May 2025 MysteryKIT - Not My Country

Your brief is quite simple - find a mystery that is set in a country other than your own (whether defined by birth or residence).

For example, I have on my virtual shelves:



books set in China, Egypt, Ireland, Botswana, Rome, the USA, and Japan

If you feel so inclined, please add your choices to the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2025_MysteryKIT#May:_Mysteries_not_set_i...

My own choices are probably going to be A Capitol Death by Lindsey Davies, set in Ancient Rome and Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo, set in post WWII Japan

I have so many choices for this that I'll just see what takes my fancy! It will probably be something from an English-speaking country or a Nordic Noir, though.

Perfect! I already had the Swedish mystery Winter Water at the top of my TBR pile.

I have book#1 in a new series to me: The Face of a Stranger: A William Monk Novel that takes place in London.

One of our book groups is reading Brother Cadfael mysteries so I may select one of them.

This is the perfect month to read the second book in the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigations series, The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan which takes place in India.

I am planning on reading Deep As Death set in Finland by author Katja Ivar and Careless Love by Peter Robinson, set in England.

I am planning to read Leonie Swann's Three Bags Full, in which a flock of Irish sheep attempt to solve the murder of their shepherd.

I think I will choose The Searcher but I have many other options so I'll see where May takes me.

I'm in Canada, and doing one set in the US seems too easy, so I'll see what else I can find.

I wanted to read Blutmond by Katrine Engberg for this month's AlphaKIT but won't make it, so I will read it next month instead. It fits because it is set in Denmark.

...I finished Blutmond and really enjoyed it. I do recommend this Nordic Noir series, but unfortunately, not all of the books, including this one, have been translated to English. I read the German translation.

Three Bags Full turned out to be very much not my cuppa, so I'm moving on to Yukito Ayatsuji's The Decagon House Murders, a Japanese locked-room mystery.

The second of Seishi Yokomizo’s mysteries, Mord auf der Insel Gokumon, hast just been published as a paperback, and I snatched it up. Will read ASAP.

>15 MissWatson: But first, I finished Bretonisches Leuchten. This time the author takes us to the Coast of Rose Granite, which we have visited several times, and I wish I could pack my bags and go back there right now.

And now I have finished Mord auf der Insel Gokumon, set in Japan in 1947. It is very much a very foreign culture on this island of fishers, and thus quite educational.

I'm plowing my way through the third in the Millennium series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. It is set in Sweden.

Interestingly, in French which is what I'm reading, it was translated by The Queen in the Drafty Palace. This is closer to the original, The castle in the air that was blown up. This goes a long way in how we use idiomatic expressions!

I finished the Japanese mystery The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji.

I have finished Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado, first in a Spanish mystery series which I enjoyed quite a bit.

I completed by read of Deep as Death by Katja Ivar. The book is set in Finland and is by a Finnish author.

I have finished Slow Horses, set in the UK.

>17 MissWatson: Also reading Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo.

I have now finished Dead Lions, second in the Slough House series.

June topic is now posted: https://www.librarything.com/topic/370823

79. The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan ★★★★½

For centuries, the Koh-i-Noor diamond has set man against man and king against king. Now part of the British Crown Jewels, the priceless gem is a prize that many have killed to possess. So when the Crown Jewels go on display in Mumbai, security is everyone's principal concern. And yet, on the very day Inspector Chopra visits the exhibition, the diamond is stolen from under his nose. The heist was daring and seemingly impossible. The hunt is on for the culprits. But it soon becomes clear that only one man -- and his elephant -- can possibly crack this case. (description from the back of the book)

I loved this second book more than the first book. Ganesha the elephant has his own adventure that is endearing and leads to its crime solution. While Chopra and Rangwalla are great characters and investigators, I hope the series continues to spotlight Ganesha.

This story takes place in India.

I just finished Careless Love by Peter Robinson. Set in the Yorkshire Dales of the U.K., another good entry in this long running series.

I read A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari, an historical mystery set in England.

I have read six mysteries set in the UK (and I'm in the US):
Kill Claudio by P. M. Hubbard
Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth set in Australia.
Each member of this dysfunctional family appear fairly normal at first glance but soon make their true colours known. Many of the details are unconvincing making the entire story hard to swallow. I chose this book because I enjoyed Hepworth’s The Good Sister, however, this one is very different as it is dark, humourless, with nothing to lighten the tone. I have heard negative comments about the ending, and have to say I didn’t hate it. But I’m still calling this one a miss.

The Three-Body Problem

The mystery in this book isn't a typical whodunnit murder, but I found it intriguing nonetheless! This book is set in China.

This one has been on my TBR for a while. I really enjoyed this hard sci-fi tale which starts during China's Cultural Revolution and slowly unravels a physics-related mystery. There was a little bit of the science that went over my head (I know nothing about protons) but I was able to basically nod and accept the explanations at face value even if I wasn't sure about the actual science behind it. The tale was gripping and suspenseful and the mystery of what exactly is going on is slowly unraveled throughout the whole tale, and I enjoyed the questions the story raised about society and humanity, without being too didactic.

I did have some gripes; full review on my thread.

Finished one more for this month, The Final Curtain by Keigo Higashino, which is set in Japan.

Finally decided to join this month's MysteryKIT with 2 more in the Sebastian St Cyr series: Where Serpents Sleep and What Remains of Heaven. Yowza - I had no idea I could enjoy the next 2 books in a series reading them so close to one another!

I read 3 of Seishi Yokomizo's books from 1940s/50s Japan:

Death on Gokumon Island
The Village of Eight Graves and
The Inugami Curse

Fascinating to see how the traditional Agatha Christie-esque mystery transplants itself into such a different culture and society.

I've read a few more mysteries not set in my country:
In the Name of Truth by Viveca Sten (Sweden)
In Bad Company by Viveca Sten (Sweden)
The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (mostly UK, but also Spain and Egypt)
Buried in Secret by Viveca Sten (Sweden)
Not One of Us by June Thomson (UK)
Into the Valley of Death by H. R. F. Keating (UK)

Finished another British mystery this month, The Confession of Brother Haluin by Ellis Peters.

I read The Man in Black a collection of short stories by Elly Griffiths. All of them took place outside the U.S. Most in Griffith's usual UK settings, but one in Egypt on the Nile...fun!

I hope everybody had fun exploring the world beyond their shores