March 2016: What are you reading?

Getting the new month started.

This morning I started Double Indemnity and might finish it this afternoon.

I did. Great stuff. Why didn't I read Cain before now? Why???!!!!

>2 Bookmarque: I had that same reaction when I read Double Indemnity yet The Postman Always Rings Twice is languishing on my shelf unread...

I am reading Rogue Male which I would consider a thriller.

Postman is equally good, but more brutal, less scheme-y if you know what I mean. The two "lovers" in that one just sort of bludgeon their way through the fact that she's married, while in Indemnity there's more menace felt in the intricate plot (and of course from each other).

Both of the fantasy novels I'm currently reading have a crime/mystery leaning: The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky and Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch.

I just started Murder As a Fine Art by David Morrell. It's a fictional look at the Ratliffe Highway murders that shocked England in the 18th century. This version starts Thomas deQuincey. Fascinating so far.

I'm now reading Risk No Secrets by Cindy Gerard.

I'm reading and enjoying The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie. I don't think there's a book in this series that I haven't liked.

I'm just about to start No Mark Upon Her in the Crombie series that >8 flips: mentioned. I agree that the series is consistently excellent. I'm a latecomer to it and I'm beginning to get sad that I'm about to run out of back catalog to read!

Finished Billingham's In the Dark on my flight yesterday. It is not a Thorne novel because Thorne just shows up for a second but it is a Thorne novel because it is the back story of Helen Weeks - who is really important in the last few books.

Kellerman's Breakdown is next.

I'm racing through A Quite Flame, one of Philip Kerr's great "Bernie Gunther" noir mysteries.

Reading Rock with Wings by Anne Hillerman.

I'm currently reading Booked to Die by John Dunning.

I just finished A Thief of Time from Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee series. A good entry, I thought.

I've just finished Elizabeth George's latest Lynley novel and it was a pretty good read: A Banquet of Consequences.

Finished Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas (Being a Jane Austen Mystery), by Stephanie Barron. Enjoyed it - 4/5. Have just started The Last Talk with Lola Faye, by Thomas H. Cook. So-so, so far.

I'm reading Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indridason. I thought the series was done, so was delighted to find this latest translation.

Finished Rock with Wings. Meh.

Started Hap and Leonard Ride Again by Joe R. Lansdale.

>17 raidergirl3: I have been putting off reading that one because then I really will be done with the series. How is it?

>19 leslie.98: I'm really liking it- I've missed Erlunder. But go ahead and read it because I think another book has been translated, called Oblivion. Not sure if it is another early book or not. I'm not sure either when it is being released.

>20 raidergirl3:
Into Oblivion in English :) Released Feb 2016. (and the Young Erlendur again - book is set in 1979 so later than Reykjavik Nights but still early)

And there is a new one getting out in Icelandic this year so at least one more coming down the road in English as well.

Plus there are a fewthat were never translated into English (the first two in the original series and the first of the young series) - I still hope we will see those as well one day. :)

>21 AnnieMod: thanks for the info! Glad there is more to look forward to. I'm liking the early book.

Just about to start City of Ice by John Farrow set in Montreal. I'm a big Louise Penny fan. I gather that this is a much grittier Quebec detective series!

Just finished Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes. It is the sequel to You and both books are excellent. I couldn't put them down until I was finished. Please read You first.

I am hoping she continues with her character Joe Goldberg, but if not she ended Hidden Bodies in a great way.

>20 raidergirl3:, >21 AnnieMod: Thanks for the good news! I will track down Reykjavik Nights at the library next time I visit :)

A Plague of Poison by Maureen Ash. It's the third, I believe, in a very well-written, believable medieval series. (Believable medieval. Say that five times fast!)

I enjoyed Martin Walker's Bruno so much last month, I couldn't resist starting the second book in the series, The Dark Vineyard.

>27 Copperskye: : I am also a huge fan of these books and have ripped through them since hearing about them on this group thread. I am relieved that Martin Walker is so prolific. I have just finished The Resistance Man published in 2013 and there are still 3 to go before I catch up. That implies that he is writing more than one a year but speed does not affect the very high quality of his writing. Incidentally a huge thank you to contributors to this group. I have found so many great crime writers due to fellow readers recommendations.

I've finished with Keeper by Greg Rucka and have started All Necessary Force by Brad Taylor.

I've started White Sky, Black Ice, set in northern Alaska, and it's quite good so far.

Am about 1/2 way through the third in the Lewis Island trilogy by Peter May - The Chessmen and like the others it's very atmospheric, personal and has secrets old and new.

The Hand of God by Philip Kerr is telling me a lot more about football than I want to know. Skimming, skimming. Were I a fan of the game with the round ball the book would be a fascinating read I am sure, and there are interesting observations on the way the young professional footballers ("a bunch of grown-up adolescents") are affected by the politics and culture of their own countries of origin and by those of the countries in which they play their matches.

Recently listened to Just One Evil Act and Believing The Lie. Next upCareless In Red Reading Finder Keepers-Stephen King

I, too, have been reading Philip Kerr, as I just finished A Quiet Flame, the fifth Bernie Gunther novel.

I've now started Morning Ran Red by Stephen Bowmen. This is a fictionalized account of an actual event, a multiple murder in Iowa in 1912.

Finished The Book of Paul which may or may not fit in this category. Still not sure. Anyway, started Signal (touchstone won't work for some reason) by Patrick Lee.

I liked White Sky, Black Ice, set in northwest Alaska, very much. I did a short review here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/219826#5506898

Reading Conflict of Interest by Scott Pratt.

Finished The Last Talk with Lola Faye, by Thomas H. Cook and have started The Patriarch: A Bruno, Chief of Police novel, aka The Dying Season by Martin Walker. Some of the "backstory" in the latter was unfamiliar, so I checked and seem to have skipped Children of War in the series, so that will have to be next.

I've started Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman.

Finished Black Plumes, an Allingham mystery without Campion!

I'm reading Til Death, from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series.

I take it that you are American. Over here we find any mysteries with baseball or American football equally boring.

>42 tendring: I have no idea who you are responding to.

>43 rosalita: Post no. 32, I think :) I find that a good writer can make what are potentially uninteresting (to me) topics, fascinating.

>44 mvo62: Ah. That certainly makes more sense than commenting on the book I posted about just above that, which was a police procedural set at a big Italian wedding. :-)

And I agree completely about good writers making me interested in topics I never would have dreamed of reading about otherwise.

I'm reading Too Big To Miss a cozy featuring a plus sized paralegal investigating a friend's suicide. Not that keen on it or cozies in general.

Even Dogs in the Wild - so far, good :) I've been missing Rebus :)

I am reading the 9th Martin Beck book, Cop Killer. I am glad that at some point I went back and read the first one, Roseanna; it is important to have read it before this one! Only one more after this -- I am sad about that...

Am onto the 3rd book in the Reincarnationist series. Only the second one for me to read, but I like them in a supercilious sort of way. They're over the top, not too emotionally draining and contain a decent amount of history, skulduggery and action.

Duh. the book is The Hypnotist.

I'm now reading Stealing Shadows by Kay Hooper.

Reading The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny. Fittingly the story starts as people in the village are celebrating Easter.

I'm back in Harry Bosch's LA for The Burning Room by Michael Connelly.

Just finished Assumption by Percival Everett. It was so weird and disjointed that I don't know what to think of it just yet. The disconnectedness was deliberate and so was the title. I'm not sure he makes the reader do too much of the work though.

I finished Morning Ran Red by Stephen Bowman. This is a novelized account of a real event, a multiple axe-murder that took place in a small Iowa town in 1912. The story is an interesting one, and it's mostly well told, especially in the book's second half. The narrative suffers from the fact that no protagonist emerges until about the midway point. Once things get going in the second half, the story moves along nicely.

Finished The Patriarch: A Bruno, Chief of Police novel, aka The Dying Season by Martin Walker, as well as Children of War by the same author. Will browse my shelves (both virtual and physical) to decide what to read next...

I finished The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo. I'm right in the middle of As the Crow Flies audio by Craig Johnson. I've also started The Killing Lessons by Saul Black. It's started out strong. I hope it finishes strong.

Trying out a new-to-me author with Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon. I tend to stick to cozies and historicals, but the writing is holding my attention.

> 57
I hope you enjoy the Donna Leon book. It's the city of Venice and the the Brunnetti family that I find of the most interest in the series rather than the actual crimes and their solving, although of course they too shed light on the culture of the city and of its denizens.

I've just read Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indridason which tells of Erlendur's early experience as a young Icelandic police officer on the beat and of those aspects of his character that will lead him to become the detective I know from other books in this interesting series.

Found A Market Tale, by Martin Walker on my Kindle - that was a quick read, and have started Beast in View, by Margaret Millar.

I'm now reading You Bet Your Life by Stuart Kaminsky.

Just finished The Midwife's Confession. Not sure it's a mystery, exactly, but it follows a lot of genre principles and structure.

I'm reading The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker. I think it's even better than the first book in the Bruno series.

>28 Maura49: I'm loving this series!

Just a few chapters in to Cold Betrayal too early to tell how I feel yet.

>58 Thrin: Donna Leon and I are getting along fine, thanks! Love discovering a new, prolific author that I've seen frequently at my favorite used bookstores!

The Killing Lessons was a really well paced police procedural featuring a female lead detective. The case centered on a pair of serial killers. I thought it was well done and I do hope Black writes another book featuring this team of detectives.

Started The Redeemer by Nesbo and the new Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye.

Reading The Killing Kind.

>65 luvamystery65: There's very minimal information out there about Glen Duncan's plans for a next book but I have seen initial rumblings that there will be at least another featuring Valerie Hart.

Further investigations reveal that The Killing Lessons was sold to many publishers worldwide as a two book deal.

>67 AHS-Wolfy: I really liked Valerie a lot. I also liked the team she worked with. I could see them in another book. It would be nice if they forge ahead with these characters, but if not it makes a great standalone.

I have tried a few times to start my library book Shotgun Wedding: A Sheriff Milt Kovak Mystery which I really want to read because it is set in Oklahoma. But after ~4 tries I am still on page 12... so I have put it aside to read Last Seen Wearing... by Hillary Waugh which I am enjoying much more.

I just finished The Stranger by Harlan Coben and have started The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor.

Reading Devices and Desires by P. D. James.

Just finished The Case of the Vagabond Virgin, a Perry Mason mystery. What a title! And the cover of my edition is pretty pulpy to go with it.

oooh Devices and Desires is a good one. Enjoy!

Am almost 1/2 way through The Steel Kiss by Jeffrey Deaver. Even though Lincoln has really been getting on my nerves in the last few books, I couldn't resist.

Started Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz and I'm really liking it so far!

Recently finished Beast in View, by Margaret Millar, Looking For Trouble by Cath Staincliffe, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

Has anyone read Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King? I am about to start in on it.

Have started working my way through the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke. Just finished Black Cherry Blues. And the Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Krueger. Starting Blood Hollow. Also recently read Dry Bones in the Valley. It was an Edgar Award winner for first novel, but I found it a little disappointing.

>76 srazz: I read it a couple of years ago and quite liked it. Not the usual King horror show; he plays the detective genre pretty straight and does a good job of it.

Reading Harlan Coben, Fool Me Once

Mr. Mercedes has been sitting on my shelf for a while. I am thinking about waiting until it is closer to the release of the third book in that trilogy to start reading.

Finished Devices and Desires. Enjoyed it.

Reading Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir.

I've moved on to Reliquary by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child; the work page is as follows:

Edit--touchstone working again.

> 82 Did you read Relic (also no touchstone for this one) first? Not entirely necessary if I remember correctly, but probably helpful. I thought Relic was more fun also.

Finished The Masquerading Magician, the second of Gigi Pandian's accidental alchemist series. It was fun to see Zoe and the gang again, especially the gargoyle. The book moves the story along a little bit, and introduces an appealing new character. Now I'm re-reading Iron House in prep for Redemption Road.

>83 tjm568: Yes, I read Relic first, and enjoyed it enough to continue with the series.

I am almost done with the classic espionage book A Toast to Tomorrow -- this is my first experience with Manning Coles. I remembered which book was first in the series incorrectly and got this one instead of Drink to Yesterday; by the time I had realized my mistake, I was already enjoying it too much to stop!

I loved Martin Walker's The Dark Vineyard and so immediately started Black Diamond.

Finished Hardcase by Dan Simmons which I must have read before. Starting Saturday's Child by Ray Banks which I certainly haven't.

Finished Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir and started the second book in the series, My Soul to Take. Really enjoyed the book.

I am starting Pale Gray for Guilt the 9th Travis McGee, having taken a bit of a break from the series...

I've started Criminal by Karin Slaughter.
It's my first from this author and actually, I am finding it hard going (which surprises me...)

Not a good start for her books I believe - there is a lot of back story from two different series that come together into that one.

I am finishing up The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo and started World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters.

NEW THREAD FOR APRIL - https://www.librarything.com/topic/220700

>91 AnnGirdharry: I read Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter last year and thought it was amazing. That was my first read of her and it was one of my favorite books of the year.