March 2012 - What are we reading?

Hello! New thread for a new month. Enjoy!

The 75ers are having a themed read this month, Mystery March. I'm planning to read:

Disco for the Departed in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series
Ashes to Dust to see what the fuss is about
Racing the Devil because I owe an ER review on it
Dissolution to see what the fuss is about
An Ordinary Decent Criminal because it's already here
I, the Jury because sometimes you just gotta go lowbrow

I'll be pleased if I finish them all.

Rumpole on trial by John Mortimer

Just began Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn.

I started listening to The Fear Index yesterday. It's my first Robert Harris thriller. I've read two of his ancient Rome books so decided to see how he'd do in this genre. Christian Rodska narrates. He is to me THE voice of Marcus Falco, but it's enjoyable to hear him. Can't do an American accent to save his live though. lol.

I am currently reading Instruments of Darkness..so far so good.

I just started Death of a Kingfisher by M.C. Beaton

Themed reading Mystery March month? sounds great. I'm reading, or planning to read:

The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax (which may lead to another book of hers)
The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall
Faithful Place by Tana French
A Thyme for Death by Susan Wittig Albert

maybe, if the library is able:
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding by Alexander McCall Smith
The Laughing Policeman by Per Wahloo

Kellerman's Victims.

I'm just starting A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory. I've been looking forward to it.

I've only got one on tap so far for the 75ers Mystery Month, Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum. Hmm.

On the bus this afternoon I finished Died in the Wool, by Ngaio Marsh, and then immediately started my backup bus book, The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder, by Mary Jane Maffini.

@8: I hope you enjoy the Mrs. Pollifax series and The Laughing Policeman! :)

I've just started Speak of the Devil by Richard Hawke.

I just finished Chill Factor by Stuart Pawson

Just started U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

Reading Ghoul Interrupted by Victoria Laurie.

>12 rabbitprincess: then immediately started my backup bus book

I love this!

I loved Mrs Pollifax, and will need to read another one soon. I've read the first few of the Martin Beck series, so I'm sure I'll enjoy The Laughing Policeman. Ed McBain was so clearly influenced by this series, and I read a heap of 87th precinct books back in the day.

Excited to see my library has started adding the Kindle version of the Per Wahloo books to their catalogue. Read the first, Roseanna, a couple of years ago, now getting started on The man who went up in smoke, The laughing policeman, and The fire engine that disappeared - plus a few more on hold.

12 & 17 ... Love it! I can't stand to be stranded without a backup supply, either. Silly travel tradition...I will not leave town with a book I'm halfway through; must be starting something new.

Today I still had two books in my bag... one was for the bus and one was for reading on my lunch! I read the Mary Jane Maffini at lunch, and on the bus it was The Murder Stone, by Louise Penny. I'm in a very "I'll read whatever I want whenever I want to" mood at present :P

@17: I hadn't picked up the Martin Beck influence on Ed McBain! Love the 87th Precinct series. My favourite is probably Let's Hear it for the Deaf Man.

Finished and reviewed The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen. I got it as an Early Reviewer and enjoyed it. I put up a review, but I don't know how to link it.

I can totally understand carrying a backup book. When I get down to the last hundred pages of a book I get nervous about going anywhere without a backup. What if my car breaks down in a remote area and I am stranded and I finish the book I am reading? For the love of God, what do I do then? When I was in the military I developed a life rule; Never go anywhere without a book. The military is the king of hurry up and wait. I can't tell you how many hours I spent waiting to jump out of an airplane reading books. A lot of other soldiers thought I was nuts (as if jumping out of perfectly good airplanes hadn't already confirmed that), but reading calmed me down during those times. It also didn't hurt my reputation that during combat jumps with the plane flyin nap of the Earth, I was calmly reading the latest Stephen King or Lee Child while people were puking around me. They didn't realize that the book was the only thing keeping me together. Thank God for the cargo pockets on BDUs.

Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton
The Great Leader by Jim Harrison in audio

Finished Explosive Eighteen on Thursday and started Cold Vengeance last night. I'm also listening to Tripwire.

Edited for typo.

Just finished Death of a Bore by M.C. Beaton and just started Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters.

First chapter down of Murder With Mirrors; trying to expand my Miss Marple horizons. Anybody else envision her looking somewhat like Aunt Clara from Bewitched?

I think Joan Hickson--who was Miss Marple in the PBS series in the 1980's--is my belle ideal of the character.

>26 Bjace:

That's the first face that comes to my mind as well although I am not sure that I really liked her or Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. Not to mention Julia McKenzie.

It's much easier with Poirot - I cannot think of him as anything different from David Suchet :) Although I liked Peter Ustinov's portrayal a lot as well... he might not look as he should but he played the part beautifully.

Offtopic, I know.

Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George--just when I thought the St. Jameses couldn't possibly get more annoying....

Nightmare in Pink by John D. MacDonald

C.J. Sansom's Heartstone, the last (historical) mystery in a series of five situated in Tudor England that I have enjoyed immensely these last weeks. Truly Great Reading it was/is.

Just started Broken by Karin Slaughter.

I just finished reading One True Sentence by Craig McDonald. It's fourth in the Hector Lassiter series of mysteries set in Paris during the 1920s.

What makes the series stand out (to me, at least) is that many of the supporting characters are known literary figures of the era like Gertrude Stein and William Carlos Williams. Ernest Hemingway is even the protagonist's sidekick!

If you'd like to read my full review of the book, you can find it here

Finished the Chalk Girl by Carol O'Connor, now half way through Catch Me by Lisa Gardner.

Just started A day for dying : an Inspector Luke Thanet novel by Dorothy Simpson. Good so far. I remember reading some of Dorothy Simpson's books before but they must have been pre-LT as I don't have them in my catalogue.

Reading John Sandford's {Shock Wave} now and have discovered that Virgil Flowers is just as good as Lucas Davenport. I only have about 15 more Sandfords to read. That might last me til the summer--hurrah!

My planned reads for March are panning out nicely. Reviews of Disco for the Departed, Racing the Devil, and a dark-horse candidate A Shot in the Bark, are all up in my thread.

I just finished The World according to Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith and am now dipping in and out of the MWA story collection, The Rich and the Dead edited by Nelson DeMille, which has some terrific stories.

Finishing the hilarious The Uncommon Reader. Next up is Behind the Beautiful Forevers.

Just finished Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas.

Just started The Case of the Man who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall.

Just started Every Dead Thing, the first Charlie Parker mystery today, and danged if I don't think I've read it once already. Must've been a long time ago, though, because I don't recall what happened, only a few details seem familiar. Also rereading SPQR I: The King's Gambit, the first in an historical mystery series that is just as addicting the second time around as the first. Also still listening to Tripwire.

Taken by Robert Crais

Just finished The Ex-Pats. Despite being initially put off by the over-the-top blurbs by the likes of John Grisham, it turned out to be intricate and clever.

Just started A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr.

41> Oh, SPQR I: The King's Gambit sounds good! Definitely added to my TBR list.

>43 BeckyJG:

I tend to ignore blurbs -- if a publising house wants them, they get them. And none of them will say anything bad.

Kill Alex Cross and Shooting at Loons.

I have just started Love You More by Lisa Gardner.

>45 Samantha_kathy: Samantha ~ If you like mysteries set in ancient Roman times, I think you'll enjoy this series. It's not real intense, but I think it's accurate as to historical details, and the dialogue doesn't include any anachronisms that I've noticed.

Just started The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. I read a couple of other books in this series quite a few years ago now, but I'm looking forward to starting again from the very beginning.

#21 tjm568 wins the prize for best backup book story! Thanks for telling that story!

And thanks to you for pointing that out, mk. Somehow I missed tjm568's story, and it is indeed a good one. Jumping out of perfectly good airplanes - hah!

Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs

Vicar's Roses by Jon L. Breen bonus because although it the name of a racing horse it refers to a line from Chandler's essay The Simple Art of Murder about getting murder out of the vicar's rose garden and back on the mean streets where it belongs.

Just finished The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly and LOVED it. Great setting, interesting characters and I even cared about the killer. What more can one ask.

Friends in High Places by Donna Leon.

High cotton by Darryl Pinckney

I'm halfway through The Secret Speech, a sequel to Child 44. Both books are thrillers set in 1950s Soviet Union. I think you need to have read Child 44 first to make full sense of the book. So far I think Child 44 is the better book.

I'm just starting Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy

Funeral in Berlin, by Len Deighton, which is proving interesting so far. Description spot-on as usual.

Just finished Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George. Usually I really like her novels, but I had to force myself through this one. Found it a really implausible story line, and much like a soap opera, and I just couldn't relate to any of the secondary characters. First time I've been disappointed by one of hers.

Finished two books - one was great - Slash and Burn, the new Dr. Siri book. Loved it.

The other - February Trouble by Neil Albert was a waste of time and I only read 52 pages. By the end of 52 I knew who and most of why... so I quit. Bummer.

I'm reading Before I Go to Sleep.

I just finished Agent 6. It was good but not as great as child 44 by the same author.

I finished Love You More, which I enjoyed quite well, and have now started Set In Darkness by Ian Rankin, one of the Rebus books.

Am very much enjoying Peter Temple's Jack Irish series - started with Bad Debts, followed by Black Tide and Dead Point.

>65 bkmbooks:
I love Peter Temple books... I am keeping Dead Point and White Dog for a treat! But you remind me to treat myself soon. :)
I can recommend The Broken Shore as well.

Yes, Peter Temple has some great books. I've also read Broken Shore, and Jack Irish made a cameo. I wasn't sure who he was, but I could sense that he was a character of some known. I started with Truth, so am reading backwards.

Dana Stabenow has written a lot of Kate Shugak, PI, books and I've read many of them. She is not my favorite author by any means and her detective to me is not a likable person. It is interesting to read though because of the setting and culture she writes about Alaska. Undoubtably there are people living there who don't fit in the culture she describes.

The Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

I am about halfway through Dark Horse (touchstone not working) by Craig Johnson. A Walt Longmire mystery. Always entertaining.

Reading Faithful Place by Tana French.

>69 quartzite: Love the Spellmans! I've still got a few to read before the Trail.

The Alpine Escape byMary Daheim

Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters

I'm halfway through Borrowed Time by Robert Goddard. He is an exceptionally good writer and this book is hard to put down.

Reading Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva.

@73: I liked that Peters. Hope you'll enjoy your reading too.

75, Ameise1

I do enjoy them. I am slowly working my way through the series since I am listening to the books (love the narator) & I only "read" them in the car : )

Has anyone read any Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway books? I just finished The Janus Stone and am intrigued by this series. Ruth Galloway is a forensics expert who lives in a remote area of Norfork, England. I didn't initially think I was going to like the books, but after finishing the first The Crossing Places I immediately wanted to read another. I'd suggest starting at the beginning of the series.

Hickson was perfect! I love Miss Marple and also Miss Silver. Wentworth's books never disappoint.

I just read the latest Deborah Crombie novel: No Mark Upon Her and really enjoyed it.

muirstreader. I just discovered Elly Griffith's series last year, and I too really like them.

Wire in the Blood by Val Mcdermid Val McDermid is one of those author that's when she's good she's very, very good and when she's bad she's awful. Wire in the Blood seems to be one of the very, very good.

A Sea of Troubles by Donna Leon.

>4 majkia: I thought Silent in the Grave was the best one she's written. They got too "romancy" after that for me.

ted74ca. I'm definitely going to keep up with this series. She's an interesting main character and I think they're getting better as they go.

I've written a review of a first mystery, featuring an out gay LAPD homicide detective (!), called The DVD Murders, It's in my thread...post #191.

I'll hold off advocating for it until I read some more in the series. At least I'm game to do that, which is more than most books I pick up!

Finished The Houdini Girl by Martyn Bedford

I'm just starting Dead Tease

I finished Disco for the Dead, the third in the Dr. Siri series, which was great fun. I reviewed it on the book's page.

Next, I think, is Death Comes to Pemberley, which has gotten mixed reactions here.

Halfway throght Death of a Scriptwriter by M.C. Beaton. Love Hamish Macbeth.

I am reading One Under by Graham Hurley. This is the 7th entry in his DI Joe Faraday series set in Portsmouth, England.

I finished today He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum. I enjoy this author, and this is the second of hers I have read this year.

Yesterday I've finished Moscow Rules Daniel Silva. Now I'm reading The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas. It's the first Commissaire Amberg book and I already like this character.

Yesterday, read Blanche cleans up by Barbara Neely. I read the first Blanche book Blanche on the lam several years ago and liked this one better. Am now reading one of Hugh Pentecost's Pierre Chambrun mysteries, Murder in luxury, which is basically mind candy.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Just started Still Life by Louise Penny to see what the fuss is about.

Enjoying my first, and the first, Michael Connelly "Harry Bosch" book, The Black Echo. I just came back from a brief trip to LA, where the book is set, so that adds a little something.

LOVE the Harry Bosch series! Wish I could start at the beginning all over again. You are in for a treat! (Especially since you're familiar with L.A.; next time you're here, look me up!)

> 96 & 97: I'll second the praise for the Harry Bosch series and Michael Connelly in general. Not only are they good books, but Connelly knows Los Angeles and presents it very realistically.

@66 & 67: Still awed by the Peter Temple/Jack Irish series; am saving White Dog as a treat also (more by default due to lack of e-book availability in the US for now...) Good to have something to look forward to eventually. (I did read Truth and Broken Shore back when Truth was in the limelight...)

Now starting something different - in a series set in the (early 1990's) Anglican Church, D. M. Greenwood's Deaconess Theodora Braitwaite investigates...Starting with Clerical Errors.

Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

The Devil's Edge by Stephen Booth

Started my ARC copy of The Gods of Gotham.

About to start Girl Who Played With Fire

I've just finished rereading all the Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri as they are being shown on BBC4 on Saturday nights. I love the books and I like the series, but the characters are not the same. Salvo Montalbano and Sergeant Fazio are younger and Mimi Augello is older than in the books, but the TV series works and I'm looking forward to tonight's episode.
I'm glad that others like the Decius Caecilus Metellus books in the SPQR series. I must admit I like books set in the late Republic rather than the Empire - and Decius does hate Augustus even though he is some sort of relation through his wife Julia, a fictional niece of Julius Caesar.

I love the Inspector Montalbano series! Can't wait for the next one - Potter's Field is the most recent in the U.S.

I've seen six episodes of the Italian tv version on dvd and you're right, they're not the same - but the TV series works.

The newest Montalbano, The Age of Doubt comes out (in Canada) the beginning of May. I have it on pre-order!

#97 storeetlir...Thanks for the invite! ;-)

Just got Harlan Coben's Stay Close. Just finished Dark of the Moon and love Virgil Flowers (John Sandborn)

107 :) Anytime! Mean it.

104 I agree, though I also enjoyed the Falco mysteries set in the time of Vespatian. But the SPQR series is really great, and, like I said, addictive as heck! I just finished SPQR VIII: The River God's Vengeance, and am already jonesing for the next (which I don't have so need to get to the library tomorrow for sure!).

> 95 How did you like Louise Penny's book?

I've started Before I Go to Sleep, which is good so far. I've also got Anarchy and Old Dogs, the 4th Dr. Siri, on hand.

#110 - Still Life was okay. I hated the female agent as I'm sure everyone did. I loved the setting and the town, and really enjoyed the Inspector, but the author's constant head-jumping and change of POV every two minutes drove me nuts. I find that very distracting.

I'll probably try book 2, but we'll see.

Just finished V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton. I think, after reading reviews, that I enjoyed it more than others. I just like hanging out with Kinsey and Henry for awhile. Also found it interesting hearing the story from different characters' perspectives.

>113 mkboylan:

Sounds like my thoughts on the book. That late in a series, such books can work as part of the series -- individually it can be a little weak but it is a series book after all.

I just finished A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley, one of the Flavia de Luce series, which was just perfect. For those not familiar with the series, the sleuth, Flavia, is an eleven-year-old girl living in a decrepit English mansion around 1950. The series reminded me of the first mysteries I read when I was a child except this series is even more fun.

I am just starting Lazybones by Mark Billingham. This is another series, this one set in London featuring DI Tom Thorne. I'm hoping that this third one continues the high standard of the first two.

Reading Deon Meyer's Devil's Peak. I've read the later book with Bennie Griessel, Thirteen Hours, and wanted more. Love this author!

Today I started Bertie and the Tinman, by Peter Lovesey. Albert Edward, eventually aka Edward VII of England, turns his hand to sleuthing when a noted jockey dies under suspicious circumstances. It's very fun so far, with Bertie providing delightful narration.

114 - Yeah! What you said!

#118, rabbitprincess, I read Bertie and the tinman last year and found it enormous fun. If you can get it, try Bertie and the Seven bodies, which is a homage to an Agatha Christie novel.

I am reading Willful Behavior by Donna Leon.

Chandler - Farewell My Lovely

@120: what luck, my library has it! Adding it to my "request later" shelf. Thanks for the recommendation!

Before I Go to Sleep was very good.

I just recently finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I know it's already been reviewed to hell and back, but if you're interesting you can find my own take on the book here

About halfway through The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton, which is fantastic so far.

I'm now reading The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill and I am delighted with the book so far. I'm so glad I've discovered this series.

I just read A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths. I really like this series.

Does Catching Fire count as a thriller? Just getting started, but there is political intrigue in the mix...

Finished Tahoe Hijack by Todd Borg last night. I wonder why his books aren't more popular because I sure like them. I do live in the Placerville area and many locations are familiar to me, which I always enjoy. Still, I find the books great - the ending couple of chapters were so tense I had to put the book down I was getting so stressed!

The new John Burdett is waiting for me at the library - I've been waiting forever! Yay!

Oh, I'm glad you reminded me, mk! I need to order the new John Burdett at the library. The newest C.J. Box just came in there for me.

Just started Fire Engine Dead

jn - I'm saving my CJ's for when I'm in ColoradoWyoming Montana this summer. I discovered him late, lucky me! Still a few to go. Same with Dunning.

#130 Well, you sold me, mk.! I've added Tahoe Hijack to my out of control wishlist and will be ordering it from the library (or maybe on Kindle?). Thank you. Thank you so much. *as the tottering pile of TBRs comes down on my head*

134 Well great! I hope you like it. I looked at your profile to try to figure out if you would or not, but can't get past the pick of Nickelbird! which makes me want to know if you liked The Parrots of Telegraph Hill which is one of my all time favorite books. I've read it twice and seen the dvd 3 times. Not sure why I'm so taken with it - I think maybe because this author found nature right where he was, in the middle of San Francisco. Then I went to SF and saw the parrots when they came and roosted for the night - very cool!

I had been reading Clubbable Woman slowly - it is good for a first novel but has its bad moments

Just finished Murder Duet by Batya Gur. I checked it out because the musical background was appealing and the setting (Israel) was off the beaten track for me. Unfortunately, it proved to be a long hard slog, perhaps in part because it was a translation. All the characters seemed to suffer a great deal from angst, and they talked and talked and talked; I did feel sorry for the protagonist, a lonely middle-aged detective, but I couldn't really like him. And the fact that everyone in the cast seemed to be a smoker really put me off... and the characters chain-smoked in an apartment where there were two infants! (In case you're wondering, the translation was published in 1999.) And on top of everything else, one character, a social worker, really took Freud seriously--unscientific rot about the Oedipus complex and the idea that if you forget to do something, it's because you really didn't want to do it in the first place. I rather regret the time I spent reading this one. I read another title by Gur some years ago and don't remember it being such a drag.

135 I love Special Agent Pendergast, Jack Reacher, and Kenzie & Gennaro mystery thrillers, though I too have had to put one of them down occasionally until the tension diffused.

I never heard of The Parrots of Telegraph Hill. Yet another book for the TBR pile! BTW, there are flocks of wild parrots living in the trees around Pasadena CA where I live. Just tonight, Nickel and I were taking the trash to the chute and stopped to watch a bunch of them screeching across the sky overhead. I was enchanted, but Nickel ~ not so much.

Planning to start The Russia House, by John le Carré, as my bus book today (even though the edition I have is an ungainly hardcover).

Just finished The Solitary House by Lynn Shepherd which was wonderful.

#136, Anniemod, I love Dalziel and Pascoe, although I agree that Clubbable woman is a little slow. I think my favorite is On Beulah height

@ 139
Enjoy your reading. I love this Le Carré.

>141 Bjace:

Yeah, I had read a few of the new ones so decided to backtrack and get the whole story. I did not expect it to be fast so... no worries there. :) Besides - most of the long series start slow.

>139 rabbitprincess:
Happy reading :)

In the Company of Liars by David Ellis.

Killer in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

New thread is here,

http://www.librarything.com/topic/135142