March Mystery Reading

Calling all mystery lovers, it time for March Mystery Month. Whether you are into police prcedurals, cozies, Nordic crime or classics, this is the place to plan, list and discuss the mysteries you want to read next month.



“A good mystery keeps you up on Saturday night. A bad mystery puts you to sleep on Sunday afternoon. Either way you come out ahead.” Elizabeth Jane Howard, Author



Above are a collection of mystery covers that, from their ratings here on LT, should keep you awake and reading through to the end.

I am always up for reading mysteries and have a small list that I hope to get to in March:

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie
Hocus by Jan Burke
The Plague Court Murders by John Dickson Carr
Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson
Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else is planning on.

Hey I'll be there, Judy! Not sure what book/s yet though!

My planned reads:

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom
The Winter Thief by Jenny White
Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

I was planning on trying a Jo Nesbo and I believe I have The Snowman on my shelf, so I will use this thread to prompt my reading it. :-)

I'm planning on:

A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch
The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Ames
The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon by Richard Zimler
The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
The Black Tower by Louis Bayard

I'm also attempting to finish 2666 if it counts as a mystery.

Other possibilities:
The Sunday Hangman by James McClure
Heartstone by C.J. Sansom
Death of a Cozy Writer by G. M. Malliet
Murder Is Binding by Lorna Barrett

Mmmm....Mystery March. I love it. Perhaps I'll read some or all of these:

The Luminous Depths by David Herter (not a mystery in the classic sense, but mysterious for certain)

Life and Death on the Loxahatchee a real-life mystery

Killer Market by Margaret Maron

Creole Belle by James Lee Burke

Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill

At the moment, planning:

Outsider in Amsterdam - Janwillem van de Wetering
Old World Murder - Kathleen Ernst
Chasing the Devil's Tail - David Fulmer
The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry
No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith - which is a Green Dragon group read
Death of a Cozy Writer - G. M. Mallet

We'll see how many I can actually get to.

I'll do another Eve Dallas for sure, and I know there'll be others.

I'm hoping Judy takes to the Dr. Siri series by Colin Cotterill, and that Jean likes the first in the Precious Ramotswe series by Alexander McCall Smith. I've enjoyed both of those series. I also liked Janwillem van de Wetering's unusual mysteries.

Oh Judy you're in for a treat with Dr. Siri and Walt Longmire both on your list! I'll join you in the latter one because that is exactly the one that I am ready for. Here's my list of possible suspects:

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Alder-Olsen
Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig johnson
The Likeness by Tana French
Slash and Burn by Colin Cotterill
A Murder of Quality by John le Carré

*back to say thanks for setting up the thread, Judy!

Not sure what I'll be reading yet, but there will definitely be room for a few mysteries in March.

I'm sure I'll manage to fit in at least a couple of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books, but I'm going to look for some fresh stuff, too. Maybe even ... gulp ... start a new series or two?

I haven't planned anything in particular yet, but I am definitely in :)

Judy, thanks for putting this together. I love Mystery March!!

Not sure what I'll be reading yet but will post something soon.

I've decided to get back to the William Kent Krueger series so one definite will be the next in the series for me, Blood Hollow.

I'm starting with Fever Season by Barbara Hambly and I might take on Murder on the Orient Express which is next up in my never ending quest to read all of Christie in order.

Added this thread tot he group wiki page...

Just devoured Louise Penny's eighth book, Beautiful Mystery & am working on Denise Mina's Exile, same main character as Garnet Hill.

I have to say Penny just keeps getting better, and writes not just mystery, but excellent character studies as well.

I have oodles of mysteries set for next month!

I'll definitely be reading Iced Chiffon (for the AwardsCat Challenge), as well as the the most recent Bess Crawford mystery: An Unmarked Grave.

I'll also probably read a few more Sebastian St. Cyr novels (When Gods Die, Why Mermaids Sing, Where Serpents Sleep, etc.), plus the inevitable next few Hillerman books (Coyote Waits, Sacred Clowns, and The Fallen Man).

I have only one mystery on the docket for March. Dissolution by C. J. Sansom. It looks like several others are reading something by him as well.

GOT to read Thereby Hangs a Tail this month!

I will definitely be participating, but I'm going to have to investigate my options. I've got a few that I need to read because they are e-galleys, but I'll have to see what else will fit.

I just received several of Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks so March will have me reading those. Our PBS station has been running the BBC series and I knew within the first 10 sec I had to catch upon that series because something major happened. I ordered everything I needed up to Aftermath .

It looks like many of us will be ushering in March with our mysteries in hand, I see lots of familar books and reminders of certain series that I need to get back to. It's also great that many of our readings will fit into other challenges here on LT. I am hoping to fit some (or most) of my choices into the TIOLI challenges as well.

#9 - Joe, I have high hopes for Colin Cotterill's series, I don't think I have heard a negative word about these books.

#10 - Mamie, ohh, The Keeper of Lost Causes is one I have had on my wishlist ever since Deb (Vancouverdeb) reviewed it. Looking forward to your thoughts on it.

I have ordered Kindness Goes Unpunished from the library and I'm third on the wait-list for it.

#16 - Thanks, Jim

#17 - I love Denise Mina, and in particular, the Garnet Hill trilogy!

#23 - Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks is another series that I love, I'm going to be reading book number 21 later on this year, and other than a small bump here and there, this series has remained consistantly excellent.

Oh, I did think of one series I've never read that I've always wanted to: the Inspector Rebus books. March would probably be a good time to start, eh?

I have so many mysteries that I could read in March, I'm not even going to try to predict which ones I'll get to!

Thanks for setting this up, Judy.

At least I'll have a week of spring break in March. I have some other plans for part of that time, and I have to edit a batch of indexing during March which will eat into reading time, but I'm still hoping that I'll manage to read several.

(21) Go for it, richard!

I like the Chet the Jet mysteries.

I am planning on reading Dog About Town, but have also recently bought a copy of The Mysterious Affair at Styles after enthusiastic recommendations here. It will be my second Agatha Christie...

I have a surplus of mysteries to choose from for Mystery March, but I'm not quite sure which ones I'll tackle yet. My reading plans generally don't work out, anyway. At the rate I'm reading lately, it will probably be into March before I finish two mysteries that I'm reading -- Dennis Lehane's Prayers for Rain, and my current e-book, Still Life with Murder by P.B. Ryan.

Thanks for setting up this thread, Judy!

29 > Oh, I loved Still Life with Murder.

oh man. I keep trying to get to Still Life with Murder. Maybe if I have time in March...

I just saw that Still Life With Murder is on sale in the Nook store for $0.99. I would bet that it would be on Kindle store as well. Think I will hop back to the Nook store and buy it since it has good recommendations here.

Personally, I'm not loving it, but the mood I'm in lately I'm not even loving books by my favorite authors -- so don't go by me. I'm in a major reading funk.

boo, hiss on reading funks!

So sorry to hear about the reading funk, Terri. Hopefully it will disappear soon.

I've discovered a new to me author. Earlene Fowler. So I am going to be checking out her books. also off my shelves old mystery writer John Creasey.

36 > Earlene Fowler's Benni Harper mysteries are nice.

March is nearly upon us! I'm planning on reading:

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill
Murder Most Crafty ed. by Maggie Bruce

>28 fuzzi:: I picked up The Mysterious Affairs at Styles from the library, after so many mentions on LT in January; so I'll join.

@humouress, shall we start a group read for The Mysterious Affair at Styles?

I love Mystery March! Mystery is my favorite genre and my shelves are full of mystery books to read :)

Mysterious Affair at Styles is one of my favorite books ever-Agatha Christie is my all-time favorite author.

For any of you that also take part in the TIOLI challenges, I posted Challenge #4 to read a book in a series that you have already started. That should help all of us serial mystery readers!

I just realized (as I sit here cleaning off my desk at work) that a friend gave me a trilogy of Italian mysteries by a fella named Carlo Lucarelli. I've got Carte Blanche, The Damned Season, and Via Delle Oche to read. I know nothing about them, so I hope they are good.

>40 fuzzi:: OK, group read for The Mysterious Affair at Styles. (Um - I'm fairly sure that's the one I've got)

ETA : yup - that's the one.

I love mysteries and I love that it's Mystery March!

I started the 3rd Travis McGee book, A Purple Place for Dying.

I'm hoping to read:
Cat Striking Back by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George
The Queen's Witch by Karen Chance

I might have done one for Mystery March by coincidence... Herzblut: Kluftingers neuer Fall by Volker Klüpfel, Michael Kobr is a "Krimi" which my dictionary gives me as: crime thriller, detective story, murder mystery, mystery story, whodunnit - so that might qualify.

Thanks for setting this up Judy!

There are a lot of possibilities for me this month but my main focus will be on the following:

Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
The NIne Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
March Violets by Philip Kerr
The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth by Malcolm Pryce
The Three Hostages by John Buchan

My plans for Mystery March have firmed up a little - well at least, I have entered two books on the March TIOLI challenge:

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
and
Killer Market by Margaret Maron

I may also try to fit in the next in my sequence of re-reading Dorothy L Sayers. The next one up is the short story collection Hangman's Holiday, but I need to check if I have a copy of that as it is not in my catalogue but I have some Sayers waiting on uncatalogued shelves...

OK, I'm continuing Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane and Still Life with Murder by P.B. Ryan.

AND (drumroll please!) I finally made it to the top of the waiting list for the audio of Henning Mankell's The White Lioness, #3 in the Inspector Kurt Wallander series. I started listening last evening, and it's pulled me right in!

Other possible Mystery reads I'm considering for this month:
A Veiled Antiquity by Rett MacPherson
December's Thorn by Philip DePoy
Black Seconds by Karin Fossum
Savage Run by C.J. Box
Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
Dangerous Undertaking by Mark de Castrique
Haunting at Hensley Hall by Merabeth James
The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill

That's an arbitrary list -- I may well grab something else off the shelf as the mood strikes me.

Judy - I will fit in a few mystery and thrillers this month, Mons Kallentoft and Daniel Silva are shoe-ins.

Oooh, I didn't formally participate in Fantasy February (though I did read a few fantasies!) but I'm definitely in for Mystery March. I'm currently reading A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava and Cardington Crescent by Anne Perry, both of which I will hopefully finish. I definitely want to catch up on the last two Louise Penney books (A Trick of the Light and The Beautiful Mystery). Not sure what else will show up on the docket, but here are some possibilities:

A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch
Prayers for the Dead by Faye Kellerman
Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
Missing Joseph by Elizabeth George
The Innocent Spy by Laura Wilson
Dare Me by Megan Abbott
The Likeness by Tana French

I'm very bad at sticking to a planned reading list, though, so most likely I will just read whatever is at hand, whether it's on the list or not. I also will probably read a fair amount of true crime, if that counts!

I love The Nine Tailors, @soundoftherose!

Me, too. My wife was an avid reader, but a non-mystery reader, and wanted to try one. I gave her Nine Tailors. She reads them all the time now.

Group read for The Mysterious Affair at Styles:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/150835#

Come and join us!

#53 Good to hear, fuzzi. I'm looking forward to it :-)

Yes, The Nine Tailors is one of my favourites of the Wimsey series - even though it is missing one important recurring character. I love the Fenland setting for a start...

It looks like everyone is off to a great start! I have began the month with Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie.

#52 - allthesedarnbooks: I would say that true crime would definitely fit in here just fine!

I've got The Mysterious Affair at Styles (yes I checked; and I've joined the group read), and if I can fit it in, I might read Richard Castle's second one, Naked Heat.

I still don't know what I'm going to read but count me in and I will post later.

I'm planning to read
The Brutal Telling - Louise Penny
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie
The White Lioness - Henning Mankell

If I have time, I might read:
Anarchy and Old Dogs - Colin Cotterill
The Snack Thief - Andrea Camilleri

Hooray for Mystery March! I just finished Out of the Deep I Cry, the third wonderful installment of the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series set in upper New York. I have A Letter of Mary on request at the library. It's been too long since I visited Laurie R. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes' books.

@AnneDC, join us in our group read of The Mysterious Affair at Styles!

Oops, you already have. :)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/150835

I just started a new Eve Dallas, Witness in Death.

I'm reading Deborah Crombie's In a Dark House. I may have read this one before I joined LibraryThing, but I'm not sure. The plot with the fire seems somewhat familiar, but it's not familiar enough that I know what's going to happen.

I just finished Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie, I am enjoying this series a lot with their inventive titles, slow romance between the main characters, and the actual cases themselves.

Just started Death of a Cozy Writer by G. M. Malliet. The author is new to me.

I've started - and abandoned - my first mystery for March. I gave After the Armistice Ball, which introduces 'Society Sleuth' Dandy Gilver, 137 pages before I gave up on it. Happily, my stack of mysteries TBR is huge, so finding another won't be a problem. I hope everyone is enjoying their books!

I've finished The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly as my first mystery of the month. It's a courtroom mystery/thriller type book, in his Mickey Haller series (the first book in the series was made into a movie, "The Lincoln Lawyer" with Matthew McConaghey).

First mystery finished for this month is Bones to Pick, an okay mystery surrounding the murder of a shunned society woman and her tell-all book about her wealthy acquaintances.

My first mystery for the month is The Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill.

This is the fifth of the Dr. Siri books, and I continue to find them entertaining and informative. Dr. Siri is away from the morgue for the whole trip, and Dtui is taking care of things in Vientiane. I'm still worried about that ring, though.

@Dejah_Thoris, what didn't you like about After the Armistice Ball?

I need to try that Dr. Siri series sometime. I love the titles! I'm ready to go hopping around on one of those pogo sticks now!

I finished Dennis Lehane's A Prayer for Rain (which was very good) and am now zipping through Phillip DePoy's latest Fever Devilin novel, December's Thorn. Such a good read! DePoy may be my favorite author right now, or close to it at least.

Another mystery completed, this one a classic by Agatha Christie, The Moving Finger.

It's the 8th of the month and I haven't read a single mystery this month. I must remedy that.

Here's a half dozen mysteries I ought to get to this month, along with two more I hope to get to.

1. Murder Most Frothy by Cleo Coyle--COMPLETED
2. Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal--COMPLETED
3. Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs
4. A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch--COMPLETED
5. A Fete Worse Than Death by Claudia Bishop
6. Easter Bunny Murder by Leslie Meier--COMPLETED

Also hope to get to:

7. No Graves as Yet by Anne Perry
8. Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger

I finished Death of a Cozy Writer and am now embarking to India for Ragtime in Simla.

Finished my first mystery of the month! As predicted, it was not on the schedule at all. Anyway, it was Dog On It by Spencer Quinn, the first book in the Chet and Bernie series, narrated by Chet the dog. It was hilarious and exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now working on the second one, Thereby Hangs a Tail.

I've read The Body in the Bouilon by Katherine Hall Page and Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by M.C. Beaton. I really enjoy Katherine Hall Page. I can only take so much of Agatha Raisin. She really gets on my nerves. I leave her for after finishing an extra long book and need a quick short read.

I finished two:

Birds of a Feather
Pardonable Lies

I am going to start Kindness Goes Unpunished later today, I am looking forward to this one and think it will be the perfect weekend read.

I finished Killing Floor, my very first Jack Reacher - but it won't be my last. A few holes in the plot, but it was highly entertaining.

>73 thornton37814: I've seen mixed reviews of the Dr. Siri series, but I thought they were wonderful! There's a new one just out that I'm hoping to pick up soon: The Woman Who Wouldn't Die. One of these days, I plan to reread them all.

>78 allthesedarnbooks: Oh! The Chet and Bernie mysteries are so fun! Enjoy!

I'm in the middle of the audio version of Calculated in Death. It's not as good as most, but it's not bad either. I think all the talk about accountants and figures are what's causing me to zone out. Numbers and I are not friends.

@allthesedarnbooks, I love the Chet (and Bernie) mysteries.

I noticed that Thereby Hangs a Tail was on the discounted list on Amazon. I didn't look up the series to see if the rest of the books were on that list, but if you want cheap good books purchase that one while it is still on sale.

You're doomed, Mamie. You will read the rest of the Reacher series, you will continue to notice minor plot holes and/or absurdities, and none of it will matter one iota in whether you pick up the next book.

Or so I've heard (ahem).

I just finished my second mystery of the month, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

I finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles and am now reading The White Lioness by Henning Mankell

I've finished Fever Season and Murder on the Orient Express and as I don't have as many mystery series in the house that are already in progress as I might like, I had to begin the first book of a brand new one, namely Death at La Fenice. I might be able to bring myself to do one more mystery this month, but I'm thinking that I don't want to over-tax myself with this formerly hated genre and ruin all the progress I've made. We shall see....

Bought a copy of Murder on the Orient Express, but have other books ahead in the queue.

I'm not sure if I'll get to the new Laura Childs book this month or not. I'd like to, but I don't know if I'll get a library copy or spring for the purchase! If I spring for the purchase, I might get to it this month. If I decide to wait, it may be awhile before one becomes available.

Finished (and reviewed) The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Started On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle.

I finished Ragtime in Simla and have started No 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Really enjoyed the first, hope I'll enjoy the second as well.

I've finally reviewed Defending Jacob, a really really powerful courtroom drama about a horrible crime and its aftermath, in my thread...post #268.

I've just finished Darkness Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane. It's the second in his Kenzie/Gennaro series. I read the first, A Drink Before the War some time ago, and remember liking the characters and the setting. But that's about all I remembered about it. This second installment is quite possibly the darkest and most brutal book I've ever read. The writing is excellent, and I was drawn into the story so far by the time it got seriously ugly that I was committed---it's like entering the Mines of Moria--the only way out is through. I couldn't leave things unresolved in the middle of the horror, so I barreled on. But I can't recommend the trip to anyone. I like 'em gritty, and I can take violence in crime thrillers, but apparently I have a limit. I think I've read enough of Lehane now.

I finally finished a mystery! I took a break from 2666 and Doctor Thorne to read Strawberry Yellow by Naomi Hirahara, my February ER book. I had read the first book in the series a few years ago and liked it OK. This one was better than the first one. I enjoyed the unusual setting in California's strawberry country.

<#93-On What Grounds is the book I'm finishing up tonight!

<#98 I'm halfway through! I'm liking this book. It is a cozy read and I like reading all the extra "coffee" trivia. Bonus is I picked it up at a library sale for fifty cents.

#96
I felt the same way about the Game of Thrones} series and the Jo Nesbo series. I quit reading both of them for that reason. Maybe someday I will be brave enough to enter those dark caverns of the mind again, but I doubt it.

<#99-Just finished it and I liked it too-it was a good cozy read, and the author clearly knows her coffee!

Second mystery of the month done, on to the next one!

Yay!! Finally my first mystery of the month last night, Cleo Coyle's fourth coffeeshop mystery, Murder Most Frothy. I enjoy this series but seem to forget about it.

Finished the 4th Shardlake mystery, Revelation, and have the latest on tap for later in the month. It's been a good series, with a bit of an unusual setting in Tudor England.

>100 benitastrnad:: Oh, thank goodness. I'm not the only one who couldn't take the violence in Game of Thrones! Everyone else seems to love it unconditionally. It is good writing - but, Oh! the violence. I think (I probably stopped around book 3) the only people left are under 15 (except the bad guys), and they're being killed off one by one, too.

#104
My name for that series is "see how creatively you can kill, murder, and maim people and write about it." It is worse than reading about Stalingrad.

I like reading mysteries, but some of the books I have been reading so over-the-top gross as far as I am concerned. There is a difference between writing a murder mystery or police procedural and a horror book. So many of the mysteries I have been picking up lately seem to be crossing that line. I believe you can write an interesting book without grossing everybody out. I do have an imagination and don't need to have every gory detail spelled out for me. I liked Jo Nesbo and was an early advocate of him, but The Snowman was enough. I don't want or need to be that grossed out. Not going to read another one of his.

Just finished Still Life with Murder first in the "Gilded Age Mystery" series. It never really pulled me in, and I'm not sure why. It was well-written, and had lots of historical detail. I just didn't much care for the mystery.

I just finished Kindness Goes Unpunished, the third book in the Walt Longmire series. These books just keep on getting better. I loved this one, reading about Walt in his cowboy hat and boots striding the mean streets of Philly was great fun.

Oh, Judy. Did you really mean to point me in the direction of yet another series I haven't read yet? You seem like such a nice person, too.

:-)

I finished a book of short stories called Murder Most Crafty. Each story featured a mystery and a craft, with directions for the craft at the end of the story. Review on my thread.

And that completes the three I had proposed at the beginning of the month. I'm going to add two more, both in the middle of series--

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
Rapture in Death by J. D. Robb

Just finished my third mystery of the month, the new book in a mystery series I love, Speaking From Among the Bones.

I just finished my first mystery of the month: The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It's been years since I read it and I didn't remember much!

I haven't been reading much mystery so far this month - I'll try to do better!

Just breezed through A Veiled Antiquity by Rett MacPherson, 2nd in the Torie O'Shea series. This may currently be my favorite cozy series.

I've finally started Louise Penny's latest, The Beautiful Mystery, on audio.

I've read several mysteries in the last week or so: two rather bad historical pieces, And Only to Deceive and Pardonable Lies, as well as the much better cozy mystery Iced Chiffon.

My first mystery for the month is Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (on audio). I've just started it. I know reviews have been mixed on it but so far so good!

Finished another mystery late last night, the 6th Charles Lenox book by Charles Finch. A Death in the Small Hours. It's set in the Victorian era.

For me, while I liked the series from the start, it keeps getting better and better.

Oh, LInda, torture me. I have yet to get to book 2.

majkia, I forgot to mention that Finch has also done a Lenox novella. An East End Murder

I have a preview of the first Lenox book on my Kobo. I liked it, but I haven't pulled the trigger to read the whole book yet.

I've finished my second mystery for March: The Christie Curse. It's the first in a new cozy series and it's pretty good. A young woman in possession of a Masters degree and a pile of debts accepts a job with a collector who wants her to hunt down the rumors of a possible previously unknown play by Dame Agatha herself. Mayhem ensues.

I finished Brush with Death by Karen MacInerney earlier this week. I finished The Golden Egg by Donna Leon before that. Both were advance galleys from NetGalley and are not yet released. I've also finished In a Dark House by Deborah Crombie and The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri this month. I have several things lined up for our spring break next week.

I finished A Long Quiche Goodbye, the first book in Avery Aames' Cheese Shop cozy mystery series. I had a much easier time spotting the culprit than the amateur sleuth did.

#108 - I know Julia, so many series to read, but yes, I think the Walt Longmire is one of the better ones. Maybe you'll feel better when I tell you I have just been drawn into a new series as well. I am loving The Coroner's Lunch and I know it won't be long before I want to read the next one.

I just finished an e-book that wasn't so great, A Haunting at Hensley Hall (A Ravynne Sisters Paranormal Mystery) by Merabeth James.

I have to second Judy's recommendation of the Walt Longmire series. I just finished the third book - Kindness Goes Unpunished, and it was a lot of fun. These books just keep getting better, and this one moved at a fast pace.

>86 rosalita: Julia, I think you are SO right. I have already purchased the next book in the series!

I like that Walt Longmire series, too, which I'm pretty sure Judy got me started on.

Finished Judgment in Death, another good one in the Lt. Eve Dallas series. Easy, entertaining reads that make for great escape reading. Plus she's as tough as they come.

two more...
shifting Tide and Cinnamon Roll Murder

Has anybody watched the Longmire TV series. My nephew does and he says it is pretty good. Of course, I had given him a couple of the books several years ago, so he might have had a head start on the story lines.

I watched it. Not sure if it is renewed or not. Not that crazy about it, but then I'm not enamored of western stuff. My hubby liked it though.

I finished Thereby Hangs a Tail, the second Chet and Bernie book. Lots of fun, if maybe not quite as good as the first one. I've been starting a lot of books lately, not much seems to hold my attention. So, anyway, also started I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, which is a very interesting YA book narrated by the teenage son of a serial killer.

My wife and I liked the Longmire TV series a lot. Good actors, and of course good stories.

I watched most of the Longmire episodes last year and liked it OK. Season 2 begins filming at the end of this month. I'm not sure when the episodes will air.

I am a fan of the TV show as well. They are different enough from the books to keep them both fresh. It blows me away that the actor who plays Walt is, in fact, an Australian.

I just finished The Coroner's Lunch and everybody is right about the excellence of this book. I am now firmly hooked on this series.

I'm taking a slight break from mysteries for a couple of days, but then I will be starting a historical mystery, Dissolution, another book I have heard great things about.

I've got mostly mysteries with me for my trip. I'll report when I get back on what I've read.

Just started The Smell of the Night, which is No 6 in the Montalbano series. I'm still loving these.

I'll be reading Dissolution today.

Yay for Dr. Siri! Yay for Inspector Montalbano!

The newest (in the USA) Montalbano, The Dance of the Seagull, was another excellent one. Waiting for the next Dr. Siri to come out.

When I've finished this Montalbano, I have Disco for the Departed waiting for me. Yay for Dr. Siri! Yay for Montalbano!

I finished A Beautiful Blue Death this afternoon. I don't know why it's taken me so long to start this series!

I finished, and loved, the second Maggie Hope World War 2-era spy mystery, Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal. This is a somewhat cozy spy novel. Loved the historical and local color in this one and I'm eager for the new one to come out next month.

Just finished another mystery-The Trouble with Magic by Madelyn Alt-it was okay, thinking the other books in the series might be better because they won't have to set up so much about the characters and the town.

I re-read the first Nero Wolfe mystery, Fer-de-Lance as the start of re-reading all the books in order. It's funny, but I think it's more enjoyable to read once you've read a few of the later books, just to see the ways in which Stout did not quite have all of Wolfe's and Archie's characteristics down pat. Although it is astonishing how much of their personalities seems to have sprung into being fully formed from the outset.

I'm reading Dangerous Undertaking by Mark de Castrique, first in his Buryin' Barry series.

I've read the author's Sam Blackman series, and didn't think I could like a protagonist more than I like the character of Sam -- but Barry is just as great a character. He was happily building a career in the Charlotte police dept. when family duty called -- he returned to his hometown in the mountains of North Carolina when his father was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, so he could help care for him and run the family undertaking business.

The mystery is good, too! This installment begins with a shooting at a funeral, when one mentally-unbalanced heir shoots the other two known heirs -- and Barry, too. What set him off? And where did he disappear to after the shooting?

I finished The Chardonnay Charade, which is the second book in a series of mysteries set in Virginia. The main character owns a winery, and while the mystery part is fun, what I love most about these books is the inside look at wine making and all of the American history that is included. Now I am reading the third book The Bordeaux Betrayal, and I have also started In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, which I am really liking.

I just finished #'s 2 and 3 of Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler police procedural series: The Pure in Heart and The Risk of Darkness. The setting is a small cathedral town in England, the fictional Lafferton. Hill says it isn't based on any real place, "but if you think of places like Exeter or Salisbury you are on the right lines." DCI Serrailler is one of triplets, so Hill has some fun with that. I think her writing is a cut above for the genre. I plan to read #4 soon, Vows of Silence.

ETA. Oooh, sorry, I fixed the touchstone for Vows.

<#145 one of the books I'm reading right now is the first in that series, The Various Haunts of Men, and I am really liking it so far.

I read The Various Haunts of Men, so I'll look forward to your reaction, Becca. I know you liked her Woman in Black, right?

I just got my hands on Betrayal in Death, so that'll be my next one.

I finished Killer Market by Margaret Maron yesterday - the fifth in the Judge Deborah Knott series. It was a quick read, but this one did not grab me particularly.

<#147-I did love Woman in Black, I want to do a re-read at some point.

#148 Oh, that's too bad---that one's next up on my Maron reading list. I've really been enjoying Judge Knott and her motley family.

I finished a historical mystery, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon.

#150 Perhaps I liked this one less because it was set away from her home town and none of her family feature directly. There was a cute child, but none of the other characters particularly appealed to me in this one.

When Gods Die finally appeared out of the ILL worm hole and was even better than I thought it would be. It makes certain events in Why Mermaids Sing much more interesting.

#152 by @gennyt> I did miss the rest of the Knott clan in 'Killer Market' but I found the inside look at the furniture business rather fascinating, I must say.

I jumped into the Deborah Knott series in the middle and haven't gone back to fill in the earlier books. I think I'd be interested in Killer Market because of the furniture industry aspect. I've been hearing about High Point furniture all my life so the setting is intriguing to me.

I downloaded and read Beekeeping for Beginners this evening.

I just completed Dissolution by C.J. Sansom, a great historical mystery. Ack! Another series to follow. I am just about to start Hocus by Jan Burke.

Just started The Killing Floor. So far so good.

ETA: FIxed touchstone

Way back up at post 72 fuzzi asked me why I didn't like After the Armistice Ball and here is my belated answer. It's set in Scotland in the early 1920s and the heroine, Dandy, is a bit much for me. She makes snide comments in that brittle 20's fashion about everyone she sees. Of course it was nice that her husband came back from the War, but now that it's been a few years - well, he's so boring. And really, one is so put upon by ones servants. And it's so sad to be so poor in the wake of the War - why Dandy won't even be able to go to London this year!

Some of this eased off once I got a little further into the book, but as I went to pick it up again, I realized I truly didn't care 'who done it' - nor was I particularly interested in Dandy herself. It's entirely possible that the series improves, but I'm in no hurry to find out. There are plenty of book for me to read!

Bimbos of the Death Sun is a hoot! I have a copy from its original publication with great little drawings and a hysterical cover but since I couldn't figure out what box it was in I got a later edition from the library. It didn't have the drawings, but it included a great explanation from Sharyn McCrumb as to how the modestly successful author of the Elizabeth McPhearson mysteries came to write a mystery about a SF&F Con and win an Edgar Award.

I also finally got around to reading Dissolution - great book. Very, very well done historical mystery. This is a series I'll continue.

ETA: I'm almost done with the new Elly Griffiths / Ruth Galloway mystery A Dying Fall.

>159 Dejah_Thoris:. ETA: I'm almost done with the new Elly Griffiths / Ruth Galloway mystery A Dying Fall.

I've read the first four. Do you like this one? I particularly enjoy the Ruth Galloway character. I love it that she's overweight but tired of wearing black. Ha! A woman after my own heart. I also like the setting for these books--a place that I am likely never to see for myself, but fascinating, nonetheless.

I am holding/postponing all my current reading for Dog on It a Chet and Bernie Mystery.

(162) Enjoy, @luvamystery65!

@Dejah_Thoris, thanks for your review.

I echo what you wrote:

... but as I went to pick it up again, I realized I truly didn't care 'who done it' - nor was I particularly interested in Dandy herself. It's entirely possible that the series improves, but I'm in no hurry to find out. There are plenty of book for me to read!

This past week I have decided to not finish two books that just didn't grab me...life is short and my 'to read' list is too long to spend the time slogging through a story that I obviously don't want to continue.

I've just finished Past Reason Hated by Peter Robinson, fifth in his DI Alan Banks series. I started reading this series in the middle, and have in recent years gone back to read the earlier ones. This one was published in 1991; I think of the series as having a contemporary setting, but this is just over 20 years old and so much has changed in terms of culture, technology and attitudes.

Banks is keen on his music, so we get lots of details as always about what he is listening to (mostly classical, so not particularly revealing of the popular music of the period) - and the technology being used: cassette tapes in his car and in a Walkman when he is on foot. Music features in the crime he is investigating too; possession of a CD player as opposed to a turntable by one of the suspects is seen as a sign of someone who is serious about music - whereas nowadays CDs are very much the old-fashioned way of listening. The cultural shift regarding acceptability of smoking is well documented - as a regular smoker, Banks is keen to light up in most situations but is beginning to find that there are more places where smoking is outlawed. It's hard now to imagine smoking being allowed on trains or on the London underground, even if restricted to just one or two compartments. The murder victim being in a lesbian partnership means that a range of attitudes to homosexuality are explored - and while attitudes in general have certainly shifted in the past 20 years, I suspect they may not have changed quite so much as the technology and the attitude to smoking have...

Just finished a Member Giveaway short story collection, The Collected Bartleby and James Adventures by Michael Coorlim. I really enjoyed it, it read like a combination of steampunk and Sherlock Holmes, which was definitely fun.

I've started the first of the Charles Lenox series, A Beautiful Blue Death, on audio -- and enjoying it immensely.

I finished The Hound of the Baskerville . Quite fun and briefly creepy! :)

I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (which turned out to be a reread, though I'm pretty sure it's been 10+ years since I read it the first time), and am now reading Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers and Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear, the next book in two series that I started and stalled out on.

I finished Bimbos of the Death Sun and have to agree with Dejah that it is a hoot! Oh what fun!

I finished off the second and third Wolfe books over the past week or so: The League of Frightened Men and The Rubber Band.

Mamie I'm so glad you enjoyed Bimbos of the Death Sun!

I finished three more Leaphorn and Chee books: Coyote Waits, Sacred Clowns, and The Fallen Man -- The last one is the best of the series I've read so far.

Finished a mystery of my Kindle, Deadly Reunion by Elisabeth Crabtree-it was a fun cozy mystery :)

I like this thread. Are there plans to continue it beyond March?

Usually Mark (msf59) does a Murder & Mayhem thread in May and I will probably be setting up the Series & Sequels Thread for September. Of course, there's no reason that this thread can't continue on for anyone who want to continue posting. For me, next month I will be turning my attention to Atwood in April.

I finished A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths. labwriter, you asked back at #160 what I thought of it and I'm happy to say I thought it was pretty good. I have mixed feelings about the Ruth Galloway series. I actually think there is a little too much emphasis on Ruth's weight - or her perception of her weight. And truth be told, I'm not that crazy about Nelson. But, I do enjoy the settings and archaeology and I keep reading them! Honestly, though - there were several times at which Ruth and others needed to call the police (and/or Nelson) and they didn't. It didn't feel realistic.

At any rate, I hope you enjoy it when you get to it, labwriter!

>177 Dejah_Thoris:. Good to hear what you think of the latest Griffiths.

>176 DeltaQueen50:. OK, good to know. Enjoy Atwood in April.

For labwriter and anyone else who wants to continue on a mystery theme in their reading past March, there is this thread in the Crime, Thriller and Mystery group: What Are We Reading (current thread).

Currently reading What Darkness Brings, the latest St. Cyr historical mystery.

I finished my fourth mystery for the month, Rapture in Death by J. D. Robb. Probably my least favorite in the series so far.

I finished 4 mysteries (and one other book) while I was gone last week. They mysteries were:

The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez
English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier
The Likeness by Tana French
Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

I'm listening to the first in the Margaret Coel mystery series set on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. I'm hoping to get to one or two more mysteries before the end of the month.

I finished Hocus by Jan Burke. Unfortunately this wasn't one of my favorites in this series. I have now started The Witch Doctor's Wife and The Plague Court Murders, hopefully I can finish these before the month ends.

Thus far in March:

Midnight by Dean Koontz (AUDIO) (more horror than mystery, but certainly some mysterious elements)
Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane (Kenzie/Gennaro series)
December's Thorn: A Fever Devilin Novel by Phillip DePoy
Still Life with Murder by P.B. Ryan (E-book)
A Veiled Antiquity by Rett MacPherson (Torie O'Shea series)
Haunting at Hensley Hall by Merabeth James (E-BOOK Ravynne Sisters Paranormal Mysteries)
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell (AUDIO) (Inspector Kurt Wallander series)
Dangerous Undertaking by Mark de Castrique (e-book) (Buryin' Barry series)

I'm currently reading:
Red Knife by William Kent Krueger (ILL, Cork O'Connor series)
A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch (AUDIO, Charles Lenox series)

And my name just came up on the hold list for these:
Let the Devil Sleep by John Verdon (e-book, latest in Dave Gurney series)
Faithful Place by Tana French (e-book, Dublin Murder Squad series)

These will probably keep me busy for the rest of March, except I may start another audio because the Finch is almost done. I can't believe how much reading I've gotten done this month, after finishing almost nothing last month. And most of it has been good, too. Favorites: so far, December's Thorn, The White Lioness, Prayers for Rain, and Dangerous Undertaking -- each very good in its own way. Least favorite: Still Life with Murder (no contest there).

I didn't get around to posting over here this month, but I have been reading mysteries. So far I've finished:
Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs ****
Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camileri ****
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley ****
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart ***1/2
E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton ***
Sovereign by C. J. Sansom ****
I am currently working on The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths, which I should be able to finish by the end of the month; and Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley. Not sure if I'll get that one finsihed though. I had one abandoned mystery this month, The White Lioness by Henning Mankell. For some reason, I just could not get into this one. I've enjoyed the others in this series, but not sure what it was about this one that just wasn't grabbing my attention.

Finished Seduction in Death, another good one in this series, and now am starting an ER book, the newest Joe Pickett mystery by C.J. Box, called Breaking Point. (I like his mysteries, but I wish his titles weren't so nondescript).

I finished my fourth mystery for the month, Leslie Meier's Easter Bunny Murder.

I know we've got a few days left but I'm not positive that I'll get to any more this month.

I've finished a few more mysteries since my last update:
The Black Tower by Louis Bayard
N or M? by Agatha Christie
The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith

My Mystery March completed reads:

Darkness Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane
The Smell of the Night by Andrea Camilleri
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Murder Out of Turn by Frances & Richard Lockridge
Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill

I have started James Lee Burke's Creole Belle, but whether it gets finished in March depends on how the weekend goes... it probably won't have a lot of reading time in it.

The links above are to the posts on my thread where I discussed each book (except for the Burke).

My first mystery for March: Dissolution by C.J. Sansom. I loved it! My full review is here.

So glad you loved the Sansom book. I need to get to the next in that series myself. Soon!

<189, 190, I've got Dissolution at the top of my April to-read list. It's already been picked up from the library; I just need to find the time to start it.

My Mystery March list:

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (4)
An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd (4)
Why Mermaids Sing by C. S. Harris (3)
And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander (2)
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (2)
Iced Chiffon by Duffy Brown (4)
When Gods Die by C. S. Harris (4)
Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman (2)
Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman (3)
The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman (4)

There are reviews for each of them in my threads.

I've nearly finished listening to the audio of Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear. I enjoy it overall, but I'm finding that the proliferation of coincidences is irking me a bit.

I finished John Verdon's Let the Devil Sleep. Very good, very suspenseful. I really like Verdon's style.

I'll be starting Faithful Place by Tana French as my next e-book. And I'm also reading Julie Hyzy's Hail to the Chef from her White House Chef series.

Not sure if I'll be able to finish another mystery this month, what with Easter being taken up with family obligations, so I'll post the ones I have completed and add to the list if I manage to finish any more:

A Wanted Man by Lee Child (4.5) - A Jack Reacher thriller
Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger (4) - A YA steampunk mystery
Mind Over Monsters by Jennifer Harlow (4.75) - Sort of like Stephanie Plum with vamps & werewolves
Calculated in Death by J.D. Robb (3.5) - The latest Eve Dallas mystery
To Catch a Vampire by Jennifer Harlow (3.5) - Second in the Bea Alexander series
What Darkness Brings by C.S. Harris (3.75) - Latest St. Cyr historical mystery
The Hard Way by Lee Child. (4) - A Jack Reacher thriller

The only one I might finish before midnight March 31 is The Woman Who Wouldn't Die, the latest Dr. Siri mystery by Colin Cotterill. It's only 307 pages, and the print is a bit larger than normal, so it's possible I could read it in two days.

ETA I DID finish the Dr. Siri mystery! Started it yesterday afternoon and could not seem to put it down. It wasn't my favorite of the series, but I am a Dr. Siri fan, so gave it a pretty good rating. It did add some to the history of the time in which it is set and to one of the characters, for which I was happy.

I finished Death of a Cozy Writer last night, the last of my March mysteries.

Would anyone be interested in continuing their mystery reading a thread say Spring Suspense?

I know that there's normally Atwood in April, but I'm not an Atwood fan.

I did not finish any of the books I was reading for Mystery March so will be continuing them into April, That sounds like a great idea.

I'd be delighted to continue with Spring Suspense!

196 > I would definitely be interested in Spring Suspense! I'm not an Atwood reader either.

SPRING SUSPENSE IS POSTED.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/152155#

I finished 5 books for Mystery March:

Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
The Fashion in Shrouds by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth by Malcolm Pryce
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

Mystery March Reads:
Brush with Death by Karen MacInerney
The Christie Caper by Carolyn G. Hart
Dead Men Don't Crochet by Betty Hechtman
Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
The Eagle Catcher by Margaret Coel
English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier
The Golden Egg by Donna Leon
In a Dark House by Deborah Crombie
The Likeness by Tana French
The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez
The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri

I guess 11 isn't too bad. I had 6 non-mystery reads although one of those was Lotions, Potions, and Deadly Elixirs so I suppose that it could have something to do with mystery march in a "research" capacity.

I ended up reading only 2 mysteries in March:

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom - 5 stars - review here

Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie - 4 stars - review here

My March mystery reads were:

Witness in Death by J.D. Robb
The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri
Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb
Betrayal in Death by J.D. Robb
Seduction in Death by J.D. Robb
Breaking Point by C.J. Box

The last was an ER book, and I posted my review on the book page.

I didn't finish before the end of March, but...Heartstone, 5th and last so far of the Shardlake mysteries is pretty darned good!