Nevada Barr is so appropriate for the character, reflecting her love of the land and her prickly, defensive personality."

Why don't you add Nevada Barr to the new list of female characters?

Nevada Barr is not a character - although I don't personally know her so she may well be quite a character in her own right. However, she is the author and Anna Pigeon is the character.

Jan wrote: "Nevada Barr is not a character - although I don't personally know her so she may well be quite a character in her own right. However, she is the author and Anna Pigeon is the character."

Oops, sorry about that. I thought that's what Scout was saying, that she was a character. It's still a great name, and Anna Pigeon is a good one, too. Thanks for clearing that up, Jan.

Well, crap, the old brain's not what it used to be. Thanks for jumping in there, Jan. I have no idea what the name Anna Pigeon might signify, and it's not one of my favorites, anyway. I'm too embarrassed to suggest another.

Scout wrote: "Well, crap, the old brain's not what it used to be. Thanks for jumping in there, Jan. I have no idea what the name Anna Pigeon might signify, and it's not one of my favorites, anyway. I'm too em..."

Our old brains are the same age, Scout, so I relate completely. LOL!

OK, how about:

4) Smoky Barrett

I haven't read any of Cody McFadyen's books, but they're supposed to be rather good (they're still lurking on my bookshelves). Maybe I should suggest one for a group read??

Smoky Barrett is a great name.

I'll add Lula in the Stephanie Plum number mysteries by Janet Evanovich. She has only a first name - like Cher, Beyonce, and Oprah. Her personality takes up more than its fair share of space.

Where are you, Hayes, with your great summing-up list? :) I'm an admirer of list-makers from way back, beginning with Benjamin Franklin's list in his autobiography. He taught me that there's nothing like a list to keep you on track.

Charlotte (Buried in Books) wrote: "OK, how about:

4) Smoky Barrett

I haven't read any of Cody McFadyen's books, but they're supposed to be rather good (they're still lurking on my bookshelves). Maybe I should suggest one for ..."

I love Cody Mcfadyen 's series about Smokey Barrett 4 book series. Every one is better than the last. I voted for "Shadow Man" #1 for book of the month. I discovered this series recently and I cannot say say enough about them. They are rather gruesome in parts but the writing style and the stand out characters will suck you in and not let you go until the last page and then you will be anxious to jump to next book and do it all over again. I have tried repeatedly to get others on this website interested in this series without success. ???? Read them and I hope you love them like do!

You've convinced me, Judith. I'll look for one the next time I go to the library. Mcfayden is on my list!

Scout wrote: "Where are you, Hayes, with your great summing-up list? :) I'm an admirer of list-makers from way back, beginning with Benjamin Franklin's list in his autobiography. He taught me that there's nothi..."

Been out of commission for a few days... if someone wants to take over here for a bit I have a rough week.

Hope things will be easier for you soon, Hayes.