What are we reading in December?

New month, new thread.

I'm reading The A.B.C. Murders

The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene. Mistaken identity and government shadiness in wartime London. A nice little "entertainment".

Chandler, Goodnight My Lovely.

Just finished The Face of Death by Cody McFadyen. Excellent book! Glad I found this author. Going to start 9 Dragons the new one by Michael Connelly.

Finishing up Meet the Annas by Robert Dunn, a fun Eddie and the Cruisers style story about a girl group and their Phil Spectoresque producer.

I've been reading all the threads about vintage and classic mysteries, and so have decided to read some. Picked up a Georgette Heyer, Why Shoot a Butler? at the bookstore, and two Agatha Christies, Murder in Mesopotamia and And Then There Were None at the library (with my brand new Los Angeles Public Library card, which I've never needed since I was a bookseller for so many years. But Saturday is my last day at the bookstore, so I figured I'd better make sure I had a steady supply coming in....Um, has anybody else noticed that there are a lot more books in a bookstore than in a library? That makes me really sad.).

PS Is anyone else having trouble with author touchstones? Titles seem to be working just find, but I can't seem to get the authors to go.

I just finished McFadyen's Shadow Man tonight. Sophie 236 had mentioned reading The Face of Death late in the Nov thread and my local inde shop had recommended the series so I grabbed it out of my TBR pile. It was awesome--I plan to pick up a copy of The Face of Deathin the near future. I really liked the intensity of it, really was a thriller.

I was busily cataloging books on LibraryThing the other night. It was going well until I picked up my copy of If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout. First Nero Wolfe I ever read, back in the 1970s when I found it on my mom's bookshelves, and it hooked me for life.

I've read it a bajillion times (along with every other Nero Wolfe story) but it never gets old. So now the cataloging is on hold while I read it one more time. I will resist mightily the temptation to move on to re-reading all the other Wolfes on the shelf!

deb #7 I think Face of Death was actually better than Shadow Man! I am off to the library to pick up no. 3 in the series tomorrow. Lovin' it.

Just finished Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly. Love Harry Bosch,

I'm listening to Louise Penny's A Rule Against Murder. I just love this series!

Donald G Westlake's Dortmunder books, and Donna Leon's Brunetti books.

Reading something that has been on my TBR pile for a long, long time, The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

I originally had Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch tentatively pencilled in for my 1010 category challenge but decided to start on it now. It was the most appealing of the unread L authors to go in the alphabet challenge I also have running.

I'm reading The Black Ice by Michael Connelly....decided to read them in order, so I'm on my second in the series. I, too, love Harry Bosch.

I have ken bruen's Priest just finished his sanctuary and there is Len Deighton SPy Hook

luv2 @ 9 finished Shadow Man yesterday and it was great--picked up The Face of Death today, but probably won't get to it as I have an ER book coming. But it's my next up after my have to's are out of the way. I hope he keeps this series going a while, though I bet he could write a really good legal thriller as well :)

>snj206- It's great seeing someone mention the incredible Ken Bruen! He's my favorite right now! I've only read the 1st two "Jack Taylor" books but I have the next 2 waiting in the wings, plus Bust and A White Arrest. Also I read that Deighton trilogy years ago and it was excellent.

The Feathery Hard to pass up a cheap Kindle book with great reviews.

Criminal Karma by Steven M. Thomas -- Thomas' second "criminal" book after Criminal Paradise. Two misfit, professional criminals, liars, cheats, etc comically making their way through capers.
Finished.

Now reading Blood Harvest

I just finished A Quilter's Holiday by Jennifer Chiaverini and am going to start Monica Ferris' Thai Die tomorrow. Jane Cleland's Antiques to Die For is next.

Making my way slowly through Agatha Christie, currently reading Three Act Tragedy. Love Agatha Christie, there's a reason she's Dame Agatha.
Then onto Donna Leon's Blood From a Stone. Those are probably the only mystery books I'm going to read this month, parties will be cutting into my reading time. Is anyone else having this problem during the Holiday season?

Just finished Open and Shut, David Rosenfelt's first Andy Carpenter mystery. Highly recommended. I'll be moving on to book two very soon.

#22 Love Agatha Christie, there's a reason she's Dame Agatha.

I totally agree!

Started on Walking the Perfect Square by Reed Farrel Coleman

Good People by Marcus Sakey and then probably At the City's Edge. I've been picking up Sakey's paperbacks every time I bump into one, but just now back in the mood for it. After Christmas, I'll be reading either Dexter by Design or Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass. (One of my relatives asked for ISBN numbers.)

>I'm a fan of Sakey also! I really enjoyed Good People and The Blade Itself! I've heard his latest The Amateurs is also quite good. I just started White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones, a crime novel, the 1st in a Alaskan mystery series featuring a State Trooper who is an Inupiaq. It looks very promising! Anyone read him?

Kar, just started the Dexter series and am enjoying it.

> 27, Mark - We have that book White Sky, Black Ice as a possible book for 2010 for my RL armchair travelers book group. We are still voting so don't know if the group will do it, but I plan to get it myself regardless of the outcome.

I plan to read either A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander or Search the Dark by Charles Todd this month. May also try the 2nd book set in North Korea and the first one set in Mongolia.

Started The Lost Sailors by Jean-Claude Izzo, which I assumed would be a mystery, based upon the three books in his Marseille trilogy. But so far, no.

I started Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald E. Westlake last night.

Still working through the Harry Bosh and Prey series. Not in any kind of order, of course. Since my last post in last month's thread, I've finished Echo Park by Michael Connelly as well as Shadow Prey and Hidden Prey by John Sandford

Currently reading The Hadrian Memorandum by Allan Folsom from the Early Reviewers and have Invisible Prey and The Overlook on my shelf for this month.

I'm reading The Innocent Spy by Laura Wilson. A "historical novel and police procedural", set in World War II London. Enjoying it so far, but it just doesn't seem like the first in a series - perhaps there's some backstory in her other books?

Just started The Night's Foul Work by Fred Vargas.

Just started Hold Tight by Harlan Coben. I've read one other book by him, Just One Look, and thought it was OK. Hoping this one is a little better.

I'm reading Slay Bells by Kate Kingsbury. I love cozies but this one is not doing anything for me. It's the 14th in the series but the first one I've read so that might have something to do with it.

@35 - I haven't read Hold Tight but The Innocent and Promise Me were both very good. Promise me is a Myron Bolitar novel and The Innocent is a stand alone.

Something of the Night by Mary McMullen--good so far.

The Fingers of One Foot by gerald Hammond

I'm reading The Killer's Wife by local author Bill Floyd, who is meeting with our library mystery book club next week to discuss the book. So far it's quite readable.

Just got into Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe this year after a lucky find in an old second hand bookshop. Pretty hard to find in the UK but worth the effort. Ihave a lot of reding to look forward to if I can track down all the titles!

>41 bobmarsh: Oh, how well I remember when I first got hooked on Nero and Archie, and then realized there were dozens and dozens of stories to read! Enjoy the thrill of the chase, bobmarsh!

>41 bobmarsh: If you really get into Stout, bobmarsh, you might also enjoy his other characters, Tecumseh Fox and Dol Bonner. Have fun!

Cranking through The Feathery by Bill Flynn. Had never been much of a golf person, but now I'm intrigued. Well, I guess I won't get anything done tonight. :)

Started number 3 in the Smoky Barrett series, The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen. So glad I found this author!

ooo...Swimsuit by James Patterson...soooo amazing!!!!!

The Cat Who Robbed A Bank: just needed some comfy no-brainer reading, and good ol' Lilian fills the bill.

The Dark House by John Sedgwick set in contemporary Boston its a psychological thriller.

The Turnaround by George Pelecanos which is proving very good so far.

quartzite - hey wow, another person reading that. I've read it a couple time since it came out and quite liked it. Unusual perspective. I've read another of his books and like it, too, although it was completely different.

The Pack of Lies by Gordon Ashe aka John Creasey. Have only read a couple of pages.

Finished Hold Tight while snowed in Wednesday. It was the better of the 2 Coben books I've read (the other being, as I mentioned earlier, Just One Look.

I can't quite put my finger on what bugs me about his writing. I think it's the way he repeatedly goes into long digressions that are essentially vast generalizations about people or things or "kids today" or whatever. I think he's trying to be witty or wry, but it feels a little too mannered, and does nothing to advance either character development or plot.

It's all about Agatha Christie. Just finished And Then There Were None (my first...made it 47 years without ever reading a Christie). Am reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles via Daily Lit (my first Daily Lit--kind of a hard way to read, in e-mailed installments) and Murder in Mesopotamia.

I may never stop.

How can these books be as fresh now, despite the half century plus worth of cliches they engendered, as they were when first published? Astonishing!

Just finished Malevil and have started Haiku by vacchs.

At the suggestion of my mother I have been trying out some of the "culinary' cozy mysteries. I am almost finished with Catering to Nobody and will certainly read the rest in the series.

#53 You are in for a treat with Agatha Christie, I am in the process of reading all of her books, hopefully in 2010. I think I read The Mysterious Affair at Styles through Daily Lit also.

#55, the Goldie mysteries are fun, and I've read them out of order---don't think it makes much difference unless you happen to be an in-order junkie.

I'm just finishing Ian Rankin's Hide and Seek, an Inspector Rebus mystery. Next up is Morag Joss and Funeral Music, then I think something involving Dr. Thorndyke by R. Austin Freeman.

# 53 I totally agree!!!

BTW have read both The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Murder in Mesopotamia. Hope you keep on reading more and more of her books. It only gets better, BeckyJG!

No Escape by Natasha Cooper

Never read any of her books before, but she seems to have a dedicated group of readers, plus critics seem to like her as well. Besides I liked the synopsis of the book. Therefore I'm giving her a go...

Book Description
Spike Falconer is in prison on the Isle of Wight - convicted of murder. What made him choose four innocent strangers, a family picnicking, as his victims? Why did he need to kill? Forensic psychologist Karen Taylor comes to probe the mind of this psychopath. Trying to recover from the death of her husband and the dark memories surrounding it, Karen is drawn into life on the Island. She becomes involved with DCI Charlie Trench, cool and abrasive, the opposite in every way from her partner Will Hawkins. And she has to get to know Spike's adoptive family, the rich and influential Falconers, who are tight-lipped and closing ranks. Someone on the Island doesn't want Karen getting too close to Spike. The more she learns, the more afraid she becomes of those who are threatened by her discoveries. And then they start to act ...

-source Amazon.co.uk

I started The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas today, I have really been looking forward to this one after all the good comments I have seen here.

Oh you are in a real treat with Chalk Circle Man. It has a lot of twists. I would even reread it again. I am a Vargas junkie. The problem is I have read all that she has written. ;-(

I'm reading A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny. (note: the Canadian edition's title was Dead Cold -- it got renamed for the US release.)

> 60 & 61

I recently posted in the 2009 Crime from non-English speaking countries thread (or something like that), where I asked in what era people thought Vargas's 'Adamsberg' series was set. I've only read two of hers: Chalk Circle Man and Have Mercy on us all, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

When do you think these novels are set? Are there give-aways as to era that you've noticed?

I believe the are pretty much contemporary

Going to start The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton today. This book has been on my TBR pile for waaay to long!

I'm just starting the second book in Carolyn Hart's other series, featuring ghost sleuth, Bailey Ruth Raeburn. The book is Merry, Merry Ghost.

I don't usually start a series with the second book but this is a Christmas mystery.

>64 quartzite: quartzite

Yes, I read Vargas's novels as 'pretty much contemporary', but there was a reference in The Chalk Circle Man to a fashion article about ".... what was in fashion, skirt lengths or seams in stockings." I'm really not up on what is contemporary fashion but when I thought about it I realised that it had been some time since I had seen a seam in a 'stocking'.... It made me wonder.

Regarding the Vargas' "Adamsberg" series, the Chalk Circle Man was first published in 1996 and so far, the only cultural reference I have seen is mention of an Elvis head. I find the books have a contemporary feel, so I would guess that she has set them in the 1990's. I'm not a fashionista but seamed stockings do seem to come and go. I think the designers push them, but the buying public can't deal with the impossibility of keeping the seams straight!

Thanks DeltaQueen50. The Elvis head reference is a bit of a clincher isn't it?

My daughter loaned me an Agatha Christie I'd never heard of: Why Didn't They Ask Evans. Having read her books since I was a wee lad, I was amazed to find out this one existed. On another thread, I found out Masterpiece Theater included it in a series of four adaptations this year.

So far it's quite good.

I'm going back and forth with Dying for Chocoalte and Trunk Music.

i'm about 30 pages into candlemoth by Roger Jon Ellory.

so far its absolutely gripping

I just got turned on to the Quarry books by Max Allan Collins through Hard Case Crime books. They're very good. I was surprised to find out how many books Collins has a hand in, too. He completed a couple of Mickey Spillane's books plus had dozens of novelizations & other books out there.

I'm currently reading Quarry in the Middle.

Why Didn't they Ask Evans was also published under other titles including The Boomerang Clue.

Thanks, quartzite. I've always wondered why that happens so much with Agatha Christie books - multiple titles. I know it's not uncommon to change the title from country to country - e.g. HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, not the Philosopher's Stone, in the USA - but it seems to happen so much with her books. Maybe it's just that she wrote so many.

I am now reading Before, After, and Somebody in Between by Jeannine Garsee. I really am enjoying the book's portrayal of a young teenager's life dealing with abuse, addiction, and racism.

The High Window by Raymond Chandler

jnwelch- I believe it was in this group a looonng time ago that someone named the demon publisher responsible for all the A.C. secondary titles. Apparently the goal was to make readers think that it was a new release so they'd buy the same book twice.

Just finished Come Morning by Joe Gores. It was nominated for an Edgar in 1987, but few on LT have read it and there is nothing written about it. I would call it noir. It's set in San Francisco and is about a man released from San Quentin after eight years for a diamond heist. Several parties are interested in getting the unrecovered diamonds. I found it interesting, surprising, and will read more from this author who has won the Edgar.

#78: And publishers are still doing it, particularly in the genre fiction categories. I can't tell you how many times I've had a customer excited about a "new" Nora Roberts or whoever, only to discover that she read it 20 years ago under a different title or with a different cover. Kind of evil!

I received an early reviewers copy of Snow Angels by James Thompson today so will start it this afternoon.

#78, 80: it is annoying, isn't it? I do lots of book shopping at secondhand stores and inevitably, I'll pick up something with an outdated title, then have fits trying to figure out what I read/what's next.

Actually, I was kind of shocked to find, that not only did we not own the 'Sherlock Holmes' books, that I also had not read any of the original books, having largely been exposed to Television and Movie versions over many years.

So prior to the new movie coming out, I am trying to read all 9 of the original books, currently I am on 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'.

And terrifyingly I could not resist 'Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula'. Sigh.

Rich W.

70 - The recent adaptation of Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is COMPLETELY different from the book. For one thing, they threw Miss Marple in there, and for another, it's a much darker interpretation of the book. I'm not saying I hated it, but I was disappointed.

I'm hoping to finish both Gimme More and The Risk of Infidelity Index this month.

I finished Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas - I really enjoyed it and will be on the lookout for the next one in the series.

I am now going to read Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre, another first in a series.

>78 mstrust: mstrust and >80 BeckyJG: BeckyJG - hah! That nefarious idea never occurred to me. I should've known. Jeesh.

>84 cmbohn: cmbohn Thanks for the heads-up about the new Why Didn't They Ask Evans movie. They do like to throw Miss Marple in, don't they? My daughter reminded me that they did that in a Tommy and Tuppence movie, By the Pricking of My Thumbs.

I finished Why Didn't They Ask Evans and thought it was okay, not great. I just started my first Georgette Heyer mystery, Death in the Stocks.

edited to fix touchstone

Just finished A Whispered Name by William Broderick. Just began He Died with his Eyes Open by Derek Raymond.

The Organ Grinders by Bill Fitzhugh--hilarious (and kinda scary).

In my quest to become more familiar with the grand old dames of vintage mystery, ordered a Josephine Tey and a Dorothy Sayers from the library today. And, I have a Georgette Heyer in the queue--Why Shoot a Butler. Let me know what you think of her, jnwelch; I hear she's just awesome (and extraordinarly prolific--her Regency romances are supposed to be simply yummy).

edited for typo

#89 You are going to absolutely love Josephine Tey. She only wrote a few books, but they were all different and didn't remind me of anything else. I think I still have Miss Pym Disposes left to read.

I've only read the first Dorothy Sayers but I am in the process of collecting the rest.

The Way Home by George Pelecanos

I just finished The Alienist. It was very good - I can see why so many folks enjoyed it.

Am almost 1/2 way through Alone by Loren Estelman and am not really engaged in it. Am annoyed by the writer putting quirky, old-fashioned language in everyone's mouths. It's one thing to have one character use words and phrases like spook for ghost and land-office business, but not all of them. Lacks believability in a novel set in the present day. Valentino himself is a somewhat sympathetic character, but not the murder victim or the suspect.

I've been collecting the Hard Case Crime books, http://www.hardcasecrime.com/ & am pretty tickled right now. If you're a member of their book club, you can get almost any book for $1. They have 62 books out & I needed 17 to complete my collection. I got them for $25 total since it was $8 shipping.

Most of their books are reprints, but they have some wonderful artists doing the covers. A few of the books haven't been to my taste. I hated the one by Stephen King, The Colorado Kid, but most have been great.

#89 jimmaclachlan, how did you manage this? I'm being quoted $5 per book.

John, it was a piece of 'junk' mail that was included with my monthly books from them this month. Luckily, a fellow traveler had mentioned seeing it, so I looked for it. It showed a list of books that could be had for $1, but the fine print said to ask the operator as others were available. Of the 17 books I needed, all were available.

Maybe you had to already be a club member for this offer to be available.

Just finished Endless Night by Agatha Christie, surely one of her creepiest, and Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer, which was pretty good, especially the brutally frank Vereker family members.

Started The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti.

Edited to fix the first touchstone, although it still goes to the wrong author.

just started Torch by Cheryl Strayed

Done Deal by Les Standiford

Just finished Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen. I don't know if he really qualifies as crime, but I'm not sure what category his books should be put in. I enjoy crime novels mostly because I just want to know the twist! But Hiaasen's writing is so good and humorous that I find myself reading him not because the plot is so juicy but because I laugh out loud. Anyone have an opinion on Hiaasen?

I've read several Hiassen books, margaux, and enjoyed them. Mostly, as you say, for his wacky, slapstick sense of humor. If I think too much about the plots I get a headache and have to lay down, but the writing always revives me.

Besides The Good Thief, I picked up Agatha Christie's Towards Zero, which I remember as a good one.

I am reading Unseen: A Mystery by Mari Jungstedt and it's really good. I haven't read anything by this Swedish writer before but I have a feeling I will be on the lookout for more of her books.

I am also reading Bundori by Laura Joh Rowland. This is the second in this series of historical crime novels set in fedual Japan. It's a great series.

Picked up a Gregory McDonald for a quarter at the library--Fletch and the Widow Bradley. My first Fletch (although not the first Fletch ; ). Loving it--fast pace and snappy dialog.

Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard

>100 marguax: Margaux, I used to read Hiaasen, but not latelyfor some reason. Have to start again. Love how twisted funny they are. Can't remember which book, maybe Skin Tight, but still have the image of bad guy with dog's head clamped to his necrotic arm as he goes through a toll booth.

Currently reading The Wrong Mother by Sophie Hannah.

Mess 46, I enjoyed The Swimsuit also.....

I just finished Hide by Lisa Gardner which was fast moving and tightly plotted. It was a quick read that I'd recommend.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through The Broken Vessel by Kate Ross. So far, it's pretty good although a little of all that cockney slang goes a long way.....

> 107 marcejewels - How is The Wrong Mother?

I just finished up Louise Penny's A Rule Against Murder. It's my new favorite in the Three Pines/Inspector Gamache series.

Picked up Towards Zero by Agatha Christie and The Wings of the Sphinx, the new (newly published in the USA) Inspector Montalbano mystery in Andrea Camilleri's great series.

Just started To Love and Be Wise, my first Josephine Tey. Golden Age of British crime writing indeed!

I finished The Black Seraphim by Michael Gilbert - very good. First time in a while that I had really no idea who the murderer was.

Michael Gilbert is an old favorite! I am now reading Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

I'm reading another cozy Christmas mystery, The Body in the Sleigh by Katherine Hall Page.

I started the month reading Personal Foul by Tim Donaghy. It's about the NBA scandal where the NBA ref was aiding others on betting on NBA games based on insider information (i.e. who was reffing the game and those refs relationship to players on the court, such as such-and-such hates Iverson, and he's reffing the Philly/Boston game, so bet on the Celtics).

Now, I just started Memorial Day by Vince Flynn (kinda ironic that I'm reading this during a different holiday, but it's next up for me in the Mitch Rapp series, so I'm reading it)

#115 Linda, I really like Katherine Hall Page's cozies, though it's been a while since I read one. I haven't read The Body in the Sleigh yet. I look forward to your comments.

#116 Hmm, Personal Foul sounds interesting . . .

Death of a Perfect Mother, it's my first time reading this author.

> quartzite- I just received Starvation Lake from my Secret Santa. Let me know what you think! I've heard many good things!
I'm well into Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston. It's the 4th in his vampire P.I. series.

#119, a particularly well-chosen book from your Secret Santa. heh-heh.

I'll be curious to hear what you think of Starvation Lake, Mark. I plan to read it soon, too.

Picked up a gorgeous trade paperback (for only a quarter at the library) by Richard Paul Russo called Carlucci. Turns out that it's an omnibus--three books in one!--but better than that: it's dystopian sci-fi (possibly post-apocalyptic? haven't determined that, yet) set in San Francisco in the near future, but it's also a serial killer thriller. Three books and three genres for the price of one. Wow! So far, it's excellent.

Just finished reading By the pricking of my thumbs and that's about the best I can say of it.

Fished Starvation Lake and I give it a solid 4 stars.

Enjoying The Game by Laurie King; even more so because it was gift thoughtfully selected by my teenager!

The High Window needs a better rep. The supporting cast is fantastic! Sure, a modern reader will see through the plot very quickly, at least what Raymond Chandler allows us to see...

I finally picked up No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, after enjoying the TV series so much.

I am enjoying Murder in Retrospect very much.

After many years of reading the annual Best American Short Stories, I tried the Best American Mystery Stories 2008 last year and loved it. Just started Best American Mystery Stories 2009 which I rec'd as a Christmas gift. Enjoyed the first story and looking forward to the others.

Started The Broken Shore by Peter Temple this morning. So far, so good.

Reading Sleeping Murder to get rid of the bad taste left by the previous Christie. So far, much better.

Just finished Memorial Day by Vince Flynn.

Either later tonight, or when I get on the plane tomorrow to fly back to Charlotte, I'll be starting on Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising.

I finished the very entertaining The Cleanup by Sean Doolittle and recommend it, especially for crime fiction fans.

The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri was another fun Inspector Montalbano mystery.

>126 storyjunkie: We're watching The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency tv series on DVD right now, after reading the books first, and really enjoying it. Great casting! I hope they do another season, but am worried that they may not.

# 122 & 130 I have not read By the Pricking of My Thumbs yet. But I want to.

Sleeping Murder on the other hand is one of my all time favorite Christie books. I probably love it the most among all the Miss Marple novels. (I say probably because really how can I choose between all the books featuring my favorite Miss Marple!)

Finished Firewall this morning. What a good read.Very hard to put down.

My third go-round with Megan Abbott...namely Queenpin......my review is here:

http://www.librarything.com/work/8949422/book/33484048

;-}

Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia. Moderately charming, mildly funny. Just finished a truly mediocre Stephen White, Missing Persons...so mediocre that I didn't realize until 50 pages before the end that I'd already read it. Sheesh. I hardly ever reread books that merit a reread, let alone stuff like this.

I'm starting Rosemary Aubert's first in series set in Toronto, Free Reign.

Midway through the Devil in Music, the last and the best of the Julian Kestrel books. I had forgotten how wonderfullly complex and intricate the plot is...

#135 I think there is a cameo appearance in Sleeping Murder. The "Was it your poor child?" character from By the Pricking of My Thumbs also occurs in Sleeping Murder.

I'm reading Princess Academy, scored at the library while escorting my granddaughter.

# 141 Really? I'll have to look for that on my next re-read of Sleeping Murder. My last re-read was about two years ago so the details are a little hazy.

This month I've read

Laura Wilson, An Empty Death - the second in a series about DI Stratton - she's written quite a few books but all the previous ones are standalones. Someone mentioned reading An Innocent Spy - it sounds like this must be an alternative title to the book published as Stratton's War here!

Laura Lippman, By a Spider's Thread - #8 in a series about Tess Monaghan, PI in Baltimore.

Ken Bruen, Blitz - #4 in the series featuring south London police detectives Brant, Falls and their colleagues

I've now started Marcia Muller, Burn Out, a recent one in the series featuring Sharon McCone.

Very strange - An Empty Death comes up on Amazon (US) as available in Kindle and audio editions. No book!
I'm the one who mentioned The Innocent Spy, and yes, they changed the title for the US market. I HATE that! My wonderful library found a copy for me of One Girl's War: Personal Exploits in MI5's Most Secret Station by Joan Miller. It came all the way to Seattle from San Jose and I'm reading it now. Wilson mentioned it in the Afterward of The Innocent Spy. Miller inspired the character of Diana.
One Girl's War includes an explanation by the publisher of why the "Government" tried to suppress it.
And I'm listening to Locked In by Marcia Muller. I think Sharon McCone is one of the best PI series.

> elkiedee- How is Bruen's Brant series? I'm a huge fan of his Jack Taylor books but haven't heard much about these books.

Quickly knocked off cozy crime Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos, which was an entertaining romp (#3 in the Meg Langslow series, and an improvement on the awkward second book in the series).

> jnwelch, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another season. And it's good to hear that the show stands up to the comparison.

>140 puddleshark: puddleshark

Oh, I do love the Julian Kestrel books. It makes me so sad that we'll never have more than just the four!

A belated Happy New Year to everyone!

Well, I totally missed posting in December, but I did read three books:

If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him, an atypical mystery in the Elizabeth McPherson series by Sharyn Mccrumb. Was not impressed.
The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters
The African Poison Murders by Elspeth Huxley

>149 webgeekstress:
Me too! Have you read her Kestrel short story?

(146) msf, I quite like the Brant series but it's very different from Jack Taylor. The characters are a team of South London police detectives, the style is a bit different from that of the Jack Taylor books. The characters behave quite outrageously and often well outside the law, police procedural this isn't really. The first in the series is A White Arrest - there was a US edition of the first 3 books published as The White Trilogy a few years ago. I've taken the brackets off because the touchstone was wrong.

>152 sqdancer:
There's a Kestrel short story? No, where?

It's called "The Lullaby Cheat" and it's in the Crime through Time anthology published in 1997.

#149 - I know - I read on the cover of The Devil in Music that Kate Ross was working on the fifth Julian Kestrel book, and I was devastated to find out that she had died.

#155 Immediately added to wish-list!

>155 sqdancer:
Thanks for the reference.

How's the rest of the anthology? Is it worth buying for any other reason than the one Kestrel story? (I'm living in Turkey right now, so checking it out of the library isn't an option.)

I borrowed it from the library. If I recall correctly, it was kind of a mixed bag (like most anthologies).

In case some of your other favourite authors have contributed, I'll add a list of the contents:
Death of a place-seeker / Lynda S. Robinson
Archimedes' tomb / Steven Saylor
Solomon's decision / Sharan Newman
Murder at anchor / Edward Marston
The hangman's apprentice / Leonard Tourney
Suffer a witch / Miriam Grace Monfredo
The lullaby cheat / Kate Ross
Anything in the dark / Edward D. Hoch
Bertie and the boat race / Peter Lovesey
The high constable and the visiting author / Maan Meyers
Look to the lady / Alanna Knight
Mrs. Hudson's case / Laurie King
Exit centre stage / M.J. Trow
Decision of the umpire / Troy Soos
Uncle Charlie's letters / Anne Perry
Killing the critic / Gillian Linscott
Portrait of the artist as a young corpse / Barbara Paul
The Mamur Zapt and the Kodaker's eye / Michael Pearce
Storm in a tea shoppe / Carola Dunn
The enemy / Ken Kuhlken
The soldier and his dead companion / Nicholas A. DiChario.