The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Nancy, only for the past 4.5 hours! The rest of the time it has been about books!

Jan, I lived in Naperville until I was 11, so Chicago winters are pretty much what I remember winter as (although we had especially good one when I was living in New Jersey). I was a baby during the blizzard of '67, and to hear my mother tell it, I was snow baby. But I imagine that snow and cold winters aren't as enchanting to adults as they are to children.


And just to get back on topic, I am really enjoying The Glass of Time. I'm about 150 pages in and though it I suspect that I know what Esperanza Alice Gorst's Great Task is, I haven't decided which characters are her allies and which are not. I highly recommend it to fans of Victorian-type mysteries.

" is a recovering alcoholic, moody "--Have you noticed how many detectives in mystery fiction fit this description? It's almost like a requirement.

Finished Company of Liars. I was disappointed... a little too "fantasy" for my taste. Am now reading The Book of Lost Things.

I love Jo Nesbo! Read the next 2 in order, though!

K.B. wrote: "Nancy, only for the past 4.5 hours! The rest of the time it has been about books!

Jan, I lived in Naperville until I was 11, so Chicago winters are pretty much what I remember winter as (althoug..."

I don't have very good memories of the snow of '67 except it is about the only time Evanston high school ever let anyone go early or had a snow day. My parents got home from work at 3 am.

I am still reading The Devil's Tickets, a mixture of bridge and murder!

I must chime in with a comment about last winter's blizzard here in Washington DC. It was the most snow in 100 yrs with truly dangerous blizzard conditions one afternoon when a state of emergency was declared. Coming from upstate Pennsylvania I thought I was ready for snow but that was the worst I had ever seen.

Since this is a book discussion thread I will note that I read 4 books that week! :)

I just started Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich -- a new series, I think. Only a couple of pages in so I have no opinion yet, but thought the catalog keywords were somewhat amusing: Bakeries, Witches, Armageddon.

Also listening to Jonathan Kellerman's Compulsion, which I may have read before but I can't remember the whodunit, so it's all new again :) I'm enjoying the reading; the voices are well done.

Marjorie wrote: "I recently finished Jo Nesbo's The Redbreast. Nesbo is a Norwegian mystery writer -- this is the 1st book of his I've read. (Sorry for the spelling -- I don't know how to do the litt..."

We've just bought The Redbreast for the library. The author is lauded as the 'new Steig Larsson' - it sounds like a good one to recommend.

Have just finished The Girl in the Cellar by Patricia Wentworth and am now reading No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, talk about opposites ends of fiction.

Marjorie wrote: "I recently finished Jo Nesbo's The Redbreast. Nesbo is a Norwegian mystery writer -- this is the 1st book of his I've read. (Sorry for the spelling -- I don't know how to do the litt..."

I read Nemesis which is a bit later in the series. I enjoyed it a lot; you might want to look for it.

I have a quick newbie question: Is this thread for posting any book we are currently reading, or just within the mystery genre? I don't want to post out-of-turn. :)

Hi Jeannette, We mostly stick to books within the mystery genre since that is the theme of the group.

I've just started a new author to me. Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben. So far its a pretty fast read.

Hi Tonyanc, Harlan Coben's stand alone The Woods was last month's group read.

I finished Black Friday by Alex Kava. The book started out with a terrorist bombing in a shopping mall on the day after Thanksgiving and spun the conspiracy theories from there. The book was pretty good. I gave it 3 stars.

Jeannette wrote: "I have a quick newbie question: Is this thread for posting any book we are currently reading, or just within the mystery genre? I don't want to post out-of-turn. :)"

Thanks, Donna! Now I know when to post. I'm on a Japanese "tour" right now, but no mysteries.

Jeannette wrote: "Jeannette wrote: "I'm on a Japanese "tour" right now, but no mysteries"

Jeannette, we've got a UN challenge that you might enjoy.

Thanks, K.B.! I'll look for it.

Wow, the US and the UN challenges are tough, especially since I read so many series set in the UK!

Yes, I find breaking out of my ever-so-enjoyable rut of UK mysteries tough. But that is the point of a challenge.

just about 1/2 way through Chosen To Die. Like this one better than the first book. Definitely a series I could get into. Looking forward to finding out who the serial killer is and why he is doing it.

I'm looking forward to finishing up The Excursion Train this evening. Then I'll be going back to The Pillars of the Earth and The Glass of Time. (Hmm, apparently I'm not breaking out of that UK rut anytime soon.)

I've just started A Letter of Mary, third in the series, set in the UK, but maybe also in Palestine.

Yay!! :-)

I hope I like this book, Hayes. It's the third book I've started this week, and I had expected to enjoy the other two. My manga was fun; that's a plus.

Jeannette wrote: "I hope I like this book, Hayes. It's the third book I've started this week, and I had expected to enjoy the other two. My manga was fun; that's a plus."

I enjoyed that book. It was pretty interesting but sometimes you just have to be in the right mood for certain books.

The first in the series was excellent, but I didn't care for the second. Hayes gave the third book high marks, too.

Jeannette wrote: "The first in the series was excellent, but I didn't care for the second. Hayes gave the third book high marks, too."

I am one of the few that really doesn't like the Mary Russell series. But then, and I'm sure I've voiced this before, I'm tired of all the authors who've chosen to spin off of Conan Doyle's work.

This is my first experience with a Doyle spin-off, but I can understand where you are coming from. I've read a lot of Jane Austen spin-offs, too, and some of them just don't make the cut.

What am I missing? A good friend of mine can't say enough good things about Laurie King's Mary Russell series, and I just don't get it. I thought her Kate Martinelli books were decent. I loved a haunted house/ghost short story she did for an anthology (whose name escapes me). Was The Beekeeper's Apprentice the weak book in the series? Truly, I am mystified.

And even though I get annoyed with the Holmes spin-offs, I find myself trying them all. (Yes, I'm conflicted.) But I have to say that I loved the BBC's Sherlock. Brilliant. (But that's a different media.)

I read one of the Kate Martinelli books and just didn't like it that much. Prefer the Mary Holmes, although I am only on# 4.

Truly the series are very different. Almost like they're written by different people.

Just finished "The Merry Misogynist" by Colin Cotterill. Loved the writing, the flavor of late 1970's Laos and the terrific character of Dr. Siri. I thought the ending went flat. The main action was told as a flashback (why?) and the bad guy's motivations were uninspired. But some very good writing. Put me down for 'conflicted.'

I'm reading Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass. The forensic anthropologist in the book runs the "body farm" at the University of Tennessee that does research on the decomposition of corpses. That's the most interesting part of the book. The plot is okay but padded with way too many inserts about topics the author has apparently researched and which don't further the plot. (I think it's "first novel" syndrome.)

Mark wrote: "Just finished "The Merry Misogynist" by Colin Cotterill. Loved the writing, the flavor of late 1970's Laos and the terrific character of Dr. Siri. I thought the ending went flat. The main action w..."

Hi Mark, I've read some of the earlier ones in this series and thought they were very good. I think I read somewhere that Cotterill was thinking of ending this series and moving on to something else.

It must be very hard for a writer who has a successful series to decide to make a switch. Maybe that is why some authors do stand alone books in between series books - keeps the creative juices flowing and options open.

RDonna wrote: "Mark wrote: "Just finished "The Merry Misogynist" by Colin Cotterill. Loved the writing, the flavor of late 1970's Laos and the terrific character of Dr. Siri. I thought the ending went flat. The ..."

The author who comes to mind in that regard is always Conan Doyle who tried to kill off Sherlock but his public wouldn't let him.

I read a lot of Martha Grimes, and her detective Richard Jury is shot down at the end of one book. It was a big cliffhanger! But, she writes books outside of the series, too.

I think Grimes is hilarious. She did a stand-alone --Foul Matter -- that I don't remember doing well, but I couldn't stop laughing. Full of inside jokes for the publishing industry.

Im still reading Faithful Place by Tana French. Its really kept my interest. Cant wait to see how it ends. The only reason that its taking me so long to read it because life has taken up so much of my time lately.
Im so excited. I just got both volumes of the Sherlock Holmes collections. I really have too many books to read. I have them stacked everywhere. And every time I hear about a book or walk by a stack I have to rearrange the stack of boiks I want to read next.

Kari, I looked up Unforseen but I couldnt find any description of what its about. What is it about?

Lauren wrote: "Jan wrote: "I just finished Ape House by Sara Gruen and gave it 4 stars. Even though it's not as good as Water for Elephants I still enjoyed the book.
I'm..."
I just finished I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman and gave it 3 stars. I didn't care for the book really but it was well written.

K.B. wrote: "I think Grimes is hilarious. She did a stand-alone --Foul Matter -- that I don't remember doing well, but I couldn't stop laughing. Full of inside jokes for the publishing industry."

I picked it up off of the remainder shelf. Haven't read it yet. Recall that the word was that she trashed the industry, kind of Kevin Smith and the movies. There was some question as to whether this meant she was through. But she has come out with at least one subsequent book.

Jan, I believe she's done several more books since then. It's been years since I read it.

I picked it up late and in trade paperback. Plus, I probably just haven't been paying as much attention. I had a former supervisor who got me started on Grimes. When she retired I stopped having to suck up by talking about her books.

LOL! I know what you mean. I have first books by authors who have gone on to be very successful, but to me they are still new because I haven't read them yet.

Kari wrote: "Karen wrote: "Kari, I looked up Unforseen but I couldnt find any description of what its about. What is it about?"

I am about halyway with the book and so far it is a trypical gothic mystery. We..."

I read The Uninvited last year. I've always liked the movie, too. I probably wouldn't have picked up the book if it hadn't been for the movie. Not really my style. But it was interesting and different from the movie.

Yesterday afternoon ended on such a sour note that I needed something light and fluffy to read, so off to the library I went. I picked up Mrs. Jeffries and the Yuletide Weddings, which seems to fit the bill.

Donna wrote: "Mark wrote: "Just finished "The Merry Misogynist" by Colin Cotterill. Loved the writing, the flavor of late 1970's Laos and the terrific character of Dr. Siri. I thought the ending went flat. The ..."

I've really enjoyed the series -- the characters get more intriguing as it goes on. I'd like to sit on the bank with Siri and talk one day :)

Barbara wrote: "I'm reading Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass. The forensic anthropologist in the book runs the "body farm" at the University of Tennessee that does research on the de..."

Interesting. I've read books 2, 3 and 4 and really liked them. I have a used paperback copy of Carved in Bone but haven't gone back to it. Maybe I should leave well enough alone? They do seem to build on each other, so, that said, I'd recommend reading them in order.

K.B. wrote: "Truly the series are very different. Almost like they're written by different people."

Jan C wrote: "I read one of the Kate Martinelli books and just didn't like it that much. Prefer the Mary Holmes, although I am only on# 4."

Great point. I'm like Jan C -- I've really enjoyed the Mary Russell series but can't get into the Kate Martinelli ones.