The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

The Becomingand A Darker Place

I've been buddy reading All In and The Outsiders

Juror by Parnell Hall

Stanley Hastings #6, OK to read as a stand-alone. In this book ( one of Hall's best) Stan gets called for jury duty. It does not go well. These are easy to read and this one is done very well..

The Murder Mystery by Alice Castle ⭐⭐⭐.7
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Trial by Franz Kafka. Thought-provoking surreal nightmare, must read. 4.5/5

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

4/5 stars

Coming out October 18, 2022

Please read my review linked below:


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

Finished The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. A suitably creepy suspense novel for OCT. Thanks to the group for choosing it as one of the Oct reads.

Aditya wrote: "

The Trial by Franz Kafka. Thought-provoking surreal nightmare, must read. 4.5/5

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

I haven't yet read a Kafka story I didn't like. Definitely a must read.

When the Thrill Is Gone by Walter Mosley

New York private detective Leonid McGill is hired by a beautiful woman who fears for her life.

Good noir mystery. 3.5 stars

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

Just finished Riley Sager's The House across the Lake ... I'm not sure I suspended the amount of disbelief necessary to give it a better rating [4*s was pushing it].

I'm a Fool to Kill You by Robert Randisi

Rat Pack Mysteries #5, OK to read as a standalone. It's 1962 in Las Vegas. Ava Gardner is in trouble and Frank Sinatra tasks Eddie to fix it. Fun mystery, easy read, I like the series -- 3 stars.

Just finished Diane Chamberlain’s The Last House on the Street.

I just listened to When the Devil Drives

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

Last night I found a series on PBS Passport called Sherlock Holmes' Rivals about other literary detectives from the same period. Last night I watched an episode based on R. Austin Freeman's Dr. Thorndyke and one on Ernest Bramah's Max Carrados. Apparently they were from 1971. Don't know how I missed it. I wasn't that into mysteries at the time. Or they may have been shown when I was going to school in Idaho and they didn't have a very public television station there.

Jan C wrote: "Last night I found a series on PBS Passport called Sherlock Holmes' Rivals about other literary detectives from the same period. Last night I watched an episode based on [author:R. Austin Freeman|8..."

Oh! That's a good one! There is also a couple of books available with the same titles.

Nancy wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Last night I found a series on PBS Passport called Sherlock Holmes' Rivals about other literary detectives from the same period. Last night I watched an episode based on [author:R. Au..."

is, are, I'm never sure. :)

Nancy wrote: "I haven't yet read a Kafka story I didn't like. Definitely a must read."

Yes absurd, sad and funny often at the same time.

I finished my 75th book

Sandy how are 2 of your books going?

Christine wrote: "I finished my 75th book"

Nice going Christine. 👍

The Match by Harlan Coben

This is the second book in the 'Wilde' series, featuring the former 'feral boy' who lived alone in the woods as a child. In this story, Wilde decides to look for his birth parents via DNA and gets caught up in murder. The book is fine as a standalone.

Good story. 3.5 stars

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

A Burning Obsession is a great finale. My four star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now starting THE WAY HOME by George Pelecanos, which was nominated for both the 2010 Gold Dagger Award and the Hammett Prize.

I just finished listening to Lisa See's The Island of Sea Women. it is a novel about the haenyeo of the Korean island of Jeju. I was fascinated by their lives and want to learn more about them.

I am currently reading book 5 in Vaseem Khan's Baby Ganesh series which is set in India. It centers on a murder in the Parsee community. These people expose their dead to the elements for the vultures to eat (true) so it's very odd.

Another book dealt with the Eunuch community in Mumbai (perhaps all of India) which is comprised of transgender individuals who often undergo voluntary castration. Odd again, but the book is very sympathetic towards them

and of course the baby elephant is everywhere in the book as well as an injured vulture in the 5th book

Aussie author Peggy Frew is noted for her wonderful writing. The Wildflowers here are three sisters, each wild in her own way, and the writing is as beautiful as ever, but...
3.5★ My review of Wildflowers

Preparing to read Rachel Joyce's lastest book, I thought I'd better see if The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was as good as I remembered. I'm delighted to say I still loved it! I updated my review a bit.
5★ My review of ...Harold Fry

CBRetriever wrote: "I am currently reading book 5 in Vaseem Khan's Baby Ganesh series which is set in India. It centers on a murder in the Parsee community. These people expose their dead to the elem..."

I don't think I'd like to be eaten by vultures....but it is recycling. 🌞

The Vulgar Boatman by William Tapply

Brady Coyne #6, OK to read as a standalone. In this one Brady's rich client is running for governor. His son's girlfriend is murdered and the son has disappeared. Brady must find the son and untangle the mystery. This is a pretty good mystery, well worth reading.

Aftermath by Peter Robinson ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Finished Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience

Thanks Barbara

Sandy how’s your book going called Aftermath by Peter Robinson?

speaking of Peter Robinson, he just died a week ago.

It’s rare I give five stars to a mystery but Hidden Scars deserves them. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished my 76th book

The Dark Tower

The Railway Murders was a good police procedural. My 3.5 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté de Québec investigates a murder in a monastery.

Interesting story. 3.5 stars

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

Linda wrote: "The Dark Tower"

by Stephen King? I binged that entire series and loved it.

I enjoyed Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry a second time and wanted to know why Queenie fled from him so abruptly. The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy shows what a secret and surprising connection she had with his family.
4★ My review of . . . Queenie Hennessey

Cathal thought he was all set, but I reckon he should have known better. Irish author Claire Keegan's short story, So Late in the Day is another good one from her.
5★ My review of So Late in the Day with links to the story and to the author reading it

A Rip Through Time

Ugh. Glad to be done with The 6:20 Man

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

Brothers Keepers by Donald Westlake

A bunch of monks are getting kicked out of their monastery because it's located on prime real estate in Manhattan. And someone has stolen their lease which might have kept them safe. It's up to Brother Benedict to save the day. This is an older comic novel from the master, Donald Westlake, and it's absolutely wonderful. I loved it -- 5 stars.

As an unabashed Garry Disher fan I was very pleased to get an early look at Day's End

Suffice to say my 5 star rating indicates I wasn't disappointed by the latest Hirsch entry.

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

Some Must Watch

I'm reading Nicholas Sparks' latest Dreamland

Enjoyed listening to Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab The Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales
By: Dr. Bill Bass, Jon Jefferson
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
The authors write a series of forensic mysteries [fiction] under the pseudonym Jefferson Bass.