English Mysteries Club discussion

Welcome Jack! :)

Bionic Jean wrote: "Marcia wrote: "Thank you for adding me to your wonderful group! I am so happy to be here and join in. My love of reading started as a young girl when I read my first Nancy Drew book. I have been a ..."

Don't worry Jean, I didn't read Nancy Drew as a child. Knew of them and the Hardy Boys, so have no idea why they didn't catch on. I've read a couple since my cousin sent a Christmas gift of a Nancy Drew canvas bag, some yarn and a book of the first two stories. She and I were hoping that it would trigger my daughter into reading the series, but instead I read them. Haven't read others recently but they do definitely have a flair to them.

Pamela wrote: "Don't worry Jean, I didn't read Nancy Drew as a child ..."

Pamela, that's so funny! I still have the feeling we're outnumbered though ;)

Jean wrote: "l'm going to have to read Nancy Drew, aren't I? I'm probably the only person here who hasn't!"

There's at least three of us, since I never discovered Nancy as a kid either --which is strange, since I liked the Hardy Boys books I read, and I'm sure that at that age, Nancy would have been right up my alley (unlike some of my male peers, I didn't have any problem with reading about a female protagonist). The Bluefield College library has some of the books (including, I believe, the first one), and I've sometimes been tempted to try the series to see what I missed. :-)

I have never read Nancy Drew mysteries. My wife has. I did watch the Hardy boys tv series many years ago.

I'm beginning to feel I'm in good company here, even though we all "missed out" :)

Hi, I’m new to this group and happy to be here. My obsession of mysteries began when I found my mothers old Nancy Drew books many years ago. My favorite authors (I’m showing my age here) are Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt. I love English mysteries and historical mysteries too. I do read lots of other books too, but so happy to have found a group after my own heart of English mysteries!

It's nice to have you, Rebecca. I read Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt when I was in High School and loved them. I think Mary Stewart's books on King Arthur were excellent.

Hi Rebecca, and welcome to "English Mysteries". I'm so pleased you've found us. I wonder if you like Daphne du Maurier too, as I do find her similar in a way to Mary Stewart - plus her novels often have a mystery element to them :)

Please join in wherever you like, and have fun here!

Hello everyone, I'm Pamela from England. I was so pleased to see that this group has been revived - I looked at joining a few years ago but it didn't seem to be very active.

I read quite a wide range of books, including classics, literary fiction, historical fiction and of course mysteries. I'm looking forward to joining in the group reads and getting to know you all better.

Welcome to "English Mysteries", Pamela! It's lovely to see you here.

Yes, we just relaunched at the end of February, so it's a great time to join :) I hope you'll find lots to join in with. Happy reading :)

Welcome Rebecca and Pamela! :)

Welcome Rebecca & Pamela!

Welcome Pamela

Bionic Jean wrote: "Hi Jack, and welcome to the "English Mysteries Club". I hope you find lots to join in with here.

I am English myself but fortunately know a little American slang, so although I did a double take a..."

My mother's oldest sister used that term when I was a kid and I had no idea what she was talking about. She has always had at least one dachshund, often two. Now she's in a nursing home, she had to leave her last "doxie", Luke, with her son. They're great little dogs.

Hello. I grew up reading Agatha Christie. I think my Mom introduced me to her when I was 9. It turned me into an Anglophile as a child. I've branched out considerably in the many years since then but I still have a real love for the English mystery, new or old. I'm in a couple other book groups (Reading the Detectives and the Georgette Heyer fans).

Hi, Diane. Welcome to the group!

Hi Diane, and welcome to "English Mysteries" :) It sounds as though this group will be just your cup of tea,

Just join in wherever you like, and have fun!

Diane wrote: "Hello. I grew up reading Agatha Christie. I think my Mom introduced me to her when I was 9. It turned me into an Anglophile as a child. I've branched out considerably in the many years since then b..."

A fellow fan of Georgette Heyer! :-) Sounds like we will have some similar tastes. Welcome!

Hi Everyone, I'm Kim from Canada. I love to read, but haven't done much the past few years. I love reading mysteries, from a very young age. I discovered P.D. James when I was a teenager & that started my love of English mystery writing. Just recently I've discovered audiobooks, which I love. I can knit or crochet and listen to an audiobook at the same time.

Hi Kim, and welcome to "English Mysteries" :) Many of our members have discovered that way of reading really suits them too. I hope you like it here. Happy reading!

Hi Jean,
I was excited to learn of your group. Being a complete Anglophile, I read a multitude of British mysteries, from Shetland to Cornwall. I do cross the “pond” with Louise Penny when possible and also do a few American authors. There would no greater fun than to read with other of like interests and share perspectives.
Mary from Idaho

Hi Mary, and welcome to the "English Mysteries Club"! I am glad you found us, as I can tell from your other groups that you certainly are an anglophile, as you say :)

I hope you like it here, and look forward to your posts. I think you may have just missed (by a couple of hours) the message to tell you of our upcoming optional reads, but they are there on the home page, ready. And we have lots of other threads, so please just join in wherever you like and have fun!

Hi, I’m Helen. So happy to join this club. I am an editor, working in Taiwan. Sherlock Holmes is my first detective novel and I just love it:) The detective novels I read are mostly classic, so I wish to find something different. Can’t wait to see other people’s recommendation.

Hi Helen, and welcome to the "English Mysteries Club" :) I'm sure our members can give you lots of ideas, so just jump in wherever you like and have fun!

Hi, I'm Lisa and absolutely love British mystery and like Mary Kristine, I was so happy to see this group listed. It is the only group I belong to (so far) and so looking forward to finding new authors and gem books.

Hello everyone! I’m Susan, from the US. I’m new(ish) to Goodreads, and am very excited to have found this book club. I’ve always been an avid reader, and, like many, grew up reading Agatha Christie; I definitely caught the mystery bug at an early age. I most recently read “Watching You” by Lisa Jewell and “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley, both of which I highly recommend. I’m looking forward to connecting with other mystery fans, and discovering great new reads here!

Hi Lisa and Susan, and welcome to the "English Mysteries Club". You've joined on a great day, as we're just starting our new group read of Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers, and also two new ongoing buddy reads for Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Wexford.

Whatever your preference in English Mysteries, I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas here, so just look through the threads and join in wherever you like :)

I have just found the group and immediately joined. I am a Brit living in Canada and l love mysteries. I suppose this started when I was a child reading Famous Five and Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. I was a pharmacist for 30 years but had to retire early because of a chronic illness. It limits me so sometimes I am very active and other times having a flare and unable to do things. During this time I listen to audiobooks although I prefer the paper copy. I am working my way through the Agatha Christie books and Dorothy L Sayers. In past years I have read Louise Penny, Ann Cleeves, Charles Todd, Ellis Peters, Josephine Tey, and many others. I discovered Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh this year and have read a few of each.

Welcome Tracey! Good to see you here too! You´ve definitely a lot of experience concerning English mysteries! :)

Hi Tracey, and welcome to the "English Mysteries Club". What a great list of authors, and I hope you'll find us a home from home :) I'm sure you'll find lots to join in with, so happy reading and have fun!

Hi, I’m Nancy. I live in Ohio. I was in a mystery club at my library before the shut down. How I miss it. I joined the Crime, Mystery & Thriller group. I just saw a post by Patty on a thread about your club. I came to take a look. I grew up watching British Mystery on PBS Mystery hosted by Dianna Riggs.

Hi Nancy and a super BIG WELCOME to the "English Mysteries Club", as you are our 2000th member!

I hope you find lots of things here to interest you. We have three reads going on at the moment, and lots of individual author folders, and additional threads where you can chat about your favourites. Just scroll through and have a look, and join in wherever you like! If you need any help, just shout out and someone will be there, as everyone here is very friendly :)

Welcome Nancy, and congrats to being the 2000th member! :)

Nancy wrote: "Hi, I’m Nancy. I live in Ohio. I was in a mystery club at my library before the shut down. How I miss it. I joined the Crime, Mystery & Thriller group. I just saw a post by Patty on a thread about ..."

Hello Nancy and welcome to the group. I know what you mean about the library closures and missing things. I certainly miss being able to pick up great books in quantities that I would not be able to afford. Because of it I am listening to mysteries, some of which can be found on youtube. I aimed to read 80 books this year but have already passed that because of the lockdown and the hours of mysteries I have listened to whilst being shut in. I am just reading my 54th Agatha Christie book. I will probably finish them all this year if the library doesn't open up soon.
I hope you enjoy the group.

Hi Tracey, Did not know know about YouTube mysteries. I have to try it; been listening to audiobooks through Hoopla.

Welcome Nancy! Hope we can help with the missing your book club.

Hi everyone! I'm Elisa and new to this group and learning about all there is on GoodReads! I just finished "And then there were None" and it reminded me how much I love Agatha Christie. Looking forward to rediscovering great English mysteries (old and new!).

Greetings! I do love British mysteries, esp the reprints that are coming out in the British Library Crime Classics series. I am currently esp devoted to Cyril Hare and Freeman Willis Crofts. I look forward to hearing what other members are reading!

Hi Elisa, and Nan, and welcome to the "English Mysteries Club".

If you like Agatha Christie, Elisa, you're sure to find lots of fellow fans here to chat with. And she has her own special folder for when there are no reads current :)

Nan - We have individual folders for the most popular English Mystery authors, and Cyril Hare was right up there! Unfortunately the member who could have led it already had a couple of other authors in mind. So ... I won't ask you right now before you've had a chance to sit down with a cup of English tea and a slice of Victoria sponge, but when you know us a bit better, maybe you'd like to take it on? Just let me know.

If anyone fancies hosting a thread for their favourite mystery author, (and there isn't one already) just look through a few, and you'll see what to do :)

Thank you so much for the kind welcome! I will check it out! I am enjoying learning about the site here.

I also need to catch up on Elizabeth George (it's been a while) and even Anne Perry who I used to love!

Hello, I'm Vasilis and I love "English" style murder mystery novels!
I've joined the group hoping to get some interaction with other English mystery fans and perhaps get some recommendations on books to read!

Hi Vasilis, and welcome to the "English Mysteries Club". I hope you enjoy it here! Just scroll through the threads, and join in wherever you like. I'm sure our members will have lots of good recommendations for you to try :)

Hi everyone. Glad to have found this group. I’ve been reading English mysteries my entire life, and look forward to finding some new authors in this fascinating genre.

I like both Contemperary and Historical mysteries. When it comes to Historical mysteries I can recomend Peter Lovesey and Robert Goddard. The kind of thrillers I Do not like are about child molesters and serial killers.

Welcome to all our new members :)

Hello, I'm Mimi. I just joined this group and I'm looking forward to all the good books and good friends I'll be introduced to here.

Mimi wrote: "Hello, I'm Mimi. I just joined this group and I'm looking forward to all the good books and good friends I'll be introduced to here."
Welcome Mimi!

Hi Mimi, and welcome to the "English Mysteries club". I hope you like it here :) Happy reading!

Hi I joined this group a while ago but didn’t really introduce myself. The reason I joined is there were so many authors I had never heard of being discussed. My favorite sub-genre now is historical mysteries. I live Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series. I am really happy with series with detectives and lawyers or barristers. I from Seattle known for its live of film, books and coffee.

I didn’t read Nancy Drew when young but read Anne of Green Gables and Little Women and Sherlock Holmes.

Keri