The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Stuffed by Brian Wiprud

Garth Carson #2, can be read as stand-alone. Garth Carson, New York taxidermist ( ! ) and his girlfriend Angie get pulled into a hilarious and complicated plot involving a stuffed bird, the cops, the CIA, pygmies and other weirdness too complicated to list. Reminded me of Donald Westlake, which is high praise indeed. Very cute, very funny.

Started reading Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter

Marwan wrote: "Started reading Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter"

I've only read the first book so far but I always have enjoyed the TV series and the follow-on series.

Finished Sister, sister by Fortin. It's a story done before an the editing wasn't great but I enjoyed the read

Finished reading , The Sins of the Father

by , Jeffrey Archer

My Review

I finished my 77th book

Starting again - The Quiet Game, Greg Iles

About to start Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna after being very disappointed by The Heart of the Ritz by Luke Devenish. My spoiler free review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished a sci-fi (kinda) & historical fiction adventure, Michael Crichton's Timeline. Did a 180 and am now reading a doggy-themed cozy A New Leash on Death, enjoyable. I will pick up next one of the group reads: The Runaway Jury.

Play Dead by David Rosenfelt


Andy Carpenter #6, OK to read as stand-alone. Andy is a smart-alec New Jersey defense attorney with a long-distance girlfriend and a dog. In this one he gets involved with an already-convicted man and his dog. In any series, of course, some books will be better than others--this one is top drawer. Highly recommended.

Araych wrote: "Play Dead by David Rosenfelt


Andy Carpenter #6, OK to read as stand-alone. Andy is a smart-alec New Jersey defense attorney with a long-distance girlfriend and a dog. ..."

This is a fun series. 🙂

Dick Francis's Damage by Felix Francis

British horseracing is threatened by extortionists who threaten to drug the horses unless they're paid off. Good suspense thriller. 3.5 stars

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished This Tender Land

My Review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Loved that book, Mary Beth.

I am reading the new #1 Ladies Detective Agency book, To the Land of Long Lost Friends.

I'll Be Gone In The Dark

Finished Recursion by Blake Crouch, a group read in one of my GR groups. A rare hyped book that doesn't disappoint. Rating - 4/5.

My Review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Also read a really good short story, not a genre book though, Stand By Me by Wendell Berry. I recommend it to all. You can read it for free at https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/... Rating -5/5

My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished Where Shadows Dance
It is book 6 in an excellent historical fiction series. My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Such a classic Agatha Christie mystery! M. Hercule Poirot solves the impossible crime again in Murder on the Orient Express. You should exercise your own little brain cells with this one if you haven’t already. :)
4★ Link to my Orient Express review

A Second Death by Graham Brack

In this 5th book in the 'Josef Slonský' international thriller series, the detective investigates the death of a young girl. The book can be read as a standalone.

This is a serious mystery with a lot of humor. Good book. 3.5 stars

My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

finished The Chain 2.5/5
and Good Girl, Bad Girl 5/5

started reading I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Lu, I barely could finish I'm Thinking of Ending Things. So disappointing!! I'll be eager to see what you think of it.

Chris wrote: "Lu, I barely could finish I'm Thinking of Ending Things. So disappointing!! I'll be eager to see what you think of it."

I finished it and I could understand why you say that you could barely finish it. I did do it however just to get it over with.
I rate it a 2/5 and certainly wins the award for one of the most confusing books I read. Also, many things about the book were dissapointing for me but probably the ending most of all.

Lu wrote: "Chris wrote: "Lu, I barely could finish I'm Thinking of Ending Things. So disappointing!! I'll be eager to see what you think of it."

I finished it and I could understand why you s..."

I didn't find it confusing at all. What wrecked it for me is that the author pretty much gives away the show not too long into the story, so I just sat and waited for things to happen. That was frustrating.

Lu wrote: I rate it a 2/5 and certainly wins the award for one of the most confusing books I read. Also, many things about the book were disappointing for me but probably the ending most of all.


I think we agree on this book!

Nancy wrote: I didn't find it confusing at all. What wrecked it for me is that the author pretty much gives away the show not too long into the story, so I just sat and waited for things to happen. That was frustrating.

I agree that what happens is telegraphed, but how it unfolded was confusing at times. And at the end I was just "huh?"

A Place of Execution by Val McDermid

This book is divided into two parts. In the first section, set in the early 1960s, a teenage girl disappears from a small English village and the police investigate. In the second section, set in 1998, a reporter writes a book about the mid-century incident.

Good mystery. 3.5 stars

My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I still can’t remember the plot of I’m Thinking of Ending Things. I read the synopsis. I didn’t rate it (I read Nancy’s review); nothing helps. This book is floating in a black hole in my consciousness.

I’m finishing up The Whispering Man by Alex North. The plot is about child murders 20 years ago, and a similar, more abduction and murder. It’s more of a story about fathers and sons: dysfunctional, functional, false-narratives, and possible extra-sensory abilities.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Patty wrote: "I still can’t remember the plot of I’m Thinking of Ending Things. I read the synopsis. I didn’t rate it (I read Nancy’s review); nothing helps. This book is floating in a black hole in my conscious..."

I've had his newest one, Foe, here for some time, but haven't read it yet. It gets slightly better reader reviews so we'll see. I didn't give away any plot points because in that book (Thinking of Ending Things) it would be deadly to anyone who wants to read it next.

Nancy, that book must not have made much of an impression on me. I just read the Wikipedia entry. How could I not remember that?!

Patty wrote: "Nancy, that book must not have made much of an impression on me. I just read the Wikipedia entry. How could I not remember that?!"

:)

One thing, maybe -- I'm used to reading a LOT of books in the bizarre/surreal/abstract/esoteric zone, which seems to give me more patience to slowly puzzle out what's going on in something like this. The only thing I don't have patience for is really bad writing.

Nancy, the plot sounds like something I’d remember. So I’m thinking there must have been something about the writing I didn’t like. If I don’t rate a book—at least in the last three years—it has to be that I didn’t want to give it a low rating.

Just finished

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Currently reading

Angie wrote: "Just finished

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Currently reading "

I am a fan of Peter Swanson's books! I loved that book too!

curent read: Deep Water

I finished my 78th book

Christine wrote: "I finished my 78th book"

You're having a great year, Christine.

Patty wrote: "Nancy, the plot sounds like something I’d remember. So I’m thinking there must have been something about the writing I didn’t like. If I don’t rate a book—at least in the last three years—it has to be that I didn’t want to give it a low rating."

Just butting in to say I wish people would not do that. This creates an issue where most of GR ratings appear inflated making it very difficult to judge whether a new author is worth it. Maybe when one realizes the book was fine but not their cup of tea, they can skip rating it.

I get it it's completely your discretion but I personally feel it is better to not shy away from a low rating when the issue obviously lies with the writing or plot.

"making it very difficult to judge whether a new author is worth it"

I have to say that I never depend on GR ratings in deciding whether or not a new author is worth it. It's all subjective. Should I seek out and read a book about Scooby Doo that someone rated with five stars just because he or she gave that book 5 stars?

Nancy wrote: "I have to say that I never depend on GR ratings in deciding whether or not a new author is worth it. It's all subjective. Should I seek out and read a book about Scooby Doo..."

You are not interested in the book in the first place. In a book I am interested I do see the overall rating which gives me a pretty good idea. In a long running series I expect latter books to be 4+ because mainly fans will vote while the first few books to be at least around 3.8. So low ratings helps to balance out the overall rating.

Everyone has his or her own way. GR ratings are not my personal criteria when deciding on whether or not to read a book, let's just put it that way.

The eyes of the dragon by stephen king

Starting The House of the Arrow, by AEW Mason (1924).

I've finished The Girl Without Skin but I want to wait until I've read his Cold Fear to decide if I'll keep reading this author. I have to say that I just wasn't all that wowed, but first series novels are often my least favorites.

I have to agree a little bit with Aditya @ 1999. Although I don't make final selections based on GR ratings, I do note them so I appreciate an honest review or rating. There are SO many books to read that it does sometimes helps weed out or put higher something on my TBR list. What one likes is subjective so If I give a low rating because it isn't "my cup of tea", I try to say that. I have given a 4 or 5 star ratings to literary gems and more light fare alike, trying to rate against similar genres.

I have a criteria for rating books. For a book to get an actual low rating, it has to be god awful. A one or two star rating—to me—is reserved for books so bad that I can’t let their horribleness go unnoticed.

An example of a book I gave a one-star rating is 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz. That book was an all-around bad book: badly written, terribly put together, and an embarrassment to read. An example of a book I gave a two-star rating is Duma Key by Stephan King. Again, terribly written; a book that was another example of him not following what he wrote about in his book called On Writing.

The book I’m Thinking of Ending Things, wasn’t written as badly as either of these books. It just wasn’t to my liking. The fact I can’t remember anything about it tells me the writing wasn’t that impressive, and neither was the plot; but it wasn’t anywhere as bad as the two I’ve already mentioned. If the book had something that piqued my interest or that I thought showed me something promising, I would have given it a three-star rating.

For a book to get five-star rating, it would have to be a Patty-Perfect book. The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon, and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier are examples of these.

Because this is the way I rate books, I don’t take rating seriously; everyone has their reasons. I can’t stand James Patterson, yet some people give every one of his books five-stars. How can that be? Is it because they like his books, or because they are super fans? I like Stephen King. But, Duma Key is not in the same league as Misery, Carrie, and Delores Claiborne. But some people will give Duma Key a five-star because they’re a big fan (I’m sure some may have really liked the book).

So, how do we choose the books we read? For me, I read what Nancy reads! 😉