Mystery Corner ~ 2

[Steph]

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Pull up a comfortable chair and join us here to talk about mysteries and their authors.
 We love hearing what YOU enjoy and recommend!

Links:
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Our Favorite Old Mystery Writers
Fantastic Fiction
Stop You're Killing Me

Discussion Leaders:    BillH and JoanK   

I loved the old Nero Wolfe series since the suspects were always gathered in his office.. Great fun and Archie always made me laugh.

[Babi]

 And Nero Wolfe is another one that I don't remember ever actually
'seeing' a murder take place. I could be wrong about that, but it seems
to me the crime is always brought to our attention by a visitor to Nero
Wolfe's office.  Or perhaps, a letter.  Like the old Greek tragedies, all
the rough stuff takes place off-stage and a messenger comes to announce it.

[Frybabe]

I liked the Nero Wolfe series too. I like Timothy Hutton in the Wolfe series, but not the current Leverage series. I also liked his Dad, Jim Hutton, in Ellery Queen. I sure can see the resemblance.

[Gumtree]

That definition of 'cozy mysteries' seems to fit Agatha Christie to a 'T'

[JoanK]

The only thing missing from the definition IMO is the role of continuing characters in "cozies". (Almost) always, in addition to the detective, there are other characters that continue through the books of the series. The reader gets to know and care about them, and reading a cozy can be like dropping in on a group of old friends to find out how they are doing. This keeps us reading the new cozies even if the book decrease in quality. I'll bet you can all think of examples.

In a few cases, the author amasses too many continuing characters, and has to spend half of the book catching up with how they are doing. I've picked up such a book in the middle of the series, and found it almost unreadable.

[joegreyfan]

I'm back after a week without my computer, while it was in the Apple repair shop. Seemed like a very long week!

Mrssherlock, you mentioned Lisa Gardner. I recently read my first book by her, The Neighbor (saw it at the supermarket), and now I'm a fan.

Just finished Forbidden Fruit by Kerry Greenwood, fifth in her series starring Melbourne baker Corinna Chapman. It's set during Christmastime, which of course is a summer holiday in Australia. I think this is the best in the series so far. I really enjoy her Phryne Fisher series, but I think I like Corinna even better! Lots of delicious food references in this series, sure to stimulate your appetite!

[JoanK]

I've often wondered how Christmas feels as a summer holiday. I understand a dip in the pool is considered part of the celebration.

[mrssherlock]

Joegrey: I like the bakery stories better, too.

[marcie]

I've never read a book by Dean Koontz but I see that he has a series based on Frankenstein (the doctor lives!). Does anyone have an opinion of his books or that series? Since we've just read Frankenstein together  here on SeniorLearn, I've become addicted and am watching films and looking for books adapted from Mary Shelley's stories.

[mrssherlock]

Dean Koontz has a series about old codgers who right wrongs.  They call themselves The Camel Club; I greatly enjoy these.  His Odd Thomas series is off-beat and interesting, also, but I haven't read his Frankenstein series.  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/dean-r-koontz/

[marcie]

Thanks very much, Jackie, for the recommendation and link.

[Steph]

Careful with Koontz. He also writes horror.

[Babi]

 Yes, indeed. I was surprised...and pleased...to discover his Odd Thomas series.  Those I do
read.

[Tomereader1]

Sorry to correct...The Camel Club is by David Baldacci.

[Gumtree]

I've often wondered how Christmas feels as a summer holiday. I understand a dip in the pool is considered part of the celebration.

JoanK -It's almost obligatory on my side of the country. Not so sure about Melbourne where they can have 4 seasons in 24 hours and often do.

Joegreyfan - Haven't read Kerry Greenwood - will look for Forbidden Fruit - you make it sound delicious. Greenwood writes in several genres and is well known for her children's and young adult books. She also does historical - very versatile but then she's an Aussie - like me.

[mrssherlock]

Gum;  Kerry Greenwood's series about Corinna Chapman, baker extraodinairre, begins with Earthy Delights.  I recommend that you read them in order.  Characters are introduced in one book and may appear later in another.  She carefully sets the scene incrementally through the series. 

[JoanK]

My face to face mystery club discussed "The Last Child" by John Hart last night. I was the only one who liked it. One said that it contained every cliche of the "missing child genre." I didn't even know there WAS such a genre. Usually I avoid books where the victem is a child --- too close to the bone for me. But this one pulled me along.

[roshanarose]

A Summer Xmas would indeed seem strange to those in the Northern Hemisphere.  It gets very hot in Perth, where Gum lives and here, in Brisbane, where I live.  When one goes for a "dip" in the pool in Australia during the day, one may need to wear heavy protection, eg sunscreen SPF15 to 30; a lycra bodysuit; a large hat; sunglasses and this is actually IN the pool.  The best time to have a dip is at night.  I remember a dinner at my daughter's house where she; her husband; I and my two grandsons spent at least three hours chatting in the pool.  The water is soft and soothing like silk in the evening. 

[Steph]

Living in Florida, there have been Christmases where we went for a dip in the pool.. Not so much the older generation, but the young grandchildren love the idea.

[Babi]

 ROSE, that sounds like a lovely evening, ..but how did you all avoid coming out of the pool looking like prunes?

[Gumtree]

Mrs Sherlock: Thanks for the tip on Kerry Greenwood - I'll definitely start with the first in the series and take it from there.

I don't read mystery novels much these days but really feel like one or two at the moment so I'm here looking for good ideas.

[mrssherlock]

In the latest offering from Beverly Connor, Diane Fallon, PhD, Museum Director, Forensic Archaeologist, finds herself on the s--t list of the sheriff in a neighboring county - he forbids her entry to "his county" on threat of jail after she stumbles on a double murder while fleeing from a wild who attacked her when her car was hit by a falling tree (containing a skeleton) during a wild thunder and lightening rain storm.  Whew!  This story kept my daughter up all night and I found it equally compelling.  I do like Fallon's colleagues whose characters add spice to her work day.  The Rosewood Museum is one I would love to spend several days visiting.  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/beverly-connor/night-killer.htm

[JoanK]

You talked me into it. I ordered the first ofthe Fallon books from Amazon.

I'm currently reading a Reichs book about forensic anthropologist Temperence Brennen (I admit to being an addict of the series "Bones" on TV, based on her books.

This book, "Cross Bones" takes place partly in Israel, and gives me a chance to review my very rusty Hebrew. It involves a set of bones discovered at Masada, and thought by some to be the bones of Jesus. Shades of the DaVinci Code: I think she should have stuck closer to home.

[PatH]

Gumtree, a mystery writer you might enjoy is P. D. James--not for when you want really light stuff though.  Her books vary wildly in quality.  Three that I like a lot are "Devices and Desires", "A Taste for Death", and "An Unsuitable Job for a Woman".  Some of her later books are very good too, but some aren't, and it's probably best to start earlier.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/p-d-james/

[joangrimes]

I love PD James...Which ones did you not like PatH?...joangrimes

[roshanarose]

Hi Joan - Haven't seen you for a while.  Hope you are feeling fine.

Babi - As long as I am cool I don't care if I look like a prune.

[Steph]

Joan
Grimes.. Welcome back. I missed you.. You always hang in there and read as much as possible.
Hmm. detective.. You might try Janet Evanovich is you want a laugh. Start with the first in the series.. which has One in the title.

[Babi]

a double murder while fleeing from a wild who attacked her when her car was hit by a falling tree (containing a skeleton) during a wild thunder and lightening rain storm.

  Miss Connor doesn't leave out anything, does she, JACKIE.  That one
seems a little over the top.  What wild thing was she fleeing from?

ROSE, I think you're real cool....even as a prune. 

[mrssherlock]

Babi:  She was fleeing from the home of a couple she had had dinner with.  After the accident with the tree and the pursuit by the wild man, she made her way back through the forest, dodging rain and lightening, to her dinner hosts' home to use their phone, cell phones not working there.  She stumbled in out of the storm and found them sitting at the dinner table, in their night clothes, with their throats cut.  She fled, not knowing if the killer(s) were still there.  It sounds extreme but Connor writes it so well that it doesn't violate one's logic since the action flows so inevitably from event to event. 

[pedln]

JoanK, re: John Hart’s  The Last Child – is that the one that recently won the Edgar award – for 2009 or 2010?  My f2f group will read his Down River for our October discussion.  I’ve not read any of his, but understand that he has won a few awards.

While you are all talking bones, this one is true – in one of the online newspapers yesterday – Someone was critizizing authorities in Japan for not keeping its “oldest person” lists up to date. Not only can they not find the 113 year-old woman who is currently the oldest, the, mummified body of another elderly man was found in his house -- yesterday.  He had been dead for 30 years.  No doubt this will spark a mystery sometime down the road.

Oldest Man

P.D. James --  one of my favorites,  especially her Original Sin ? – the one about the publishing house.

[Steph]

I like P.D. James, but I have to be in the exact right mood for her.. Same for Elizabeth George.. They sort of immerse you in the feel of England..So does Minette Walters.. A favorite of mine.

[Babi]

Beverly Connor must be good if she can handle all that and make it work, JACKIE. I'll give her a try.

  Minette Walters wrote some books I thought were great, but also some I thought rather uninspired. Maybe it is a matter of being in the
right mood.

[JoanK]

GUMTREE: what you read might depend on what kind of thing you're in the mood for. Many of the suggestions given you are "psychologicals" the most serious and darkest of the mysteries (P.D. James, Elizabeth George, Minette Walters). Well written, but be prepared to suffer!!

There are also the lighter "cozies" (Agatha Christie), the "tough guys" (Dashell Hamitt-- think Humphrey Bogart in a bar with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, some of them almost unreadable now)  and the more modern "tough gals" (Sue Grafton). Spoofs of "tough gals (Evanovitch).The legal beagles (lawyers and courtrooms-- try Lisa Scotteline "Everywhere that Mary Went").

My preference for women writers and detectives is showing, I find it easier to relate to them.

I like mysteries that tell me about people and places I would never meet otherwise. Hillerman's stories of the Navahoe. Sue Henry "Murder on the Iditerod Trail" about an iditerod racer. The park ranger who writes about our national parks (Senior moment -- what's her name?). And on and on.

I shouldn't have started this.

[JoanK]

I picked up the new Lisa Scotteline, (Think Twice) and read it all night -- something I never do. Lacks the historic interest of her latest ones, but carries you along. If you don't know her "Legal Beagles", give them a try.

[nlhome]

Nevada Barr writes the Anna Pigeon novels set in various locations in the National Park systems. I enjoy them.

[mrssherlock]

as an avid NPR listener i thought I was keeping up with the books that are reviewed but this item slipped past me somehow;  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128718927&ft=1&f=1032#results

[Steph]

 Ialso tend to be biased and prefer women writers.. A powerful woman writer who is interesting is Dana Stabenow. She lives in Alaska and all of her books ( except a few sci fi) are based there. Interesting take for a lower 48er.

[pedln]

An interesting link, Jackie, I just forwarded  it to my f2f group.

My f2f group just finished Dark Places by Linda Ladd, a Southest Missouri author.  For someone who has written 23 novels there has not been much written about her.  She wrote one of our group that she was changing publishers because her current one did not prmote her.  I was not particularly thrilled with the book -- very grissly and I don't like reading about purely evil sociopaths, if that's the correct word.  Her series detective is Claire Morgan.  I may give her another chance, but there are too many more highly recommended books to read right now.  Has anyone heard of her?

[Gumtree]

JoanK: Thanks for suggestions. I'm really not reading much at all at the moment - have an eye problem so am limited until I get the all clear. I drifted away from mysteries quite a few years ago - One author I used to read was Ruth Rendell - Inspector Wexford mysteries etc. Saw an article about her only last week - She's now an octagenarian and has just published a new novel - still looks smart as paint etc. G'rrr  She also writes as Barbara Vine. I guess I lean toward the British stuff.

I'm often amazed at how much everyone here seems to read. A new book every day while I usually favour lo...ong books that might take a week to get thru - and have more than one going at any one time.... I'm rambling again.

[JoanK]

GUM: that's one trouble with mysteries, they are quick reads, so you have to keep reading more -- more. It's like eating potato chips.

I use mysteries as the snacks between meals of more serious reading.

I like Ruth Rendell also. I'm amazed she's still writing!