Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 897702 times)

Steph · « **Reply #2720 on:** August 14, 2011, 06:42:23 AM »

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Pull up a comfortable chair and join us here to talk about mysteries and their authors.
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Discussion Leader: JoanK

Kate is quite a heroine. I have read all of that series along with the Liam series by Stabenow.. Plus I subscribe to her blog on Facebook.. What fun..

MaryPage · « **Reply #2721 on:** August 14, 2011, 08:11:24 AM »

I just finished Michael Gruber's TROPIC OF NIGHT. Whew! A thriller based in Miami with some Long Island, Siberia, Nigeria and Mali thrown in. Not a British village cozy, but the writing is way above par. Jimmy Paz is the detective.

Next I am diving into another Michael Dibdin Aurelio Zen thriller. I do love Italy and the Italians, and Dibdin's books are always full of little gems of composition that make me stop, think and appreciate.

Babi · « **Reply #2722 on:** August 14, 2011, 09:02:02 AM »

I am happily engrossed in the latest Anne Perry, "Treason in Lisson Grove". It's
her first Charlotte and Thomas Pitt book in three years. I have some others
waiting, but can't put this one down until I've gotten these people out of trouble!

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2723 on:** August 14, 2011, 01:26:25 PM »

Read in two days Lisa Scottolini's "Think Twice". This is another story about Bennie's evil twin sister. It was very compelling, has a very unsettling beginning with Bennie in great peril. The only thing that takes the edge off and kept me reading was that i knew she had to survive. She is the star after all.

if you like LS, i recommend it. I like them especially because of the strong female characters, but also bcs she really does know Philadelphia and includes a lot of the city geography. She has said that she started writing bcs of her strong mother and she wanted to see that kind of woman portrayed in novels. Isn't that a nice tribute?

Jean

salan · « **Reply #2724 on:** August 14, 2011, 06:05:37 PM »

Babi, thanks for the info on Anne Perry. I love her series and have put this one on my tbr list.
Sally

JoanK · « **Reply #2725 on:** August 14, 2011, 06:24:11 PM »

Looking on Amazon for Anne Perry's Pitt novel, I see she has a new Monk one as well, "Acceptabl Loss", listed as August 9th, 2011. Not clear if they have it yet, or not.

salan · « **Reply #2726 on:** August 15, 2011, 05:25:45 AM »

Another mystery writer I enjoy is Rhys Bowen--the Molly Murphy series. Have any of you read these?
Sally

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2727 on:** August 15, 2011, 05:46:02 AM »

FlaJean - I really like Donna Leon, and at the moment I am feeling the need for some "comfort" reading, so I think will dig out one of hers - thanks for reminding me. I love all the details of Italian life , and Brunetti is such a lovely man. He reminds me a bit of Gamache in Louise Perry's books - they are both essentially good people, don't you think? I like Ian Rankin's Rebus books, but Rebus is such a troubled sou himself that he can get a bit wearing.

This weekend daughters and I watched a Miss Marple mystery followed by a Morse episode (which turned out to be an extra-long one set in Australia - enjoyed it but wouldn't have started watching it if I'd known it would keep me up till after midnight!) After we were totally baffled by the denoument in Morse, Madeleine said that she preferred Miss Marple "because she explains it all properly at the end". Loved the scenery in the Morse episode though - I think it was New South Wales, absolutely beautiful.

Rosemary

Frybabe · « **Reply #2728 on:** August 15, 2011, 07:36:00 AM »

I don't remember ever seeing an episode of Morse where he was not in or around the Oxford area.

I bought a Rhys Bowen Constable Evans book for Mom some time back. She didn't care for it because apparently the story jumped back and forth between two different scenes. She preferred a more straight line plot. It's back in my TBR pile now.

Thanks, Salan, for the heads up on the free Shugak ebook. I also downloaded it along with another free word game.

I am, at the moment, reading a free ebook called Caravans by Night/A Romance of India by Harry Hervey. It was published in the US in 1922 so it is set between the two WWs. The plot revolves around some simultaneous jewel robberies from the treasuries of various Nabobs, Rajas, and etc. It involves a mysterious woman, spies, and infiltration into an organized gang of robbers (or are they more than this? further reading will reveal). It reminds me of Kipling, but not in the same caliber. So far, I like it.

jeriron · « **Reply #2729 on:** August 15, 2011, 08:48:14 AM »

Rosemary

I love Donna Leon's Brunetti books Her next one comes out in April I think.
I am watching the German series (with Eng substitles)now. The scenery is fantastic. They've kept to just about all the main characters from the book. I can't say that I pictured Brunetti looking like the actor that plays him but I'm probably one of a few that takes a movie and book sparetely so I'm really enjoying them. I think they've done about 18 of them and I just received 5-8. But I must say it's costing me. This is the last ones that are on DVD with sub. so far. I know I'll be watching them over and over. I love to the watch them eat on their patio and it's up about the third floor and over looks the water. Beautiful.

I would really like to rewatch Morse but non of the DVD's have close captions.

Babi · « **Reply #2730 on:** August 15, 2011, 09:20:14 AM »

I read one Molly Murphy book, SALLY. As it happened, I read the first of
Victoria Thompson's series on the New York midwife at the same time, and
decided I like the latter best. I've read all of them.

Ah! "Wearing"..the perfect description for my brief experience of Ian Rankin,
ROSEMARY. I have no doubt missed some good ones, but I never bothered to go
back.
I don't remember an Australian 'Morse', either. I feel cheated! Not least
because I would love to see the scenery. Armchair travel is my only option
these days.

Steph · « **Reply #2731 on:** August 15, 2011, 10:27:02 AM »

I like Victoria Thompson, but I have read one of the Molly Murphy books and was not that impressed. I started another one , but have set is aside..
Started reading a Giles Blunt that I had missed somehow.. Black Fly Season.. I do like the series and have no idea how I missed this one.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2732 on:** August 15, 2011, 11:25:39 AM »

MaryPage - Michael Gruber's style, characters and themes are quite unlike any books of that genre I have ever read. Why don't you write him a fan letter? Or at least a letter of appreciation.

FlaJean · « **Reply #2733 on:** August 15, 2011, 12:36:30 PM »

I got several Michael Dibdin books from the library and I was disappointed in them. The first I read was not a Aurelio Zen book but a stand alone called "The Tryst". It was a depressing book and not that interesting. So I went on to the Aurelio Zen mystery but didn't care for them either. I might have liked the Zen books if I hadn't seen the PBS series first, but I didn't bother to finish the two that I had. It's back to the library to see if they have any more Peter May books. His Enzio series I really like and want to try his China series. He is a really good author. I have read a couple of Molly Murphy books and enjoyed them.

Jeanne Dams has an interesting series about a widow, Dorothy Martin, who moved to England after her husband died. I've read all of them except the last one which I have on reserve. It's good to start at the beginning.

I also love the Donna Leon books and always look forward to the next one.

jeriron · « **Reply #2734 on:** August 15, 2011, 02:15:09 PM »

After I saw the Zen movies on PBS I decided to read on of the books, but not the same ones as the movies. I couldn't get into it either. The movies were so good but I
I found the good boring.

JoanK · « **Reply #2735 on:** August 15, 2011, 02:24:09 PM »

I forgot that there was a Sargent Lewis on TV last night, and missed it. But I dont think it was a new one.

Liked the last reginald Hill I read "The Wood Beyond". Flashes back and forth between modern day and WWI.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2736 on:** August 15, 2011, 02:30:59 PM »

My PBS station was still begging for dollars last night, so no Inspector Lewis. Fortunately, they are putting the programs up on Comcast's One Demand in the Get Local folder.

pedln · « **Reply #2737 on:** August 15, 2011, 05:14:06 PM »

JoanK, the Seargent Lewis was not a new one -- Counter Blues or some such -- about aging rock stars. I left it to go to my Netflix DVD of Desperate Housewifes.

Jeriron, where did you get the Donna Leon DVDs with the English subtitles? Even tho they're German, they play on US players? I just finished reading her Noble Radiance. I love her books and way she speaks her mind about anything and everything. Lots of good "food talk" in this one.

I've never seen Morse away from Oxford.

Does anyone have the Zen DVDs and do you know if they have captions or subtitles. B&N has a special with Cabel/something/Ratking, but I can't find out about captions.

Whoever first mentioned Victoria Thompson, thank you. I am in the middle of Murder in Little Italy and am enjoying it so much.

jeriron · « **Reply #2738 on:** August 15, 2011, 10:28:50 PM »

Pedlin
Amazon has 1-4 in German with English subtitles. And yes they are for region 1 so they play on us players.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2739 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:27:44 AM »

The Morse & Lewis in Australia episode actually worked quite well, IMO. I suppose it must have been some joint venture with an Australian TV company. This is some information about it:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0611647/

As you will see, the reviews are very variable - some people loathed it. I did enjoy it, but maybe that just marks me out as a cultural innocent over whose head all the alleged stereotyping blithely flew. Have any of our Australians seen it?

Rosemary

Gumtree · « **Reply #2740 on:** August 16, 2011, 05:37:11 AM »

Rosemary Here's one Aussie who didn't see the Morse episode which was set in NSW so can't comment. The link says the episode was filmed in Canowindra in central NSW - beautiful country there - a national park nearby so they may have got some of that scenery on film.

Canowindra (pronouced Ca-noun-dra - forget about the i) is famous for the bushranger Ben Hall who took over one of the pubs and held the townspeople captive for a few days while he went on a spree - this was in the 1860s I think. Ned Kelly did something similar at Jerilderie in 1879 .. both ended up dead.

As for stereotyping of Aussies- my guess would be that it was overdone in the Morse episode - it usually is. One exception is Paul Hogan's Crocodile Dundee which as everyone knows, was actually a
documentary - they breed them tough in the Top End.

Steph · « **Reply #2741 on:** August 16, 2011, 06:18:01 AM »

Ah gumtree, you did make me laugh. I saw the very first Crocodile Dundee.. I laughed harder than I had in years.. Then he got famous and left his long married wife for his costar and I refused to go to any more of the movies. Ah fame.. Nuts.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2742 on:** August 16, 2011, 08:49:18 AM »

Quote

Crocodile Dundee which as everyone knows, was actually a
documentary

Not quite everyone, Gumtree. I checked Rodney William Ansell's (the guy the movie was based on) brief bio on Wikipedia. I guess things didn't turn out too well for him after the movie. I'd be curious to know how he went from being the inspiration for a good movie to getting shot dead by police in a shootout. Has anyone read his book, To Fight the Wild or the documentary by the same name? I assume the picture on the cover is Ansell.

http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Wild-Rod-Ansell/dp/0152890688

Babi · « **Reply #2743 on:** August 16, 2011, 09:44:19 AM »

ROSEMARY, I've never been greatly impressed with what the critics have to say.
Quite often they seem to me more interested in demonstrating how erudite they
are than in the book/film they are critiquing. In fact, I remember one film
ctitic that my husband and I checked out regularly; we could be reasonably
certain that if he didn't like it, we would.

Whatever you say, GUM.

I am currently reading C. J. Sansom's third book in the Shardlake series,
"Sovereign". I so much enjoy the skill with which he twines his fictional story
into the actual historical events of the time.

jeriron · « **Reply #2744 on:** August 16, 2011, 12:20:04 PM »

Have you read the movie reviews in the New Yorker magazine. They can go on for 2 pages and when you're done you aren't sure if he liked the movie or didn't. : )

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2745 on:** August 16, 2011, 01:23:24 PM »

Starting Patterson's Fourth of July. What a wam bam start! Boxer and Jacobi both shot!

Just finished Carol Higgins Clark's Hitched and started Popped. I like her sense of humor at making the protagonist's mother a mystery writer- Carol's mother is Mary Higgins Clark.

Jean

JoanK · « **Reply #2746 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:04:41 PM »

"To Fight the Wild" must be some book! The new onews are $93 and the used ones start at a penny!.

JoanK · « **Reply #2747 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:08:50 PM »

In my mail today were five notifications from Amazon that my order (with order number has been processed) has been processed WITH AN ATTACHMENT. I deleted without opening -- I've never had an attachment on a notice from Amazon, and I didn't order five books yesterday. Stupidly didn't notice if the order numbers were all the same, but I'm pretty sure it's a hacker.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2748 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:12:00 PM »

Thanks for the warning JoanK.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2749 on:** August 16, 2011, 07:32:08 PM »

Did you call Amazon and report this?

salan · « **Reply #2750 on:** August 16, 2011, 07:47:23 PM »

Tried to read The Eyre Affair, but just could not get interested in it. I guess it's not my kind of book. I haven't tried any more of Fflorde's books since. I have read a few Harlan Coben books & enjoyed them.
Sally

JoanK · « **Reply #2751 on:** August 16, 2011, 07:50:38 PM »

"Did you call Amazon and report this?"

I e-mailed them.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2752 on:** August 16, 2011, 11:11:38 PM »

I did not see the Australian episode of Morse either. I was interested to read (from Gum) that it was Ben Hall territory where the episode was made. In the dark distant past I saw a series about Ben Hall. I think the actor who played him was Jon Finch. So long ago - but Jon Finch was a dish. Actually another famous bushranger, Thunderbolt aka Fred Ward, used to hold people up at Thunderbolt's Rock on the road from Armidale (my home town) to Uralla, where I think Thunderbolt is buried. At night my ex and I would often drive out to "The Rock" and lie on the warm granite gazing up into the firmament and imagine Thunderbolt waiting for the next Cobb & Co coach.

www.bigtrip.com.au/things-to-see/australia/nsw/thunderbolts-rock.html
www.freebase.com/view/en/captain_thunderbolt

and for a pic of what it perhaps looked like to be "Bailed Up" by Tom Roberts

www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/work/833

The pic of him on freebase was obviously taken after he had been shot dead.
On freebase there is also a link in the right hand side bar to Ben Hall.

Steph · « **Reply #2753 on:** August 17, 2011, 06:04:40 AM »

Black Fly Season is very good, But then I think all of Blunts books are. He makes the weather part of the book and I love the idea.

Babi · « **Reply #2754 on:** August 17, 2011, 09:02:16 AM »

Enjoyed those links, ROSE. The painting reminds me of California in the summer,
all yellowed grass; a golden hue over everything.

Gumtree · « **Reply #2755 on:** August 17, 2011, 02:13:48 PM »

Babi - the real thing is magnificent. - I mean the 'Bailed Up' painting - the reworking Roberts did just makes it more intriguing - and it is a golden hue - I saw it as part of a touring exhibition named 'Golden Summers' which I'll not forget.

Roshanarose - Jon Finch ? or was it Peter Finch - who could act any part even if he was asleep.

Quote

I'd be curious to know how he went from being the inspiration for a good movie to getting shot dead by police in a shootout.

Frybabe

Me Too! Who knows what happens when an apparently self sufficient guy loses it and starts shooting at people and then kills a cop who was manning a roadblock - the cops were looking for him but didn't know he was anywhere near. I must say I've not read the book based on Ansell so can't really comment too much except perhaps to say that being able to live off the land is not truly exceptional here - I couldn't - but many can especially outback men (and women) who know their terrain and can adapt to circumstance - after all the aboriginal people have been doing it for tens of thousands of years.

I think it was Ansell's naive response to the city which sparked Hogan's interest - certainly Croc Dundee was not really biographical - It's intriguing to think that some believe Ansell should have profited from Hogan's enterprise. It leads me to the question of whether when I am inspired by someone to create a painting should I give them part of any profit I may make from the subsequent sale even though they have no input other than stirring my imagination?

Hogan had to raise funds to make the film - one of my son's sailing buddies risked more than he could afford to invest in the project - he was lucky it was successful - he spent part of his dividends on a new yacht which they then raced to win the Aussie National Title. Naturally he called the boat The Croc - what else?

Steph In his day Hogan the comedian was superb - he satirised all and sundry and had superb timing - he was a household name long before he made the film. Hogan the man is an entirely different matter. He was always chasing the skirts so I think Noeline? his long time wife had decided to look the other way.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2756 on:** August 17, 2011, 05:47:34 PM »

Roshanarose, I will not be writing Gruber a fan letter because, although I admit he is a brilliant writer, I do not like all that sex and violence and black magic and drinking, etc. In short, I am not truly an adventure/thriller kind of reader. Just read them because one of my sons gave me 5 of his books last Christmas and a beloved first cousin, who, come to think on it, has only shared my tastes about half the time, strongly recommended him to me. Bottom line, I would not really choose Gruber.

Dibdin can be depressing, as well and all. But he, too, is an inspired writer. I like Dibdin a whole lot better than Gruber.

Steph · « **Reply #2757 on:** August 18, 2011, 06:24:13 AM »

Giles Blunts form on a Canadian Indian is interesting.. Very different indeed.

JoanK · « **Reply #2758 on:** August 18, 2011, 03:41:10 PM »

I ordered "Forty Words for Sorrow".

roshanarose · « **Reply #2759 on:** August 18, 2011, 11:33:10 PM »

Gumtree - No, I am not mistaken about Jon Finch playing Ben Hall. Many thought it a bit weird to "import" a British actor to play Ben Hall, just as they (and I) could never understand why they "imported" Mick Jagger to play Ned Kelly in one of the film versions of his story.

See link re "Ben Hall" and Jon Finch.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0159850/usercomments

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 897702 times)