What We Are Reading - Mysteries

Hard-core mysteries, police procedurals, cozy mysteries, we do not care, all we want to know is who done it and is it worth reading about it?

I've been working my way through Agatha Christie's complete bibliography, including her Westmacott's, except for her poems and plays. I hope to finish reading them in 2009.
I just love cozy mysteries! For some reason I get too spooked/grossed out when I try to read anything 'harder'.
After I'm done with Christie I plan to read Ngaio Marsh. I frequently take breaks for the many non-fiction books I love though.

Currently in the middle of In the Woods by Tana French - a selection of my book club. The crimes are hard-core but the book itself only semi so.
Only a tepid recommendation from me - one detective involved in a case in which he has no business doing so, relationships ill defined in spite of pages of description. I am not a huge mystery reader so I may be missing the merits here.

#3 In the Woods has been recommended to me by several people, and I haven't picked it up yet. Yours is not the first lukewarm comment I've heard on it, either. As an avid mystery reader I think your criticisms sound quite valid. There's no excuse for sloppy writing, whatever the genre. And I hate it when there's a character who doesn't belong, just stuck in there to serve the author's purpose. This book isn't climbing up my TBR stack very fast.

I generally read at least one mystery a week, but mostly re-reads because I'm not sure who to start next. Recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I really like cozys, and have all of Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers and Martha Grimes. Have some Churchill, Cross, Davidson etc . . .

>5 leslie.holm:: Mystery Recommendations, in no particular order...

Dorothy Simpson's Luke Thanet series (first book The Night She Died) or Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen series (don't remember which was first)—you seem to like British-based books

Minette Walters or Laurie R. King—both excellent mystery writers, though neither would be classified as "cozy"

Since you like Christie, you may like H. R. F. Keating, either his Inspector Ghote books (first The Perfect Murder) or (my favorite) The Murder of the Maharajah

Some American "cozy-ish" authors: Jane Haddam's books starring Gregor Demarkian (first Not a Creature was Stirring) are fun, as are Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott books (first Bootlegger's Daughter)

Kerry Greenwood does a light-hearted series about Phryne Fisher in Australia in the 20s (first Cocaine Blues)

Lindsey Davis' books about Marcus Didius Falco (first one Silver Pigs) are some of my favorites

A mystery I read for the 2008 Group and really enjoyed was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

Mary Monica Pulver, Patricia Moyes, Patricia Wentworth are other examples you might like based upon that list.

I have a mysteries in my 999 challenge in which I plan to explore mysteries I'm not familiar with and also some Golden Age mysteries I haven't read yet.

I am in the process of reading (or rereading in most cases) Rex Stout Nero Wolf novels in order of publication. This will go more slowly next year I'm afraid--but i know i will get some of the done. I own all the Agatha Christie--and have read most and I'm collecting Nagio Marsh--also trying to read those in order, but having trouble because they aren't all easy to find! I'm also a huge Dorothy Sayers fan--her mysteries and also her nonfiction. (look like no touchstones for mystery writers? what gives?)

I highly recommend the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. The first one is not strictly a mystery but you need it for the background. After that she becomes an investigator and there is a mystery in each book. The time period is WWI and after and is very well researched historically, which adds to the interest.

Rex Stout is another one new to me, but have just read an excerpt in Francine Prose's Reading Like A Writer which makes me want to pick up more...

Well, I'm new to the 75 book challenge, and it's already happening!
You guys warned me it would increase my TBR, and I just ordered Maisie Dobbs from paperbackswap.com!
Can't wait to try it!

Oh, MusicMom, I have all of the Ngaio Marsh books. I plan to read them in order soon, after I finish reading Christie.

I'm planning to 'release' them when I'm done. Let me know if you would like any of them.

>8 FlossieT:: FlossieT

Definitely try Stout's books. I've read 38 of the Nero Wolfe series and enjoyed every one.

Have you tried Laura Childs Tea shop Mysteries or her scrapbooking mysteries?
I also like Kate Collins Flower Shop mysteries.

If you are having a hard time, check out http://cozy-mystery.com/

Pandora's Books has almost all of Marsh's books.

Some of them are used, and some are a bit pricey, but I've always had good luck there.

I have most of Stout; I've seen the Laura Childs - have to try that! And love cozy-mystery!!!

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I have a TBR box (InfinityPile#1) of murder mysteries - mostly British. My favourite author in this genre is Peter Robinson (British-Canadian, books set in Yorkshire) and I also like Ian Rankin, Graham Hurley, Andrew Taylor. Have a bunch of Crispin, Christie, Sayers, and Marsh to read as well. Tried a Margery Allingham but could not get into it. Have read a few by Colin Dexter but preferred the Insp. Morse TV series to the books. Have read one by Giles Blunt, another Canadian, pretty good - and have a Louise Penny to try, also from the Frozen North.
I find a lot of the US writers too hard edged (i.e. Patricia Cornwell), but I read For the Sake of Elena in 2008 by Elizabeth George which I enjoyed. I have some more of hers "in the box".
I am reading A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton and will continue on with her series.

Please, read Dashiell Hammett if you want a great mystery!! Noir at its best.

I've read The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man and I have The Dain Curse on my 999 shelf. I love Hammett. BTW Don't confuse the movie of The Thin Man with the book--the book is Hammett, the movie is Hollywood.

I actually found a Josephine Tey in the used bookstore today!! My first and I'm sooo excited.

WooHoo!

Which one?!

Brat Farrar - do you know it? Is it wonderful?

Josephine Tey is on my 'for sure to read list for 2009'--let's please not forget Wilkie Collins--The Moonstone is my favorite. This book is in my top five, I enjoyed it more than The Woman in White.

# 18 leslie.holm

Brat Farrar and Franchise Affair are the only two of hers I haven't read yet. I do own Brat Farrar, though, so I will put it in my mystery category for 999. I'm planning to read mysteries that are either "Golden Age" or authors new to me. Josephine Tey is definitely Golden Age--one of the greats. IMO

Most of Tey's mysteries feature her detective, Alan Grant and those are the ones I'm most familiar with. I read them when I was much younger and now I'm in the process of getting them again and rereading them. I still enjoy them! I'm saving Daughter of Time for last because it is the best--and I think it was also the last Grant that she wrote.

Last year I read Miss Pym Disposes. I had tried to read it when I was in college but I couldn't "get into it." This time I found it fascinating; a multi-layered story that is more novel than mystery and really leaves you thinking about it when it is over.

#19 BeeHoney

I agree with you--I love The Woman in White but The Moonstone is also my favorite. For years those were the only two books by Wilkie Collins that were easily available. I understand that now some of his other work has come back into print. I haven't had a chance to check that out yet. Have you?

I've only recently gotten into the mystery genre, mainly through listening to audiobooks. I've got Murder With Puffins waiting for me in my TBR pile, currently (*wink* at my friends in the GD).

dihiba, more about Peter Robinson please...? I've never heard of him before, but books set in Yorkshire are always appealing.

PR is an ex-pat Englishman living in Toronto, where he has been for decades - I believe he is a professor of English somewhere. He must return to Yorkshire every year though, because he'd have to keep up with English trends, current slang, etc.
I like his writing style and his stories, and the fact that my father was born close to the West Riding border (Lancs.) and I have connections to that county make it more interesting for me.
Robinson has become more known in the US in recent years, and I do know he has a very good following in the UK as well. And he sells well here in his adopted land!

#22: Rachael, I learned of Peter Robinson through dihiba on last years thread, and second her recommendation. I have only read the first 2 (although #3 is currently checked out of the library at home), and they were both very good, although personally, I though #1 better than #2.

I'm just starting Raven Black by Ann Cleeves, which I received from by Sacret Santa. Never come across this author before, but from the perspective of page 32 it seems to be pretty good.

I've read a few of Ann Cleeves' books - they are pretty good for the genre. I just got a nice hardcover one from Value Village - surprised as she is hard to find.

And do try Cornell Woolrich while you're exploring the "hard core" writers. He's one of the originals and well worth the time.

#20 MusicMom41

I have read Dead Secret and No Name by Wilkie Collins-both good -and have Armadale Many of his books are now available at B&N. I really want to get A House To Let a book he wrote with Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell!!

I am currently reading Christietown by Susan Kandel, an author I discovered last year. I have had good fun with this (short) series of mysteries. This is my by-the-bed book that I read about a chapter of before heading off to sleep, so it will probably take me a while to get through it.

currently reading Framed in Lace a needlecraft mystery -- light cozy mystery

I have read almost all Ed McBain and J.D.Robb crime mysteries - they're gritty, contain some humor and contain sufficient twists in the stories that keep me guessing almost till the end when the real criminal is exposed. Hmm.. I'm not sure why the touchstone for J.D. Robb isn't working ... perhaps because that's the name Nora Roberts of the romance fame writes under for her gritty crime mysteries? Given the number of books she's written for the In Death series, I'm surprised there's no touchstone for this name.

I just picked up Quiet as a Nun to read. I have not read any of the books in this series, so I decided I better start with book 1.

Some of my reading this year will include books from the Poirot list I keep on my WikiThing page - http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/User:Fleela/poirot

Just started Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott - says it's a mystery. I seem to recall that flissp wasn't that impressed by it last year, but I needed a bit of fluff, it's set in Cambridge, I got it cheap from the charity shop, and loads of people on the swap sites have it on their wishlists so if I don't enjoy it I can easily "rehome" it.

And oh my--one of my 999 categories is Mysteries-Next in Series Order. I'm reading The Maltese Falcon, have a Cornell Woolrich waiting, and then it's off to Sweden and Kurt Wallender.

I'm listening to the audiobook version of Jigsaw (no touchstone) by Anthea Fraser and I'm reading Murder with Puffins. Both are pretty good so far.

I'm reading Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann which is a murder story involving sheep as the crime-solvers.

#37: I read that comment and all I could do was wonder if the Big Bad Wolf did it . . .

Are there any Henning Mankell fans here? I have The Return of the Dancing Master and am just wondering if I'll lose much by reading the series out of order.

CMT - I read The Return of the Dancing Master last year and enjoyed it - it was the first Henning Mankell book I'd read and I was told that it wasn't one of his series of novels. It certainly isn't a Wallander (his most famous detective) book.

Thanks sanddancer. Argh! I thought it was! It's tagged wallander, which is probably why I'm getting confused.

The Return of the Dancing Master is not part of the Kurt Wallender series, although it is a mystery by Mankell with another set of Swedish detectives. Check out the series listings for the Kurt Wallender stuff which starts with Faceless Killers and continues for another 8 or 9 books, including one prequel set of stories.

Wallender also writes children's books and histories.

I've been reading adult mysteries since I was 11 - that's 44 years now - and I love Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Ellery Queen, Ngaio Marsh, Ruth Rendell, Michael Connelly, Earl Stanley Gardner, Josephine Tey, Cornell Woolrich, P. D. James, etc.

Nobody's mentioned Dorothy Sayers yet - all of her mysteries are wonderful, but I particularly like Gaudy Night and Murder Must Advertise.

My two discoveries in the last two months are Colin Dexter - I just finished The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, and M. C. Beaton - her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. The advantage of not watching much TV is that I've never even heard of the Inspector Morse TV series, based on the Dexter books, so have nothing to compare to.

#9 amwmsw04 - the January ER books just came out, and there's a Maisie Dobbs one there (fifth installment, I think?). You should join Early Reviewers if you're not already a member and request it.

#11, cyderry thanks so much for the Cozy link. I was about to ask a dumb question, having seen the term around here in a few places, but you solved it!

I have never really been a hardcore mystery reader, but I have mysteries as a category in my 999 challenge, and a few on my TBR shelves, so thought I would read some more of them in 2009.

I have quite a few Mary Higgins Clark, I used to read them right away when they came out, so put them on the list. And I recently discovered David Baldacci. And someone mentioned Sue Grafton to me, so I picked up an omnibus with her A, B and C novels. Oh - and Sherlock Holmes is on the list for 2009 as well.

I mostly enjoy the old Hard Boiled stuff. I LOVE Raymond Chandler. I also have a soft spot for Jim Thompson (The Killer Inside Me, The Grifters). I've read Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest twice, but just couldn't get into it. Loved the movie version of The Maltese Falcon though, so I think I'll try that this year.

I definately want to try some John Dickson Carr. I enjoyed his scripts for the OTR show Suspense and am going to try reading his novel The Burning Court this year.

I'd also like to read the Mike Hammer Omnibus I picked up.

For newer stuff, I really need to read more of Mark Billingham's stuff. I really enjoyed Sleepyhead quite a bit.

I also picked up Natsuo Kirino's Grotesque after being knocked out by Out. Hopefully I'll also read Chelsea Cain's Heartsick, which I've heard good stuff about. Hmm... that's more mystery than I usually read in a year. (Do all these crime novels I mentioned count as 'mystery'?)

#43 karenmarie

All the authors you mentioned are favorites of mine also (I also started reading adult mysteries before I was a teen) except one--and I've never heard of him--Michael Connelly. Since my 999 mystery category is supposed to include authors I've never tried, which one of his books would you suggest I start with? I'm sure I will like him because I love all the others you named so we must have similar tastes.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Dorothy Sayers--she's my favorite of all. In addition to the two you mentioned I would add The Nine Tailors in the "outstanding" list (as opposed to the just "great" list!) I also feel, for newbies who are mystery nuts and will want to read all of them--reading them in order is a great way to see how she developed from a mystery writer to a novelist whose books are mysteries. Without Sayers, we might not have had PD. James!

jseger--If you want the "hard-boiled stuff," then definitely find Cornell Woolrich on the shelves. His books are the basis of more movies than any of his contemporaries, and he is the fathre of the fast-paced suspense novel. I was introduced to his writing last year by a friend, and am in the middle of my third novel, Rendezvous in Black.

#13 dihiba... I feel the same about the Inspector Morse character, the tv show is way better than the books. I find morse as written to be scattered and contradictory, whereas in the tv show he's more defined and specifically 'Morse'.

My favourite cozies of all are MC Beaton's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. I also like Rhys Bowen's Evan Evans series, but not Bowen's other series with a female character (the character's name escapes me just now). Hmm... perhaps I just prefer male protagonists?

Elizabeth George Inspector Lynley series is enjoyable and I think perhaps moving outside of mystery to thriller, but Val McDermid's Tony Hill books are great reads too if you like gritty stories.

#46 MusicMom41

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly is one of the few books by that author that I have read, and his most recent. He included two protagonist from his previous books.

I agree with your view of The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers. It is one of the few books I have listened to on audio tape. It made a 12-hour round trip drive quite a pleasure. It made a lasting impression.

#47 - Prop2gether,

Thanks for the suggestion. My picks were all books that I already have in my library.

Cornell Woolrich is an author I want to try. Anybody whose body of work can inspire both Rear Window and (of all things) Mrs. Winterbourne has GOT to be worth a read. I just never seem to stumble across his stuff in the used bookstores. What book would you recommend I start with?

I finished 3 of the Needlecraft mysteries by Monica Ferris. I really enjoyed them. I'm just starting On what grounds by Cleo Coyle. It's called a Coffeehouse mystery. I've never read anything by this author so I'm hoping for the best.

looks like my kinda series....coffee!!!!.....let me know if you think I would like them, altho I have no idea where I'd ever be able to squeeze them in this year.

I used to read a lot of mysteries because we had a wonderful mystery bookstore just a few blocks from my apartment. Since it went out of business, my mystery reading has dropped off to zero, but you all are inspiring me to go back!

I have started reading Tethered by Amy Mackinnon. The book is classified as mystery, but if the first 15 pages are any indication, it is much more than that.

#50, I really enjoyed The Bride Wore Black, but the first I read was Manhattan Love Song, and I've just finished Rendezvous in Black. Manhattan Love Song is one of his first published novels, and you'll recognize a lot of genre-style--so you have to recall he was the first to use it! The other two have similar story lines, but both are considered excellent examples of his work. I just enjoy "hunkering down" for the story with a twist.

I've recently posted reviews for Murder with Puffins and Jigsaw (no touchstone). Both were enjoyable. I'm going to start Chatterton this evening.

Looking for light, quick reading? Try the Mrs Pollifax stories by Dorothy Gilman. They are a little bit mystery, a little bit spy story, but could be classified as cozy on either front. The first is The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax and there are many that followed.

Also, I highly recommend the Benjamin January series by Barbara Hambly starting with A Free Man of Color. These are mysteries set in 1830's New Orleans. January is a "Free man of color" who trained as a doctor in France and has returned to the city of his birth.

#57: When my daughters were younger, I used the Mrs. Pollifax books to teach geography. We used to have to pick my husband up from work every day, so we listened to the audiobook versions of the series. We would keep track of all the places Mrs. Pollifax would visit on her spy missions.

>19 BeeHoney:, 20 I read The Moonstone last year and loved it. I couldn't put it down!

There are two fascinating British television productions of The Moonstone, one of which is very faithful, and one which is mostly faithful to the story. Loved both of them.

#'s 59 & 60: Wasn't The Moonstone terrific? It's still in my top ten. I didn't know there were TV programs of it-will look for them. Thanks!

Just finished Birds of a Feather by Winspear. I always appreciate a book that teaches me something.

#43 karenmarie: What's a good book to start with by Ngaio Marsh?

BeeHoney

Have you read Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear--the first book in the series? It sets the background for all the other novels. I really like this series and love learning about that era-WWI and postwar in England. This is the same era that the Lord Peter Wimsey series (Dorothy Sayers) starts in and it is fun to see it from a slightly different perspective.

Started Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason, the first in the Inspector Erlendur series.

I'm reading (listening to) Wodehouse's Something Fresh. Does it count as a 'mystery' novel? A prized scarab seems to have gone missing.... :)

#61 Bee: I love the Maisie Dobbs series. I hope you get the opportunity to read them all.

MusicMom41 - Michael Connelly is quite prolific. I love the Harry Bosch series because I'm from LA and love the descriptions of areas I know well. The Black Echo is the first.

I also loved The Lincoln Lawyer with Mickey Haller. There's a second in that series that also includes Harry Bosch, The Brass Verdict, which I haven't read yet.

His non-series fiction appeals to me less. I loved Chasing the Dime, liked Void Moon, and own but haven't read The Poet and Blood Work. There's apparently a sequel to The Poet coming out this year, The Scarecrow.

There are 14 Harry Bosch books, so if you end up liking him you've got a lot of good reading ahead.

I just finished reading When Gods Die by C.S. Harris. I'm a firm fan of the Sebastian St Cyr series now. Ms Harris does a really good job in keeping me glued to the pages of her book right up till the very end.

I'vw got two going - Killer Heat and Shoots to Kill

I am currently reading Death on Demand by Carolyn Hart.

I found A Clue for the Puzzle Lady by Parnell Hall at the Thrift Store Saturday, bought it because it sounded intriguing (for $1 - gotta love Thrift Stores) and then saw some discussion about it on another thread.

I've added it to my 999 Challenge in my "Mysteries by Authors I've Never Read Before" category and am anxious to read it.

I'm just staring In the Woods and it's a bit slow going. It's interesting so far but... slow, if that makes sense.

karenmarie .
I was part of the discussion for the puzzle lady.
I have it as part of my TBR list and had actually gotten it from the library at the end of last year, but didn't get it read before I had to give it back. I'll watch your 999 thread to see how you like it.
Cheli

MusicMom41 and alcottacre--Yes, I did read Maisie Dobbs and have all of the books in the series. I'm going to space them out over the year, and I also do enjoy Dorothy Sayers.

Finished Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris, whom I had never read. However, her books are on lots of threads around here. I enjoyed the book, and the lead character, although the mystery itself was less than challenging. I'm just starting The Fifth Woman, the next in order for the Kurt Wallender series, and I anticipate a great read.

The interesting thing about Harris' Shakespeare's XXX books is the manner in which Lily has coped with her past. She's not a typical mystery character that you find in every third book.

True, Tad, and that was appealing. But I also very much like V.I. Warshawski and Kinsey Millhone, as well as some of Lia Matera's work. Each one of these heroines has overcome some past difficulty to move on. So it is an appealing trait for me and I will probably read more of the series. However, much as I liked Lily and her companions, the "mystery" aspect of the story I thought was just adequate.

(Three Bags Full)This is one I did audio and I really enjoyed. It's fun when the author gives mystery a whole new perspective and this sure does.

>76 Prop2gether:: I've never read Lia Matera. I liked both the other two, though I lost my interest in Paretsky when she took her hiatus from writing them and I've never gone back to read the latest V. I. Warshawski stories. I'm sure I'll read them some day, but there's no burning desire right now. I'm up to 'R' on Kinsey and will keep plugging away at them a bit each year.

I can't say the Lily stories get much better mystery-wise. The books do spend some time on Lily, herself, especially when a relationship gets involved, which I found interesting. I haven't read the latest (Shakespeare's Counselor I think?) but I enjoy them when I'm in the mood for something slight.

PS - Have you tried her Harper Connelly series? I think the first one was Grave Sight.

I started Getting old is Murder and so far it's a hoot!

I have started Interred with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell. The protagonist is locked in Widener Library searching for a clue left by a murdered Harvard professor. It gets pretty spooky in the caverns of a big library at 3 am.

I'm reading The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman. This is the third book of hers I've read and I'm really enjoying it (about halfway through now). Her stories always take place in upstate New York and usually a writing-related theme is intertwined into the plot.

>82 missylc:: is that the one that got turned into the film Adaptation...?

Hmmm... I'm unaware of a movie being made from it. If it did, it must be under a different title. I just tried "ghost orchid" on imdb and nothing came up...

I'm reading The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith. I have read the others in the series and find them pleasant reading.

I am currently reading On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle. Its the first in a coffeehouse mystery series.

Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime, featuring Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. I love their interplay, I really do. And the detecting isn't bad sometimes, either.

Catey,
I read On What Grounds earlier this month. I hope you enjoy it. I did and I'm hoping to find some time to read a few more soon.

I'm reading The Templar Legacy Its' really quite "mysterious"!

#88 Cyderry: That's cool, I have the second one on hold at the library already and I haven't even finished the first one yet. Hope your book is as good as it sounds :).

laytonwoman: I'm partial to Tommy & Tuppence too. My husband's name is Tomm, so we named our border collie Tuppence. They make a pretty good team, although they haven't solved any crimes yet. :)

Amber, that's Tuppence on your profile page, I take it. She looks like she could handle most anything! Have you noticed how many of us put pictures of our dogs (or cats) on our profile?

Since I had recently read Jar City, I picked the next in the series Silence of Grave, by Arnauldur Indriðason. It starts with a baby chewing on a human rib bone.

I am currently reading a mystery anthology called Motherhood is Murder. Isn't it just?

#91: Yep, that's Tuppence. We're such predictable characters, aren't we?

I'm starting Was It Murder? by James Hilton--(first published under Hilton's pen-name, Glen Trevor, and in England under the title Murder at School: a detective fantasia. Of course that original title was a "spoiler" because in the beginning--where I'm reading-- they are trying to decide if it was murder! ;-)

I just read a Tommy and Tuppence story, too! It was By the Pricking of my Thumbs and it was really good... I think my favorite Christie so far. And I'm with you that said you really like their interplay; they definitely work well together! I'll be checking out more of them, for sure.

Just finished Sleepyhead by UK crime writer Mark Billingham. The further I get from it the more I spot the plot holes but I found it totally gripping.

There was a recent discussion on someone's thread about Louise Penny and a poster mentioned another Canadian author who writes in a similar style. I thought the name was Wright, but using the search function only turns up Giles Blunt. I can't, of course, remember which thread it was on! I'm looking for a recommendation for someone at work. Can anyone help?

#98 I had mentioned the Canadian author LR Wright. She won several mystery awards for her series featuring Karl Alberg. They were all great!

Have any of you read the Japanese mysteries featuring Detective Takako Otomichi? They're by Asa Nonami.

I had bought one for my school library, then brought it home to read. I haven't been able to get into it yet. Evidently women in Japan were having a harder time getting professional respect in Japan in 1996 than I am used to reading about, and that put me off a bit. I think I'm going to give it another try, but wondered if any of you have any experience with it.

Oh, the one I have is The Hunter; A Detective Takako Otomichi Mystery.

#99 Thanks so much - that's just what I was looking for!

I've just started In the Woods by Tana French, which has made its way into reading now in what seems to be the habitual manner now: I put it on my wishlist when it came out (so a couple of years ago now, I think); I forget about it; I see a couple of people have read it on LT; I pick up a copy cheap in a charity shop/off BookMooch/etc.; one more person reads and enjoys it and suddenly I've started it.

Interested to see, scanning back over this thread, that the others who've posted it in here didn't especially like it - I'm finding it totally gripping so far. I think maybe I don't have much taste when it comes to crime novels....

I am reading Who Killed Camilla? by Emma Darcy.

Emma Darcy is a successful Australian Romantic Fiction writer who has written three whodunnits, I have found two of them on remainders tables. I have also read Who Killed Angelique? but still haven't located the third one, Who Killed Bianca?. I think that she stopped after those three, unfortunately, because I am enjoying them.

The Franchise Affair and Daughter of Time are undoubtedly Josephine Tey's best books. I think that they are amongst the greatest mystery books ever written.

#104 pinkozcat

Drat! The Franchise Affair is the only one I don't own and I'm not supposed to buy books for a couple of months! Besides that one, the ones I have left to read are A Shilling for Candles, To Love and Be Wise, and Brat Farrar.
I read Daughter of Time many years ago and plan to reread that one when I've finished the others. I agree, she is one of my all time favorite mystery writers. Maybe that is because she wrote so few; I consider her a cut above Agatha Christie because her mysteries are more novels than puzzles. Probably the only Golden Age mystery writer I would put above her is Dorothy Sayers.

MusicMom41, have you read any of Margery Allingham's books? Her Albert Campion series is clever and funny.

Along with Josephine Tey and Dorothy L Sayers, her books are among my favourites.

I don't like Agatha Christie; I'm not sure if it is because it is almost impossible to guess whodunnit but usually the murderer turns out to be the most unlikely person and I think that is unfair.

One the subject of what is now called "English crime novels" have you read any of Georgette Heyer's crime novels? They are worth reading if you can get hold of them. They were republished recently.

I am listening to Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters. I've heard so much about this series and I have finally been able to get the first one. So far I am enjoying it. I love Barbara Rosenblat

#106 pinkozcat

It has been quite a while since I read any of Margery Allingham's Campion series. I do remember liking them a lot. I will have to try to find some to reread. Thanks for reminding me of them.

I've also read most of Georgette Heyer's mysteries several years ago and still have my old beat up paperbacks of those. I didn't realize they were being rereleased--I will have to look for them. Right now I'm replacing my old beat up Heyer romances and rereading them. I'll just continue with the mysteries and complete my set. I hope my heirs will appreciate my efforts! :-)

#107: I love Barbara Rosenblat! I got hooked on audiobooks because of her. As a matter of fact, the first audiobook I ever listened to is the one you are listening to now. I kept checking the box to make sure there were not multiple narrators - I was sure one woman could not be doing all those voices.

I have been reading The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss, although not exactly a mystery there is a lot of financial skulduggery as well as a few murders. It is engaging historical fiction involving Alexander Hamilton with Aaron Burr lurking in the background.

#104 pinkozcat
The Daughter of Time was certainly memorable, and I particularly liked Brat Farrar; guess I will have to bringThe Franchise Affair to the top of my pile.

I'm starting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I had not planned to read it until later but there were so many ahead of me on the request list I decided to go ahead and order it--it usually takes two to three months for a popular book to get to me. I don't know what happened, but it came the week I ordered it and now I have to finish it before it's due because I doubt I'll be able to renew it. Hopefully it will be a fast read!

I just picked up The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman. I enjoy her Mrs. Pollifax books, so I am hoping to like this book of hers as well.

#112 alcottaacre
The Pollifax books are fun.

#111 MusicMom41
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is long, but speeds up. The statistics about the treatment of women in Sweden are disconcerting and the story includes rather interesting legal matters relating to guardianship.

I have started The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey; I enjoy mysteries around Bath, England.

Just into Shakespeare's Champion but looking forward to continuing The Fifth Woman next.

Fred Vargas has written some fine mysteries. She is a French archeologist and historian, as well as a writer. I just started Seeking Whom He May Devour.

Just started Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner, a thriller set in Finland.

Been reading Bright Hair About the Bone by Barbara Cleverly. "Buried in the ashes of war is one of history's most closely guarded secrets." The protagonist, Laetitia Talbot, is a rather daring lady who has been kicked out of Cambridge, has been helping an archeologist in Egypt, and is about to find how her godfather came to be murdered in France.

I am currently reading Anna's Book by Barbara Vine. Thus far (65 pages in), it has been very good.

Two just finished: Angels of the Flood by Joanna Hines and No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay. Both OK reads, but a little disappointing, each in their own ways. I'd really like to read a mystery soon where I find the plot wholly satisfying and don't have my not-so-very-inner nitpicker so eager to leap forward and find faults.

I'm listening to Dead Heat by Dick Francis.

I just finished Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell, and found it highly entertaining. This was the second book in the series that I've read by her, and I'll definitely get the others. Now I'm reading Whose Body? by Sayers. I know she is a widely loved author, and I don't see any reason to dispute that but her detective character, Wimsy, is so irritating I can only seem to abide the book when he's not in it. Which is disappointing. But I also can't abide Sherlock Holmes or Poirot, so I can see I'm in the minority when it comes to these things...

I am about 140 pages into The Killing Kind by John Connolly. Some pretty gruesome murders (being attacked by innumerable brown recluses). I do enjoy the sense of place (Maine where I grew up). Some interesting historical references to Reich (of orgonomy fame).

#121 enheduanna

re Lord Peter Wimsey

Dorothy Sayers is one of my favorite authors and I love the Lord Peter series--but I agree, especially the first time around, he is quite annoying in the first book. His character develops as the series develops. Don't give up on him if that is the only thing you don't like about the book! This is a first novel and she gets better (and he get better!) with each book in the first part of the series. There is a reason she is still so widely read after all these years! :-)

#123

Hmmm... well, if you say so, I might try again. It's true, I found absolutely no fault with the writing, and really quite enjoyed it toward the second half, but hesitantly, as I was always afraid Wimsey would find himself in manically high spirits again, and I knew I couldn't tolerate much more of it. I think it would be quite good if he would just calm down a little.

#124

Trust me--by the end of the series you will know him well, why he was somewhat "manic" early on--remember WWI had just finished--and I think you will admire him. You might even "love" him! Sayers becomes a stronger writer of detective stories, also, as the series continues.

Isn't there anybody else out there who can put in a good word for this series! If we can create enough demand maybe they will start putting them out in Hardcover so I won't have to keep buying every few years! :-)

#125: I'll put in a good word for the Wimsey series, Carolyn. Who do we write to, boycott, protest, or otherwise harass to get the books in hardcover?

>125 MusicMom41:: you can have my vote too. I heart Lord Peter, though Harriet is even better - enheduanna, read on to Strong Poison at least!

I have a nice hardcover copy of Five Red Herrings that I bought with school prize money - published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1988, so I guess they might not be around any more.

It's been a long time since I read them but I'm definitely a fan. I think my favorite (or at least, the one of which I have some memory) was Gaudy Night.

Gaudy Night is definitely the "peak"--the novel that binds the series and also gives Sayers an entertaining venue to explore her ideas about women, work, and relationships. A wonderful novel in it's own right, but not a "stand alone."

My favorite Lord Peter mystery that doesn't include Harriet Vane is The Nine Tailors in which Sayers draws upon what she experienced in her early life as the daughter of a country pastor. This one could be a stand alone--but it is more fun if you have followed LP's development from the beginning of the series. :-) BTW You will learn a lot about bell ringing -- and it is crucial to the story!

Oh please stop! MY TBR pile is about to topple...I feel like it's pulling down with Dante into a neverending pit. LOL. I must read some Sayers..she's on my tbr fiction list.

>129 MusicMom41:: do you know, I just lent The Nine Tailors to a dear friend to try and persuade her of the general necessity of LPW - and she didn't like it!! And she is actually a one-time campanologist too, which is partly why I chose it. Go figure, as they say.

(PS my favourite is Murder Must Advertise, and I read it first so the "revelation" really WAS, for me. Gaudy Night's probably a close second though.)

I just happened to pick up the first LPW today at the library. Since I'm supposed to be snowed n tomorrow, maybe I'll move him up and listen to him tomorrow.

ETC typos

Picked up a P.D. James book a few years ago from a thrift store and was hooked. I read pretty much her entire back catalogue that summer, and just finished "The Private Patient". As she's up there in years, I was a little sad to close the book -- thinking it is likely her last.

Any recommendations of similar authors? I really liked her style. :)

Currently reading Family Skeletons by Rett MacPherson, a cozy mystery, which seems to be about all I can handle at the moment.

#104 pinkozcat

Just finished The Franchise Affair by Joesphine Tey. It was exceptional; in the 'real world' the type of case it describes is very difficult to win. The story certainly has a very clever little villain.

I really enjoy Josephine Tey's books. I think Daughter of Time will always be my favorite, although I greatly enjoyed Brat Farrar when I read it recently. A re-read of The Franchise Affair is definitely in order!

Daughter of Time was the first Tey I read and also enjoyed it very much. Brat Farrar is also a favorite of mine. Currently reading The Art Thief by Noah Charney. It is interesting so far by may not be up to Ian Pears' books on art thievery.

#134 I just started my frist P. D. James, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and really love her writng style.

I have been thinking about reading Josephine Tey and Sarah Caudwell for quite some time but was hesitant. After reading these blogs, I'm eager to give them a try. As for Dorothy Sayers--I can clearly recall every book of hers I have read. I can't say that about too many mysteries. I enjoyed Gaudy Night and Busman's Honeymoon the most so far.

Currently reading The Chimney Sweepers Boy by Barbara Vine.

I've got two - Shop til you Drop is my handbag book and Charm City I'm listening to as I do needlework.

I'm surprised Cheli is only reading shop til you Drop--- I thought she wrote the book.... big sis couldn't resist

I'm surprised Cheli is only reading shop til you Drop--- I thought she wrote the book!!! sorry,,big sis couldn't resist

In the middle of The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers which is discussed on a few posts earlier.

I'm really a Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane - lovin - girl, but after serveral reads of the four titles featuring the two, I'm turning to Lord Peter and Bunter in action without her.

#144 orangeena

I hope you like The Nine Tailors--I think it is one of the best ones without Harriet. Sayers draws from her youthful experiences as daughter of a country parson.

Right now I'm reading A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey, one of her Alan Grant mysteries. She is another of the "great ones" from that time, and like Sayers she only wrote a few of them. she might have written more if she had lived longer.

#142 my sister remember in these economic times, I am on the austerity program and so I can't Shop ti I drop - so instead of Barnes and Noble, it's the library!

I'm really enjoying Charm City - reading Laura Lippman is so much fun because of the Baltimore aspects. I just got pass the part where she talked about Romper Room and Miss Nancy. My Mom has a picture of me on Romper Room with Miss Nancy!

I am currently reading a recommendation from Richard: Amuse Bouche by Anthony Bidulka. So far, so good!

my first Dorothy L. Sayers: Whose Body :D

Eliza,
I have Whose Body?, but I'm not sure when it will get on deck. Be sure to let me know how you like it.

Currently, I have Winter study by Nevada Barr on audio at the office, When did we lose Harriet? on my night table and A Clue for the Puzzle Lady as my carry around.

Winter Study is vintage Barr while When did we lose Harriet? is a little funky, I haven't quite figured it out yet - it's the first in the series that I read Who invited the Dead Man? which I really liked. A Clue for the Puzzle Lady is amusing, really a good cozy.

>149 cyderry: well, I just finished it.You can find the review on my thread - liked it but didn't love it. I do plan on reading more of the series!

All the Colors of Darkness by Peter Robinson

I am currently reading Tumbling Blocks by Earlene Fowler, the last book in a series I really enjoy!

I have just finished reading Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag and I'll be Seeing You by Mary Higgins Clark. I can recommend both of them although Dark Paradise was something of a bodice ripper.

I've just finished a couple - The Bernini Bust by Iain Pears, the 3rd in the art history mysteries, and The Venus Throw by Steven Saylor. Both were excellent. I learnt more Roman history from Saylor's book than a recent slog through Cicero by Anthony Everitt - I love this series!

Stasia I've found Arms of Nemesis so as soon as I've read it I'll send it your way!

#154: Thanks, Cushla!

I'm about half way thru Child 44. What a powerful and brutal story!

#156 I finished this a couple of days ago and I LOVED it. Excellently written, and one of the best mysteries I've read in a very long time.

Finished Black Betty in the Easy Rollins series, and have the next Kurt Wallender sitting on the table.

The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

#156/157: Child 44 is on my memorable reads list for this year. I loved it, too.

Currently reading a bit of fluff: Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke, about all I can handle at the moment.

I am currently reading Still Life by Louise Penny, which several people here in the group have recommended.

#161 - I'm one of the ones that loved Still Life - a cozy with smarts, I thought.

I'm reading The Serpents Tale by Ariana Franklin. It's good, but I'm mostly wanting to get to the third in the series which joycepa strongly recommended.

I want to read Franklin's series. I have read so many good things about it.

Stasia -
I really hope that you like Still Life I can completely understand how t won the Agatha Award.

#164: I very much enjoyed Still Life and am looking forward to reading more of Louise Penny's books.

Finished Full Dark House by Chrisopher Fowler which involves the very peculiar PCU or Peculiar Crimes Unit.

Full Dark House is on my TBR mountain here at home - I've been meaning to get to it soon. I've heard good things about it...

Full Dark House is on the Continent as well. I have taken the plunge and ordered myself a copy.

I'm on disk 5 of 7 of Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear. If this wasn't an ARC I doubt I could finish it. The narrator is doing a great job but ... well, I'll wait until I'm finished.

I just discovered the Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton and have having a wonderful time! I've read Aunt Dimity's Death and Aunt Dimity and the Duke. Next up is Aunt Dimity's Good Deed. Then I need to hit the bookstore for the rest of the series.

I discovered Aunt Dimity last year and fell in love with her--can't wait to finish all my various challenges so I can find time to read some more. I'm always on the lookout for her at used book sales.

I am reading A German Requiem by Philip Kerr. This is the third in his "Hitler's Peace" or "Berlin Noir" series. I wouldn't say that I am crazy about them, but I have enjoyed them enough that I have the fourth book on hold at the library!

I've been reading Murder British Style, a collection of 18 classic cozy mystery short stories by many of the great British authors (Agatha Christie, Ruth Rendell, and A. Conan Doyle to name a few) and a full length novel by John Dickson Carr. It is exactly fitting my for escapist reading needs right now!

I enjoyed the Berlin Noir series so I started A Quiet Flame. Bernie Gunther, the German detective who had been in the SS, has just arrived in Argentina, by boat, with two other former SS men (including Adolph Eichmann).

#174: I look forward to your review of that one, Horus.

I am just starting Mark of the Lion by Suzanne Arruda, an author new to me.

Last night I began The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. I'm only 100 pages into it, but I already feel swept away into that big house and into Grace Reeves' life as a housemaid there!

#177: I have that one on the Continent. I cannot wait to see your review.

Stasia: Fabulous! I'll let you know what I think about it.

I've started The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

I'm reading Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog by the author of the Erast Fandorin series, Boris Akunin, and have another Aurora Teagarden cozy on the table next to another Grandma Mazer (oops, Stephanie Plum) mystery.

Just finished The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding and while it supposedly is a suspense novel, I found it to be a rather predictable ho hum ride. Rather disappointing considering that both Raymond Chandler and Alfred Hitchcock appeared to think highly of it. But perhaps it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Recently finished an old-ish Sophie Hannah, Hurting Distance. The basic plot is much more disturbing than the other ones of hers I've read, and full of holes, but still completely compulsive reading.

Gone on a bit of a crime reading spree.. Just finished No 4. in a series of comedy Welsh noir by Malcolm Pyrce. I really recommend the 1st one, Aberystwyth Mon Amour, its hilarious. I then enjoyed Build My Gallows High (a good old fashioned noir, written in 1947) and went back to the bizarre with The Little Sleep by Paul Trembley (really fascinating idea a Narcoleptic PI!).

Currently reading another sleep themed noir The Manual of Detection by Jebediah Berry (bit like Terry Gilliam's "Brazil"), it's good so far. Then, unless I run out of steam, will go onto Bronson by Charles Bronson (the UK's most "dangerous" prisoner).

Started Stone's Fall by Iain Pears. This mystery includes lots of financial skulduggery, anarchism, a Hungarian countess, and possibly some treason and espionage.

I'm halfway through the audiobook version of Jane Stanton Hitchcock's One Dangerous Lady. New York City Grand Dame Jo Slater is caught up in the disappearance of a billionaire and the social mayhem caused by his second wife's descent into the city. Definitely in the cozy section of the genre, this is a fun book made even better by Barbara Rosenblat's narration. Anyone who can make me laugh out loud while I'm driving the 120 miles to home in the fog is good company.

#186: Barbara Rosenblat is hands down my favorite narrator. I am going to have to get a copy of that audiobook!

I'm currently reading and enjoying The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri, second book in the Inspector Montalbano series.

I have just started Silesian Station by David Downing, a WWII thriller set in Berlin and a followup on Zoo Station.

#190: I will be interested in seeing your thoughts on that one, Horus. It sounds very good.

I am a few pages into Fer-De-Lance and I picked up More Work for the Undertaker and Murder at Black Dudley from the library.

Currently I am about half way through The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by Grann and am enjoying it greatly. It is about the explorer Fawcett's obsessive search for a hidden city and an extinct civilization in the Amazon. The explorers, (the last trip included Fawcett's son and friend), suffered horrific trials in their search for the city and most (including the Fawcetts and the young friend) never returned home. This is fascinating stuff and I am eager to get on with it.

Last night I started The Likeness by Tana French - her follow up to In the Woods. So far, I'm really enjoying it!

I've just started The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell and I REALLY like it! I haven't read Faceless Killers but never mind, I'll go out of order.

I am currently reading what I would consider a "spoof" on mysteries, but I intend to read her entire series because Kerry Greenwood's "Phryne Fisher" character is just full of fun!~! This one is a compilation of very short stories and I am reading just a bit of it now and then, between books. Thus the term "tweener". It is entitled: A Question of Death: An illustrated Phryne Fisher Treasury and I am just frolicking through it as I read.
A lot of fun!~!

I am currently reading the latest book in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, The Language of Bees.

I am reading a lot of mysteries this month because my RL book club is featuring the topic of sleuths. So far, I've finished three Aurora Teagardens, one Spenser, a Nicholas Bracewell (with the next on the table), Rumpole of the Bailey, plus I'm planning on one Alex Delaware, one VI Warshawski, one Kurt Wallender, and a Nursery mystery before the meeting.

I will be starting March Violets today. Philip Kerr is a new author for me, so I am hoping I enjoy it!

#199 - I look forward to your take on March Violets. On stirling reviews from someone I trust, I picked up all 5 of the currently available books in the Bernie Gunther Mystery series, and am looking forward to adding the 6th book to the collection, If the Dead Rise Not, which will be released in Sepember 2009 in the U.K. (March 2010 in the U.S.). One day I hope I'll actually get around to reading them ;)

Edit: Touchstones! Grrrr

The Case of the Velvet Claws by Erle Stanley Gardner. I found a very tidy vintage hardback at the used bookstore. That brings my Perry Mason collection up to 62 stories.

I am reading the second book in the Three Pines Mystery series, A Fatal Grace. I am hoping I like it as much as I did the first book in the series.

I am reading Dead in the Morning by Margaret Yorke. Yorke seems to be and under-read author; IMHO she is very good, and I recommend her. Beyond cozy but not police procedural.

Just started A Duty to the Dead: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd

I'm really looking forward to seeing how the CT team handles a new series.

I tried Louise Penny's Still Life again, got to about pg 30 and gave up again. (Think this is called something else in the US - it's the first in the Gamache series). I don't know what it is....I can't read it. It's set in my home province, I should support Cdn. writers, I "get" the cultural references, etc. etc.
I still like Giles Blunt though - another Cdn. mystery writer - recommend him.

Dipped a toe into Scandinavian crime over a weekend away with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Faceless Killers. Have to confess to being a bit underwhelmed by them both, but especially the former, which I found way too long, baggy and overdetailed (sorry, I know nearly everyone else in the world has loved it!). Will give Mankell another go but may well not bother with the other 2 in the trilogy for Larsson... unless anyone wants to give me a good reason to persevere, of course!

Flossie

Oh, dear! I had a hard time trying to read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo earlier this year and I figured it was because I got it from the library and was stressed about the "due date." So last week I bought it in paperback (from Costco, thankfully, so its was discounted) so I could read it at my leisure this fall. Maybe I just didn't like it! :-) Well, I'm committed now.

>207 MusicMom41: Carolyn, I really did think it was too long: about 100 pages before anything really "happened". And I thought all of the stuff about Lisbeth Salander, stressing her vulnerability and kookiness etc. etc., was laid on way too thick, especially the sexual violence. And all of the details about e.g. the exact specs of Salander's laptop, brand names everywhere, got REALLY annoying. It was OK rather than terrible, but I just wasn't completely blown away by it, and I was rather expecting to be after all the glowing reviews, both press and on LT. I'd give it 3 stars, but I was hoping it would be at least 4.

Flossie

I remember that in the beginning I found it very easy to put down--and pick up something else! Which is why it came close to the due date with me having read only about 100 pages. I have a feeling you are right about it being just an "OK" mystery rather that a great one. When I get around to reading it this fall I'll let you know if I think it gets better when I get more into it. I want to read In the Woods by Tana French first--I've read some good reviews of that one, also. I'm trying to explore new (to me) mystery writers--I'm a huge "vintage" mystery buff and am trying to expand my horizons.

I just gave up on Marker by Robin Cook, and I was 300 pp in, about halfway. The writing was just too awful - the premise of the story was okay, but it just wasn't holding my interest.
I am taking Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt on my trip to Ireland next week.

Currently reading The Second Confession by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe) and enjoying it a lot. It's one I don't remeber ever having read--#14 on the list of reading Nero Wolfe in order and really has all the "elements" in place.

Also reading Murder Uncorked by Michele Scott. It takes place in Napa Valley which hubby and I go a lot--unfortunately that's what I'm liking best about it so far. It may be suffering from too much comparison with a master (Rex Stout, imo), but so far I'm finding it only mildly interesting and not very well written. I tend to be doing a lot of "mental editing" instead of concentrating on the plot. :-)

I finally got around to reading Child 44. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and am a little conflicted about the book. It's taken a long time to get to the point where Leo starts investigating the mystery, and I'm not sure I like the characters very much yet. But I get the sense that the book is about to change course dramatically and that I'm going to like where it goes. We'll see!

#206, Flossie, I love Henning Mankell's Swedish detectives, but if you don't find yourself involved with Kurt Wallander, try Return of the Dancing Master, which involves a different town and set of detectives. And just note, that Mankell has written several different types of marvelous children's books as well.

>213 Prop2gether: Prop, I'm determined to try more of the Wallender books - because I was totally hooked on the BBC series, and also because Faceless Killers is first in the series so I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt! I didn't think it was bad, just the ending felt like a bit of a cop-out and it didn't totally suck me in as much as I'd been hoping it would.

#214, to be fair, the BBC series starts about four books in the written series, and Mankell is building Wallander's life as the books progress. I do hope you enjoy the series.

Just finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and really liked it. Currently reading The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R. King and enjoying it.

I just finished Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer. It was great! Will be looking for more of her mysteries - written from the 30's into the 50's (I think).

This week I've read a pair of European crime novels, Dekok and the Somber Nude by A C Baantjer from the Netherlands and The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo from Sweden. I enjoyed both. The Baantjer was an easy read that didn't require too much thought, but I liked the atmosphere of it. The Laughing Policeman was even darker which is probably why it still seemed modern. I would recommend them both.

Next week I'm reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd because it is Agatha Christie Week apparently.