Happy 2025! In January, we're reading...

I finished the thriller The Chef by James Patterson. Caleb, both a chef and a cop (suspended disbelief required here), is on a mission to divert a terrorist plot in New Orleans. Sadly current, this book is also an ode to NOLA, its vibrancy and amazing cuisine.
A fun, quick read.

Some one just suggested to me How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, but I haven't yet picked it up.

I'm reading 2 mystery thrillers -Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone and The Broker. Loving the first, just started the second.

>2 jillmwo: I enjoyed that one - a fun idea!

I’m reading Savage Run by C. J. Box, 2nd in the Joe Pickett wildlife ranger series.

I'm reading a Kurt Wallander classic, Les chiens de Riga (Dogs of Riga) by Hennig Mankell

Just read Rapid Eye Movement} and The Dreaming by Amanda Sheridan. About to read Dream Catcher, also by Amanda Sheridan.

Later today I'm planning to start Fidelity by Thomas Perry - I'm only a very casual reader of his work, but this is included in the Audible Plus catalog so what the heck. Funnily enough, it's about a guy named Kramer (Phil) and it's narrated by a guy named Kramer (Michael).

Currently reading and thoroughly enjoying Nine Lives by Peter Swanson. He has such a intriguing point of view.

Just finished Drift by L. T. Ryan.
Has a female protagonist who reminds me of Jack Reacher.

I am on my third MW Craven book from the Washington Poe/Tilly Bradshaw series The Curator, Washington Poe. Really loving this series.
Set in the beautiful area of Cumbria, Washington is a good lead character, and Tilly is a delight. Admittedly some bits are quite gruesome, but also has a dark humour I appreciate and very cleverly written. He has won a number of CWA awards, so I'm not alone in enjoyment.
I have raced through the first 2 books in the series, and already enjoying this one.

I have really enjoyed all the books I have read so far this year - hopefully the trend continues :)

The Botanist by Anne Wedgwood - deserves a sequel
Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
A Quiet Teacher (A Quiet Teacher Mystery Book 1) by Adam Oyebanji - highly recommended
Our Holiday by Louise Candlish

Currently reading: Two Times Murder (A Quiet Teacher Mystery Book 2) by Adam Oyebanji - also excellent...

I thoroughly enjoyed a short, fast paced little novel called My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It was dark but at the same time quite funny.

Have about an hour left to go in the audio version of The Night Shift by Alex Finlay and it's pretty good. The end will tell, but I'm open to more of his work. This is my first, borrowed from the library.

Read in January -
Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

A little over half-way through Extinction by Douglas Preston. Nothing really surprising, but fun and he does like a woman cop as protagonist.

Still binge-reading Deborah Crombie. Currently on Kissed a Sad Goodbye.

I have just finished Ian Rankin's latest Rebus book, his 25th in the series. Midnight and Blue was a fantastic read- one of his best and all the better for a large part of it taking place inside a prison. Apologies as for some reason Touchstones is not picking up the title.

>17 gmathis: I sure am eager for another from her.

I just finished Louise Penny's nineteenth Three Pines mystery, The Grey Wolf. It has all the pluses and minuses I've come to expect from her.

A very different, yet intriguing novel, translated from Polish- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Catching up with Barker, Llewellyn, and a Mummy in Heart of the Nile by Will Thomas.

>13 ted74ca: I really liked that one. It was so different.

I have been reading some crime fiction/thrillers/mysteries but have forgotten to post those here recently.
My list:
Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz
The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid
The Whispers by Ashley Audrain
The Push by Ashley Audrain
A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves
The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

We've been quiet around here this year.

I have started the first in the Shetland series, Raven Black by Ann Cleeves, and I am quite enjoying it.

Another new to me series I started is by Robert Rotenberg, Old City Hall which is set in Toronto. Love this one but as it is a little old, I'm finding it harder to locate the older books in the series. I may have to buy a book, lol.

I’m reading The Long Way Home by Louise Penny. I love her books so much and don’t want to run out!

Special treat for finishing a major project: A Bitter Feast by Deborah Crombie. I'm also pacing myself, as I believe there's only one more James/Kincaid novel after this one.

>24 raidergirl3: ooh, love the Shetland & Vera series by Ann Cleeves. Not sure if you've seen the TV shows but also amazing.

I always love Elly Griffiths's novels and The Great Deceiver, one of the Brighton mysteries series, was no exception.

I had a reread of The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer and Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie. Both really enjoyable. I had forgotten most of the Heyer and it's been years since I read the Christie.

Thoroughly enjoyed Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz

Found Brother Cadfael's Penance at a Little Free Library. Last one in the series, which I haven't read completely or in order, but I think I can pick up on the big-picture story arc.

I enjoyed The Drowned by John Banville but it is not a standalone and one needs to have read the previous Quirke/Strafford book, The Lock up in order to fully understand the plot.

It's been a long time since I read Peter May's Lewis trilogy but I really liked his return novel- The Black Loch

Just finished a psychological thriller: Days of Feasting and Rejoicing by David Bergen. It reminded me very much of the Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith that I enjoyed years ago.

Wasn't very thrilled by this thriller: Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens. I've read her novels before and I think they're becoming kind of formulaic.

I enjoyed the Lewis Trilogy, but DNFed The Black Loch. Too grim. Too hyperbolic. Too many assholes.

Am re-reading, well listening to Cold Case by Linda Barnes which is about 1/2 way through the Carlotta Carlyle series. They are a kind of comfort book for me. It was a relief after a few DNFs from the Audible Plus catalog.

Excellent recent reads include:

Silent Bones by Val McDermid
Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent
Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron

This week I finished two of the early novels in Deborah Crombie's Duncan and James series-Leave the Grave Green and All Shall be Well. They're sort of dated now, but I enjoyed them anyway.

Should we try to keep this alive next year? Maybe a new thread or two? I read a crap ton of books in this genre, but am also crap at keeping up with discussions. Just finished Don't Say a Word by Allison Brennan. It's the 2nd in her series featuring Margo Angelhart and her family (some with her in the private investigation firm and one a priest). There's also a focus on food and treading the line between getting the job done and staying within the law. Good investigation and a little humor and now, a touch of romance, but just a touch.

Yes, let’s start a new thread for the new year. I like getting new book ideas.

>39 Bookmarque: It would be great if we could. I get a lot of new author ideas from this thread.

>39 Bookmarque: I agree, and like>41 bobbyl: have also found some great authors through this thread. One of my new faves is Alex Gerlis whose Every spy a traitor first book in his 'Double Agent' series is so enthralling that even though I had read it before it still held me spellbound to the end.

Yes please - I do enjoy this thread. Perhaps just one thread for the whole year - saves someone having to start a new one each month...
I too have found some great reads here :)

>38 ted74ca: Between some lucky-find used book shopping and Christmas gifts, I've rounded out my Deborah Crombie collection: after I finish And Justice There Is None and Water Like a Stone (both set around Christmas), I now have the first and most recent in her series: A Share in Death and A Killing of Innocents.

I can highly recommend In the Blink of an Eye, Leave No Trace, and Human Remains (currently reading) by Jo Callaghan. These books are (UK) police procedurals that explore the use of artificial intelligence in solving crimes. The explanations and implications of AI are deftly handled, the character development is great, and the writing style reminds me of Ann Cleeves. Fingers crossed that there will be more in this series...

>44 gmathis: I've read this series in a totally chaotic fashion-not my usual way of reading a series!

>46 ted74ca: The first James/Kincaid entries I read in random order until I realized there was a pretty long sequential storyline. But they can be read standalone without feeling like you've been excluded from the cool table in the school cafeteria.

Complete shift of style and era on the TBR pile to cleanse my palate The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters and A Spy for the Redeemer by Candace Robb.