May: Murder & Mayhem 2013

Yep, it's that time already folks. Grab your smokes, gat and fedora and let's take a journey into the shadows. The squeamish and sensitive can hang behind, if they would like. Things can get dark, tangled and dangerous.

May is going to be a busy book month but I will make every effort to slot a few crime/mystery books in, especially a few series books I am woefully behind on. I'll be back with some of my projected reads.

Great thread, Mark! I'll have to see if I can squeeze some dark, tangled and dangerous reading into May. Titles on hand that come to mind: The Draining Lake, Arnuldur Indridason; The Absent One, Jussi Adler-Olsen; He Who Fears the Wolf, Karin Fossum. If the Scandi route is simply too dangerous, I can opt for Bury Your Dead, Louise Penny. I know exactly what you mean about being woefully behind on several series.

I'll definitely be reading for this. Every Dead Thing and Ratking are planned as are several others.

I'm in. Not sure what I will be reading yet, but I have loads to choose from.

Hey there Mark, there is a new Atwood coming out in the fall, MaddAddam: A Novel, the third in the Orxy and Crake trilogy. Bring it on, just not for me! :)

Oh Mark , you do make me chuckle! The squeamish can be left behind...... I've got Budapest Noir waiting for me, among others. Perhaps I'll try a book or two from my husbands selection - I'm all caught up in the Scandicrime area of authors, more's the pity.

Oh, dear, you will all call me names: I have already started by reading a mystery (Richard C. Kelley's A Name To Die For). But I'll review it here when I'm done and then I'll try to tackle some of the Louise Penny books I have lined up for myself! And then there's something I'm supposed to read for my RL book group (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind.) it should arrive in the mail today, I think. So, hoping you'll forgive me for jumping the gun, so to speak. But you can see Mysteries are definitely on my plate for May!

Mark, thanks for organizing this.

Still thinking about which mysteries to read.

I'm looking forward to this as mysteries are always a big part of my reading. At this point I am planning on Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante, The Firemaker by Peter May, The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham, Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce and A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch. Of course, this could change in the blink of an eye!

BTW - Great opening, Mark!

I've got an ER continuation by Ace Atkins of the late Robert B. Parker's Spenser series in the hamper, along with The Yard by Alex Grecian and two Eve Dallas mysteries.

It's almost MAY?!? How did that happen?

What Richard said. Seriously. May?!?!

I'm sure I'll read at least one thing that fits the theme but not sure what yet....

I want to get to the C. J. Sansom Matthew Shardlake series. I finally got a copy of the first one Dissolution. I would also like to get to one of the Henning Mankell books that I have laying around as well. I noticed that the public library had a Mo Hayder book out on their suggested reading table. (They have one of those tables with staff picks on it) Has anybody read any books by this author? This one was called Pig Island.

Oo, I want to join in the Murder & Mayhem month. I will have to see what mysteries I have lying around here as yet unread!

Woo Hoo! Murder & Mayhem. Surely I can manage to read at least one thing for this in May.

I have so many to choose from in this category that it's a crime LOL. Anyway here are a few of the possibilities: Revelation by C.J. Sansom, The Broken Shore by Peter Temple, The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith and on and on and on. But the one I know I will read for sure is Black Irish by Stephan Talty which is about a serial killer in Buffalo. Suzanne raved about it.

my goal for May is to finish books that I have started over the past few months but never finished for one reason or another.
here are the ones I have to choose from:

Alias Grace Margaret Atwood
Cat Striking Back Shirley Rosseau Murphy
Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin
A Great Deliverance Elizabeth George
The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins
The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
No Country for Old Men Cormack McCarthy
The Redbreast Jo Nesbo
Survivor in Death J. D. Robb / Nora Roberts

And a couple of new ones:
The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café Fannie Flagg|
✔ Thirty-three Teeth Colin Cotterill

Well, it looks like we are going to have a nice M & M crowd. This is always a great time. Here are a few of my projected reads:

Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson- This is the 3rd Longmire
The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill- The 6th Dr. Siri
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn- Way overdue on this one.
Nineteen Seventy-four by David Peace- This one has been on my WL forever. Has anyone here read this guy? It's part of the Red-riding series.
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman- A friend just lent me a copy of this one and it looks promising.

I would also like to get to a Bruen and a Nesbo but we will see.

Cathy- That is a killer list! Many gems on there. Good luck!

Mark,
Realistically I will only get a fraction of them done!

Cathy- A Game of Thrones is excellent but it would probably take a big chunk of the month. the Redbreast was my first Nesbo and remains my favorite. Hope you can get to that one. I like the Chandler being in there, I wish I could bookhorn a crime classic into the mix.

I agree with Mark about The Rebreast by Jo Nesbo. I have read four of his books and this one is my favorite. It helped me to understand the Neo-Nazi movement in the Scandinavian countries. But I would say that if you don't like dark and dirty places don't read Nesbo.

I read a little about Mo Hayder on Wikipedia last night so think I might read one of hers during May - simply because I am now intrigued.

Added to the group wiki...And now to put together my reading list for May!

Though I'll probably get to only 7-8 of these, I'll be optimistic and plan for a baker's dozen of mysteries. May is a long month and I have a week off.

For me, this is a "who's who" of current favorite mysteries, along with a few old favorite series that I haven't read in a couple of years. Even the only "first in the series" which is the Jessica Beck mystery, is by an author whose other series I love.

Subject to change, I'm aiming for these:

1. Decaffeinated Corpse by Cleo Coyle
2. A Fete Worse Than Death by Claudia Bishop--COMPLETED
3. A Broth of Betrayal by Connie Archer--COMPLETED
4. Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood--COMPLETED
5. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein--COMPLETED
6. A Chili Death by Jessica Beck
7. Shadows on a Cape Cod Wedding by Lea Wait
8. That Old Flame of Mine by J.J. Cook--COMPLETED
9. Brush with Death by Karen MacInerney
10. Killer in Crinolines by Duffy Brown--COMPLETED
11. Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb--COMPLETED
12. Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich--COMPLETED
13. Read and Buried - Erika Chase - COMPLETED

I only have one definite book on my May list that fits this theme: Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer. If I don't run out of time, I'll also read The September Society by Charles Finch and State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy.

Okay I am done with my classic novels and am ready to move onto crime! I will start with In the Darkness: An Inspector Sejer Novel by Karin Fossum. It is the first Inspector Sejer novel she wrote. I started it last year and got distracted.

I am going to try a new author. River of Darkness by Rennie Airth. Some Sally Spencer Insp. Blackstone Series. Oh, I forgot about Karin Fossum. Must check her out again.

#12 - Benita, I have read a few Mo Hayder books including Pig Island. Her Jack Caffery series features a lot of violence and gore, but I admit that I quite like them. Her stand-alones are quite different, often quirkly and very creative. Personally I didn't love Pig Island but I will look forward to seeing what you think of it.

#17 - Mark, I have the complete set of the Red Riding Quartet on my shelves and haven't yet read one! I am very tempted to try and bookhorn Nineteen Seventy-Four in next month and join you.

10, 11 Definitely what Richard said, too!

You know I'm always ready for some murder & mayhem reading! My shelves are loaded with mysteries.

I just downloaded an audio that sounds like it will fit, if I don't finish it before the calendar turns, Place of Execution by Val McDermid. Other titles to be determined.

BTW, love that opening post, Mark!

oooh, i love those opening pics, Markey! i'm starting early as it takes ever-so-much-longer to listen to books than eyeball 'em but i'll aim to finish in May:

1. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane--blood, angst, mayhem and murder in Boston
2. Anteater of Death by Betty Webb--badly written and badly narrated but it's short and has stuff about zoos, so i'll try to hang with it
3. The rip-off by Jim Thompson--segue from Tomato Red via some reviewer's mention of noir authors

and possibly biting off more than i'll be able to hear (sort of a "jackboot into the melting pot" simile there), one of my favorite Nero Wolfe mysteries:
4. Black orchids by Rex Stout

and speaking of great mysteries, i stumbled on The Bletchley Circle on PBS in the US. it's a post-WWII serial-killer thriller with a strong 4-woman cast headlined by Anna Maxwell-Martin. 4 women who worked as codebreakers in WWII England use their skills to go after a smart, sadistic villain. superbly understated, great period color, unobtrusive social commentary and all the trimmings. dang! i can't wait for Sunday. of course, Netflix has it but . . . oh, yeah, right, this is a book thread. whoopsie.

Looks like I'll be doing a Lehane, too. Moonlight Mile is on its way to me from the County Library.

#29
There as been lots of talk about The Bletchley Circle on Mark's regular thread. It seems to be a very popular show on PBS. Of course, not near as many followers as Downton Abbey or Call the Midwife, but people who saw the first episode loved it. Looks like I will have to put this one on my viewing list for Sunday nights. It seems to me that PBS is determined to keep all of us watching all night on Sunday's with all the wonderful shows in their line-up this spring.

Robert B. Parker's Wonderland by Ace Atkins, an ER book, was a surprisingly good addition to the Spenser series. My review's on the book page.

It looks like M & M is already moving right along! Yah! I just downloaded the audio of Iron House too. I've had an ARC on my TBR shelf since the book was released. It's time I got to it. I really enjoyed the Last Child.

Judy- Perfect, let me know when you plan to start Nineteen Seventy-Four. Mid-month or after might work better for me.
I have still not read Mo Hayder, although she's been on my radar for ages.

Ellie- I can't wait to hear your thoughts on Mystic River. It's easily one of my top crime novels. Thanks for your glowing thoughts on Bletchley Circle. I now have it recorded but missed the 1st episode, due to stubbornness.

^^Was that Cindysproket up there or a mirage?

I plan to join in on the May Murder and Mayhem. I don't know what I'm going to read, but who knows what lurks in the library shelves and will jump out at me. Well, another Rex Stout for sure and maybe a Mickey Spillane. I must hurry to finish my two current reads so I can jump into the mayhem.

Ooh, Dan! You are going old school. I haven't read either of those guys in well over 30 years.

Yeah, well, what can I say. I'm old.

LOL. We're all getting there. You are not alone. I was hoping to get to some Chandler or some Hammett but I am not sure it will work out.

I've read all of Ann Perry's William Monk series, so maybe I should start the Thomas Pitt series. I'm waiting for William Kent Krueger to write another novel. Or, I could get tougher and read another Lee Child, OR, OR, the list is endless.

me too, Dan. i'm an enduring fan of Nero and Archie. and i'm 69, so i've been rereading them for a long time. i'm very excited that Black Orchids is finally available on audio. Stout's estate had clamped down on it for some reason and wouldn't allow it to be recorded even when the others were. now, at last, i can listen to Archie rhapsodizing over women and contemplate Wolfe, "the big fat flumpus," groveling in an attempt to get a black orchid. heh!

interesting that, like Nero, Rex Stout was an avowed misogynist (also a genius) and yet he declared Pride and Prejudice to be the best novel in the English language. he was rereading it at the time of his death in 1975.

Mirrordrum, very interesting! I have been shelving the Rex Stout books at the public library for years, but just getting around to reading them now. I think they are hilarious; I love the Archie wit. It was a good thing I was at home when I read the one about Nero Wolfe thinking he should get some exercise and got the darts. I laughed hysterically when he drops a dart, looks at it, looks at Archie with a pleading look, looks down at the dart, and back to Archie. It was a good belly laugh the way Stout wrote it. Love it.

Mark, glad to see you've downloaded the audio of Iron House. I did that one on audio and loved it.

I will combine Murder & Mayhem with 1001 Books. Planning to read two (or maybe even more?) of the following books:

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
The Third man by Graham Greene
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
Murders in Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

We will see how it goes.

I liked Iron House in print. You should have a good time with that one.

I finished Portrait in Death, which was surprisingly moving in parts as Roarke's past turns out not to be what he thought and he goes back to the old country.

>42 ctpress: You have lots of great choices there, Carsten. I've read those except for The Third Man. I have a soft spot for Lord Peter and The Nine Tailors.

I am about to start the new book The Golden Egg, by Donna Leon to get a jump start on May M&M! I love the DVD's of her head detective Brunetti. The DVDs are done in German ( English subtitles) and filmed in Venice by the American writer. They are so good!

I loved The Nine Tailors and I do think it is quite iconic. A must read, even.

#43 & #45: The Nine Tailors have been moved up on the list. Thanks :)

ohh, I forgot one: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

I am doing some book sorting and rearranging and have choosen a special spot for all the mysteries. I'll post what I have when May actually gets here. (-:

Carsten- That a classic line-up. I wish I could have squeezed in a classic crime gem or 2. I am swamped with newer stuff.

I plan on starting my 1st M & M on Monday. Perhaps, Mr. Longmire!

Mark great minds think alike. I went on a day trip to San Antonio and started Death Without Company. I do like that Mr. Longmire and Henry always has a lot to say without saying much at all.

Roberta- My fellow great mind. LOL. I'll be starting Kindness Goes Unpunished. I loved Death Without Company. This is such a solid entertaining series. I still have not seen the cable series.

I always sign up for these things, and then real life intervenes and suddenly the month is all over and I'm finally read to get started! This time, though, I'm going to really really try and join you all!

On my list: The Cruelest Month by Lousie Penny (been stuck in the first chapter for a month or so just because other things keep bumping it out of the way), After Visiting Friends even though it's NF (does that still count here?), and maybe something else if I can swing it.

I just finished reading the first book of Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective and I think it'd be a hit with this group. It's a very clever GN filled with lots of characters and puns, and is set up (in parts) to look like an old Golden Story book. But I don't remember The Pokey Little Puppy getting murdered or anything, so this is certainly more adult!

I'm starting early! The Dark Winter is due back at the library this weekend, so I picked it up this morning and am already engrossed. I'm also reading Daytripper which has plenty of death, although not always of the mayhem variety. :)

Looking forward to a murderous May! :)

I'll be finishing A Fatal Grace long before the 1st alas, but still enjoying it, even if it won't count for May's reading.

I've started Code Name Verity. Not sure if I'll finish before the 1st. Probably not.

I just picked up LA Noir at the library book sale. Seems like a perfect time to read it, though I may shelve it in favor of some other books I've had hanging around for a while.

I'm in.

My probable reads are:

Stitch me Deadly
Dream Eyes
Crossing Places
The House at Riverton
The Second Rule Of Ten: A Tenzing Norbu Mystery
One Step Too Far
His Majesty's Hope
Rebecca

I started Kindness Goes Unpunished. Yes, it's a couple days early. Ooh, am I going to be arrested by the shadowy LT Police? I am so scared. Honestly, as long as I can read in jail, I'll be fine with it. I really love this Longmire series. This one has Walt and Henry, stuck in the city of Brotherly Love. I know Mamie and Judy are fans of the series. Anyone else? I think it's one of the best out there.

I started my Longmire early too Mark. Rebels!

Started The Keeper of Lost Causes and so far so good.

#59 by @jnwelch> Really was blown away by that one.

At the rate I'm going on Moonlight Mile, I'm going to be finished early. Very good read.

>61 tymfos: Terri, I loved Moonlight Mile. I read it and then read all the rest of the series in its proper order!

Since I've already started both A Dying Fall, the latest Ruth Galloway mystery, and Bright Orange for a Shroud, an oldie, but goodie, Travis McGee mystery, it's safe to say that I'll at least be reading two books filled with murder and mayhem this May!

>40 OldDan: ah, Dan, those old Nero Wolfes are such fun. and yeah, Wolfe doing his part for the war effort is marvelous. i love the early ones because they're now "period" pieces: Some buried Caesar, League of Frightened men, black orchids and the 3 books that feature a gangland mastermind whose name must not be spoken are exceptional. oh, and the black mountain.

i'm about 2/3 of the way through Mystic river and it's superb. my other two Lehane faves are The given day and A drink before the war, which is Lehane's first and also the first Kenzie and Gennaro mystery.

i'm about 1/3 of the way through Black orchids. unlike moi, it never gets old!

what a great idea this is, Mark.

>63 mirrordrum: Mirrordrum, looks like I'm going to have to make another trip to the library to pick up a Dennis Lehane. I've noticed them, but just not delved into one yet. Soon, though. I just finished I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane, so need to get another dish of mystery.

Ellie- "Mystic river and it's superb." I am so pleased. It is such a great book and the movie is excellent too, with a killer cast.

>63 mirrordrum: Young Becca is a big Lehane fan, too, Ellie, and Mystic River is one of her faves. She even got her grandma to read (and love) it.

The Keeper of Lost Causes was a gripping, got to find out what happens, read, and I was rooting for central characters Carl and Assad.

Joe, Carl and Assad are even better in the second. Get your hands on it sooner rather than later.

Just cracked The Draining Lake. Here we go!

OK, it's 12:20 a.m. (EDT) on May 1, and I've finished my first for May Murder & Mayhem. Moonlight Mile was definitely worth staying up past midnight to finish.

i'm ruined. ruined, ruined, ruined and i blame all of you, but Mark most of all. i just went to audible and spent two more credits on mysteries: an Inspector Rebus mystery, Resurrection Men, (this will be my first Ian Rankin book) and Keeper of lost causes. there are only two Adler-Olsen books available in English and this is one. ruination and collapse . . . and books. do you s'pose there's a 12-step program for bibliophiles? if so, i must avoid it like the plague.

>65 msf59: i'm holding off on the movie till i finish the book. i like it that he's added police procedural stuff to his bag of tricks. he doesn't just write good mysteries. he writes good fiction.

>66 jnwelch: of course seasonsoflove is a Lehane fan. she likes Nero Wolfe and Margery Allingham and, iirc, Tana French, ergo she will like other mysteries i like because, as i am, she too is a discerning and intelligent mystery reader. QED.

" ruination and collapse." LOL. Sorry, about your financial ruin, Ellie but it's one of the hazards of LT life. Can you get your audios from your library system? Cheaper that way.

Oh, I must get back to Nero Wolfe...

I finished The Dark Winter in two days, so it was an easy read, but... Afterwards I picked several holes in the plot; while I liked the characters, none of them seemed real; and the writing was occasionally too try hard.

But, you know, I might come back for book #2...

I'm reading a fantasy novel now (yeah, I know it's not Fantasy February any more, but it's due back at the library this weekend...) but will be back later.

#66 & 70: Number 3 in the Department Q are soon to be released in English - I've read it earlier this year as I have a home advantage (danish) - actually nr 3 is my favorite so far in the series. Carl and Assad - what a great team.

#73 by @ctpress> oh goodie. thanks for that! I finished Keeper of Lost Causes only a few days ago.

Me, too. Glad to hear another adventure with Carl and Assad is being published here!

>70 mirrordrum: Ha! Yes, of course, QED.

#70: I'm pretty sure there's not a 12-step program for bibliophiles. Otherwise we here at LT would have heard about it. Oh, yes it might be in the banned books department. But rest assured, you're ruined and can't afford it.

>71 msf59: well i *could* get them from the library, Mark. some of them. but i made a hijjus mistake a few years ago and discovered audible.com and bought an iPod and that's much, much easier than cds. also, i can't drive namore so must wait for someone to fetch and carry. i'm selfish, grasping, spoilt and a bit of an addict (something you'd not understand, of course) and it's like asking why you buy books from bookstores when you could simply get them from the library and so much cheaper. ;)

besides, i like to have a 'bookshelf' to skim even if it is on the ipod. there are so many times when i need to skim a bookshelf to see what i want just at that particular time. i know you know what i'm talkin' about.

>75 jnwelch: one doesn't get the chance to use QED very often so i was excited at the possibility.

>76 ctpress: oh, Carsten. how funny. and yes, i am ruined! but happy in my ruination. :)

I buy plenty of books and e-books, but I still get most of my audios as downloaded loans through the websites of the public libraries where I have a card. I don't know why I'm less inclined to buy audios. Cost? They seem quite expensive to me. (I have, on occasion, bought a paper copy of a book that I liked on audio, though.)

Help! I'm trying to decide what mystery to read next, and whether to read "off my shelf" or from the library. Possibilities:
Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger (continuing the Cork O'Connor series, on my shelf)
The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill (start of new-to-me series, on my shelf)
Jolie Blon's Bounce by James Lee Burke (continuing the Dave Robicheaux series, at library where I work)

or shall I go with a cozy?

or something else? A stand-alone, maybe?

So many books, so little time . . .

ooh my favorite genre. I just took a quick peek in my Kindle and I should have enough murderous books in there to help me participate in this month's theme while I travel.

I just finished Sharp: A Mindspace Investigations Novel which I really liked. It's urban fantasy, but the protagonist is a telepath working with the police and there's plenty of murder, mayhem, ect. It's the second in the series (after Clean) and while it's darker than I usually like, something about this series is very compelling. If you try it, definitely start at the beginning.

I'm halfway through The Secret History definitely Murder and Mayhem in this one.

Okay, on my M & M, biblio-journey, I left Wyoming/Philadelphia (Kindness Goes Unpunished), adios to Walt & Henry and now I am into some very Dark Places. Ms. Flynn is one disturbed individual. I love dark books but she pushes it into a whole new realm and that's why I adore her. I intended to read Dark Places early last year but was swept away by Gone Girl and never got to it.
Could you imagine being married to this woman? I would be afraid to go to sleep.

>83 msf59: laughed my arse off! note to self: must read gone girl!

i'm at the part of Mystic river about 3.5 hrs from the end where, if it were a scary movie, i'd be peeking through my fingers and all scrunched down in my seat. i wouldn't even be able to scarf popcorn. oh lord. i'm now worried about practically everybody! love it! this is his best so far and that's saying something.

Ellie- There were so many twists and turns in Mystic River, I know what you mean. Gone Girl is even crazier, even in the last few pages you are not sure if the world is up or down.

Wow. lots of Lehane fans! Too bad there are no months that start with L for a Lehane month. His latest Live By Night is excellent, too. Much mayhem.

#79 Terri, So what did you decide? Continuing a series is always good. I need to get to Iron Lake to see how I like it. I love the Susan Hill series and I think The Various Haunts of Men is my favorite.

I'd also recommend The Various Haunts of Men, it's a goodie (as is the second in the series, oh dear, now I realise I have to buy book #3....).

#86 Terri, So what did you decide?

Well, I wound up continuing the Cork O'Connor series. (Joanne, definitely try Iron Lake soon! And keep in mind, it's my least favorite of the series -- they get better and better!) I pulled Heaven's Keep off the shelf just to take a look at it late last evening when I got home, and wound up reading till I couldn't keep my eyes open any more.

Now I find Krueger has written a stand-alone novel, Ordinary Grace, that the critics are raving about. And the first author blurb I read about it was from Dennis Lehane, who said he loved it. (I love Lehane!) I've kind of asked my husband for it for Mother's Day.

I'll get to the Susan Hill series . . . maybe later this month.

#84 i'm at the part of Mystic river about 3.5 hrs from the end where, if it were a scary movie, i'd be peeking through my fingers and all scrunched down in my seat. i wouldn't even be able to scarf popcorn. oh lord. i'm now worried about practically everybody! love it!

LOL! Note to self: must read Mystic River soon!

I'm reading The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen. What a book!

I had questioned you guys about the British thriller author Mo Hayder a week or so ago and nobody could tell me much, so I did the next best thing. I handed Pig Island to one of the students who works here. She reads alot and I asked her to read it for me and tell me what she thinks. That was on Thursday last week. She brought it back on Monday and said that she loved it. She took it to swimming pool and got a little bit of a sun burn because she couldn't put the book down and quit reading! She said it was "sooooooo good." I asked her about the gore, because that seems to be the big criticism of Hayder. The student said it was bloody, but it was soooooooo good. So I gave her Hanging Hill by the same author. I noticed that she was reading it the other day when she came to work. Maybe Hayder is an author that more of us need to check out?

Benita, you are sooooooo clever! And what a lucky girl to work with you.

>88 tymfos: YEah! must read. soonest. excellent writing, plot, characters. his best. well, best of the ones i've read. riveting. nerve-wracking. perceptive. and, for those who use NLS in the US, Fred Major does a stand out job although his voicing is pretty much NYC. nobody really does Bahston, especially Southie, so New York works ok. fits the mood just fine.

I'm well into my first Murder and Mayhem Black Irish by Stephan Talty, first in a series and very, very good.

I've already read a few books about murder and mayhem this month: an enjoyable Maisie Dobbs (The Mapping of Love and Death, an extremely disappointing Gaslight Mystery (Murder on Gramercy Park), and one true crime -- Midnight in Peking about a murder, its cover up, and one father's quest for justice in late 1930s Beijing.

I've started Blood of the Prodigal for M&M...but it's proving tough for me to stay awake for anything.

Does reading Waiting To Be Heard qualify for Murder and Mayhem. Amanda Knox's Italian adventures and tragedies has its bloody moments. I just last night read her account of having discovered her roommate's murder. Call me gullible but I totally believe her side of the story. The mystery is whether this tragedy will ever be over for her.

I definitely think that would count for Murder & Mayhem! And I tend to believe her, too. That case has all the earmarks of the sort of rush to judgment that railroads innocent people.

I just finished Ron Koertge's free verse retelling of classic fairy tales Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses. Plenty of murders and mayhem and creepy illustrations by Andrea Dezso make this one well worth picking up. It's short, too!

I finished the first book in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series - The Godwulf Manuscript. I enjoyed it very much and have already acquired the next book. I'm now working on The Keeper of Lost Causes. And I'm making a note to get to Mystic River sooner rather than later - I ADORE Dennis Lehane!

Wow! 100 posts on May 3rd! I wonder if people like a little M & M? I know I do! I am still exploring the wicked world of Dark Places and I will be joining little Wolves tomorrow.

Mamie- Mystic River- READ IT!! It's jaw-dropping! Shall I repeat?

My current shelf full of murder & mayhem (stuff I'm reading now):

hard copy fiction (mystery): Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger
hard copy non-fiction (true crime): Are You There Alone: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates by Suzanne O'Malley
e-book fiction (mystery): Grave Undertaking by Mark de Castrique
audio book fiction (mystery/suspense) A Place of Execution by Val McDermid I'm almost done with this one. It's been very good.

Currently listening to Night Soldiers which already has its share of murder and mayhem, even if it's not a murder mystery.

Ok Terri! You talked me into it - I shall try to squeeze it in this month!

Finished my first murder and mayhem, The Bride's Kimono. A good read. The series is one I really enjoy- it's about a Japanese-American woman involved in the antiques trade, and most of the books move back and forth between Japan and the US.

I finished my audio of A Place of Execution. I rated it at 4.7 stars. It was a very fine, well-written police procedural -- with a twist. Three-dimensional characters & great atmosphere.

Next up on audio: The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell.

Pulled Dissolution off my shelf this afternoon. Will start it tonight.

I have no shortage of books to keep me busy over here--here's my initial plan.

The Keeper of Lost Causes - Jussi Adler-Olsen (reading now)
Voices - Arnaldur Indriðason
The Man Who Smiled - Henning Mankell
Revelation - C.J. Sansom
Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny
He Who Fears the Wolf - Karin Fossum
The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo
Rebecca - Daphne DuMaurier (a reread)

Anne, that is one FANTABULOUS list!

Finished Death Without Company. I didn't LOVE it, but I did like it a lot.

Starting Don't Look Back.

As usual I haven't yet planned what my May reading will include, but I'm sure there will be at least one or two mysteries among them. I've just acquired He who fears the wolf so that might be one;I also have a stack of Mankells, Peter Robinsons, and Steven Saylor's Roman series, just to name a few. I'll try to remember to report back on this thread when I have made some definite selections.

Anne- That's a killer list! Enjoy.

Roberta- I hope you like Don't Look Back. It was my first Fossum and I loved it.

I started Little Wolves and it begins well, plus there are not many books set in southwestern Minnesota.

I finished and REVIEWED Stephan Talty's debut novel Black Irish. Now I have a new series to follow.

I'm about a third of the way through That Old Flame of Mine, my second mystery for the month.

Reading The Psychopath Test - really more funny than mayhem, but anything with psychopaths ought to count! :)

Mark - I've started the first few chapters of Don't Look Back I already love this lady's writing style. The beginning case is mentioned briefly at the very end of In the Darkness: An Inspector Sejer Novel. I love how she ties the two books loosely together. I'll be sending you the book this week.

On audio I am going to start Hard Magic by Larry Correia which is magic and noir. How cool is that. I'll let you know what I think. I haven't heard too much about this one. The story sounded interesting.

I hope no one finds this inappropriate, but I wanted to let other mystery readers know that the first of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mysteries Cocaine Blues is available FREE for Kindle right now at amazon U.S. The next two - Flying Too High and Murder on the Ballarat Train are available for $2.99 each and some of the others are discounted. I'm a big fan of this series set in 1920s Australia and mystery fans should give it a try!

Free is good.

Thanks Dejah! I downloaded Cocaine Blues.

goodness! so many mysteries of which i've not heard. paralyzing.

sadly, Fossum isn't available in audio yet but there are so many others that it's fine.

i finished Black Orchids and Mystic River last night. BO was a reread and Mystic River, well, talk about noir. holy thingummies! i was most displeased with a particular plot turn near the end but Lehane delivered an arm shiver that i didn't see coming. dark, dark view he has but it wrapped the book properly. i've been considering whether i hold to his viewpoint about a certain intractability in human nature. i don't know about that, but i do know he writes very well and he kept me glued.

i'm starting keeper of lost causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen tonight. sounds like more noir. ah, such dark, dark times!

The Phryne Fisher series is great. I was introduced via the Kindle freebie, and now I'm working my way through the series.

i seem finally to have at least a partial list finalized:

1. Black orchids by Rex Stout finished
2. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane finished
3. Secret history by Donna Tartt just started it and liking it
4. The keeper of lost causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen just starting
5. Promised land by Robert B. Parker this will be my first one of his
6. Desert run by Betty Webb if i don't run out of time

these are all in audio so i may not finish the list as i have other non-mayhems running simultenaciously.

I finished my first M&M book last night: Funeral Music by Morag Joss. The murder takes place in the Roman baths in Bath, England.

I finished Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger. Another excellent book in an excellent series.

I finished up The Keeper of Lost Causes, which I really LOVED! Already ordered the second book in the series!

I finished my first Murder and Mayhem book for the month, A Beautiful Blue Death was a fun Victorian Puzzler, and (groan), another first in a series!

#123 by @Crazymamie> Keeper of Lost Causes was excellent, wasn't it? I've got book 2 in the mountain.

I enjoyed A Beautiful Blue Death too, Judy! (Just what we needed, another series, eh?)

>125 majkia: Jean, yes it was. Once you get to chapter six it is unputdownable! I can't wait to dip into the next one!

I finished listening to Thirty-Three Teeth No 2 in The Dr. Siri Paiboun series. And I am on to No 3 Disco for the Departed. Thanks to all the Ltr's who are ALWAYS talking about how great this series is. They did not lead me astray!

#126 - I know Terri, for some reason I can't stop reading the first book of all these series. I need a month or two to read the second and third books in a series!

129 Yup. I think my current audio, The Blood Detective, is first in a series, too.

128 Cathy, I just got the 4th Dr. Siri book as an early Mother's Day present from my husband (along with the new stand-alone novel by William Kent Krueger). It's such a marvelous, unusual series.

I just finished Anarchy and Old Dogs but not for May. But that gives me an idea--Curse of the Pogo Stick is 5th in the series and I could use it to move that TIOLI series challenge along. It's a fun series!

I am still reading Little Wolves, a mystery set in Minnesota and I just started Iron House. I read and enjoyed the Last Child a couple years ago and have been meaning to get to this one.

Glad to see all the Dr. Siri LOVE! Yah! I plan on getting to books 6, later in the month.

yes, yes. i too must get to the next Dr. Siri. i think i'm at Killed at the whim of a hat.

Ellie- I don't think that's a Dr. Siri! I think that's the start of a different series, which I have not read. How many of the Siri's have you read?

oh carp! you're right. it's Juree. i apparently had a hat-like whim and decided to try one of those. no, in Dr. SP, i'm at anarchy and old dogs. i swear, the titles of Cotterill's books alone are worth the price of admission.

thanks for catching that, Mark.

Have finished two novels - both from the 1001 Books list. The Third Man by Graham Greene, and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré.

Liked the The Third Man the best. Short but very suspenseful. Both novels were very depressing reads, so now I'm enjoying a more cheerful detective story - The Thin Man.

Finished Indrdiason's The Draining Lake. Excellent read: political intrigue, espionage, murder. Indridason creates these wonderfully flawed characters who are so comfortably familiar.

Dr. Siri - I am nearly finished Disco for the Departed and have just downloaded Anarchy and Old Dogs my these are good!

Two more finished from the 1001 Book list - The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett - and Casino Royal by Ian Fleming - both enjoyable, easy and short reads.

I liked both of those, Carsten. My wife and I are big fans of the Thin Man movies, and a couple of years I finally got around to reading the book.

I just finished The Yard, which was a quite good new one set in Victorian London. My review's on the book page.

I just finished a British police procedural, The Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante. A police murder squad tracks a nasty killer who is copycatting the 1940's Black Dahlia case.

I seem to read a lot of mysteries, except during months where mysteries are the focus, like March and May. I hope to finish my second one today, That Old Flame of Mine by J.J. Cook.

Finished Disco for the Departed - the ending was so funny and can't wait to get started on Anarchy and Old Dogs!

>142 lindapanzo: I'm glad it's not just me! I've only read one so far this month. I do have a few I hope to get to later, though.

I've been shocked at how few mysteries I've read so far this month too. I did read one by Aaron Elkins, but most of my others have fallen into other genres. I'm downloading a mystery (or maybe I should say trying to download) an audiobook from Overdrive to my iPhone right now. I'm having trouble with transferring the files. I've now managed to get segments 1-6, 8 transferred; only 7 & 9 to go. I've googled and discovered others have the same issue I'm having with some books. I just have to wait a bit between the sections to transfer the ones that didn't do right the first time.

How is the M & M crowd doing? I should finish Iron House up tomorrow and yes there is M & M galore in this book. I'll take a breather for a day or 2 and then jump into The Merry Misogynist. I miss the good doctor.



^I have not read Messud but this one sounds fantastic. Has anyone else read her?

I finally finished my second mystery of the month late last night. Whoo-hoo.

I'm hoping to focus more on mysteries during the second half of the month.

#140: Have to check out The Thin Man movies - I see at least the first one available at the dvd-site I normally buy from.

Victorian London in the Jack-the-Ripper-days....Great review. I have to jot down that author.

I must apologize as I've not been able to get to any mysteries yet this May. I might, but no promises.

I finished my first May Murder & Mayhem mystery. I have finally moved out of Medieval England into Tudor England with Dissolution by C. J. Sansom. I am not sure what to think about the hero - not sure if I like him or not. I do know that the more I read about those times the happier I am that I didn't live back then. The religious fanatics were really scary. Of course some might say that about our own time, but I think those were worse. At least now nobody is being beheaded for religious reasons - at least in the Western European countries and most of the countries in the Western Hemisphere. Oh dear - I am managing to scare myself because maybe I am not as safe as I thought?

Anyway, started the second in the Matthew Shardlake series - Dark Fire and will see how that goes.

>148 ctpress: Thanks, Carsten. I think you'll have a good time with both. My wife would like to be Myrna Loy in her next life.

A bit late to the discussion but I think The Thin Man movies are great - an example of perfect casting for the story. I wouldn't mind being Myrna Loy....And the book is pretty great, too.

I just finished the recently published 15th book in Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mystery Series Murder in Chelsea. This is now one of my favorite books in this entire historical mystery series set in turn of the century New York City. Although this book could be read on it's own please begin at the beginning of the series!

I read Killer in Crinolines, book two of the Consignment Shop Mystery series, over the weekend. This time a sleazeball groom is found face down in his own wedding cake with a knife in his back, and Summer's good friend Chantilly gets the blame. It's a fun cozy mystery, if a bit more hectic than the first book in the series, Iced Chiffon.

>141 DeltaQueen50: hah, DQ. i'm reading La Plant's Prime suspect. i was/am a great fan of the TV series with Helen Mirren and the late Tom Bell and it's fun getting some back story on Bell's character Sgt. Bill Otley. Tennison is more obnoxious and Otley more 3-dimensional in the book than in the series though the book reads a bit like a fleshed-out script. i'm enjoying it.

i'm concurrently reading The secret history (an NLS download) by Donna Tartt and it's 20 hours long. i was reading about Tartt and discovered that there's another book, The rules of attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, also involving a murder in a small NE college and that each book references the other. i listened to the teaser on audible.com and the narrator's so good and so funny, i'll probably have to get the book. besides, it'll be interesting to hear the cross-references.

how did they do that, anyway? i mean, you don't have a reference till you've published so it's a chicken and egg type thing.

i probably won't finish Secret history this month as i'm also reading The keeper of lost causes. quite good.

i've never read so many mysteries simultaneously in my life. probably won't again, either. it's confusticating.

>151 jnwelch: okay, Joe, so next time 'round, should you be so lucky twice, you'll get early a.m. leaping, twirling and vamping but not so much with the warbling from your MBH?

>154 mirrordrum: Ha! Lots of dry wit, too, Ellie. I'd need to be on my toes. I'm taking notes on how William Powell handled it.

BTW, The Secret History is one of our daughter's favorite books ever. She lurrrved it. Have I read it? Nope. Just not my cuppa. She and I have a big overlap area, but that's not in it.

Finished Heat Rises

>150 benitastrnad: Haha, seriously! I started out not liking the character of Shardlake much, but by the end of the third book (Sovereign), I was totally hooked on him and his adventures. Like you, I love reading about Tudor and Medieval (and even ancient) times but so glad I didn't live in them. Or, if I did, I don't remember it. :)

So far, the one and only book I managed to finish this month is A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths. It's the fifth book in her Ruth Galloway series and was very good. Ruth is a great character.

I'm starting my third mystery of the month, Connie Archer's second Soup Lovers mystery, A Broth of Betrayal.

I'm participating in the group read of Rebecca via audio. I just finished Grave Undertaking from Mark de Castriques "Buryin' Barry" series. Great read!

#141 We are completely hooked right now on the written by and produced by Lynda la Plante DVDs called Trial and Retribution. Each episode is about 3 hours long and very well done. I know that she has also done Above Suspicion dvds and Prime Suspect. They are all fantastic!

I just stumbled across this list. Murder and Mayhem is definitely my thing so thought I would join in. I read The Blood Detective by Ian Waddell a while ago and really liked it. Yes, it is the first one in a series. The second one is Blood atonement. According to his website, Ian Waddell is working on a third book in the series. He also wrote another novel under the name Dan James. It is called Unsinkable. It is a murder mystery on the Titanic. I think that I might read that one before the end of May.

I just read The Secret History last week and it was a really absorbing read - I highly recommend it.

#154 Ellie, Bret Easton Ellis and Donna Tartt went to university together. Donna Tartt was writing The Secret History while in university but it took several years to complete. Meanwhile Ellis already had some success and was the one who introduced Donna Tartt to an agent who then sold her book for a lot of money (for those times). Ellis also briefly mentions the fictional university in Less Than Zero his first book which was published before Donna Tartt's so I guess they shared the fictional campus :) In The Rules of Attraction The Secret History is mentioned: "that weird Classics group... probably roaming the countryside sacrificing farmers and performing pagan rituals". lol

Time to get back to M & M and time to visit and old friend. I have missed Dr. Siri, so I will be starting The Merry Misogynist. It's the 6th book in the series.

Welcome aboard familyhistorian!

I've reviewed the molto-~meh~ first in a series, The Pericles Commission. It only got three stars because I finished it. Did I mention it was ~meh~? So very ~meh~.

Halfway through the month and I'm finally getting into the swing of May Murder & Mayhem. Finished my third one (the Soup Lovers cozy) early this morning and immediately started my fourth mystery. A Fete Worse Than Death by Claudia Bishop, the latest installment in her long-running Hemlock Falls series.

I finished listening to Lincoln Lawyer and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is always fun to visit LA with Michael Connelly as a guide. I started listening to Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan. It's not a mystery but according to Mark and John it is full of mayhem.

>163 kiwiflowa: oh, thanks, Lisa. how did you discover this?

i'm so absorbed in The secret history that i am only allowed to listen to it for 1/2 an hr at night before i must turn it off and go to sleep. okay, sometimes it turns into 3/4 of an hour. it did during Richard's rather scary turn in the Vermont winter. actually, that bit took part of 2 nights. i've still got 15 hours to go and i'm increasingly caught up in the tale and the characters. i do love the pace. i find bits of it evocative of Brideshead revisited.

i had no idea secret history was published in '92. goodness grief!

Keeper of lost causes is also keeping me quite engaged.

I jumped right into The Merry Misogynist. I am crazy about this series. The mystery really doesn't matter in these books, although there is a creepy villain in this one. I just like spending time with Dr. Siri and company.

Benita- I hope the Last Werewolf works for you. I loved it, plus the follow-up. And yes, there is mayhem galore.

I'm trying a noir novel I got cheap/free for my Kindle app, Setup on Front Street by Mike Dennis. It appears to have a fair amount of mayhem, and at least one murder, but not a very good story so far. :(

So far in May I have read only one book in the M&M category, Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. I will have to pick up the pace before the month is over.

Although not a conventionally thought of 'mystery book' Grand Conspiracy by Janny Wurts certain had more than it's fair share of murder and mayhem. And nail biting suspense.

But now beginning Hamlet Revenge! by Michael Innes, which is more conventionally part of this challenge.

I'm on a roll now, finishing my fourth mystery this month. The latest installment in a long-running series, A Fete Worse Than Death by Claudia Bishop. Loved it.

"When she woke, she was red."

-This is the opening for When She Woke. I am only 60 pages in but I like it so far. Jordan is of course paying tribute to Hawthorne but it also reminds me of the Handmaids Tale, with it's creepy tone and religious fanaticism. Opinion seems to be mixed on this one, so we'll see what side I come down on. I read and loved Mudbound last year.

I read my first Murder & Mayhem book for May. It was #4 in the Clare and Russ mystery series set in northern New York -- To Darkness and to Death. Plenty of murders and mayhem but not all that much mystery this time around. Still, I am looking forward to the next one in the series.

Okay the library has me drowning in riches but it is all good. I am half way through the audio of Hard Magic by Larry Correia. I own this one so I will put it aside to get to the library books. It is going to be difficult because this story is so much fun!!!

My Overdrive copy of The Godwulf Manuscript has come in today. and the audio on CD of In the Woods is ready for pick up. I have about three other works going but they are not in this category.

Mark I think you would really enjoy Hard Magic. I'll give you the full scoop when I finish it.

Ellie - I am thrilled you are enjoying The Keeper of Lost Causes. I am a HUGE fan of the series so far. I hope you will join the ever growing fan club.

>174 msf59: "When she woke, she was red." how kewul, Mark! the reviews didn't really inspire me but it's a great opening.

>177 luvamystery65: i finished it last night, Roberta, and did enjoy it tremendously. great narrator, excellent book. went barging over to audible to seek the second Dept Q (they only have 2 in English) and it's a different narrator and i'm not sure i can do it. blast! i dote on Carl MØrck and Assad. also it's such a pleasure to read books from countries where divigations in sexual orientation are treated as facts of life and not sources of titillation or eye-rolling or worse. also interesting and revealing to hear the term "climate change" woven into the context as an accepted occurrence.

is In the woods your first Tana French? quite good. Stephen Crossley is an excellent narrator, imo. will look fwd to your reaction. i've got Broken harbour, her 4th, on my wish list at audible.com.

so now i've managed 2 M&Ms this month, working on a 3rd that i won't finish in May. it's Secret history, which is currently irritating me with a plot device i think is just wrong, but i like it enough to keep going another 13 hrs. i do think i'll start Promised Land, my first Robert Parker ever. if i don't like it, i can always blame Joe.

I finished another murder & mayhem book this evening. Duel with the Devil is a historical true crime story about a murder trial in New York in the Early Republic era. The legal defense team included both Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

> 168 Ellie, I found out when I was reading up on Less Than Zero (which wasn't a pleasant book to read) sometimes some books have an interesting story behind them as well as what's in them. I read The Secret History because my sister lent me the book some time ago and I was due to read it and all through it I wondered if one of the students mentioned offhand in the book was the main character in Less Than Zero but I was too lazy to check to be sure.

I've just finished Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, the first of a series. There was Murder and a wee bit of Mayhem at the end. All in all the book worked better as historical fiction than mystery as it was easy to figure out who was behind the murders.

I just read William Kent Krueger's stand-alone novel Ordinary Grace. It's not exactly a "murder & mayhem" kind of book, but it does have a murder and an element of mystery.

I've started The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill.

I'm on a mystery-reading roll. Finished my 5th May Murder & Mayhem book, J.D. Robb's Delusion in Death in the wee hours of the morning. One of the better recent books in the series.

That's one I liked a lot, too, Linda (Delusion in Death). I only have about a half zillion to go in the series, having whittled it down from a zillion.

The in Death series by J.D. Robb is one of my favourites. I like the evolving story of the main characters and recently went back to read the first book to remind myself how it all began. Delusion in Death is still on my bookshelf unread while I read my way through the piles on the floor.

The latest book that I think fits the Murder & Mayhem theme is not fiction, does that still count? It is The Crimes of Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Murder Re-examined.

I've posted my review of the first Amish-Country mystery, Blood of the Prodigal, in my thread...post #78.

A good read.

I just finished One Step too Far and I'm not sure it's a murder but definitely a mystery.

Finished Anarchy and Old Dogs and am on to Curse of the Pogo Stick. These people are now my family! These books are perfect to listen to while doing housework or driving in my car...loving them!

Just starting the second in Karin Fossum's Konrad Sejer series, He Who Fears the Wolf.

I just finished The September Society, the second book in the Charles Lenox historical mystery series.

Cathy- "Finished Anarchy and Old Dogs and am on to the Pogo Stick Curse. These people are now my family!" I love it! I feel the exact same way. I just finished book 6. It's so consistently good.

Ellie- Someone just mentioned that When she Woke is a good audio experience and definitely bump up Broken Harbor. I thought that was an excellent audio too!

Finished my 6th mystery of the month, Erika Chase's second cozy, Read and Buried. A nice Christmas-themed cozy where a present-day crime strongly relates to past events. Really enjoyed this.

Not to mention that, because it involves a small-town Alabama book club, each book club member has a reading list. Will definitely add some books to the TBR pile after this one.

Have been doing so much reading, I almost forgot to post.....it's been a very busy month of Mayhem

So far I've read
1.The Hanging Valley and
2.A Necessary End by Peter Robinson (Inspector Banks mysteries - love them)

3.Defense for the Devil,
4.The Unbidden Truth and
5.No Defense by Kate Wilhelm. I absolutely love the Barbara Holloway series and will be reading even more in the upcoming months.

6. Reese's Leap by Darcy Scott - #2 in the Island Mysteries series. A great story, bright smart-ass protagonist and wonderful Maine Island setting. A local author who is doing really well.

7.A Case of Imagination by Jane Tesh - the first in a series about an ex beauty queen turned PI. I really like the characters in this one. It's Southern fiction with some mystery included. I have #2 A Hard Bargain on audio for my swim sessions this month

8. Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths. #4 in a WONDERFUL Series.....I'm anxious to get to the newest one due out any time now.

9. The Golden Egg -the latest Commissario Brunetti episode by Donna Leon. A more cerebral mystery but very well done.

and I'm currently trying to catch up on Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kinkaid and Gemma James series - listening to Kissed a Sad Goodbye. A great month with lots more time for more mayhem.

I've read two outstanding M&M books so far--The Keeper of Lost Causes which was riveting and Bury Your Dead which may be my favorite of the series so far.

Now I am staring at a stack of library books: what to choose next?

Curse of the Pogo Stick - Colin Cotterill
The Absent One - Jussi Adler-Olson
Voices - Arnaldur Indridison
The Man Who Smiled - Henning Mankell
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley

Also I have these on my shelves (or Kindle):
He Who Fears the Wolf - Karin Fossum
The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo
Revelation - C.J. Sansom

Anne- That's a "killer" list! Many gems. I read 6 of those and liked them all but Redbreast is the stand-out.

Yes, The Redbreast was very good, very complex.

Why is it that the library holds always come available when in the middle of other books? Now (after a bit of a technology battle) I've got two library e-book mysteries ready to read: Site Unseen by Dana Cameron and Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler. I'm holding off on the Fowler until I finish the Susan Hill book I'm reading. I figure I'm less likely to get confused between the books that way.

Just finished Hamlet, Revenge! which was a GREAT cerebral mystery. Just the sort I love.

>190 msf59: hey Mark. thanks for the recommendations re: When she woke and Broken harbor. think i'll pass on the former. seriously, would you want to listen to 10 hours of this voice? ;)

people have differing tastes in audio readers, of course. i don't mind light voices in general, either men's or women's, but this one is like nails on a blackboard to my ear. i still appreciate the recommendation. it's (almost) always better to decide for oneself.

>190 msf59: thanks for the recommendations, Mark. i'll definitely read Broken harbour, but the narrator for When she woke affects me like nails on a blackboard. seriously, now, could you do 10 hours of this voice. i do appreciate the recommendation, though, i really do. i like having options.

>193 AnneDC: i'm with you on Keeper of lost causes, Anne. excellent.

i finished Promised Land last night and enjoyed it 3.5 stars worth. i like Spenser alright but "my heart is, and always has been," Archie's. copping Edward's line to Elinor at the end of Sense and Sensibility (the screenplay, actually, not the book).

still plowing onward with The secret history. it started out very well and then, imo, Tartt came up with a bad idea to get her where she wanted to go and the characters turned to cardboard. however, this is a plow i've put my ear to (???) and on i shall go. must be about half way through--10 hours+ to go, iirc. i am resolute.

Ellie- I listened to a snippet of when she woke and wasn't impressed either. Maybe she grows on you. I am lucky. I seldom have a problem with a narrator, although some are better than others, no question.
I am really enjoying the print version though.

I finished the audio of Evil Under the Sun this evening. I enjoyed it even though Poirot seemed a little off of his usual form in this one.

I just finished If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton, the first in the Country Cooking School Mystery series and I loved it! Had a bit of a surprise when it turned out it's a supernatural mystery series, but the cowboy ghost only made it better :D. Looking forward to reading more in this series! Full review is here.

I finished listening to the audio of The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris. This was a fantastic historical murder mystery as it has everything I love in a murder mystery. Also, the narration by Simon Vance was excellent for bringing the story to life. Can you tell I really liked this one? ;-) Looking forward to starting book two in this series. Review can be found on the book page.

I've completed The Crime At Black Dudley by Margery Allingham and it had all the right ingredients for a fun classic mystery read. This is considered the first book in the Albert Campion series, and, of course, now I am eager to continue on.

Finally getting stuck into May Murder & Mayhem! Continuing my read of the original Sherlock Holmes books, I'm several stories into The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

#203 I'm a great fan of that series. The Crime at Black Dudley is not the best by a long way, so you've got plenty of even better ones to look forward to!

Finished and reviewed Fossum's He Who Fears the Wolf. Excellent read : ).

I've been reading a couple of the Sookie Stackhouse books, which are technically mysteries. But I also finished Murder on Washington Square the fourth of Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries. I liked it better than Murder on Gramercy Park, but I think the first one (Murder on Astor Place) is still my favorite.

I finished The Coroner's Lunch last night. Fantastic mystery/murder and I'm so glad it's a series so I can go back and read more! I will be pushing this book on to friends and family :D.

I then started my first Dennis Lehane book The Given Day and it made me fall asleep with all the baseball talk. Not from America and so I know nothing about baseball... sports in general actually. I will give it 100 pages and then decide whether to continue.

>203 DeltaQueen50: hey DQ. my absolutely favorite Margery Allingham is Mystery Mile which has a wonderful dog named Addlepate and one of the best female leads ever, barring Dame Judi, of course. ;)

>208 kiwiflowa: oh, Lisa. no, that's not a good Lehane to start with. i'd say Pearl-rule it STAT. it's steeped in Americana, which is all well and good, but it isn't really a mystery and it would be of little interest if, as you say, you're not familiar with baseball and not interested in Boston's political past. i loved it.

A drink before the war is Lehane's first Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro mystery and it won a Shamus Award (a US award for PI (Private Investigator) novels. if you're going to like him, i expect you'll like this one. another good Lehane is Mystic River.

like all his others to date, iirc, these are set in Boston and some of them are in Southie (south Boston). if you've seen Good will hunting, you've heard a southie accent by a Bostonian. if you haven't seen it, here's the famous "bar scene" just chock full of Boston accents.

i'm a big Lehane fan, but he's certainly not for everyone and i've no idea what his reception has been outside the US.

Thanks for the info Ellie - I really do like American history and politics... just not baseball and all sports really. I do have Shutter Island should I start with that one?

edited to add: A Drink Before the War is now on my list for my next Book Depository spend up --- come on June hurry up and get here!

Shutter Island is pretty good, but kind of weird. I liked A Drink Before the War better; I really enjoyed the whole Kenzie & Gennaro series.

#209 - Good to know, Ellie. Mystery Mile is the second book in the series and I have it on my TBR pile so one of these days I will get to it! I am starting Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace tonight, I am ashamed to say how long I have had this one on my TBR pile!

I am getting a lot of good ideas of what mysteries to read next from the list. I recently read A Comedy of Heirs by Rett MacPherson. Her series was recommended to me as it combines genealogy and mystery both of which I love. I would like to recommend another mystery that I just read The Opening Night Murder by Anne Rutherford. It is an historical mystery set in the restoration era and one of those books that was hard to put down. I am happy to report that it is the first book in a new series.

>210 kiwiflowa: i've not read Shutter Island, Lisa. it'll be my next Lehane although i'm inclined to watch the movie first. i miss the Kenzie & Gennaro series a lot. :(

>212 DeltaQueen50: i'd love to know your reaction to Mystery Mile, DQ. are you also a fan of Josephine Tey and Ngaio Marsh? how seriously cool was Dame Ngaio?



Josephine Tey looks like Josephine Tey ought to look. she was apparently a great friend of Sir John Gielgud. love the suit and tie with the pearl earrings!

#214 - Ellie, I am currently working my way through Josephine Tey, Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie and now Margery Allingham's work. Agatha has long been a favorite, and it was immediate love for Josephine Tey upon reading my first book by her, Brat Farrar. I have gone on to read all her stand-alones and now am working through the Alan Grant series.

I haven't read any Ngaio Marsh yet, but I have her first three book on my shelves, and certainly plan on getting to her eventually. I love the classic mysteries!

#208
I agree with what everyone above me has said about Denis Lehane. Given Day is a historical novel - not a mystery. I read Given Day and thought it was a real snoozer. In fact, it put me off of Lehane for many years. The mysteries are much better. In my opinion, Lehane should stick to mystery writing.

I just finished The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill. Wow! I rated it 4.9 stars. It started off a bit slow because she does such a marvelous job of introducing us to the characters and setting -- but you know there's trouble from the start, and it just slowly builds from there and picks up momentum. I loved it.

#218 by @tymfos> It's in my TBR pile and I keep wanting to get to it. Looks like sooner rather than later....

I finished my 8th May Murder & Mayhem book last night, Killer in Crinolines by Duffy Brown. A fast-paced, fun cozy.

I might have one more this month, but maybe not. We'll see.

Just finished Raven Black by Ann Cleeves, first of the Shetland Island series. Quite twisty and atmospheric!

Finished The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes last night and it was good fun! Reading a Dresden File now, Dead Beat. I know it probably fits Fantasy February more, but there is an element of crime, and in this one at least a fair amount of killing. And it's been too long between Dresden books for me.

I see M & M is still chugging along. Yah! Last week. Boo! I am well into Nineteen Seventy-Four and it's been good. I know Judy is reading this too but are there any other fans of the Red Riding Quartet?

#223 by @msf59> I've never heard of it. Worth reading?

Hi! Just finished listening to The Cold Dish, first in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson. I liked it so much, I just checked out the audio of the second book in the series.

Just finished the second Pliny the Younger mystery: The Bull Slayer by Bruce Macbain. It was okay, though I enjoyed the first (Roman Games) more. I do like the way he portrays the times and the characters. Very realistic.

Also read this month: Running Blind and Worth Dying For, both by Lee Child.

Mark please stop recommending books! I have fallen under a pile of TBR and I cannot get up!

They found her unconscious, under a pile of her books. She was reaching out for Nineteen Seventy-Four. Scrawled in the margins was a clue...msf59

I hope the investigating detective is an LT member. LOL!

>218 tymfos: thumbled your review, Terri, blast you and all your kind. ;) the title sounds terribly P.D. James. not a bad thing, mind you. just sayin'.

>227 luvamystery65: oh marvelous! and i hear you, sister. i keep telling these people to cut it out. they don't listen. too busy reading i expect.

i have 3 hours left to go in the in ter min able The secret history and it's driving me right round the twist. this is one of the most infuriating books i've ever read. and 20 hours of it, no less!

finished a non-mystery Kate Atkinson and so was able to start on Outrage by Arnaldur Indriðason. like it very much so far and it's short!

LOL, Roberta! Thanks for the big chuckle. Jean & Roberta- Good news! I did NOT like Nineteen SeventyFour. It really put my teeth on edge. Nasty & distasteful. I will not be continuing.

OMG! If it is too nasty and distasteful for dark and twisty Mark then it is not for me either. Whew! That is four books I don't have to worry about reading.

Thanks for the big chuckle. Welcome. ;)

finished The Curse of the Pogo Stick and am now onto The Merry Misogynist!

Just finished Flowers for his Funeral by Ann Granger. I have read other books by her but this is the first Mitchell and Markby that I have read. Does anyone know if it is the first in the series?

#232 According to Fantastic Fiction, Flowers for His Funeral is the 7th book in the series. The first one is Say It With Poison. Years ago, I read the first two and think I ought to get back to it.

I thought Mitchell and Markby did seem to be more established characters. I will have to have a look for the beginning books in the series.

I've been a real slacker for May Murder & Mayhem month. In addition to To Darkness and to Death I recently finished my first Spenser book by Robert B. Palmer, The Godwulf Manuscript. I'm hooked and will be reading the rest of the series along with my husband. I'll get him an LT account if and when he ever retires.

I finished the second book in the Matthew Shardlake series by C. J. Sansom and liked this one much better than the first. In fact I liked Matthew much better in this book. These books are so rich in historical detail that it is hard to take it all in, but they are also full of action. They are slow to develop but once they get going they have a full head of stem. Tudor England was such a hotbed of intrigue. I already know that I will be pulling Man For All Seasons and Wolf Hall off the mighty TBR shelves this year. That is after I get the other three books in this series read.

Oh - and I started on Sovereign already. That is book three in the series.

Donna - I loved The Godwulf Manuscript and ordered the second book for June.

Hi, Benita ~ Sovereign was my favorite of the Shardlake series, so far (and I'm up to date). I enjoyed the others, don't get me wrong, but Sovereign for some reason was the most enjoyable. So, you know, enjoy!

#229 - Mark, I sort of feel the same way about Nineteen Seventy Four. Nasty and distasteful are both accurate descriptions. It wasn't the story so much as the main character that really put me off, and since I have the rest of the quartet on my shelves, I will probably at least try one more down the road.

at last, at last, i finished Secret history. heavens above what an infuriating book! i wash my hands of it.

>235 Donna828:,237
Spenser books get better and better. My all time favourite - Looking for Rachel Wallace Let me know what you think when you get there.

After finishing a chunkster, Wizard of the Crow (good!), I'm back into murder and mayhem with Imitation in Death by J.D. Robb.

#241 Cathy will do!

Going to try to fit one more into this month, The Firemaker which is another first in a series, but it has been on my shelves for ages and I'm feeling quite guilty for not getting to it sooner.

Dead Beat (Harry Dresden #7) was the usual chaotic fun. Must read this series faster than I do!

Have just picked by Christine Falls by Benjamin Black which was recommended years ago here on LT...

#245
I enjoyed Christine Falls enough to read three more of the books in that series. They aren't my favorite mystery series, but they are great character studies and they are well written. I like the way he develops the whole scene from the apartments the people live in to 1950's Dublin as a whole.

I am still working on Sovereign the third in the Matthew Shardlake series. This series gets better with each book.

I have Christine Falls on the shelf; I should read it some day.

I just finished Site Unseen, first in the Emma Fielding mystery series. Better than a lot of cozies, but not awesome. I like the details about archaeology that are included.

I just picked up A Conspiracy of Faith by Jussi Adler-Olsen! He is in town on Thursday to sign.

I finished Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer. It was a fun read, but it has some technical problems.

Well, it's probably time to add up my May Murder & Mayhem reads. I'll include the ones I'm currently reading. I may finish one of those by Friday, but I'm unlikely to start any more this month:

1 Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
2 The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan (E-BOOK)
3 A Place of Execution by Val McDermid (AUDIO)
4 Heaven's Keep by William Kent Krueger
5 The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell (AUDIO)
6 Grave Undertaking by Mark de Castrique (e-book)
7 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
8 The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill
9 The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (AUDIO)
10 Site Unseen by Dana Cameron (e-book)
11 Death Without Company by Craig Johnson (AUDIO)
Currently reading:
Hell Hole by Chris Grabenstein
The Deepest Water by Kate Wilhelm (AUDIO)
Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler (E-BOOK)

Well, it looks like M & M is coming to a close. Sad Mark. Has anyone read The Last Policeman? I did hear good things about it but heard very little LT buzz. I just snagged the 2nd book in the series from E.R.
I'll be back with my M & M recap!

Terri- Congrats! That's an excellent list! Go Walt!!

I added the Longmire TV series to my list of must watch TV and it is very good. I will have to go back and get the first season somehow as I missed some of those. Maybe they will have a Longmire marathon some weekend? I also need to read the three books o that series I have on the shelves.

I finished listening to Last Werewolf and have started Talulla Rising. This is the second in that series. I can honestly say this is one of the worst books I have listened to in ages. If it wasn't for the fact that I had purchased the CD's of both books I would have ditched them long ago. If endless descriptions of ennui and boredom, interspersed with extreme bouts of sex, binge drinking, and gore are your thing, this book is for you. The book was only redeemed by short sections that were well written and suspenseful. If all you read of this book is the last five chapters that is all you need.

I have started listening to the second in the series simply because I purchased both recorded books and since I spent the money I will buck up and listen. But I am not looking forward to it. It has lots of work to do to redeem this series.

WRT the Longmire TV series, I found the first episode of season 2 to be utterly unbelievable. A guy traipsing through a heavy snowstorm keeping up with a snowCAT? And he falls into a river and manages no signs of frostbite?

Hubby likes the series but I'm definitely not impressed.

I generally find snow scenes as depicted on TV unrealistic. I live out in that area of the country and NOBODY would go out in a snow storm with only a cowboy hat. Everybody out there would be in those insulated Carhartt coveralls and insulated boots with the ears covered. And yes, there would be frostbite. However, I took it that when he woke up in the abandoned cabin that he manged to light the fire. That might have saved him. I think in this case edited for TV made it unrealistic. Perhaps I am willing to forgive these gross indiscretions because I liked the episodes I saw last season. But this definitely was not the best episode to use as a starting point for watching the series.

>251 msf59:: Mark, I read The Last Policeman and really liked it. I won it as an ER last year, and also just got notified that #2 is on its way as an ER :)

I think you'll like it. Let me know if you want to borrow my copy of TLP to read before trying the second. I believe it is planned as a trilogy.

I fit in one last mystery for May, the fourth of the Torie O'Shea genealogy mysteries A Misty Mourning

Torie explored a different area of the country in this one and learned about the wage slavery of coal miners in West Virginia. I love a little history and genealogy along with a mystery.

I just finished my last read for Murder and Mayhem. I really enjoyed The Firemaker by Peter May, liking both the story and the setting. Beijing comes alive on the pages and the book is sprinkled with tidbits about Chinese culture and their way of life. I seriously considered giving this a 5 star rating, but decided that maybe I was judging this based on how much I disliked my previous read. So I gave it 4.5 stars and will let it simmer for awhile.

As always, thanks Mark for a great month of reading mysteries and thrillers.

I hope to again host Series and Sequels in September, so hopefully will see everyone there.

This month I read The Secret History which I really enjoyed and started two series the Dr Siri series with The Coroner's Lunch and Maisie Dobbs (first book and series called the same) by Jacqueline Winspear. I will be continuing with both series into June. Mystery/Crime genre used to be the one genre I would never read and it's only been in the last year I've given them a go and discovered I really like them. So many to read!

What with all the murders going on around the world, it's amazing there are any live readers left to devour these series!

I've finally written and posted my happy purr regarding Lake on the Mountain, a gay Canadian noir thriller, in my thread...post #82.

Katie- Thanks for your kind offer on the Last Policeman. Let me see if I can snag it from my library system. I really should try to bookhorn it in, in the next few weeks to make room for book 2.

Judy- the Firemaker sounds very good. Just landed on the WL. M & M 2014, here I come!

Jean- Good point. LOL. I think there are only a few of us left.

Finally entering my list (oldies, but goodies):

My Gun Is Quick By Mickey Spillane
Vengeance Is Mine By Mickey Spillane
The Thin Man By Dashiell Hammett
The Big Sleep By Raymond Chandler
Murder By Numbers: Eliot Ness and the Cleveland Mob Wars By Max Allan Collins
The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood, oops! should put this in the May Atwood thread
Not Quite Dead Enough By Rex Stout
The Big Four: A Hercule Poirot Mystery By Agatha Christie
Notorious Nineteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel By Janet Evanovich, lot of mayhem with all those cars being blown up
Hardboiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories By Bill Pronzini, love the stories about each of the authors
Ragtime in Simla: The Second in the Detective Sandilands Series By Barbara Cleverly

Still on the pile waiting to be read going into next month:

The Yard By Alex Grecian
Birds of a Feather By Jacqueline Winspear
Conan of Venarium By Harry Turtledove, a sword and sorcery genre but I'm sure it will have lots of mayhem in it

Mark ~ I'm with Katie. I LOVED The Last Policeman and also snagged the ER of the second in the series (trilogy?) this month. In fact, I asked only for that one so I'd have a better chance of getting it.

Mary- I requested The Last Policeman from the library. Hopefully, I can squeeze it in, when it arrives. Thanks.

Finished The Merry Misogynist and am now listening to Love Songs from a Shallow Grave! Merry Misogynist was the best so far!

My MM&M reads were:

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly (4 stars)
Sidetracked by Henning Mankell (3.5)
The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle (3)
Stress Test by Richard Mabry (3.3)
Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney (3.5)
Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger (3.5)
Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt (4)

my reads for this were:

Night Soldier - Alan Furst
Hamlet Revenge!- Michael Innes
Raven Black - Ann Cleeves
Every Dead Thing - John Connelly

The last was the best, but they were all very good reads!

My MM&M reads were:
Lost and Fondue
Stitch me Deadly
Dream Eyes
Heat Rises
One Step Too Far
Manifest Injustice
His Majesty's Hope
Rebecca

I squeezed in one last book for May M&M: State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy. It's a book I've been meaning to read for a long time and I'm glad I finally got around to it.

I finished Christine Falls today, and it was an excellent crime novel. I liked the setting (1950s Ireland and Boston) and the characters.

Not a great MM&M for me this year! Got bogged down by a boring book group read, so only read three in total. Oh well, maybe in 2014... ;)

266 A while back (not this year!), I read a non-fiction account of the case on which A Northern Light (and Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy) was based. Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited by Craig Brandon. Call it non-fiction Murder & Mayhem.

May was a good mystery reading month. I read these 9 mysteries:

A Fete Worse Than Death by Claudia Bishop
A Broth of Betrayal by Connie Archer
Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
That Old Flame of Mine by J.J. Cook
Killer in Crinolines by Duffy Brown
Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb
Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich
Read and Buried by Erika Chase

I ended up reading 5 mysteries in May:

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy
Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (What's a mystery month without at least one Christie?!)
The September Society by Charles Finch
Funeral Music by Morag Joss

I managed four May mysteries and mayhem reads.

Dissolution by C. J. Sansom the first in the Matthew Shardlake series
Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom the second in the Matthew Shardlake series
Lincoln Lawywer by Michael Connelly the first in the Lincoln Lawyer series
Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan the first in this series

On the last one was a real clinker. It did take me until the second book to warm up to Matthew Shardlake, but I loved the Lincoln Lawyer from the start.

I fit 6 May Murder and Mayhem reads into the month:

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
The Crimes of Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Murders Re-examined by Paul Roland
A Comedy of Heirs by Rett MacPherson
The Opening Night Murder by Anne Rutherford
Flowers for his Funeral by Ann Granger
A Misty Mourning by Rett MacPherson

My May Murder and Mayhem reads were:

Back of Beyond by C. J. Box
Murder in the Queen's Armes by Aaron Elkins
The Black Dudley Murder by Margery Allingham
Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
Buried in a Book by Lucy Arlington
An Unholy Communion by Donna Fletcher Crow
The Novice's Tale by Margaret Frazer
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
Death at Glamis Castle by Robin Paige
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

I had a fantastic M & M month but as usual, we barely skim the surface:

Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman
Iron House by John Hart
The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace

Dark Places was my favorite and Nineteen Seventy-Four was my least favorite and a series I will not be continuing. I will include Black Irish to the list, since I started it at the end of May and I am still listening to it. It's a good solid crime novel.

Thanks to everyone for your participation.

Thanks for hosting May Murder & Mayhem, Mark!

I echo Terri's sentiments. Thanks for hosting, Mark.

May, Murder & Mayhem is a wonderful tradition.