October 2023 - What Are You Reading?

Here's the spot for your October reads. Does anyone have any good recommendations for books in the crime/thriller/mystery genre that are especially suitable for the spooky Halloween season?

Currently revisiting Barker & Llewellyn, with Barker staying rather in the background: Blood Is Blood by Will Thomas.

Your prompt reminded me of a Tea Shop cozy: The Jasmine Moon Murders by Laura Childs. Jacket blurb begins: "The traditional Ghost Crawl in Charleston's Jasmine Cemetery is an annual autumn event..."

>2 gmathis: Oh, that's a good one! And you've reminded me that I stalled out on that series after the first few books because my library stopped acquiring them. I'm a big tea drinker and I really liked the idea of a cozy mystery series set in a tea shop. And the Charleston setting was enticing, too.

Am about 300 pages into Holly by Stephen King, which continues the detecting adventures of the title character who was introduced in Mr. Mercedes. I'm at the point where Holly has come to the attention of the bad guys. Of course they know they are bad guys, but she doesn't and now we have to see how quickly she twigs.

I realized that I didn't post my own current read. It's The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth. I got the recommendation from Australian author Jane Harper who has rapidly become one of my favorites in the genre, when she was a guest on the "Book Off!" podcast with another of my favorites, Elly Griffiths.

>4 Bookmarque: I read the first three books in that series, and hope to get this one from the library soonish. I'll look forward to seeing what you think of it when you finish.

>3 rosalita: The tea angle of the Laura Childs series was what bit me first. There were some in the middle of the series that were a little improbable, but then, most cozies are.

I’m visiting my parents and raiding their shelves. This means I read a lot of crime novels!

Just finished: A Noël Killing, by M.L. Longworth.

Next up: A World of Curiosities, by Louise Penny.

No spooky seasonal recs off the top of my head. I'll have to think on it.

Read through the newest Thursday Murder Club book, The last devil to die. It was still entertaining, but for once I predicted a couple of things -- but not when a regular character dies.

>6 rosalita: I've finished it rosalita and gave it 3 1/2 stars. As a mystery it works fairly well and the deterioration of the baddies (you know who they are from the beginning) is drawn well. Holly, while not my favorite character, is a good investigator and her methodology and conclusions appear solid. She gets there in the end in many ways. Barbara & Jerome are great as usual, there is more Barbara in this one as another potential victim - that's how it runs; will they get her or Holly? The Covid theme plays large and however you traversed that particular challenge, it feels realistic enough.

I assume there will be more books from the ending and some dangling secondary plot threads (Holly's mom) and I will gladly read them. Was pretty happy about this one remaining "terrestrial" rather than supernatural in nature although the true evil was possibly more chilling than without it. Hope that helps! It's a good start to my review, so thanks for the little nudge.

>10 Bookmarque: Thanks for reporting back! I've always thought Holly was a bit of an odd character to center a series on, but it seems to work and is certainly not the usual thing, which is refreshing. I do enjoy King's "non-woowoo" books these days — terrestrial is a good descriptor.

>11 rosalita: Yeah, I don't know why he has such an affection for her, but I'd rather have one of the Robinson siblings as a lead. She's just too exasperating. I know, I know, she's on the spectrum or something, but I just want to shake her sometimes. And so far I haven't seen how her differently wired nature helps with her investigating.

>12 Bookmarque: The Robinsons are both great characters, for sure. They definitely could carry a storyline.

I finished up Richard Osman's latest, The Last Devil to Die, which I loved.

Now I'm enjoying a reread of The Ghost and Mrs Muir by R.A. Dick. I first read it in 2013, and when searching my shelves for a suitable October spooky read, I kept going back to it. It's not spooky in the least but there's a ghost (of course) so I quess it qualifies. And it's a very charming comfort read.

>1 rosalita: Have you read Susan Hill's The Woman in Black? It's very spooky. I'm considering a reread.

>15 Copperskye: I have read The Woman in Black, a few years ago (so long ago I wasn't yet tracking reading dates but I entered it in LibraryThing in 2012). I don't remember it being tremendously scary but the atmospherics of the setting were great. I bet it would hold up nicely to a re-read.

Now, Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman? I read that one in 2013 and it still gives me the shivers when I think about it. Especially the first two-thirds or so, before we find out exactly what is across the river. Have you read that one?

Recent reads:
Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell
The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman - loved this
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
Fatal in My Fashion by Pat McGerr

Will begin The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth tonight.

Currently in crime: McNally's Puzzle, by Lawrence Sanders. A re-read for me.

I've just read Call for the Dead, John le Carré's first published novel and the first book of his famous George Smiley series. Although the story is about spies and espionage, it's essentially a murder mystery. It's a good first novel, I think, though nowhere near the quality of le Carré's (and Smiley's) subsequent novels, though already the writing style, I thought, was quite enjoyable. Foreign Office employee Samuel Fennan, whom Smiley has recently interviewed about a letter the office has received questioning Fennan's loyalty. And although Smiley assures Fennan at the end of the interview that he hasn't anything to worry about, Fennan commits suicide the next day. And when Smiley goes to Fennan's house the next day to talk to his widow, he feels that things are not adding up. Well, they wouldn't, would they? I thought it was good fun and a nice brisk read. I'm now interested in continuing on in the series.

Finished McNally's Puzzle and started two other crime novels:

The Raging Storm, by Ann Cleeves
Written in Blood, by Caroline Graham

Just finished the newest Maytubby/Bond mystery, Ten-Acre Rock by Kris Lackey. This plot centers around First Nations lands (and theft thereof) and people, with non-traditional protagonists and the occasional explanation of jurisidictional issues (county sheriffs, tribal police, & state police). By non-traditional, one is a single woman who is very capable (and tall) sheriff's deputy, and the other is a First Nations guy in the Lighthorse Tribal Police. Mostly in English, with a smattering of French and Chickasaw.

Leslie Meier,Halloween Party Murders, old but fun

About 20% in on Grimm Up North . Although I usually prefer first-person, this one is holding my interest. Grimm is a compelling character, written with depth and humor. His observations on Yorkshire (esp. All Creatures, Last of the Summer Wine, and.... cheese) have made me laugh out loud, even as an American whose only exposure to the locale is those aforementioned television shows.

I've just finished The Longmire Defense, the latest book in Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series about a Wyoming sheriff. This is one of my favorite series, and this entry is fully up to snuff.