The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

finished The Collector - 4.5/5

Lu, I love The Collector.

Lu wrote: "finished The Collector - 4.5/5"

Fascinating book.

@Patty and @Bill yes, I agree! I love this book too

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Finished In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes, this month's group read. One of the first books to make a serial killer a protagonist. Many consider Hughes one of the best female noir writers, this explains why. Rating - 4/5

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

Your Day in the Barrel By Alan Furst

Set around 1969-70 and written in 1976, this semi-mystery is a journey back to when drug dealers could be cool heroes. Very clever, very entertaining, but completely different from Furst's later and better known work which features amateur spies in Europe prior to and during WWII.

I just finished Mr. Nobody and sorry, not one I can recommend.


Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished my 112th book

Finished The Other People

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

Currently reading and I just finished

Just started Impossible Causes by Julie Mayhew.

“For seven months of the year, the remote island of Lark is fogbound, cut off completely from the mainland.”

If you want to live on Lark, you are assessed, and then pledge to participate fully in their religious community.

Sounds to me like the closed-room mysteries of Agatha Christie meets Tom Tryon’s Harvest Home. That’s good enough for me.


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

Rough Cut by Ed Gorman

I've read several books by Gorman and liked them all. I think this is one of his earliest (1985) and it shows. His hero is co-owner of an advertising agency (so he's smart and not naive) and very early he makes kind of a dumb mistake (OK, so he's upset at the time) and then compounds it later by doing something even dumber and completely out of character. It just turned me off and I quit at page 38, which I hardly every do. Not recommended.

I enjoyed the first 2 books in the Ellery Hathaway series, The Vanishing Season and No Mercy
My reviews https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just finished New Mexico Kicks on Route 66. What a fun and fascinating book. Definitely worth a read if your info history and route 66.

Just finished and now reading

I just finished Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain.

Here's my 4 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander

Gave it 3 stars: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Battered Badge by Robert Goldsborough

Legendary private detective Nero Wolfe is put in a tough spot when his 'frenemy', head of NYPD Homicide Lt. Cramer, is put on administrative leave. Wolfe shouldn't interfere.....but of course he does.

It's always great to visit with Wolfe, his assistant Archie Goodwin, and other recurring characters.....but the story is just so-so.
3 stars

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

About to start Cold Heart Creek by Lisa Regan after finishing the thrilling Die Alone by Simon Kernick. My spoiler free review can be found at https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

No Right Way drops a reasonably normal protagonist into the middle of the Syrian refugee chaos and lets him detect his way out of trouble as he closes in on some bad actors. If money laundering and debit-card fraud don't quicken your heartbeat, this may not be the story for you. If, however, you like personable protagonists, self-reliant heroines, exotic settings, and a dose of topicality, you can find it here. Four shell companies.

Read the full review here.

The Watchman takes a popular supporting character (Joe Pike) from an established series (Elvis Cole) and gives him the spotlight. If you're into very hard men doing hard things while following a hard code, this book's for you. If you thrive on lots of bloody action, some amount of gun porn, and widespread seediness, ditto. If you require a lot of personality in your novel's protagonist, or a unique background, or memorable dialog, you may look elsewhere. Three spent shell casings.

Read the full review here.

finished Because She Loves Me - 3.5/5

reading The Defense

Last night I started They Hanged My Saintly Billy, by Robert Graves. It's based on the story of Dr. William Palmer, who was sent to the gallows still protesting his innocence after quite a career of poisoning. Not your ordinary historical fiction or historical true crime fiction -- here there's an unnamed narrator who collects stories about Palmer by people who knew him, all done in Victorian style to suit the time period.

https://www.sciencehistory.org/distil...

Dead Water by Ann Cleeves

In this 'Shetland Island' mystery, Detective Jimmy Perez helps investigate the death of a journalist. Good mystery. 3 stars

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

Sandy I never read those two books called Cold Heart Creek by Lisa Regan and Die Alone by Simon Kernick

About to start a cosy, Beating About the Bush byM.C. Beaton as a bit of light relief after all my recent dark reads, including the very thrilling Cold Heart Creek by Lisa Reganwhich I read overnight. My spoiler free review can be found at my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza

Kate Marshall is a Detective Constable when she helps catch 'The Nine Elms Cannibal' serial killer. Fifteen years later Kate is a university professor when a copycat killer picks up the cannibal's mantle.

Interesting (but problematic) plot. 3 stars

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

finished High Force - 5/5

and also finished The Defense - 3.5/5

I finished my 113th book

I have read these books last few weeks. I beensuper sick with bad sinus infection but i read some

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian 2nd book i read from him and i didnt care for the 1st book or this one I dont know if I would read anything from him again I was let down with both the books i read from him

Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger A New Author for me and I couldnt put this book down I wil have to read books from her again!

The Secretary by Renée Knight Also a new Author for me I liked it little bit but I though it was little boring at times too. Will read anything book from her

You Don't Own Me by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke Still Loving this whole series! So can't wait for the next part

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena Another book from her that i so couldn't put down! I haven't find a book from her that I didn't love!

Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough 2nd book i read from her I loved it but not as much as I loved her Behind Her Eyes book!!

Shannon I have that book called The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian and I’m a huge fan of Shari Lapena and I’m a huge fan of Alafair Burke and Shannon I hope you feel better

About to start Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths after finishing the entertaining and amusing Beating About the Bush by M.C. Beaton. My spoiler free review can be found at https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Road to Ruin by Donald Westlake

Dortmunder #11, OK to read as stand-alone but some familiarity with the recurring characters would enhance your enjoyment. John and the gang come up with another great plan; they're going to steal a bunch of antique cars from a disgraced ex-tycoon ( read Bernie Madoff). Well, things don't go exactly perfectly. Another wonderful comic mystery from Donald Westlake. Really liked it, 4 stars.

silent night christmas mysteries

Unfortunately, a mismatch 😔

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

I just finished They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? by Horace McCoy a noir story from the 1930's. My review is below

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

Starting another story from 1936, The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White

i finished Normal People - 1 star

Bill wrote: "I just finished They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? by Horace McCoy a noir story from the 1930's. My review is below

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

Star..."

Loved the movie. I found it really underrated along with other similar cynical dramas like Room at The Top (both had a brilliant female lead). Nice to know the book is equally good.

Finished Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler

My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3075334835

Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* wrote: "About to start Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths after finishing the entertaining and amusing [bookcover:Beating About the Bu..."

We could be twins. I've read both of these.

Ghost stories!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished This Is the Water by Yannick Murphy. Currently reading Briar Rose by Jane Yolen.

finished The Night Olivia Fell - 4/5

GOT A QUESTION: How to report an author??

This person initially spammed me with self promotion, my homepage clearly states all self promotion will get 1 star review and now she keeps being whiny and aggressive in the comment section of my review. People like her gives all self-publishing authors a bad name and they are getting more common on GR. (Asking here as this is the most popular thread in the group.)

The review in question https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Lu wrote: "finished The Night Olivia Fell - 4/5"

Lu, I just finished this book too.
I liked it and thought the ending was bittersweet.

Aditya wrote: "IMPORTANT QUESTION: How to report an author??

This person initially spammed me with self promotion, my homepage clearly states all self promotion will get 1 star review and now she keeps being whi..."

There is a way to flag an author via her profile:

To flag a profile with a profile picture, click on the profile picture. Under the photo (next to the Uploaded at date), click the small, gray flag link.

It's very, very small print, but it's there. I've never done it before, but you should get a little report form once you click on the flag.

Aditya wrote: "IMPORTANT QUESTION: How to report an author??

This person initially spammed me with self promotion, my homepage clearly states all self promotion will get 1 star review and now she keeps being whi..."

I'm not a fan of self promotion myself. I get tons of requests & usually just ignore them -- the problem generally fixes itself that way.

Nancy wrote: "There is a way to flag an author via her profile:

To flag a profile with a profile picture, click on the profile picture. Under the photo (next to the Uploaded at date), click the small, gray flag link..."

Thanks Nancy for the info. I used to ignore them before but I later figured a 1 star review is a better deterrent against similar spamming. They simply move to a different user and continue their pestering if you just ignore them. The 1 star rating however shuts them up.

Adding the part about me being liberal with 1 star reviews to my GR homepage really reduced spam traffic for me. Plus when someone shows genuine remorse and apologizes after the review comes up, I don't mind removing the rating. But this particular author is an outlier, she keeps arguing. So thanks again.