The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Araych wrote: "The Stargazey by Martha Grimes

Richard Jury #15. I'm reading the series in order and this might be the best one yet. Likeable interesting characters and a very comp..."

I like the Richard Jury books. 🙂

I read. The Underground Library. by Jennifer Ryan
It is historical fiction, set in WWII London. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Covenant of Water was interesting, but not the be all, five star p, book of the year Oprah made it out to be. My four star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

currently reading the housemaid

Where Are the Children Now? by Mary Higgins Clark

This book is a sequel to Mary Higgins Clark's 1975 novel 'Where Are the Children?'. In this suspenseful story, a little girl goes missing.

Lots of twists. 3.5 stars.

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

I was less than impressed with Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice . My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Reycajavec

Finished Resurrection Walk
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

A cyber-security expert is suspected of murdering her husband, and goes on the run to find the real killer....with the cops right on her tail.

Chase novels are not my favorites, but it's well written. 3 stars

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

Michael Wood premiers a new series in March with The Mind of a Murderer

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

I finished Parker Bilal's 2012 The Golden Scales. First of a 6 book mystery series set in late 90's Cairo.

I finished my 17th book

I finished two books over the weekend. Heart of the River by Cheryl Adnams ⭐⭐⭐.5 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and Murder at an Irish Wedding by Carlene O'Connor ⭐⭐⭐⭐.2 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

James M. Cain is the epitome of roman noir, and Double Indemnity is the epitome of James M. Cain. This 1936 book's pitch-black view of human desires, stripped-to-the-bone prose, and relentless descent into an inevitable hell of desperation and bad intentions-turned-septic showed post-WWII authors what black novel really meant. Five shots of rye, neat.

Read the full review here.

The Andromeda Strain


5 Star story
#hardsciencefiction #firstcontact #alienparticle #technothriller
#50yearold story

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

Beyond Einstein's Barrier


3 star
1st book #series
#sci-fi #dystopian #futuristic story
looking forward to read the other books.

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


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

Dark Ride is perfectly named. My 4.5 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Busy reading by Michael Connelly. Love Harry Bosch.
Amanda

Lance wrote: "James M. Cain is the epitome of roman noir, and Double Indemnity is the epitome of James M. Cain...."

Great book!

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

An apparent suicide slowly reveals a connection between married couples of different generations.

This is suspenseful mystery/domestic drama. 3.5 stars

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

Lance wrote: "James M. Cain is the epitome of roman noir, and Double Indemnity is the epitome of James M. Cain. This 1936 book's pitch-black view of human desires, stripped-to-the-bone prose, and re..."

I love this book. Absolutely. On the other hand, his The Cocktail Waitress was just awful.

Nancy wrote: "Lance wrote: "James M. Cain is the epitome of roman noir, and Double Indemnity is the epitome of James M. Cain. This 1936 book's pitch-black view of human desires, stripped-to-the-bone..."

Glad I'm not the only one. I had to quit it. But I was a fan of Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice.

I finished the second installment in the Virgil Tibbs series


The Cool Cottontail by John Dudley Ball
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the third James Bond book


Moonraker by Ian Fleming

Jan C wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Lance wrote: "James M. Cain is the epitome of roman noir, and Double Indemnity is the epitome of James M. Cain. This 1936 book's pitch-black view of human desires, stripp..."

The Cocktail Waitress was just pure sleaze. LOL. I loved The Postman Always Rings Twice as well.

My review of The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves

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

I read All We Were Promised byAshton Lattimore
I liked this historical fiction book set in 1837 Philadelphia, Pa. My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Getting a hop on Easter mysteries with the new anthology Easter Basket Murder with stories by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finished my 9th book

Murder Crossed Her Mind by Stephen Spotswood

Pentecost and Parker #4. This series is currently being written and I've been reading in order. This might be the best one yet. The ladies have been hired by a lawyer to locate his missing friend, an elderly former secretary in his former law firm. By now we know and like the characters and the plot is suitably complex and consistent. I really liked this one, 4 stars.

Midnight Climax by Peter Kageyama

This thriller (with the provocative title) is inspired by a real CIA experiment in which men were lured into brothels by prostitutes, then dosed with psychedelic drugs to study their effects.

The book is a well-written page turner. 4 stars

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

Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land,
Jacob Mikanowski. Really not a history at all, a collection of wonderful, often frightening, often funny as hell anecdotes from way before Christ to today.

I finished two very different books yesterday , both excellent reads.
All Of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and The Girls from Sandycove by Siân O'Gorman ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Life on a small Australian farm in the 1950s means contentment and freedom for Rex, but confinement and restriction for wife Irene, who seems to be the Snake in this novel by Aussie author Kate Jennings. No actual venomous creatures, so no trigger warning 😊necessary. Irene's a piece of work, though!
My review of Snake

What fun to see the new release of Don Freeman's 1961 children's picture book, Come Again, Pelican, where a free-ranging little boy goes fishing alone on the beach.
My review of Come Again, Pelican with several of the cheery illustrations

Just completed this short mystery. Have a look -

Murder on the Orient Excess


#shortstory #murdermystery #inspiredtale

My 4 stars review -
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Body in the Mist veers from police procedural to psychological thriller. My four star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dark Dive is the weakest of the Underwater Investigative series. My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Holmes Marple and Poe by James Petterson and Brian Sitts

Very simple-minded mystery featuring 3 Private Detectives with apparently very famous names. They proceed to solve several baffling mysteries in short order. Not written at a very high level showing numerous plot holes and simple characterizations. No better than just OK, 2 stars. Also apparently James Patterson and various "collaborators" in 2020 wrote 8 complete novels; 2 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 2 in 2023 and 1 so far in 2024. Just FYI.

I’m in the minority being underwhelmed by The Berry Pickers. My three star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now starting SAFE HOUSES (2018) by Dan Fesperman, a stand alone espionage mystery/thriller novel set in modern day Maryland but with links back to a divided Berlin a full decade before the end of the Cold War.

My review of Bloodtree River by Sarah Barrie

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

The Case of the Canterfell Codicil by PJ Fitzsimmons https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm glad I chose a dozen of Michael Connelly's Bosch series to read through 2024 because it means I'm assured of at least one good read a month.

Nobody missed The Concrete Blonde, an obviously interchangeable porn performer, until her body is discovered, which could ruin Bosch's career.
My review of The Concrete Blonde

Quantum Incident


Short #sci-fi #hardscifi book as a prelude/teaser to a seriously good series.

4 star review -
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My copy of Fear Stalks the Village (British Library Crime Classics) by Ethel Lina White arrived yesterday so my nose is already buried in it.

Couldn't put this down: Six Years

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

I finished my 17th book