The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

I'm starting another Pushkin Vertigo crime novel: Urgent Matters by Paula Rodriguez from Argentina.

White Bones

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout ⭐⭐⭐⭐.3 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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I just finished Reckless Creed . I doubt I’ll continue with this series. Just too meh. My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Still not sure what to make of The Twyford Code

My 3.5 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Today I started reading DESERT STAR by Michael Connelly, his latest hardcover release featuring the team of Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard.

Finished reading The Boys from Biloxi

by John Grisham

My Review

Finished reading Desert Star

by Michael Connelly

My Review

I read The Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time: The Arctic Mission to the Epicenter of Climate Change by Markus Rex
It is not a mystery/ thriller book, but a book of science. If you have ever wondered how scientists come up with climate change stats, then this book is for you. My 4.5 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I’ve finished two books that I can highly recommend:

1. Case Studies by Graeme Macrae Burnet
2. The Hole by Hae-Young Pyun

I’ve also just finished Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oats. A very large book (I think its page count is higher than my first two books put together). It took awhile, and some parts could have been explored more while others could have faded into the background. But it was a good book.

The Doctor's Wife by Fiona Sussman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Patty wrote: "I’ve finished two books that I can highly recommend:

1. Case Studies by Graeme Macrae Burnet
2. The Hole by Hae-Young Pyun

I’ve also just finished Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oats. A very large boo..."

I enjoyed Case Study -- have you read his other books? Also good -- In his The Accident on the A35 and The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau I don't know how he does it, but he channels Georges Simenon. The Hole is also a good one -- so menacing.

4/5 stars

Was she a misunderstood healer, or was she possibly a serial murderer?

Please read my review linked below:


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

Nancy wrote: "Patty wrote: "I’ve finished two books that I can highly recommend:

1. Case Studies by Graeme Macrae Burnet
2. The Hole by Hae-Young Pyun

I’ve also just finished Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oats. A ..."

I'm trying my best to stay away from any series. I have too many stand-alone books that I want to read to get myself invested in a series.

Patty wrote: "I'm trying my best to stay away from any series. I have too many stand-alone books that I want to read to get myself invested in a series. "

but a lot of mysteries can be read as stand alone books unlike SF&F series

Not for me! I’ll have to read the series.

Patty wrote: "Not for me! I’ll have to read the series."

I get that. I really do.

If you ever decide to branch out and read his other work, his two short mystery novels go together via the same inspector, but each can be read as a standalone.

I finished Keep It In The Family by John Marrs


Another five star book for 2022!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

One of my favorites of the year Shrines of Gaiety

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

The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

Horowitz and Hawthorne #4. I've been a big fan of the series but this entry seems just a bit thinner than is predecessors. Same main characters, same wonderful plotting, but ???. Maybe I'm wrong. 3 stars.

Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza ⭐⭐⭐⭐.1 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

A high school romance results in a dead girl and a boy on trial for murder.

Jodi Picoult's books always include a 'big topic' and this one features beekeeping. Good story. 3.5 stars

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

I finished my 91st book

Just finished another fun "cheesy" cozy by Linda Reilly, No Parm No Foul

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

Christine wrote: "I finished my 91st book"

Nice going.
Are you aiming for 100 by the end of the year Christine? 😃

Finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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

Finished Three for the Chair by Rex Stout.

Three novelettes (as called by Anthony Boucher in an included review) or longish short stories (per Julian Symons in another included review). Nothing earth-shattering, although the cause of death in "A Window for Death" is novel, but these stories have the usual enjoyable give and take, love/hate relationship between Nero and Archie. It interests me that Stout does such a good job of distinguishing their voices that Goodwin doesn't have to sound stupid for Wolfe to appear as a genius.

Finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

A bit long-winded but mostly interesting. 4/5

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

Currently reading - stay awake by Megan Goldin, motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth :)

I just finished Three Widows

Not as enthralled with this one as prior entries to the series. My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For something different, I recommend Could You Survive Midsomer?

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

If it weren't for challenges, I might never have stumbled across this amazing story, just because I needed a U

Ousman Umar's memoir North to Paradise: My Journey Along the World's Most Dangerous Migrant Route, is unimagineable. It's amazing he survived his trek through Africa as a kid. Compelling story! (Lovely guy, too.)
4.5~5★ My review of North to Paradise

Liz wrote: "For something different, I recommend Could You Survive Midsomer?

My four star re..."

Thanks for that, Liz! I don't have that one but I do have Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson.

Aditya wrote: "Finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

A bit long-winded but mostly interesting. 4/5

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

He's always a bit long-winded, but I enjoy his books. He has another book coming out in February Victory City, which I preordered a long time ago.

I've just finished reading a 1960s crime novel called Awake and Die by Robert Ames, which will be re-issued by Stark House Press as part of their Black Gat series of books in January. The pulpy sleaze factor is great and the bodies pile up quickly.

4/5 stars

A true crime trip.
Coming out in January, 2023

Please read my review linked below:


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

Nancy wrote: "He's always a bit long-winded, but I enjoy his books. He has another book coming out in February Victory City, which I preordered a long time ago."

This was my first Rushdie. I enjoyed it but not so much that I would be rushing to read another one from him. He writes well but there were moments I wanted him to just get on with the plot. I want to read The Satanic Verses sometime to see why it was deemed so controversial.

Just started The Plague Court Murders: A Sir Henry Merrivale Mystery by Carter Dickson (a.k.a. John Dickson Carr).

So far, good old-fashioned fun.

I read A Deceptive Devotion by Iona Whishaw
It is a historical fiction mystery, set in 1947 rural British Columbia, Canada. It is book 6 in the series, but can be read as a stand alone. I rate it a solid 4 stars. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Sanatorium

Standing by the Wall by Mick Herron

Collection of 5 short novellas featuring the Slough House folks. Very entertaining; it's my feeling that Mick Heron can do no wrong. NB -- this book is not listed on Herron's page in Stop, You're Killing Me. 4 stars.

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Two decades ago Naomi Shaw helped put a serial killer in prison. Now Naomi isn't sure she fingered the right man.

Good suspense thriller. 3.5 stars

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

Sandy how are 8 of your books going?

Thanks Barbara and yes I am Barbara

Finished reading Deadly Cry

by Angela Marsons

My Review

Finished reading Watch Her Disappear

by Lisa Regan

My Review

Marwan wrote: "Finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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

Loved your review. I read this when it first came out and I reread it every couple of years. There's just something about it...