Mystery Max Trying to Keep it Simple in 23

It seems like the more I try to do in the challenge recording, the less I get done, so this year I am only going to have four categories!

LOL That was written in November. Here it is the middle of January and I've added three challenges.

The Butler Did It


In Chapter 2, Herbert Jenkins’ “The Strange Case of Mr. Challoner” (1921) was the first time the butler did it.

This is naturally where all my mystery reads will go.

1. Flashpoint by Linda Barnes
2. River of Darkness by Rennie Airth
3. The Blood Dimmed Tide by Rennie Airth
4. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
5. Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
6. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
7. The Witchfinder by Loren D. Estleman
8. The White Ghost by James Benn
9. The Black Cat by Martha Grimes
10. The Man with a Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes
11. The Old Fox Deceiv'd by Martha Grimes
12. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
13. After the Blue, Blue Rain by A. D. Price
14. Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh
15 The Case of the Daring Decoy by Erle Stanley Gardner
16. The Secret of the Chimneys by Agatha Christie
17. The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister by Erle Stanley Gardner
18. The Anodyne Necklace by Martha Grimes
19. The Icing on the Corpse by Mary Jane Maffini
20. Blue Madonna by James Benn
21. Arsene Lupin Gentleman Thief by Maurice LeBlanc
22. Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes by Maurice LeBlanc
23. The Dirty Duck by Martha Grimes
24. Jerusalem Inn by Martha Grimes
25. Bundori by Laura Joh Rowland
26 Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland (forgot to enter it when I read it.
27. Knocked for a Loop by Craig Rice
28. After the Funeral by Agatha Christie
29. Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh
30. The Case of the Worried Waitress by Earl Stanley Gardner
31. The Devouring by James Benn
32. When Hell Struck Twelve by James Benn
33. The Red Horse by James Benn
34. Road of Bones by James Benn
35. From the Shadows by James Benn
36. Proud Sorrows by James Benn
37. The Way of the Traitor by Laura Joh Rowland
38. The Samurai's Wife by Laura Joh Rowland
39. Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon
40. The Benson Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
41. The Canary Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
42. Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich
43. The Greene Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
44. The Bishop Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
45. The Scarab Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
46. The Kennel Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
47. The Dragon Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine
48. A Plot for Murder by Fredric Brown
49. The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart by Lawrence Block
50. To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey
51. Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie
52. The Mystery of Swordfish Reef by Arthur Upfield
53. The Way Through the Woods by Colin Dexter

Never Judge a Book by Its Cover


This is where all my other fictions reads will go.

1. The Confessor by Daniel Silva
2. Hammered by Kevin Hearne
3. Tricked by Kevin Hearne
4. Two Ravens and One Crow by Kevin Hearne
5. Trapped by Kevin Hearne
6. The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle
7. Hunted by Kevin Hearne
8. A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva
9. The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom
10. The Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva
11. The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva
12. Shattered by Kevin Hearne
13. Staked by Kevin Hearne
14. Isvik by Hammond Innes
15. Ships and Secrets by Bhat Boy
16. Scourged by Kevin Hearne
17. Harm's Way by James Bassett
18. The Eight by Katherine Neville
19. The School of Homer by Alexander Marriott
20. Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva
21. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
22. The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner
23. Braking Day by Adam Oyebanji
24. The Linden Affair by Martha Albrand
25. The Phoenix by Henning Boetius
26. Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward Beach
27 Whistle by James Jones
28 Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
29. That Others May Live by Sara Driscoll

The Whole Truth...


One of my favorite courtroom scenes!
This is for the non-fictions books.

1. Atlas of Lost Cities : A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations by Aude de Tocqueville
2. The Morse Code by Buckley Brendan
3. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
4. 58 Degrees North by Hugo Kugiya
5. Run the Storm by George Michelsen Foy
6. A Time to Die : The Untold Story of the Kursk Tragedy by Robert Moore
7. The Memsahib's Cookbook by Rhona Aitken

Alphabet Soup


I'm going to try to read an author from every letter of the alphabet - work my way around the bookcase - not necessarily in order. (I always take one from the closest section, and because my reading chair is closest to the A section that gets the most attention, the Rs and Ss are way across the room and often get neglected!)

A. Airth, Rennie: River of Darkness
B. Barnes, Linda: Flashpoint
C. Collins, Wilkie:The Moonstone
D. Doyle, Arthur Conan The White Company
E. Estleman, Loren D.: The Witchfinder
F. Folsom, Allan: The Day After Tomorrow
G. Grimes, Martha The Black Cat
H. Hearne, Kevin: Hammered
I. Innes, Hammond: Isvik
J. Jones, James: Whistle
K. Kurson, Robert:Shadow Divers
L. LeBlanc, Maurice: Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief
M. Marriott, Alexander: The School of Homer
N. Neville, Katherine: The Eight
O. Orwell, George: Nineteen Eighty Four
P. Price, A. D.: After the Blue, Blue Rain
Q. Quinn, Spencer: Dog on It
R. Rowland, Laura Joh: Bundori
S. Silva, Daniel: The Confessor
T. Tey, Josephine To Love and Be Wise
U. Upfield, Arthur The Mystery at Swordfish Reef
V. Van Dine, S. S. The Benson Murder Case
W. Waugh, Hillary Last Seen Wearing
X.
Y.
Z.

Thanks to Judy (DeltaQueen50) I'm adding another two challenges!

2023 Interconnected Monthly Reading Challenge

1. January: A Book That Starts with “A” or “The”: The Confessor
2. February: The cover or spine of the book compliments the January book cover: A Death in Vienna Kind of a cheat since it is part of the same series as The Confessor. Again, a lit building, entry.
3. March: The Title Starts with the next letter in the alphabet from your February book: Enter A Murderer
4. April: A different genre from your March book Isvik
5. May: The book is longer than the book in April The Eight
6. June: The title has half as many letters as your May book
7. July: Set in a different country or part of the world from your June book Shinju
8. August: The same genre as the July book Bundori
9. September: Turn to page 50 of the August book and your September book must have one of the words on this page in its title. The Benson Murder Case -murder - a bit of a cheat since I read this in early October.
10. October: The book’s title starts with the first letter of the author’s name from your September book The Samurai's Wife - S.
11. November: Set in a different time period from your October book Dirty Thirty from 17th century in October to present day in November.
12. December: Book has to be within 20 pages of the book you read in November. Elephants Can Remember

2023 Reading Challenge

1. Connection to Ireland: Hammered
2. Set during a war: The White Ghost
3. Read a non-fiction book: The Morse Code
4. Published the year you joined Library Thing (2010): The Black Cat
5. A body part is in the title: The Green-Eyed Sister
6. A post-apocalyptic story:
7. A book related word is in the title:
8. The book features a road trip: The Way Through the Woods
9. The word “Lost” in in the title: Atlas of Lost Cities
10. A new-to-you author: After the Blue, Blue Rain
11. The word “All” is in the title: All the Light We Cannot See
12. An item is named in the title: The Moonstone
13. A short book of 250 pages or less: Sad Cypress
14. Location is in title: A Death in Vienna
15. Science Fiction or Fantasy Written by a Woman:
16. A Direction word is in the title:
17. The title contains 5 – 7 words: The Man with a Load of Mischief
18. A pronoun is in the title: The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart
19. A Sword, dagger or shield in pictured on the cover: The Way of the Traitor 2 swords
20. “Love” is in the title: To Love and Be Wise
21. Read a Graphic Novel:
22. Finish a long-reading series: The Iron Druid series
23. Title contains a month:
24. Story is set in space: Braking Day
25. One of the 5 W’s – who, what, where, when and why – is in the title: When Hell Struck Twelve When
26. The word “Secret” is in the title: The Secret Servant
27. Title contains a quiet word – quiet, whisper, silence, hush, etc – Run Silent, Run Deep - Silent.
28. “ING” is found in title words: The Case of the Daring Decoy
29. A memory word in title – memory, remember, recall, past, when: Elephants Can Remember - Remember.
30. Set in a Mediterranean country: The School of Homer

Found a fun Christie Challenge at #readchristie They had two months without books chosen so I've added my own for May and October. Some of these will be rereads, but it's always good to go back to the books, because you think you're familiar with the story because of the movies/tv series.

January: Sad Cypress, Jealousy DONE Not sure that jealousy was the motive here, I would have said it was greed.
February: Partners in Crime, Blunt Object
March: The Moving Finger, Anger DONE
April: Sparkling Cyanide, Poison
May: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Betrayal
June: They Do It with Mirrors, Gunshot
July: Evil Under the Sun, Love and Lust
August: Dead Comes as the End, Fall from a Height
September, Appointment with Death, Hatred
October, Murder on the Links, Stabbing
November, Endless Night, Greed
December, Sleeping Murder, Strangulation

You seem to have everthing covered in this straightforward and simple set-up. Enjoy your 2023 reading.

>5 mysterymax: Oh, that's a great picture! Have fun exploring your shelves!

KISS - always a good strategy. good luck!

>5 mysterymax: That is great. Good luck on your readings in 2023.

>6 DeltaQueen50:,>7 MissWatson:, >8 majkia:, >9 mnleona: Thanks, I hope I can keep up this year. I really fell down on following the threads I wanted to follow in 2022. Hoping to take part in more conversations in 2023.

>10 mysterymax: I'm badly introverted. I tend to lurk and don't have much to say. I keep trying to comment more, but generally fail at it... darn.

Love the simplicity. Good luck with your reading.

Happy reading in 2023! Love the alphabet soup picture.

Good luck with your reading in 2023! My cousin Vinny is one of my all-time fav movies!

Happy reading in 2013!

I will have to read The Strange Case of Mr Challoner. Found it in Malcolm Sage, Detective, which is a free ebook.

>15 pamelad: Looking forward to hearing about it.

>14 Tess_W: Mine too.

Thanksgiving greetings to everyone. We have so much to be thankful for, and I think sometimes we do need a special day to remind us of that.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you read, especially the mysteries!

>20 MissBrangwen: Glad to have you on board!

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! I too am a huge "My Cousin Vinny" fan, and Marisa Tomei was great in it.

>22 christina_reads: I bought a copy of the movie (in those days a VHS tape) and one of my daughter's favorite expressions was "Oh yeah, you blend." She had the voice and inflection down perfectly.

Hurray to keeping things simple!

Stopping by with best wishes for your 2023 reading.

I like your simple challenge. It's a good way to keep it manageable!

"My Cousin Vinny" was a terrific movie!

Dropping in to wish you good luck and happy reading in 2023!

>27 mstrust: And for you as well! Hopefully our 2023 reading will be full of five stars!

Hope you have a good reading year, max!

>You too. I'd really like a book that grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go. I had lots of thoroughly enjoyable books this year, but nothing utterly fantastic. I read Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories and it was one that made me feel every should read it. But I wound up giving it 4.5 stars.

I am so looking forward to 2023 and seeing how this new challenge is going to work out, hopefully this will work as an incentive to read my own books.

Enjoy your 2023 reading!

>32 thornton37814: You as well! I'm hoping for a 5.5 star book.

Sleeping more than reading. Managed to get Covid over the holidays. Kicking myself because I didn't wear a mask to a Boxing Day get-together. Too many people, small room, had the mask on when I went, but it was putting it on and taking it off to eat or drink so much I finally gave up and left it off.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

I hope you are feeling better soon!

Bummer! Wishing you good sleep and quick recovery.

So sorry you caught the crud. Rest, rest, rest. Feel better.

>34 mysterymax: Oh no! Hoping you feel better soon.

sorry about covid, hope you recover quickly and aren't too sick to read!

Joining everyone else with best wishes for a speedy recovery!

All my best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Thanks for the get-well messages, everyone. It's slow going. I am getting better slowly.

So sorry that you caught Covid but it sounds like you are making a slow recovery. I hope you are able to shake it off soon and get back to reading and all the things you love to do.

>45 DeltaQueen50: Thanks for the thoughts. I have been paranoid about catching it due to my compromised lungs and my age, so I've been very careful. So, I'm thankful that it settled in nose and throat as opposed to lungs, and I now have a big pot of water steaming on the stove which is helping a great deal.
PS. I'm enjoying the challenge I borrowed from you so much, I'm adding your other one.

I think Hammered by Kevin Hearne got lost in the covid fog. I can't remember if I read it in 2022 or 2023, but it didn't get entered. I do remember reading it, lol, so I'm adding it to my '23 reading list. C'est la vie.

>46 mysterymax: Glad the Covid didn't get into your lungs - that's my fear (along with my age) as well. Have fun with the challenges!

Does everyone get auto suggested words in chat? This is driving me crazy! How do I turn this feature off?

I started noticing that but thought it was my computer doing it, not LT.

>50 dudes22: Someone suggested that to me, but the only place it is happening is in chat threads. I hate it when computers decide to do things on their own, like move your desktop icons around when you turn your computer off.

Sorry to hear you got the dreaded virus. I hope you are feeling well again.

>51 mysterymax: Auto-correct spelling drives me crazy. It's impossible to turn it off.

>52 VivienneR: I'm not feeling well yet, but I am feeling much better. It wasn't so much the spelling part that was making me nuts, it was that it was also telling me what word I wanted to use.

(I have a feeling that it is a conspiracy by computers to learn to do everything we do and make us redundant. LOL)

>53 mysterymax: I agree with your conspiracy theory. Sometimes I think my computer can hear my conversations and then shows me related advertising.

>54 VivienneR: It does if you have speech enabled! Or any other speech enabled devices on your wifi. (They talk to each other when you aren't in the room.)

>55 mysterymax: That's just creepy! Reminds me of those books for children where the toys play during the night while their owner is asleep. That horrified me when I was a kid.

I remember Salmon Rushdie asking the question what's important about stories if they aren't real. One answer seems to be that things exist in our imagination and in stories long before they become reality.

I hope you are feeling better. It's been a few days since you posted.

>58 thornton37814: I finally tested negative and feel better in terms of fever and other symptoms, but I am constantly going back to bed! Yesterday I got up, had a small breakfast, puttered, went back to bed at 10 am and slept till 4 pm. - Another day gone...
Thanks for checking up on me!

Finished The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - a true classic in the mystery genre. I did suspect the right person, so I was a little disappointed in that, however the getting there was certainly a twist. A classic for a reason.

>59 mysterymax: I'm glad to hear you're negative again. The tiredness lasted quite some time in my case, so patience may be needed.

Wishing you a speedy recovery! I took two naps a day when I had it.

The tiredness still seems to crop up for my husband and myself, and we had the COVid in August. Some days we just cannot seem to get going, although some of that may be due to the winter season and darkness and clouds and etc.

I've got too much to do to spend it tired and napping!!! AAARgh!

I hope you will be back to good health soon. I've been having long daytime naps too but it's probably the winter blahs in my case. Take care.

Well, here's an interesting development. I literally dragged myself to my acupuncture appointment yesterday and told my doc how I had this incredible tiredness. He did his stick pins in me routine. Came home, fell asleep watching a tv series I'm bingeing but woke up this morning and ALL tired symptoms are GONE. Doc Stickums is my hero. (Our nickname for him because my husband couldn't remember his name, doc likes it too.

>59 mysterymax: The nature of this beast, I believe!

>66 mysterymax: Cheers for Doc Stickums!

>67 Tess_W: It's 1:30 pm and I'm still wide awake and active.! (Translate active to mentally able to connect two words together, lol.)

>66 mysterymax: Hurray!

>70 rabbitprincess: Made it through the entire day without thinking about a nap! Depending on how bad the road is tomorrow, with our incoming storm, I will try for another treatment tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed. I think the horrible stuff you've been having has made its way here.

That's a great development! Kudos to the doc.

Glad you're feeling better.

May the feeling better last!

>71 mysterymax: It feels like we've had a snowstorm every Friday since just before Christmas!

While I have not had acupuncture done myself, I have heard it is effective. Your comments prompted a lively discussion with my hubby, and then an internet search for a local practitioner (did not find one).

>76 LadyoftheLodge: I've long believed in its effectiveness, (how could something that has lasted for so long not work), but I guess I looked at it as something for someone else. My daughter who is in NC began urging me to try it because the treatment for my arthritis wasn't even holding its own. When the pain in my knees got so bad that I wondered how I could continue I gave in and began considering it. (I'm not a candidate for replacement surgery) There a few doctors in our area and I feel tremendously lucky that I chose who I chose. He said at my first treatment that it could take 3 or 4 sessions before I'd know if it would work, and that it didn't always work for everyone. I'd barely been able to walk into his office (December of 21), but when he finished the first treatment, I felt like I had a new lease on life. I walked with ease. When I got home my husband said he could tell by just looking at me that something wonderful had happened. We've learned that sometimes the weather influence is stronger than the acupuncture and I just work through it. But now my 'bad' days are more like what my 'good days' used to be. I've never gone back to the condition I was in when I started. At first, he was treating only my knees and other bad joints, but we've moved on to work on my health in general. The treatment for allergies is another miracle he's performed. Acupuncture is NOT a one-time remedy. I go once a week, (except for holidays and snow- storms) some people go every couple of weeks, others go only when they need something worked on. I hope you can find someone, if not locally, at least within a reasonable driving range. It is worth a try.

Finished Tricked by Kevin Hearne, the fourth book in the Iron Druid series. I started reading this because I loved the Ink & Sigil series and I wanted the backstory. Tricked also contained the novella Two Ravens and One Crow which is a part of the story. It falls between Tricked and the next book, Trapped.

>77 mysterymax: Thanks for this information. My husband's visits to the chiropractor and allergy doctor seem to have reached their limits of effectiveness, so maybe it is time to try something else.

>79 LadyoftheLodge: Best of luck, let me know how it turns out.

23 hours without power. Another day of my life gone that I can't get back. Here, no power means no water as well as no heat or electricity.

>81 mysterymax: Oh no!! Did you have a snowstorm?

>82 rabbitprincess: Yes, we did and MORE coming today. This is what we get for a mild December without much snow. I think this weekend we're getting a portable generator hooked up. I'll still have to have someone haul it out of the garage when Rich isn't here and start it, but once it's running it will run pretty much everything. One of the problems without heat is that if it gets cold in the basement the water pump freezes and cracks, which means I discover water all over the floor when it thaws. Also there's no power to pump the water from the basement to the upstairs. Gravity brings it down from the well, but it takes power to get it upstairs. Drat. Ah, life in the country. Makes me appreciate Ottawa even more when I'm there. Of course, there a power failure means no elevator in the apartment building. No way, I'm walking down seven flights of stairs unless there's a fire!

Finished a re-read of Dog on It by Spencer Quinn. Read it about 10 years ago, so I'd forgotten most of it. Fun.

>81 mysterymax: I am sorry to hear that. I used to live in a forested rural area and had a whole house generator. There was always a moment of panic before the generator kicked in when we had power outages. Same thing--no power meant no electricity and no water pump.

>83 mysterymax: I think we're getting that storm too!

>83 mysterymax: We go it today in Ohio.....however, it was short-lived, schools canceled, some power outages, not mine! Same for us, we can't get water from the well when the power goes out. We do have a pool so hubby goes out and dips buckets out so we can at least flush! We also have a Coleman burner which we can use in the garage to cook with. Our problem is if the power is out due to rain, our sump pump goes off and the basement floods. We also have a gasoline generator which we sit in the garage and run the cord through the house to the basement and attach to sump pump. It will run the sump pump, the fridge, and the freezer. But as of right now, neither one of us can start it!
Take care!

>87 Tess_W: I hear you!!!!

Finished Trapped by Kevin Hearne, the next in the Iron Druid series. Next up will be the Agatha Christie for my challenge.

Finished Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie. The Suchet version is so close to the book, except for the courtroom drama.

>90 mysterymax: Ooh, I like that Agatha Christie -- I'll have to watch the adaptation!

January Wrap Up

Books read: 9
Books off my shelves: 100%
Fiction: 9
Nonfiction: 0
Average rating: 4 stars
Comments:
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins was over 500 pages.
Can't pick one as my 'best read'

First finished book in February is The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle. Archers, knights, squires, battles, love. The first edition was 1922 and complete with full page illustrations by N. C. Wyeth. I was worried it might be a struggle, but such was not the case. Musical, flowing prose, mixed with battles fierce and bloody, and a company of men who were true comrades. "Let us thank God that we may ever hold their virtues. The sky may darken, and the clouds may gather, and again the day may come when Britain may have sore need of her children, on whatever shore of the sea they be found. Shall they not muster at her call?" The End.

>93 mysterymax: I have The White Company sitting on my shelf. My brother praised it and passed it along some time ago. Sounds like it one I need to get to!

>94 DeltaQueen50: Written in the fashion of the time and clearly that is off-putting to some, but I enjoyed it.

Finished another one in the Iron Druid series, Hunted. These are like book-candy. I need to read other things too. By the time I finish the series, hopefully the third book in the Ink & Sigil series will be out.

I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Amos Walker, Loren Estleman's detective. Finished The Witchfinder. Not about witches, of course. In the 17th century, witchfinders were men paid for bearing false witness to identify a witch. Amos is hired to find a current day witchfinder, a man who created a untruth. Dead bodies, of course. Our detective gets the stuffing knocked out of him, of course, and there's a 'dame', of course. Good read.

Hope you are feeling much improved now. Enjoyed catching up on your thread!

>98 VictoriaPL: Thanks! Yes, I'm feeling much better. I was afraid I was going to have a long period of tiredness. So many people seem to have had that problem. But I told my acupuncturist how tired I was; he did his magic, and the tiredness was gone and hasn't returned...except for those nights that I say up reading til 2 or 3 am! But that's not his fault.

Finished A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva. I didn't stay up all night reading it, but I did read all day yesterday instead of writing. Big no-no.

Happy Valentine's Day to all book lovers! I remember Valentine's Day in school when you had those sheets of small valentines and you punched them out and tried to decide which one to send to which fellow student. Our class had a rule that you had to send one to everyone, and sometimes it was hard picking out for someone you didn't like... like the kid who insisted on calling me 'carrot top'. (To this day, I hope he went prematurely bald!)

Finished The White Ghost by James Benn. Billy Boyle and Katz, his Polish friend and sidekick are hauled out of North Africa and sent to the South Pacific to investigate the murder of a native Coastwatcher. John F. Kennedy might be implicated in the crime. Billy isn't happy with the assignment because he and Jack have history. I found this one harder to read because my father was in the Pacific theater, instead of in Europe, and it clearly was a much worse place to be.

Happy Valentine's!
I'm sure the mean kid wishes he hadn't been such a jerk, ha!

>102 mysterymax: - Hubby has gotten interested in this series which I mentioned to him after you mentioned one of them. I'm going to download a couple more from the library for him to take on vacation. (I think he's up to numbers 4 & 5).

>101 mysterymax: Happy Valentine's Day! I well remember school day enemies. I particularly took against one boy whose only crime that I can remember is that he had the same last name as me so everyone thought (or teased) me about being related to him!

>105 DeltaQueen50: Try having a last name like Folsom! And my school days were around the time Cash's song Folsom Prison Blues was popular. Lots of teasing material there.

Atlas of Lost Cities : A travel guide to abandoned and forsaken destinations by Aude de Tocqueville has thick, cream coloured paper, amazing drawings, interesting historical but little-known facts, places you know of, and places you've never heard of all come together in this wonderful book. History buff, map nut, mystery lover this book has it all. I loved it. Every city has some amazing fact, and the text is well-written, never boring. Did I say I loved it?

The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom. A great 600-page thriller. I didn't add much when I posted it because I was rushed, but I would like to add that this book has completely unrelated to the movie of the same name. The book involves a Nazi plot at the end of the war to perpetuate the cause into the future. An interesting aside is that all Folsoms are related, some closely and others quite distant, but it was shocking to see the photograph of Allan Folsom on the back of the book because he and my younger brother were dopplegangers. They could almost have passed as twins. Allan wrote five books before a premature death, all are thrillers, all are very very good, and I'm going to reread them all.

My latest read was The Black Cat by Martha Grimes. I loved it. Mungo, the dog was, of course, my favorite character. Insp. Richard Jury is pretty good himself, too. I enjoyed it so much I'm going to read another one straight away. British police procedurals can be either heavy or light, Jury leans to the lighter side and was a great way to spend a cold rainy evening.

Followed up The Black Cat with The Man with a Load of Mischief another Richard Jury mystery. In fact, it was the first of the Jury books and I loved the initial accounting of all the characters that I had met in The Black Cat.

Finished The Prince of Fire by Silva. My least favorite of the series so far.

HAve also finished another Silva book, The Secret Servant.

>107 mysterymax: I have noted that one as a future present for my husband. It sounds wonderful and he loves archaeology and lost places.

>113 MissBrangwen: I think he'll love it. None of the places are talking about in depth, but there's enough about each place to give you a hunger for more information.

Finished The Old Fox Deceiv'd by Martha Grimes. As usual the name of the book is the name of a pub. And as usual a great child character, Bertie, is part of the story, and his dog, of course. Melrose Plant managed to keep Aunt Agatha out of Inspector Jury's hair for once, for which I was grateful.

Finished two more Hearne books Shattered and Staked. Busy editing so it's cutting in on my reading time. An Agatha Christie is next.

Finished The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie. A Miss Marple story. She shows up so late in the story, it's almost not a Marple story at all. I'm going to check out the Marple tv shows, see if I can find this one. So seldom is the guilty party the person you want it to be...

>117 mysterymax: It's important to choose the right victim, as well. I hate it when I've grown to like a character and they're killed off.

>118 pamelad: Agreed. If you're going to kill off a nice person, do it quickly before anyone starts to like them...

Finished Isvik by Hammond Innes. This book has been on my bookshelf for years but I never got around to reading it. It's a passable three-star read about an expedition to find a ship stuck in polar ice. There is a mysterious character whose real purpose for being on the voyage is never really explained, and a horrible truth is revealed when the ship is located.

Also finished Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh. Inspector Alleyn goes to see a play and the murder is committed before his very eyes.

>121 mysterymax: - I just read that one.

>122 dudes22: You know what they say about great minds thinking alike! LOL

Did another quick mystery - The Case of the Daring Decoy a Perry Mason...

I NEED HELP!

For some reason my "Your Books" has print that is so small and so light in color that I can't read it! And at the bottom it doesn't have the big T little T. I've tried everything I can think of and nothing changes it. Pages like this one are fine, but not my catalog which is why I'm here in the first place.

Anyone have any ideas?

>125 mysterymax: I can't see how to make the print bigger, and if it was easy you'd have done it, but perhaps someone here can help: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/625/Frequently-Asked-Questions

>126 pamelad: If it were darker it might not matter so much, but the type is so faint I can't see it.

I am terrible when it comes to computers as I don't know the names for anything but I have adjusted the print on my computer to 125% which enlarges it to a readable size for me. How do I do this? Well, up in the right hand corner there is a symbol of three dots - I click on it and scroll down to 'Zoom' and click on the + sign until the print on the computer is a good size for me. I don't know if this is what you are looking for but I went to "Your Books" and checked - at 100% I could barely read the small print, 125% works for me, and 150% really made a difference and seemed to make the print darker as well. Of course this enlarging of the print is part of the computer not Library Thing so it works on everything.

>128 DeltaQueen50: That worked, thanks, but I shouldn't have to do it when it is just a problem on that one page. And it make a mess of the pages that were all right.

Finished Secret of the Chimneys by Agatha Christie. It was an Inspector Battle book, but he wasn't actually the one who solved the case.

>130 mysterymax: I enjoy the Battle books! The Seven Dials Mystery is a favorite of mine.

>131 christina_reads: Do you know if they ever made a film of the chimneys? I looked around a little bit but didn't see one.

End of April
This is so bad I don't even want to report it.
Added to shelves: 2
Read: 6
Gave away: 1
Read 2 in the Kevin Hearne series I'm reading and 1 non-mystery (the Hammond Innes one which really could have been so much better.)

>132 mysterymax: I don't know of one, unfortunately!

>134 christina_reads: Too bad, it would have been very interesting.

Here it is mid-May and I've done only two books. This is terrible. The first was Scourged the last of the Iron Druid series and the other was Harms Way by James Bassett. Harm's Way is a WWII navy story set in the Pacific. Four stars for each of them.

>129 mysterymax: That's too bad about your font size problem. I had a similar problem when LT launched some improvements not so long ago. I asked about it on the "Talk About LibraryThing" group and others were having the same problem, so it was fixed pretty quickly. Or, you could report it on the "Bug Collecters" group. If it only affects one page then it's probably LT, not your computer.

I don't know how I got so far behind. Well.. I do... finished the editing for the third book, went to the Writer's Police Academy in Wisconsin, and a down to reading only a few pages at a time before my eyes give out and since I was rereading The Eight that took a bit of time.

Anyway: Reading update
Have finished The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister by Erle Stanley Gardner, The Eight by Katherine Neville, The School of Homer by Alexander Marriott, and Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva.

I was rereading The Eight because I had just gotten its sequel, but when I started reading the second one, it felt like it was basically the same story retold and I put it aside. The Perry Mason one was good and so was Silva's next tale of Gabriel Allon.

The School of Homer however, was an ER book. While there was a mystery (a dead body type mystery) the book is more about Ithaca, Greece and its historic tales - Odysseus, Homer, and so there was a LOT of backstory. Very illuminating, if that is what you are interested in, but very distracting if you are reading it for the people and mystery, rather than the history. I"m in a quandry about how many stars to give it. I'm sure some readers would enjoy it more than others.

Finally back from Nova Scotia, one of my favourite places. But of the ten days we were there eight of them were fog bound. We enjoyed the Tattoo in Halifax and were amazed at the Top Secret Drum Corp from Switzerland, the US Air Force Honor Guard, and the Republic of Korea Army Band were mind-blowing.

Not getting much reading done: a re-read of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson.

Did manage to buy 10 books on the trip, lol. It's a sickness.

Glad you had a good time despite the fog! Also glad you had a good book haul 😃

>140 mysterymax: I guess we are suffering from the same malady.

>142 LadyoftheLodge: - It's library sale season so I think a lot of us have it. :)

>141 rabbitprincess: Planning an August trip to Ottawa. Are you going to be around?

>143 dudes22: Yes, just brought home a haul from a library sale on Saturday. I did not think I would find anything this time, but ...... It was indoors and crowded and we almost left but stuck around long enough to find two bags full of books, even though they are different from what I usually read.

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson was a great read.
Braking Day by Adam Oyebanj not so thrilling.

>144 mysterymax: I should be around!

>147 rabbitprincess: Busy on Wednesday the 16th? Or Friday the 18th? I hear our cohort in crime will be in France. I offered to carry her luggage, but she didn't take me up on it! I'm up for tea, lunch, book shop, whatever!

Read two from the library. I'd picked them off the shelf when I was getting audio books for our trip. Read The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner, and less than a week later I couldn't remember the name of the book or anything about the plot...that's how much impression it made on me. It was very embarrassing to have to ask our librarian what I'd read! I also read Braking Day a sci-fi book by Adam Oyebanji. Feeling that it had unfortunately left many aspects unexplored, I learned that it was considered a YA book. That surprised me because lately I feel the YA books are often deeper than the adult ones. Anyway, I'm afraid that Andy Wier has set the bar for me when it comes to sci-fi, and I will probably be disappointed by a great many.

After two rather lackluster reads, and the need to have something to sink my teeth into, I went back to continue reading the Billy Boyle series by James Benn. I'm reading them in order since my first time through was a bit hit and miss. Also it's nice to have a lot to read instead of having to wait a year for the next book and forgetting enough of the last one... this read was Blue Madonna and was certainly the strongest of the series so far. Billy has really undergone some changes since he was first sent over-seas to be Ike's 'cop'. Wars change people and his changes give reality to this great series. Benn does a huge amount of research for these books, and the great way he weaves the truth into his stories is matchless. People so often want a comparison...if you liked such-and-such you'll probably like this... I'd say, if you enjoyed watching Foyles War, this is the equivalent.

Blue Madonna takes place a short time before D-Day. Billy and his friend, Kaz, are in France.

>150 mysterymax: Taking a BB on that one!

>151 VivienneR: Hope you enjoy it! It's a great series.

Have finished Arsene Lupin Gentleman Thief part of my boxed set of Lupin stories. They are quite fun. Maurice LeBlanc was called the French Conan Doyle and like Doyle, his stories were published in a magazine. He was awarded the Legion d'honneur for his services to literature before he died in 1941. Like Doyle, he wrote other stories and books that did not feature Lupin. Lupin was not a detective. Instead he was a thief. A brave, honorable and chivalrous thief, but a thief none the less.

>153 mysterymax: - We've seen the series on Netflix and I have the first book in the series somewhere in my TBR pile.

>154 dudes22: I'll look for the Netflix series.

Finished the second Lupin book Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes. Wasn't quite sure who came out ahead in this collecton, Lupin or Sholmes. Quite fun.

>156 mysterymax: - I have the first book somewhere. Maybe next year.

Just back from a week in Ottawa. Had a great meeting with the Ottawa Coroner for some fine points of Baker Somerset's adventures. We had some great food, saw amazing fireworks, and got some reading done... The Dirty Duck and Jerusalem Inn by Martha Grimes, Bundori by Laura John Rowland and 58 Degrees North by Hugo Kugiya. 58 Degrees North is the story of the sinking of the fishing vessel Arctic Rose in 2001.

The two Grimes books were great, although I like The Dirty Duck best. Bundori is the second book in the historical mystery series set in the 17th century Japan. So far book books have been excellent. 58 Degrees jumped around a bit and dealt more with the people involved both on the boat, the men who joined in the rescue attempt, and the investigation that followed than it did with the actual events. The ship sank in four minutes, not giving time for the crew to don survival suits or send SOSs.

Many thanks to the person that mentioned Craig Rice. I finally got one, and I loved it. Knocked for a Loop. Don't know if this was the best one to start with but I will read more?

>159 mysterymax: Yes! I've read Home Sweet Homicide (a stand-alone novel) and Eight Faces at Three (book #1 in the John J. Malone series) and loved them both!

Finished Run the Storm by George Michelsen Foy. It's an account of the sinking of the merchant marine vessel, SS El Faro. A lack of proper understanding of the storm that would become Hurricane Joaquin, a category 4 storm was the initial tumbling block in a series of bad knowledge, bad ship policies by the parent company, bad ship conditions, and bad decision making by the captain lead to the deaths of 33. Depressing in that after the investigation, little was actually done to prevent such events happening in the future, and legislation passed was more lip-service than meaningful requirements...all boiling down to pressure from those with vested financial interests. I find it heart-breaking that greed always seems to overcome efforts to do 'the right thing'. Well, that's my soap box for the day.

A quick read - Agatha Christie's After the Funeral. I didn't think I had read it before until the very end. Then there was a light bulb moment. Four stars.

Finished A Time to Die, a non-fiction account of the Kursk Tragedy, written by Robert Moore. In August 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea. The sub rested at a depth of only 350 feet, and rescue of most of the crew would have been possible except for Russian political actions. The title of the book came from a poem written by Dmitri Kolesnikov to his wife.
"When there is A Time to Die
Although I try not to think about this,
I would like time to say:
My darling I Love You."

The good and the bad. Just finished Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh. One of the first police procedurals. Well written, good plot, very realistic. A solid four stars. So what's the bad part? This was an edition by Poisoned Pen Pres and part of the Library of Congress Crime Classics Series. The series "reproduces the original text, reproduced faithfully from an early edition in the Library's collections and complete with strange spellings and unorthodox punctuation. Also included are a contextual introduction, a brief biography of the author, notes and recommendations for further reading...."

It's the faithfully reproduced part that gives me grief, because of the notes. The original text did not include asterisks and footnotes explaining any and every reference to things that younger readers might not be aware of, even word definitions. Example: first chapter begins with the date - Friday, March 3, 1950* The footnote explains who the President of the US was at the time, that the Korean War would start in three months, that President Truman had sent 'advisors' to Vietnam, that women had returned to the homemaker role following WWII, the cost of an average home (whatever average was because it's not spelled out), the median average income, the cost of a television set and that the first credit cards were issued. That's all interesting stuff and appropriate as they state their purpose is "to start conversations, inspire further research and bring obscure works to a new generation of readers." There's even as asterisk and footnote following the word Kleenex, informing us that Kleenex was trademarked in 1924. I guess that's for the person who questions if Kleenex was around in 1950.

But for the person who wishes to read an early classic and enjoy the plot, the atmosphere, and the writing, all this is very distracting. My reading eye was frequently diverted once or twice per page and twice as often as four times on one page. Writing advice keeps saying, "don't divert the reader." So I have decided this series is for people who want to make a study of the history mystery genre and its classics, it is not for the person who wants to enjoy a mystery by one of the best.

From now on, I will remember to pass editions in this series by and search for old editions with tired and worn covers.

Hmmm that's good to know about the Library of Congress Crime Classics series.

>164 mysterymax: So much detail in a footnote? They must use up half the page. Not a nice way to treat a reader.

>165 rabbitprincess: >166 MissWatson: Fortunately I have another Waugh book waiting that is an old hardcover copy that I found on Thriftbooks.

Finished The Case of the Worried Waitress by Erle Stanley Gardner. I have to admit that I thought this was an early Perry Mason story because of the writing. I'm not sure why I felt that the interactions between Perry and Della were more formally presented than usual. So I assumed that it was an earlier case, but I found that it was the opposite...the 77th Perry Mason novel, one of the last ones.

>164 mysterymax: I came across the same thing in A Gentle Murderer by Dorothy Salisbury Davis. There was a footnote for the very first line: Bless me father for I have sinned. As if you'd need an explanation!

>164 mysterymax: Interesting. Who was the publisher? Was it part of the LOC series? I feel like they're an insult to my intelligence. If I don't know what something means, if it makes a difference to understanding the story, I can look it up myself. I think it's catering to this 'instant' gratification need that seems to be prevalent today. Don't make them look it up, give them the answer. I don't think footnotes belong in mystery fiction...or any fiction for that matter. You could always provide a section of notes in the back for people who wanted things explained. But that asterisk business is very off-putting.

Just finished The Devouring by James Benn in my effort to reread the Billy Boyle series in order and close enough together that the last one is still in my memory when I start reading. It was, for me, one of the most interesting because I had come across most of the information Billy learns about US companies doing business with German companies during the Second World War via Switzerland when I was researching my third book which is at the publisher's now. Their "neutrality" is largely a myth; there were established, but quiet ties, due to the financial and business ties between Switzerland, the International Red Cross and Nazi Germany It's terrible when you grow up and find out that the white hats on your heroes are really a very muddy brown.

>170 mysterymax: Same series, Library of Congress Crime Classics. I read it for NetGalley and commented on the unnecessary footnotes in my review.

>172 pamelad: Good to know. It was the Kleenex footnote that was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

Finished Solemn Graves the next Billy Boyle. This one wasn't my favorite but it was still a wonderful read. I'm beginning to think that my challenge next year will be to read a set number of series all the way through from first to latest. I'm quite enjoying revisiting Billy Boyle.

When Hell Struck Twelve by James Benn is the most powerful Boyle book so far in the series. While it is difficult to read due to the descriptions of the carnage of war, it is important for that very reason. War is hell, and it is too easy to dismiss it when it is far away. Diane (Billy's love) is once again captured. Kaz (his friend) has a bad heart. They are in Paris when it is liberated. Tremendous read.

>170 mysterymax: I read the same LOC publication of Waugh's book and while the notes didn't affect my enjoyment, they were definitely unnecessary. By including notes it appeared LOC was trying to give the book some gravitas or significance.

ETA Mine was an ebook and I believe the notes didn't annoy me as much because the asterisks were too small to be noticed and it became relatively easy to ignore the notes.

>176 VivienneR: LOL Insulting my intelligence isn't the way to impress upon me the book
s significance. It's been said by more than one person that there is more truth in fiction than in non-fiction, and certainly fictions (especially mysteries) reveal more about the human condition than does non-fiction so I accept the book's importance, but those footnotes are just too much! It's good to know that the entire series seems to be done with that format, so it will be easy to avoid them.

Finished another Billy Boyle - I'm almost at the end. Benn can't write them fast enough for me. The Red Horse involved murders at a hospital set aside for those in the spy arena who had secrets that were too dangerous to let the patients be at a regular hospital, whether the condition was medical or mental.

And what did I find in Chapter 32? A reference to the German company SIEMENS. I first came across them researching for my first book, One Bad Day After Another, which was about fraud, bribery and illegal activity in the military equipment industry. (Siemens was fined the largest fine in history for bribery) In the latest book (which is at the publisher) Siemens pops up again as having built "Kurt" the weather station that Germany planted in Labrador during WWII, and again as participants in the building and operations of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Here they are in Benn's book building the V2 rockets at the Ravensbruck concentration camp with labor supplied by people the Gestapo rounded up.

The Billy Boyle series has become like binge-watching your favorite show! I've been up until two or three each night and grab the next one as soon as I finish. Unfortunately I'm almost at the end of all the ones published so far. Road of Bones takes Billy, Kaz, and Big Max to Russia.

As one of the small number of licensed female glider pilots in Canada, the Night Witches have always been of special interest to me. Benn includes them in this episode when Billy flies with one of them. The Night Witches were one of three all-female Russian air force units during WWII. They flew bi-places to their German targets, cut their motors and noiselessly glided to their target before dropping their bombs. They terrorized the Germans who called them Night Witches because the only sound you heard was the wind over the canvas wings - something like the quiet brushing of a broom.

There isn't as much graphic detail of the huge human devastation in this book, compared to When Hell Struck Twelve but the cost of war is made clear when one character explains he was sent work on the road of bones... a road built by forced labor to access gold mines in the far north-east of Russia where winter temperatures were -50 F and the land was too frozen to dig graves when workers died so the were buried into the road as it was built.

From the Shadows by James Benn deals with the different resistance groups in France. Billy, Kaz, and Big Mike are sent to find traitors.

With the end of Proud Sorrows I know have to wait for the next Billy Boyle. Bummer. This was more like a traditional mystery than most. English village full of secrets, some war related some not. Billy has a traditional reveal at the end.

The Memsahib's Cookbook by Rhona Aitken is a delight. Recipes from the days of the Rau with stories written in 1893 by Edward Hamilton Aitken. Not a book for anyone who feels that a book written in 1893 should be politically correct by 21st century standards, but which are present with a gentle touch of one who made India his true home during that period. The recipes are good as well.

The Way of the Traitor by Laura Joh Rowland is the third book in her excellent historical mystery series.

>179 mysterymax: On your recommendation I've added a few Billy Boyle books to my collection. The library don't have the complete series so I bought the first in the series today. Looking forward to it.

>184 VivienneR: It's really good to read them in order as they follow the time line of the war. I hope you enjoy them, the research is in depth and easily woven into the story. They really show the stupidity of war. Love, love the characters.

Finished The Samurai's Wife by Laura Joh Rowland. This is the fourth book in her historical mystery series of 17th century Japan. Sano is now married, and he must form an alliance with his biggest enemy, the chamberlain Yanagisawa.

Finished Pietr the Latvian which is the first Maigret book by Simenon. Interesting to see how much Maigret evolved over the years and how the books gained depth. The biggest disadvantage to English readers is that Simenon's books were translated by a variety of people and so you're never really sure if the book you're reading is actually better (or worse) than others because it could be in the translation. I became aware of this because Camilleri had the same translator for all the Montalbano books and the consistence was very evident.

It seems Martha Albrand wrote "romantic espionage." I've just finished The Linden Affair. The reader knows early on who the traitor is, you're wondering how he will be stopped. I think "romantic espionage" is the spy genre's answer to "cozy mysteries."

>188 mysterymax: I must say, "romantic espionage" sounds very appealing to me!

>189 christina_reads: Ditto that! Is that similar to "romantic suspense?"

>190 LadyoftheLodge: I don't think so. Suspense can cover a pretty wide range of stuff. Espionage is pretty specific...spies, double agents, Iron Curtain, Russian agents, German agents, border crossings...all that stuff. So far, the Albrand books I've read the romance is because the spy/agent meets a woman during his work and falls in love and they work together.

In The Linden Affair the agent is posing as a newspaper report who is covering a clandestine release of political prisoners - one of whom has been his source. While waiting at the border he meets a young woman who is waiting for her father who is supposed to be among the people released. Things go wrong, their paths are crossed, etc.

One of the better mysteries I've read this year is A Death in a Town by Hillary Waugh. The story of the rape and murder of a young teenager is told through different eyes. I had two suspects: one was guilty of something else but not of this crime, the other wasn't guilty. The ending was a great twist. A very good read.

Have started another series, this one by S. S. Van Dine. Not sure yet how I feel about the series. The first one The Benson Murder Case was a good mystery, but parts were tedious.

The Canary Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine is the second in the Philo Vance series. Must say, I liked this one more than the first. It was a 'locked room' mystery, and although I had part of the method (which is always a big part of a locked room) I didn't have the culprit worked out. Must take time away from the series to read an ER book and the new Stephanie Plum book that arrived yesterday. I need a laugh, so I may read it first.

Well, all life activities had to come to al halt so I could consume, in one big gulp, the new Stephanie Plum episode Dirty Thirty. Steph wasn't the disaster of a bounty hunter like she usually is. She managed to bring in her felons with losing more than one car, which was disappointing. I hope she has #31 almost finished.

>194 mysterymax: I need a laugh too so maybe I'll pick up a Stephanie Plum book. It's been more than a month of RL things going awry for me, and if anyone can, Stephanie will be able to lift my spirits.

>196 VivienneR: I meant to say she only loses one car! I'm always amazed at the outlandish ways that she can have cars demolished. So only losing one car was a downer, but you are 100% right, she can make you laugh. It was only a few months ago, it seems, that I was hoping that 2023 would be better than 2022. Now we're almost at the end of 22 and I wonder if it is too late to hope for a miracle! I may spend the month reading Plum from 1 to 30!

Still on the Van Dine books. The next in the series is a real Christie type. Family, doctor, etc. all in the big mansion. No clues, everyone with a motive. I had the villian figured, but was also a bit upset with Van Dine because he brings in an important clue at the end. Not Fair! This one was The Greene Murder Case.

Simply adding the review I posted for my last read The Phoenix by Henning Boetius. I decided to review it because the only English review have it a very low rating and review. I felt the book was excellent.

As a rule, I don't enjoy books that mess around with the time line, but in this case it works.

This book sat on my bookshelf for the longest time, and survived several cullings of books that I removed from my collection. I would look at it and think, "You're never going to read this, you should remove it." But then I would put it back on the shelf. Then, two days ago, I decided, "Give it 2o pages, if you're not hooked by then give it away." What on earth made me wait so long?

I loved the description of sailing and its relationship to flying a zeppelin airship. The story kept me in its grip and never did I find the technical descriptions boring or difficult to understand. This book is a keeper. This Hindenberg disaster happened five years before I was born, but I grew up with it as a recent past, shocking, terrible disaster. Next to the bombing of Pearl Harbour, and the kidnapping of the Lindenberg baby it was the most traumatic event of life at the time.

Boetius' book centers around the lives of two men - one a passenger, one a crewman. Their lives are intertwinned from the beginning, little do they know it. Boetius also formulates a thoroughly plausible explaination of how - and why - the disaster occurred.

Finished The Bishop Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine. This was the most complex one so far, murders based on nursery rhymes, mathematicians, and chess are all involved. And the murderer was not the person I had suspected.

Two more books done...Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach and The Dragon Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine. The first is a classic in submarine novels and the second was a treat because I firmly believe that dragons once existed. Philo Vance is faced with a seemingly impossible disappearance, one that even has Sergeant Heath wanting Philo's help.

(I enjoyed Run Silent, Run Deep more than Dust on the Sea, also by Beach, because it was less technical.)

>201 mysterymax: Good to know that Dust on the Sea is more technical, in case I'm tempted ;)

>It wasn't so technical that it ruined the story, it's just that he describes every bit of what happens with the sub...for example, he details the raising of the periscope or venting of tanks...but it was an amazing story. If I were you I'd read it and just skip over any parts you think you don't need to know!

A Plot for Murder by Fredric Brown was a fun read. Imagine being a radio script writer and having a batch of possible murder mystery plots to suggest a new radio program and then opening a newspaper to learn that one of your plots has been used to carry out a real murder. Coincidence maybe, until a second death also copies one of your plots. Bill Tracy needs to stay one stop ahead of the cops till he figure this out. An aside - I love the pulp fiction covers, they almost never have anything to do with the plot! Well Tracy does carry a female, but she's fully clothed and only drunk. Such fun. Exactly what pulp fiction should be... it was never meant to be literary, it was just a good read. None of it could be considered politically correct in this day and age, but I'm willing to say that's the norm for the period and just enjoy the story.

>204 mysterymax: That sounds like a great plot idea! I love the pulp fiction covers too. Yes, they are totally inappropriate for the current times but some of them, especially the sci-fi ones, are so hilarious.

>204 mysterymax: Fredric Brown chose some great titles e.g. The Lenient Beast, We All Killed Grandma and The Fabulous Clipjoint. I've enjoyed everything of his that I've read, so will look for A Plot for Murder.

>206 pamelad: The one I want to get my hands on is The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches. I mean!?!?!?!?

>205 mathgirl40: Scantily dressed women, a gun... what more does one need? But my favourite cover is on a more recent book...from Hard Case Crimes... a reprint of Lawrence Block's The Girl With the Long Green Heart. They always have such long legs...maybe that's envy since mine are so short, lol. It's a great read, a con game with a twist I didn't see coming.

I'm trying to enter my movie collection...something to do when I have writer's block!

>207 mysterymax: That is an amazing title!

The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart by Lawrence Block was picked up to satisfy one of my challenge places. I love the Bernie Rhodenbarr books. He has great one-liners and mad-cap plots. 2024 will see me reading the series through in order. "Of all the bookstores in all the towns in all the world, she walked into mine."

>207 mysterymax: While searching for The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches (not sighted) I found a lot of Lawrence Block's books on KoboPlus, including The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown (like you, I'm a fan of Bernie Rhodenbarr) and >208 mysterymax: The Girl with the Long Green Heart, which I have added to my huge pile of downloaded KoboPlus books.

Enjoy your Bernie Rhodenbarr re-read!

Thinking about next year's reading! It brought me around to what I've already read, so I made a list!

The Best Reads of the Last 12 Years
(in no particular order)

1. Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz
2. Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead
3. Runner by Patrick Lee
4. The Martian by Andy Weir
5. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
6, The Baker's Secret by Stephen Kiernan
7. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
8. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
9. Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. MacDonald
10. The Finest Hours by Michael J. Touglas
11. No Time to Spare by Ursala K. Le Guin
12. Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Berry

***Kudos to Andy Weir for having TWO books on the list!

I got The Baker's Secret after you mentioned it was the best book you'd read since joining LT, but I still haven't gotten to it. I've put it on the list for next year.

>214 dudes22: Hope you enjoy it!

Read Whistle by James Jones. A sad book about four Army soldiers sent home because of their wounds and the depression they all went through.

An Agatha Christie that I REALLY enjoyed even though I knew the solution from seeing the movie, Elephants Can Remember. Not sure why I found it more enjoyable that other Christie books, but I did.

>217 mysterymax: That is one I haven't read in years, and I can no longer remember anything about it, including who the killer is...so, definitely time for a reread!

Finished Josephine Tey's To Love and Be Wise as well as Arthur Upfield's The Mystery of Swordfish Reef. I didn't enjoy the Tey book as much as I had expected, but the Upfield book more than made up for it. Upfield's policeman is an Australian half-caste named Napoleon Bonaparte, called Bony by his friends. In this one, Bony leaves his normal desert where his aboriginal roots make him so capable and is trying to trace what happened to a missing boat. He learns to swordfish. The whole thing is a delight.

I'm beginning to wonder if 2023 damaged my brain. Three of the great writers when it comes to mysteries - Tey, PD James, and Colin Dexter - and I found them all tedious and lackluster. I just did Dexter's The Way Through the Woods and I could barely read it. I wasn't a big fan of Morse on tv but figured the books would be better. I'm going to read my new Sara Driscoll FBI K9 book so that I know I can end the year on a high note.

End of the Year Meme

Fill in the blanks using the book titles of the books you read over the year:

1. Describe Yourself: The Secret Servant

2. Describe How You Feel: Knocked for a Loop

3. Describe Where You Currently Live: 58 Degrees North

4. If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Jerusalem Inn

5. You favorite form of transportation is: Two Ravens and One Crow

6. Your favorite food is: The Icing on the Corpse

7. Your favorite time of day is:The Day After Tomorrow

8. Your best friend is: The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart

9. You and your friends are: Shadow Divers

10. What the weather is like: Run the Storm

11. You fear: The White Ghost

12. What is the best advice you have to give: To Love and Be Wise

13. Thought for the Day: Elephants Can Remember

14. What is life for you: A Plot for Murder

15. How would you like to die: A Death in Vienna

16. Your soul’s present condition: Run Silent, Run Deep

17. What was 2023 like for you: The Morse Code

18. What do you want from 2023: All the Light We Cannot See

Starting a thread where, hopefully everyone will post their memes!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356298

>221 mysterymax: Thanks for creating a new thread. I will be working on mine tomorrow. Hopefully, you only ate the icing and not the whole corpse.

For some unknown reason I had a mental breakdown, and realizing that I needed an author beginning with ""O" I took George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four. What a dismal way to end the year!

>222 lowelibrary: The icing was that yummy sour cream icing, like on carrot cake!

I'm finishing the year with That Others May Live by Sara Driscoll, going out on a high note. I love this series. Meg and her FBI K9 dog Hawk are my favorite K9 duo. Can't wait for the next one!

Year End:
I would like to have read more, but writing takes up more time than reading. I finished the year with 89 books read, no 5.0, and seven 4.5 rating. I did manage to read a couple of series start to finish: The Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne and the Billy Boyle series by James Benn. I made a significate run at Daniel Silva's series but only got about half-way through, if that. It was an enjoyable year. I only had one read that was a 2.5 stars.

Books Added to the Collection: 60

>220 mysterymax: If it helps, I have also been underwhelmed by P.D. James and have found Josephine Tey a very mixed bag (thus far, Brat Farrar is the only one of her books I've truly enjoyed). So you're not alone!

>221 mysterymax: I enjoyed the one where he potentially solves a mystery from history while he's laid up in the hospital.

>227 mysterymax: That one's my favourite Tey as well (The Daughter of Time). I haven't got on with Book Morse either. "My" Morse is Shaun Evans as Endeavour.

>228 rabbitprincess: Agreed. Yes, The Daughter of Time... I was having one of those senior moments when I wrote that LOL.