June Genre - Mystery

Here are some suggestions from Reader's Guide to Genre Fiction:

A Certain Justice by James, P.D.
Monster by Kellerman, Jonathan
Double Deuce by Parker, Robert
The Cater Street Hangman by Perry, Anne
Catering to Nobody by Davidson, Diane Mott
Darkness, Take My Hand by Lehane, Dennis
To the Hilt by Francis, Dick
Do Unto Others by Abbott, Jeff
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Peters, Elizabeth
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Braun, Lilian Jackson
Slow Dancing with the Angel of Death by Chappell, Helen
And Then There Were None by Christie, Agatha
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Smith, Alexander McCall
Gaudy Night by Sayers, Dorothy Sayers

I really enjoyed And The There Were None by Christie when I read it a month or so ago. It's clear why she's so popular.

For this challenge, I'm going to read Catering to Nobody.

Copying the definition from the book (memo to myself mainly, but can be helpful if we want to pick more books in the genre): "Mysteries consist of a puzzle; the author provides clues to the solution but attempts to obscure some information so that the puzzle cannot be solved too easily. We, along with the detective, are drawn into the puzzle to solve it. The puzzle involves a crime, usually murder, and the resulting body. There is an investigator (or a team of investigators), amateur or professional, who solves the question of "who-dun-it". The Mystery tracks the investigation, with its concomitant exploration of victim's, murderer's and detective's lives."/The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction/
Key authors in the genre are : Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly, Dick Francis, Dorothy Sayers, Elizabeth Peters, Lilian Jackson Braun, etc.

And here's my list I'll chose from this month:

- Lee Child: Gone Tomorrow
- Jonathan Kellerman: Monster
- Janet Evanovich: One for the Money
- Sue Grafton: A Is For Alibi
- Michael Connelly: Concrete Blonde
- Ian Rankin: Black and Blue
- Charlaine Harris: Real Murders
- Donna Andrews: Murder With Peacocks
- Elizabeth Peters: The Seventh Sinner
- Agatha Christie: The Murder at the Vicarage
- Rex Stout: A Red Box
- Dorothy Sayers: Whose Body?
- Lilian Jackon Braun: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
- Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White

Great genre!:) No idea yet what I'll start with, though.

Evanovich is a lot of fun. I found Grafton boring. I read both A and B and a couple chapters of C before I gave up.

Since there are so many series, I am going to list authors. And since there are so many authors, I am going to list Classic Mystery Authors:

Edgar Allan Poe
Arthur Conan Doyle
Agatha Christie
Raymond Chandler
Leslie Charteris
Erle Stanley Gardner
Dashielle Hammett
John D. MacDonald
Ross MacDonald
Ellery Queen
Dorothy L. Sayers
Rex Stout

Also, a writer of mysteries in Spanish about whom I learned on LT is Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett. I have a book by her called Ritos de Muerte (Death Rites). I will either read that or The Woman in White.

I will be out of town for the beginning of next month's genre, but I will check in when I get back. :)
--BJ

Great genre, great lists! I just started yesterday The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun. So far it's hilarious!:)

I remember reading Agatha Christie while I was learning English in high school. I liked them, and I sometimes even could match the language we was learning with the books I was reading, for instance when we got to the topic of travelling by train I just started to read 4.50 from Paddington.:) I loved her style. I should reread all her books one day, because I quite forgot the plots by now.:)

I have some other classics on my TBR like Chandler, Gardner or Rex Stout, but I plan to give a try to some cosy mysteries first (like Donna Andrews), as it's definitely something I've never read before!(Wow, some Amazon list says Jennifer Sturman is also cosy, and I have 4 books by her: they are chick lit, with contemporary language - just what I need and what a nice surprise!:) Plus, here I can see Better Off Wed by Laura Durham, too! (Sorry, it's so typical of me, googling for info even WHILE posting:)

Also thanks for the recommendation, Morphidae, I'll read the Evanovich books definitely before Grafton then.

I've just found two other cozy mystery series in my TBR piles: the Roe Teagarden and the Lily Bard series, both are written by Charlaine Harris. Have any of you read books by Harris? How did you like them?

I've read Harris' urban fantasy mysteries and like them. So I imagine I'd like her regular mysteries as well.

I just had a look at the Charlaine Harris books and they look like the sort of thing I'd really enjoy. I think I'd really like to read Dead Until Dark.

Have been reading some pretty heavy books lately, which have been quite confronting in their exploration of real life themes eg. A Thousand Splendid Suns....so I need to read something more lighthearted and was thinking of reading the first of Jasper Ffordes Thursday Next Series, The Eyre Affair for the mystery genre.....from what I have read about it, it stretches the boundaries of 'mystery' as a defined genre, but nevertheless I'd really like to read it.....has anyone read Ffordes stuff before?? I started today and I am really enjoying it.....it is quite comical...and definitely what I need at the moment....

Hope everyone enjoys their read this month.

-pj77 :)

Thanks for your thoughts on Harris, Morphidae and pj77, I think I'll have to give her a go now!

Plus, I also have the Thursday Next series on my TBR! If you decide to read The Eyre Affair, I look forward to seeing what you think about it, pj77!

Happy reading for everyone!:)

> Hey readeron......finished The Eyre Affair and loved it, loved it, loved it!! Can't wait to get my hands on the next in the series. I couldn't put it down.....as I wrote on my 50 book challenge...

I loved getting away from reality for a while, I loved the excitement, I loved the way Fforde used great Literature as part of his narrative, I loved the humour and I love that there are 3 more to read in the series! This was a book outside my usual genre boundaries, but I am so glad I read it. If you're up for an 'out there' science fiction/mystery/adventure it is definitely a must read. Cool cover too :) I know that shouldn't matter, but I do love books with covers that reflect the story they have to tell in an original and appealing manner. :)

-pj77 :)

It really sounds a great read, just what I need now!:) Your review made me want to start reading it at once!

I love original and/or beautiful covers, as well! Colorful, funny book covers are my guilty pleasure!:)

Thank you for all the suggestions! i have to admit I do not read many mysteries in general, though I grew up loving Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden...I may have to check out some grown up mysteries! :)

Amazingly, I read the book for this month already. :) I read Ritos de Muerte (Death Rites: A Petra Delicado Mystery) by Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett, translated from Spanish by Jonathan Dunne. I actually purchased this book for my daughter who will study in Spain this summer. Because the Spanish version was too expensive, I got the book in English. So I got to read it, too! The police inspector and her partner assigned to this case were great characters, so I really enjoyed this book.

I started The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, but I am not sure that I will finish it this month. Then I will need to catch up in July as I will be out of town for two weeks. Have a great day!
--BJ

Finished The Hound of the Baskervilles this morning.......not really my sort of book, was looking forward to it, but just found myself having to push through to the end....oh well, gave it a try! :)

pj77 :)

Finally finished a mystery: Echo Burning by Lee Child. I wanted to read a cozy badly to move out of my comfort zone a bit, but I ended up reading about my favorite fictional hero, Jack Reacher, instead again. I can highly recommend the whole series!:)