December 2013-what are we reading?

It's December already? I'm reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett-not crime related but still enjoyable

I'm re-reading The Man With a Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes. Nice Xmas-y read.

Yesterday I started Miss Montreal, by Howard Shrier. The Montreal setting is definitely a draw.

I've just started The Suspect by John Lescroart.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through my first Lisa Unger book Black Out. So far it's decent although the constant time-shifts are a bit jarring. Dark story full of evil people.

Still working on Tilt-a-Whirl.

I started Innocent Blood by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell.

The Secret of High Eldersham, by Miles Burton (Cecil Street, better known under the pseudonym John Rhode). I'm just a few chapters into this Golden Age British mystery, but I'm finding it enjoyable.

I've started The Man with the Getaway Face, the second book in Richard Stark's "Hunter" series.

(Richard Stark is a pseudonym for Donald Westlake.)

Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer

I've finished The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves and am about halfway through The Wooden Overcoat
by Pamela Branch.

Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilliri with the wonderful Salvo Montalbano and his existential angst.

Library of the dead by Glenn Cooper seems quite promising.

Pale Kings and Princes, a Spenser novel, was an enjoyable re-read, and now I'm reading The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon, the newest in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

>10 quartzite: Duplicate Death ison my reading list for next year - one of my categories is books about bridge. Are you a bridge player?

Next up, Don't Ever Get Old...a Member Giveaway from April-ish, May-ish that took a bit (and a follow-up email) to arrive. Looking forward to it.

After spending time in Montreal, I'm in post-WW2 Glasgow with The Hanging Shed, by Gordon Ferris.

Compound Fractures, Stephen White.

Just received Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich yesterday from the library-hoping to start it today

Just finished The Cuckoo's Calling and started Echo Park.

#10, 15: I collect bridge-related mysteries and read DD this year. As is usually the case, I was disappointed with the bridge aspect of the story. I haven't been playing for the last couple of years but am planning to resume in January if I can find a suitable partner.

My current read is the first Matthew Shardlake, Dissolution. I'm having mixed feelings about it--not feeling entirely confident that the author is in control of the material. Any comments?

I've read all the Shardlakes and like them a lot. can you elaborate on not being confident the Sansom has control of his material?

I'm only 84 pages in, out of nearly 400, so it's mostly a gut feel right now. It has something to do with setting reader expectations. I'm not feeling the calm confidence that I normally have in an author who delivers on his promises. Instead I'm starting to feel that the author is swamping me with historical detail while not showing me what I need to know about the characters and their relationships (something that's never a problem in, say, the Cadfael books, where it's all well integrated and subordinated). For instance, I don't feel as if I know a single thing about Shardlake yet, apart from his physical condition.

Also, the murder scene involves quite a lot of grue, and if it's going to get worse than that, it may be outside my limit. Usually a writer will indicate early on if you're going to need a strong stomach to get through.

I'm ready to grant quite a lot of slack to the first of a series for the sake of what's to follow, if it's good, but I'm also ready to dismiss one that isn't going to be satisfying, with so much else available to take its place.

Well, I can say he doesn't scrimp on the blood and guts. Nothing like that bothers me much though, it's the sadistic stuff that gets to me and there he goes easy. If you stick with it, you will come to know Matthew through his actions and his friendships (and even his enemies...enemyships? lol) more than through anything the author explains. How he treats his co workers, friends, servants...all of it tells. I especially like how things develop with Barak and his friend Guy is a lifesaver.

With the first book, I think Sansom had to fill in a lot of blanks, especially for a non-English reader who may have no clue about what the Protestant Reformation was and how it affected a whole generation. Lots of spadework there, but I enjoyed it a lot. I can't recall precisely, but I don't think the others have so much backstory, but they are very political.

22, 24: Ok--thanks very much. That's encouraging. I'll continue with it.

I'm sorry to be reminded that a non-English reader might be expected to have no clue about the Protestant Reformation, but you are probably right about that.

ETA: Oh, and one other thing: right at the top of the first page of frontmatter, between the map and the opening of chapter 1, the word "obedientiaries" is misspelled. (The first i is missing.) It's no accident, either, because the same thing occurs on page 63. It made me question the author's grasp not only of his setting and its terminology but of the language--because the word "obedience" jumps right out of it, and the missing letter suggests that he doesn't see that.

The Count of Monte Cristo. Love the classics!

Shifted the order of the TBR stack and I'm 50 pages in to Billionaire Blend a new Coffee House Mystery by Cleo Coyle; my first. My lack of familiarity with the backstory isn't interfering, it's a pretty engaging cozy from the get-go.

I'm starting Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard.

Finished 1960's publication The President's Mystery Plot by FDR. Written in the1930's style. A few loose ends but very enjoyable.

Just started Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear. Picked up Maisie Dobbs at the library on a whim last week and now I'm burning through the series!

I'm in the middle of Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler. I have The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö ready to get started.

I'm a little more than halfway through Murder on Lexington Avenue by Victoria Thompson. I have to say that it seems more like a series of dialogues than a whodunnit. Not much is happening in the way of detecting but I have high hopes that something interesting will happen and soon.

>>30 ktbarnes: The Maisie Dobbs series is wonderful! Enjoy!

I'm in the middle of The Cuckoo's Calling and enjoying it.

Finished Takedown Twenty and starting The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

#30...Maisie just gets better and better!

Really enjoyed Montalbano's First Case (can't get the touchstone to work), with Montalbano getting his start in Vigata and meeting for the first time some of the series' familiar characters.

Re-reading Dorothy Dunnett's series of Johnson Johnson mysteries. Most (all?) of them are out on Kindle using their American titles. I liked the English titles better but they are still ripping good fun.

Finished The Wooden Overcoat by Pamela Branch. Well-written and reasonably entertaining, but I did skim-read through to the end. Have just started Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer.

Just started Pursuit by Gene Hackman. So far it's been good.

A devil is waiting by Jack Higgins.

The Magus of Hay by Phil Rickman

>37 BarbN: What fun! I love Dunnett's historical fiction but have only read one or two of the Johnson Johnson mysteries...

I am currently reading Frost at Christmas.

I've decided to try Brad Thor's "Scot Harvath" series and have started the first book, The Lions of Lucerne.

Finished Pardonable Lies! Lots of threads in that one but I thought Winspear pulled them together nicely.

Just about to start Messenger of Truth. This series is absolutely addicting and I'm excited to hear they get even better!

Just read No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell.

I'm reading The Secret History of the Pink Carnation which is more romance than mystery, but still it's a mystery as to who the Pink Carnation is (going to be).

Currently reading Busy Body by M. C. Beaton. I thought it was a Christmas mystery but only the beginning takes place at Christmas.

The Secret of High Eldersham was just OK, in the end. Followed by the much more mysterious Sir Henry Merrivale series entry, The Red Widow Murders. I just wrapped up the somewhat disappointing The Santa Klaus Murder, a 1930s mystery reprinted by the British Library.

Finished Cuckoo's Calling, by J.K. Rowling and about 3/4s of the way through the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child

Finished The Dinner by Herman Koch, which I loved. Very dark and fun.

Spent all morning reading instead of doing cleaning-finished A Tap On The Window by Linwood Barclay. A good read.

Gift from a thoughtful friend: Rebecca. I recognize "I dreamt I went to Manderley again..." but have never read the whole thing!

I've just started London Falling by Paul Cornell

>52 gmathis: That's one of my favorites!

The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson

Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher.

Am about midway through The Edge of Normal, which I feel only lukewarmly about. I'm not finding it that great, and believe it has likely benefited more from the topical subject matter than from its quality.

Promises in Death was another good one in the Eve Dallas series.

Reading Goodbye California, by Alistair MacLean, which unfortunately is not that thrilling. Great concept, but it stalled in the first chapter with some seriously info-dumpy dialogue and hasn't recovered yet.

I am reading Nom de Guerre by Jeff Gulvin. It is a book about a world class terrorist - Storm Crow - and the agencies who try to recapture him following an escape from a British prison while he is being transferred for a trial. It is a real page turner but there are so many characters in the story it is hard to follow sometimes...about 50% of them are forgettable after a page or two but you don't know that at first or if they will be important later in the story. Also I have never read an author that was hooked on acronyms so much in all my life...he even has a glossary at the start for about 25 but does not limit himself to those. That aside...he is a fun read...almost akin to Fredrick Forsyth

Just finished a mystery called What the Cat Saw by Carolyn Hart. It was really good--I understand it's going to be the first in a new series.

Now I'm reading Dirty Work by Stuart Woods. So far it's been good.

Just finished a werewolf horror novel. It took too long. I'm now about to start Keigo Higashino's Salvation of a Saint, and very much looking forward to it.

Just finished The Secret of Annexe 3 - decent entry in the Inspector Morse series.

Finished Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer and A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths. Have just started The Crow Trap (the first in the Vera Stanhope series) by Ann Cleeves

Just finished Alone by Lisa Gardner. Not bad. Sufficiently interesting characters, even if everything they do isn't plausible. I like Catherine's ambiguity. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but couldn't, she was too manipulative and cunning for that. Still I didn't totally hate her either. Even though I know this series takes a nose-dive into predictability and safety, I'll read a few more before that. Thanks airplane lady!

I'm reading Pocket-47 by Jude Hardin, a promising debut novel although the author still seems to need a bit of polishing; good enough that I'll be continuing with this series.

I'm halfway through my first Ian Rankin, The Black Book.

On the commute home started Burial Rites, a historical mystery based on a true-life case in Iceland.

I've finished both Dissolution and Brimstone and begun Name to a Face. Not too sure about the latter; I'm not favorably disposed toward a character who's having an affair with his friend's wife. With anyone's wife, friend or employer or random stranger.

I liked Name to a Face, but not as much as some of other of Goddard's books.

How did you end up with Dissolution?

70: How did you end up with Dissolution?

Are you asking how I happened to select it or how I rated it after finishing it?

I started The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke last night.

Sadly, the touchstones aren't working for me right now. Boo.

>72 quillmenow: I loved Dissolution by CJ Sansom. It is not a thriller but as a mystery it is great. MY favourite in the Shardlake series is Dark Fire ... you really feel as though you are in England in at the time of Henry VIII

I'm starting Innocence by Dean Koontz

Wasn't it you, Meredy, who wasn't sure about the Shardlake series? Hm...I could have the wrong person.

I'm now back in Los Angeles with a close-to-retirement Harry Bosch in The Drop by Michael Connelly.

75: Yes, it was I, above in this thread. I just wasn't clear on your question because I understand "end up with" to mean "acquired," implicitly in some roundabout or possibly unorthodox way.

In the end I really wasn't all that thrilled or impressed. I noted the odd misspelling of "obedientiaries," which persisted throughout the book. That sort of thing puts me right off and makes it hard to have confidence in an author. There were several misused words as well, although those looked more like editorial lapses to me.

But more than that, the plot seemed overwrought and at times confusing, and I didn't really take to any of the characters. The historical period does interest me, and I've read and seen enough to bring plenty of context to it. I liked the historical details, and I especially liked the way Shardlake's view of Cromwell changed, setting up some interesting possibilities. But I'm not going to be in any great hurry to continue the series.

Have started Everywhere that Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline. My first of hers. I'm becoming less patient with thrillers that start out with a day/week/month in the life of our victim. It's an older technique that is supposed to get me all sympathetic/empathetic with the main character, but since it's a thriller, I find it just fails to hook me. I may bail. This impression is by no means helped by me coming off a Lisa Gardner 2-book binge. Now that's a writer who knows how to set the hook!

>77 Meredy: If you stopped at "Dissolution" then you are stopping too early...Try Dark Fire that is the best of the series IMHO...

One thing that bugs characters in the book and readers is that when he starts on a quest to solve a mystery he usually gets involved in one or 2 more which clouds the issue at hand though by the end of the book all loose ends are resolved. Try "Dark Fire" I think you will like it.

79: All right, I'll take a look at the second one. I'm generally hard to please, it's true--but when I'm pleased, I'm really pleased.

Bull-Dog Drummond was a fun, old-timey British spy-type caper, set after the first world war. I gather Bulldog was sort of a precursor to James Bond, although sunnier and not as sophisticated.

Finished Innocent Blood by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell. Great middle novel in the Order of the Sanguine trilogy. Now I'm reading Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews. This is my first book by her, but it seems like it's going to be fun.

#81> I have Bulldog Drummond at Bay on my shelf waiting to be read. I'm very much looking forward to getting around to it.

It may or may not interest you to know that there is a famous and very fine jazz bass player named Ray Drummond who goes by the nickname Bulldog. I had the pleasure to meet and work with him a few years back (I was doing PR for a band he was in). Great guy.

#68> Added to my wish list. How are you enjoying it?

I finished Salvation of a Saint today. It perked up and gave a good account of itself in the end. Made me think of episodes of Columbo, where nothing happens for ages and Columbo is coy about his theories, then everything comes together in a rush at the end. I would have liked more of an insight into the main suspect's character earlier in the book, because she wasn't as engaging as the main guy in The Devotion of Suspect X, and I didn't think that not giving things away was a strong enough justification for that.

I'm starting I Was Dora Suarez by Derek Raymond next. I'm hopeful about finishing that one quite quickly, if his other books are anything to go by. I've devoured everything in the series so far, and my husband tells me that Dora Suarez is the best one. High expectations, then!

I've abandoned Name to a Face halfway through.

>83 rocketjk: That is intriguing, Jerry. Maybe that's how I'd heard of the name. I knew the name, but I had no idea there was a Bulldog Drummond book until LTer Paul Cranswick reviewed it.

I am listening to the audiobook version of The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag.

Visiting family for Christmas means lots of time to read--yesterday I read A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald and I've now moved on to Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker.

I finished reading Nom de Guerre by Jeff Gulvin. It started out gripping despite the overuse of characters and acronyms but it sort of lagged in the last third of a long novel which was a mystery as much as a thriller. The ending was not very satisfying and I believe it was done this way as a lead in to his next in the series....something that I personally hate

My next book will be a Jack Reacher thriller....I wanted to start the series in order but could not find a copy so I am starting with Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

Finished Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews. Haven't read a cozy mystery in a long time but this was just perfect and just what I wanted. Quick read, great characters, funny, charming and a great escape. Definitely going to be adding more Donna Andrews to my list.

Have finished The Crow Trap and Telling Tales - the first two entries in the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves. Really enjoyed them. Am now about two-thirds through The Adventures of Margery Allingham by Julia Jones.

I finished Mortal Stakes and then read The Gladstone Bag by Charlotte MacLeod.

Just started a post-French Revolution mystery - The Black Tower by Louis Bayard. So far not too bad. Nicely stylized Vidocq among the characters.

I started Runner by Patrick Lee. It's off to a fast-start and the pages are really flying by!

Continuing the three-book subseries of Agent Pendergast novels, featuring his miscreant brother Diogenes. This one is Dance of Death

Read Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson and The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris over Christmas

The Funeral Owl, latest in Jim Kelly's Philip Dryden series. For interesting plots, characters to care about and literate writing, is there anyone to top Jim Kelly? No one comes immediately to mind.

I've now moved on to Mad River by John Sandford.

I just finished the cruelest month by Louise Penny, I just loved it, I'm a bit out of order on the Three Pines sequence but I've just started listening to the brutal telling another Three Pines murder mystery.

I'm a ways into Tilt-a-Whirl and enjoying it.

LOVE the John Ceepak mysteries! I'm all caught up ~ I read them too quickly, they are addictive ~ and am hoping a new one comes out soon.

Read Black Diamond by Martin Walker. Just about to make myself a drink and start New Graves at Great Norne by Henry Wade.

I've now gone on to the third in the "Diogenes trilogy," namely, The Book of the Dead.

Started The Poisoned Pilgrim by Oliver Pötzsch.

>101 Storeetllr: I liked Tilt-a-Whirl a lot, Mary. I'm on board for reading more John Ceepak mysteries.

Just finished Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child. I enjoyed this book very much the style of writing by Child is easy going almost conversational.

I can see why fans of Jack Reacher hated the selection of Tom Cruise to be him in the movie - Jack Reacher (previously titled One Shot) . Cruiser is the antithesis of Jack Reacher...He is shorter, better groomed, didn't show the willingness to commit "good crimes" to achieve his ends and finally the movie showed Cruise's character as a loner...at least in this book Reacher works well in a team environment...at least in the team of his choosing.

I should read the book One Shot to make a better comparision but first I want to start this series at the beginning and read them through

Last night I started Ghostman by Roger Hobbs. The author's debut novel, it looks pretty good so far.

Just starting Winter Study by Nevada Barr. This will probably be my last mystery of 2013...

I've returned to European crime fiction in translation and am enjoying it. Really recommend Bad Blood by Arne Dahl... richer characters than I thought it would have (from TV version) and wry humour. Also just read the late Jakob Arjouni's Brother Kemal.... sadly his last book.

Eight Days to Live by Iris Johansen

A bit over halfway through Fer-de-Lance, and near the end of Die Trying.

Finished New Graves at Great Norne by Henry Wade and have started Corpse in Cold Storage by Milward Kennedy.

Over vacation started Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, which so far I'm not enjoying as much as her fantastic Out, but I'm liking it well enough.

Back to the Anne Perry Binge with A Dangerous Mourning. Gotta see how this William and Hester thing plays out.

Louise Penny read by Ralph Cosham is like snuggling up during a blizzard. Nothing beats it. Enjoy the rest of her books. Go, Three Pines!

Fer-de-Lance was good fun, and now I'm a little over halfway through A Conspiracy of Faith. It's got me hooked.

I'm about 55 pages into The Wicked Girls. So far, so good.

There is a new thread going for 2014...

The new thread is http://www.librarything.com/topic/163282