Reading the Detectives discussion

Gillian wrote: "Lady Clementine, I hope you enjoy when you get to it (guessing you have a long TBR list)...."

Very- and I don't stop adding to it however hard I try :)

Gillian wrote: "I wish I'd found this group earlier! I finished my own reread of the Miss Marple books earlier this year, and it would have been fantastic to share the experience with the members of this group.

I..."

Welcome Gillian, I too love Sayers and own all LPW stories. I too re-read when I know I've forgotten whodunit, LOL. Interestingly, about 3 weeks ago we met some New Zealanders and became instant friends. I love your Ti Ora w/Manuka leaves tea. Our new friends promised to send me some of it since it's only available in NZ. Well, hope you enjoy RTD.

Thanks, S Dizzy--it's always great to meet another Sayers fan. I love tea, but I have yet to try that particular blend, but I have heard it's very good. I'll look out for it.

Welcome, Cody! Do you have a favourite Agatha Christie?

Welcome to the group, Cody. We have a challenge to read Miss Marple books this year, and you are very welcome to join in.

Hi Cody, welcome to the group!

Hello I'm Margaret,

I really wish I joined this group early, as I love Agatha Christie. My other favorite mystery authors/books would have to be G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown series and Author Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. My favorite Christie book would have to be a tie between Five Little Pigs and the Crooked House. I looked forward to joining in on the reading challenge.

Welcome Margaret!

Hi Margaret and welcome to the group - we're glad you found us :)

Thank you for the warm welcomes :).

Welcome, Margaret, glad you've joined us! It's great that you want to join in with our Miss Marple reading challenge - it has been a lot of fun so far and there are still a few books to go.

Mystery is my favorite genre, especially cozy mysteries. For this reason, I often turn to British mysteries, mostly from the golden era. Having read Agatha Christie in addition to Arthur Conan Doyle’s complete Sherlock Holmes novels and stories, G K Chersterton's complete Father Brown and Emmuska Orczy’s complete Old Man in the Corner stories at an early age, I knew I was an Anglophile.


Agatha Christie is one of my favorite mystery authors. I've read and collected almost all of her books. Retreating into her The Thirteen Problems and Cards on the Table is something I often do.


I believe in giving authors a fair chance, unless they produce absolute rubbish. So, I have read more than a few Ngaio Marsh and Georgette Heyer even after feeling rather ‘meh’ about them to begin with. Waiting to do the same with Dorothy L. Sayers and Rex Stout. Though at times I restrict myself to two books before swearing never to read these authors again, such as John Dickson Carr, Mary Roberts Rinehart and Josephine Tey.

Welcome, Paperbackreader, good to meet you. We have a lot of Christie and Conan Doyle fans here, and we currently have a challenge to read all the Miss Marple books.

I also agree about giving writers a fair chance - sometimes I've enjoyed a second or third book after not liking the first, and sometimes I've also found myself enjoying the same book second time around.

Hi Paperbackreader - welcome to the group. We read a wide range of Golden Age authors, so hopefully you will find some 'new' ones to like. Both Christianna Brand and Nicholas Blake are current/forthcoming buddy reads.

Welcome Margaret and Paperbackreader. Sometime I will have to give Father Brown a second chance. I rejected him years ago but many people list him as a favorite. I discovered Rex Stout thru this group and now Nero Wolfe is one of my favorite characters. I never heard of the old man in the corner, will have to check him out.

Hello Paperbackreader- Is Emmuska Orczy’s Old Man in the Corner stories similar to Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, or G.K. Chesterton works? I've read the Scarlet Pimpernel, which is more of a romance with some adventure, by her and it was okay. I've been tempted to try them but haven't found anyone who recommended them. On another note, has anyone read Agatha Christie's books with Tuppence and Tommy?

Margaret wrote: "Hello Paperbackreader- Is Emmuska Orczy’s Old Man in the Corner stories similar to Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, or G.K. Chesterton works? I've read the Scarlet Pimpernel, which is more of a..."

I have read her Tommy and Tuppence series and thoroughly enjoyed them. Very dated in some respects but still enjoyable. Best to read in chronological order I think.

Margaret wrote: "Hello Paperbackreader- Is Emmuska Orczy’s Old Man in the Corner stories similar to Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, or G.K. Chesterton works? I've read the Scarlet Pimpernel, which is more of a..."

I haven't read the Old Man in the Corner Stories either- must look them up!

Susan in Perthshire wrote:I have read her Tommy and Tuppence series and thoroughly enjoyed them. Very dated in some respects but still enjoyable. Best to read in chronological order I think.

I'm a big fan of 'dated' books so another point towards me reading them :p!

Judy wrote: "Welcome, Paperbackreader, good to meet you. We have a lot of Christie and Conan Doyle fans here, and we currently have a challenge to read all the Miss Marple books..."

Thank you! I came here when I saw this group was reading Miss Marple books. I can never get bored of these books. :)

Sandy wrote: "Welcome Margaret and Paperbackreader. Sometime I will have to give Father Brown a second chance. I rejected him years ago but many people list him as a favorite..."

I found that the Father Brown stories are best read when they are spaced out a bit. When I was reading the entire collection, I noticed I was getting fatigued by the good father's character. :D To be honest, The Innocence of Father Brown is the best of the lot. The rest are good but only when read in moderation.

Margaret wrote: "Hello Paperbackreader- Is Emmuska Orczy’s Old Man in the Corner stories similar to Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, or G.K. Chesterton works? I've read the Scarlet Pimpernel, which is more of a..."

I have not read Baroness Orczy's more famous work, The Scarlet Pimpernel. The old man series is a rather odd one. It does feel a bit dated, to be honest. I liked the fact that it has a female protagonist. The old man character is the quintessential cranky genius who has odd habits and is somewhat of a social misfit. I like the period setting and also anything that has to do with mystery and detection. So, I loved making my way through the all of the old man collections, The Old Man in the Corner, The Case of Miss Elliott and Unravelled Knots. :)

I have read Partners in Crime, the 2nd book in the Tommy and Tuppence series and By the Pricking of My Thumbs, the 4th book in the series. The two books are so different in tone that I do not know what to make of these characters. I liked Partners in Crime mainly because of how Christie wove in different types of fictional detectives into the work and its lightheartedness. By the Pricking of My Thumbs is more serious. But they are the only regular Christie characters who age in real time. The shift in tone maybe a result of that.

Hello-I'm Frances from Ottawa, Canada and I've loved golden age mysteries since finding a stash of yellowing Agatha Christies at a cottage we stayed in one summer. Over the years I've also enjoyed Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham and more modern favourites include Louise Penny, Peter Robinson, Robert Galbraith and Brenda Chapman, to name a few. I've been lurking for the reading of The Circular Staircase and hope to join in on the rest of the Christie reads.

Welcome Frances from western North Carolina.

I recall going through Ottawa many years ago on a trip from Toronto to Saskatchewan.

Welcome Frances. Hope you enjoyed The Circular Staircase and will join in our other reads. I love Louise Penny and am very impatient for the next Galbraith.

Welcome Frances. You are very welcome - look forward to you joining in with future discussions.

Sandy, the latest Louise Penny is on NetGalley, if you are a member?

Susan wrote: "Welcome Frances. You are very welcome - look forward to you joining in with future discussions.

Sandy, the latest Louise Penny is on NetGalley, if you are a member?"

I'm not a member and I finally got the latest Penny CD's from the library's wait list. Galbraith is annoying as she left us hanging at the end of the last book a couple of years ago. I get frustrated whenever I hear of another Harry Potter release.

Just so I can vent: there is another series I was following that ended the last book with three cliffhangers and then took several years off. I've decided I don't care about these characters any more and don't plan to continue the series.

Thank you; I feel much better now.

Thank you all for your warm welcome. Sandy, I agree, but as a Harry Potter fan as well I don't mind the delay if it means more magical stories.

Sandy, it's good to vent sometimes ;)

Welcome Frances, glad you joined. Great selection of favourite authors!

I've only read the first Robert Galbraith book so far and enjoyed it - the recent TV adaptation, which I also enjoyed, reminded me that I want to read the others in the series too.

I'll try to prepare myself for dangling on the edge of the cliff, but I agree it's annoying when a cliffhanger carries on for a long time, Sandy!

Judy wrote: "I've only read the first Robert Galbraith book so far and enjoyed it - the recent TV adaptation, which I also enjoyed, reminded me that I want to read the others in the series too.

I'll try to pr..."

I've read the first two books and thoroughly enjoyed both (I really seem to enjoy all I read by Rowling)- haven't read the third yet- but looks like I should wait till book 4 is out.

I read the first and enjoyed it. I must go back to them, but I agree that a cliffihanger is annoying. You forget what is happened by the time the next book is out! I did enjoy, "Fantastic Beasts...." though, and so did my kids, so I am just impressed she can turn her hand to so many different genres.

I'm Dee Ann from Kansas City. I just joined your group and am glad to have found one which shares my interests. I'm an RN and enjoy reading in my spare time. I enjoy the classic mystery authors very much as well as some of the newer cozy authors. I just finished reading Faintly Speaking by Gladys Mitchell.

Welcome to the group, Dee Ann. Hope you find lots of 'new' authors to explore.

Susan wrote: "I read the first and enjoyed it. I must go back to them, but I agree that a cliffihanger is annoying. You forget what is happened by the time the next book is out! I did enjoy, "Fantastic Beasts......"

The one I was sceptical about was the Casual Vacancy but that turned out a pretty good read too.

Welcome, Dee Ann - glad to have you with us. I haven't read any Gladys Mitchell yet but have heard good things about her.

I liked Casual Vacancy too, Lady. I've liked all her books so far, although I never really liked Harry Potter (and none of my children do either).

Susan wrote: "I liked Casual Vacancy too, Lady. I've liked all her books so far, although I never really liked Harry Potter (and none of my children do either)."

Oh- I love the Potter books- the first one best of all.

Just a reminder that, in mid-November, we will have our next buddy read: Not a Creature Was Stirring

This is the first in the Gregor Demarkian series - nice new covers for anyone (like me!) who appreciates that kind of thing. Murder, mayhem and tinsel - what's not to like?

The Hannaford who made the family fortune called himself a tycoon. The newspapers called him a robber baron. Since the days of Robert Hannaford I, the family has infested Philadelphia society like a disease. The current Hannafords are a clan of embezzlers, gamblers, and fantasy novelists. This Christmas, they have money in their bank accounts, crime in their blood, and murder on their minds. Gregor Demarkian is their reluctant guest. A former FBI agent who quit the agency after his wife’s death, he is invited by the Hannaford patriarch to come for dinner at the family mansion. Demarkain arrives just in time to find his host bludgeoned to death in his study and his investigation will lead him to the Hannafords, a family of cold-blooded killers.

I wish I've become more active in goodreads and discovered this group earlier!

It's been a while since I completed reading a book (if you call it reading) as I completely lost interest in it for the last few years :'( So I tried rereading again my fave Agatha Christie Miss Marple novel, 4:50 From Paddington, if it will brought the same spark in my life. I'm currently reading it and I guess it's not the same as I have hoped for? Maybe because I know how it generally went (having rewatched the BBC Marple version for soo many times😍 even if there were some tweaks on the story). I became more inclined in watching movies and series rather than reading.

By joining this group, I hope I will be able to be feel again the excitement in reading and enjoying every bit of it. I hope I will be able to discover other works too!

We hope you do too, Sheila Mae. At least you have found us now - welcome to the group!

In thing I can assure you, Sheila. You will find news authors (and books) in this group. Welcome!

Thank you very much for the warm welcome Susan and Marcus! Looking forward to new discoveries!

Welcome Sheila Mae; hope this group is just the impetus you need. I loved our November read, another Christie, Crooked House

Sandy wrote: "Welcome Sheila Mae; hope this group is just the impetus you need. I loved our November read, another Christie, Crooked House"

Will read that as my challenge this November :)

Welcome Sheila Mae, glad you found us! We have 2 Christie books this month and other authors coming up too, so lots to enjoy:)

Hello, my name is Tracey and I live in Glasgow. I picked up by chance a copy of The Case of the Constant Suicides in a charity shop, and from there I've fell for golden age mysteries, particularly a locked room puzzle. Looking forward joining into some monthly reads, as alas, I don't know anyone IRL who reads this genre!

Welcome, Tracey, glad you found us! We have quite a few John Dickson Carr fans here, though to my shame I still haven't read anything by him - I keep saying I will do so soon! I do enjoy locked room puzzles though. It's great that you want to join in with the monthly reads. :)

Hi Tracey - don't worry, we're all in real life and we love this genre :) So glad you found us.

Hi Tracey - I like John Dickson Carr. I think I fell into him by accident. My brother and his SO bought a cottage in Texas and apparently a few of his books had been left by the previous occupant. There was still one there when I went for a visit. She didn't know I liked him so she had gotten rid of the others. I gave fake screams.