December 2023 - What are you reading?

Some might class this novel as historical fiction/family saga, but there was a definite mystery in the storyline and one with a lot of twists. I really enjoyed Homecoming by Kate Morton

>1 ted74ca: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton reads in a similar way, but reminds me more of the Gothic novels from the 70's my mom loved to read.

Lunch break book for the next couple weeks: Good Morning, Irene by Carole Nelson Douglas. That series has been retitled at least once, but I believe its equivalent is The Adventuress.

>1 ted74ca: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton reads in a similar way, but reminds me more of the Gothic novels from the 70's my mom loved to read.

Lunch break book for the next couple weeks: Good Morning, Irene by Carole Nelson Douglas. That series has been retitled at least once, but I believe its equivalent is The Adventuress. (Having trouble getting the touchstone to "take...")

I just finished LA Requiem by Robert Crais, part of his Elvis Cole series. We learn a lot about the background of Elvis's colleague Joe Pike. I had read The Long Goodbye quite recently, and it was interesting to look at the two first-person narrators and compare their views of the world.

Just started Night Without End, by Alistair MacLean.

Also dabbling in a short anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories, His Last Bow. I have read far more Sherlock spinoffs than I have the original canon, and for $2 at the used bookstore, I figured it was high time to rectify that.

I discovered the Ari Thor series with Sigló by Ragnar Jónasson. I enjoyed the decor in a small Icelandic village and the relationships between people.
Fun fact: Jónasson enjoyed France so much where his books were well-received that he published the French version of this novel before the Icelandic one!

>7 Cecilturtle: And then the English publisher actually used the French translation for the English one instead of going to the original. :)

>8 AnnieMod: LOL!

Currently reading the new Mick Herron, The secret hours. Apparently standalone, but still about the British Secret Service, with at least one character (in flashbacks) who will be familiar to followers of the Slough House series.

Currently listening to The Bomb Maker by Thomas Perry.

I've started The Watchmaker's Hand by Jeffery Deaver - the latest Lincoln Rhyme novel featuring our favorite nemesis. Will they catch him this time?

Finished Past Lying, by Val McDermid. I love Karen Pirie!

Next up in crime is The Red Right Hand, by Joel Townsley Rogers, recently republished by American Mystery Classics.

I just started Rhys Bowen's latest Lady Georgie novel, The Proof of the Pudding. These are wonderful for bedtime reading because I don't get wound up in them. I see my copy of The Mayors of New York, the latest Lydia-and-Bill, is in transit to my local library, so that will be up very soon.

Since I last posted I have read:

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen
Opal Country aka Treasure and Dirt by Chris Hammer - best of the bunch - 4 stars!
The Bookseller of Inverness by S.G. MacLean
Two For Sorrow (Josephine Tey Mystery 3) by Nicola Upson
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
The Secret History by Donna Tartt - couldn't finish it
Death on the Down Beat: An Orchestral Fantasy of Detection by Sebastian Farr
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz - clever, but didn't really enjoy it...

Will start Past Lying by Val McDermid tonight.

Because of catching up on "Reacher" Season 2 on Prime, I am working my way through the books again. Have finished:

Die Trying
Tripwire
Running Blind

And currently started Echo Burning

I have to admit I did some skimming of Tripwire and I recall being somewhat unhappy with it in a vague way when I first read it. Upon this most recent ... scan..., I think it is because of the perspective shifts. The previous books had followed Reacher's path and we discovered people and events along with him. In this one, a lot of time is spent looking at the world from the antagonist's point of view. And that can be an interesting juxtaposition, but... just did not work for me. YMMV

I just started reading the Woodlanders by Thomas hardy.

Sadly I have now finished all the Ruth Galloway novels by Elly Griffiths with The Last Remains I have so enjoyed this series and I'm going to miss Ruth, Nelson, Cathbad and all the rest of the characters. I will probably look to read some of her other novels, but for now I'm giving Murder before Evensong by Richard Coles a go as a change of pace.

>18 bobbyl: I loved the Ruth Galloway series and I'm going to miss all the characters, too. I can recommend her pseudo-series that all feature DI Harbinder Kaur to some extent. (I say pseudo-series because I've heard Griffiths herself refer to them as standalone.)

The first book in that "series" is The Stranger Diaries.

Re-reading R.D. Wingfield Frost series, beginning with Frost at Christmas

>19 rosalita: ooh thanks :-) More books to be bought, Happy Christmas to me!

>21 bobbyl: You are very welcome! Griffiths also has a series featuring a cop/magician detective combo set in 20th century Brighton (the Brighton Mysteries, but I never really clicked with that one. I know people who do like it, though. The first book in that series is The Zig Zag Girl.

Happy reading!

Past Lying by Val McDermid was excellent 5*s - first 5 star rating I have given for a couple of years :)

Have started Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson.

IJWTS that I watched the first season of the "Slough House" tv series last night, and it's not terrible. It was especially interesting to watch having recently finished The secret hours. It may have helped that I read the early books a few years ago, and some details have fuzzed away. Still, it might be worth seeing if you get the chance.

Just finished The ninja's oath by Tori Eldridge, the newest Lily Wong book. This one takes place mostly in Shanghai and then a bit in Japan. Lots of action, with Lily kicking ass with her Uncle and a friend. A smattering of regional 20th century history included, as how it was lived more than the political figures involved.

Finished The traitor beside her by Mary Anna Evans, a reasonable WWII spy novel taking place in Washington, DC. Barely trained young women set out to catch a spy in one area of the wartime cryptanalysis effort. A little period sexism, a little bit of romance (holding hands), and a bit more sexual assault (tame and unpleasant), but at least the female characters are intelligent and capable.

Now starting on the newest Pentecost & Parker, Murder crossed her mind by Stephen Spotswood.

I'm reading La Conspiration by Maggie Hall, an international YA thriller. It requires a great, great deal of suspended disbelief but it's fun travelling around the world and perfect for my sleepy, over-fed, in-between years brain.

A collection of short cases with Poirot & Hastings - Poirot Investigates - narrated by Richard Armitage.

Just finished and really enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman