The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

#Rejected Goddesses by Natalie Watson ⭐⭐.5 https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished another Daniel Hurst book: Just One Second


Here is my three star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished Outsider by Linda Castillo


My first book in this series but not the last!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I still can't find my copy of Razorblade Tears (arrgh!) so until I do I've gone back to finishing Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo. I have just about 100 pages left and I have to say that in my very humble mystery reader's opinion, this is so far the worst of this series.

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

I just finished Silent Creed. . It was going really well until the ending. My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny Both my wife and I enjoy this series. We rate it 4 stars. My wife's words; "That's a good one!" My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've finished reading Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo. It's a great plot, when all is said and done, but the actual story gets a bit muddled in the telling which really bugged me. After finishing it, last night I watched the film that I had bought earlier on dvd when anticipating reading this book (in Japanese only, sorry), and wouldn't you know -- for some reason the powers that be completely changed the storyline and added in a decapitation! If you've ever seen a movie featuring Yokomizo's character Kosuke Kindaichi, it tends to get a bit old watching him shake dandruff out of his hair.

I finished Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie


Here is my five star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Nancy, I have The Village of Eight Graves by Seishi Yokomizo on my books-to-read pile to my right. I haven’t read the one you’ve just finished.

Patty wrote: "Nancy, I have The Village of Eight Graves by Seishi Yokomizo on my books-to-read pile to my right. I haven’t read the one you’ve just finished."

Village of Eight Graves is fun. I have the dvd for that one as well, but for some reason I never got around to watching it.

I just finished The Match. While I usually prefer realistic stories, this one had me totally engaged. My four star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

Rivers of London series #7, best read in order. In this episode Peter and the cops continue the search for the Faceless Man, described for us by Peter's snarky explanations. Wonderful stuff, exciting and funny at the same time. I love this series. Highest recommendations, 5 stars.

I read Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty This mystery takes place in 1985 Northern Ireland. I rated it 3.5 stars rounded down because of Sean Duffy's drug use. It is book 4 in the series and they are best read in order. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'll be surprised if this one doesn't win some more awards. Auē, by Becky Manawatu is centred around a contemporary Maori family. Loved it!
5★ My review

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.

Was getting bored with thrillers, read something different for a change. Brilliant, beautiful, layered witty writing about illicit love and faith. One of the best books I have read and probably one of the best ever books written. I hope my recommendation/ review can convince at least one of you to give it a chance. 5/5

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

I should try the Greene. I greatly enjoyed This Gun for Hire, but the slog that was The Heart of the Matter has put me off him. It was a beautifully written book about a guy who should have stepped aside and let the interesting characters take center stage.

Randy wrote: "I should try the Greene. I greatly enjoyed This Gun for Hire, but the slog that was The Heart of the Matter has put me off him. It was a beautifully written book about a ..."

I have not read any Greene before either. I mainly knew him by reputation and from his scripts. But this was excellent and I will read more from him.

I suspect my reaction might be idiosyncratic. :)

Aditya wrote: "

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.

Was getting bored with thrillers, read something different for a change. Brilliant, beau..."


He is a brilliant writer.

I'm well into Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet, the author of three other books I really enjoyed: His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae, The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau and The Accident on the A35. This one begins with a set of found notebooks, describing how a young woman believed that her sister's psychiatrist drove her to suicide, so she takes on a persona & starts seeing the guy. Burnet does metafiction and does it very, very well.

Nancy wrote: "He is a brilliant writer."

Agree.

My review of The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham

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

I just listened to Drawing Conclusions

I was pleased that this was a return to the fine form of her earlier works. My four star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now about one-third of the way through EVERY DEAD THING by John Connolly, the first novel in his long running thriller series featuring private eye Charlie "Bird" Parker... It was recommended to me by an old friend.

I'm ashamed I know so little about Alexander von Humboldt, who explained how important it is to know that everything is connected in nature. Thanks to Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, I know more. Get this into the hands of kids!
5★ My review with illustrations

Where The Crawdads Sing

I just finished Killers of a Certain Age

Fun and entertaining thriller. My 4.5 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review of The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci

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

Aditya wrote: "

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.

Was getting bored with thrillers, read something different for a change. Brilliant, beau..."

I read it. Excellent writer but I didn't like this one. The only pleasant person in the book was the little kid. Not sure when I started looking at whether characters are pleasant or not but I've been noticing lately that not many are. Maybe my age is showing.

Finished Case Study but I've decided it needs a reread so I'm well into my second go round. I am also reading Percival Everett's The Trees which I loved the first time around (and so far still do) but it was a pretty nerve-wracking time at home then so I am giving it another look. It's a great satire and while covering a horrific subject, he does it so that parts are absolutely laugh-out-loud funny.

This was an unexpected surprise - surprised that I loved it, honestly! Psychological thriller with sort of a sci-fi bent to it: I Remember You
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just finished listening to Beastly Things

I’m so glad the series is back to it’s fine form. My four star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Three Missing Days

Slow Horses by Mick Herron


Still loved a second reading of this clever satire of spies and work ambitions.

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

Finished Daisy Darker
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

What's not to like in a Mick Herron novella? You don't know have to know Herron's work to enjoy poor old 'retired' spook John Bachelor's dilemma in The Catch.
4.5★ My review

I finished Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard


Hard to sum up my review in one sentence; I gave it four stars.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich, who had received the Nobel Prize in Literature shortly after this book's publication.

This nonfiction is a compilation of oral histories documenting momentous periods in the 20th century history of the USSR and of the aftermath of its dissolution in 1991. Plenty of criminal acts but without the justice delivered in crime fiction.

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/3221142892

Bones Under the Beach Hut by Simon Brett

Fethering Mysteries #12, in which Carole and Jude are caught up in the mystery of human remains found under Carole's beach hut. More interesting than most in this series with a complicated plot. I liked it.

After the Flood by Dave Warner ⭐⭐⭐⭐.3
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jan C wrote: "I read it. Excellent writer but I didn't like this one. The only pleasant person in the book was the little kid. Not sure when I started looking at whether characters are pleasant or not but I've been noticing lately that not many are. Maybe my age is showing."

I did not mind the flawed characters, they were part of why it worked so well for me.

I finished by

I read The Perfect Neighborhood by Liz Alterman I rated it 3.5 stars rounded down. It has a slow start, and the perfect neighborhood is not so perfect. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Currently reading Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham - this is the third book in his Cyrus Haven series and set in Nottingham. Love his gripping writing - already nearly halfway through and only started it six hours ago!

Five big stars for The Diamond Eye

One of my favorites of the year. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A friend of mine loaned me Locke & Key: The Golden Age by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. If you liked the original graphic novel series, this is a prequel, giving some background to the Locke family, and maintains its high quality.

My Name Is Yip by Paddy Crewe is the off-beat 'memoir' of a most unusual character. Yip is like no one I've ever met (or am likely to meet), and I loved the way he told his story of early nineteenth century America.
4★ My review of My Name is Yip

I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
It is not a mystery or thriller, but a book of survival, sadness and hope.
My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the Holocaust.

Now about one-third of the way through THE TURNAROUND by George Pelecanos, which won the Hammett Prize for the year that it was released.