Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910480 times)

retired · « **Reply #3800 on:** June 08, 2012, 05:44:03 PM »

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Discussion Leader: JoanK

I am currently reading " Defending Jacob" by William Landay . A 2012 publication.
A legal thriller and a murder trial and how it shatters a family.
The author is an award winning mystery writer . A lawyer and a former District Attorney .
If you enjoy Legal thrillers I recommend this Mystery novel.
It is a real page turner and is keeping me awake reading in the wee hours of the night.

Steph · « **Reply #3801 on:** June 09, 2012, 08:47:31 AM »

I like her J.D Robb series, but not so much the others. and yes, she is a romance writer and cannot resist several sexual encounters, I skip over them myself.

Babi · « **Reply #3802 on:** June 09, 2012, 09:00:39 AM »

I stopped reading the J. D. Robb books years ago. A couple of recommendations here
of books I assumed were outside that series looked good, so I'll probably give them
a try.

JoanK · « **Reply #3803 on:** June 09, 2012, 05:03:28 PM »

Hi, RETIRED! I ordered a sample of "Defending Jacob" for my kindle. (It's $12.99, so if I like the sample, I'll see if my library has it. unless it's the middle of the night and I HAVE to find out what happens. Oh, this instant gratification).

This happened with an e-book series I was reading. the first in the series is $3.99. Each one is a little more expensive. The newest one is $12.99. It's a good series, but I WON'T recommend it.

Steph · « **Reply #3804 on:** June 10, 2012, 09:25:06 AM »

Some tiimes if you go on the authors site,, they will give up an upfront on free or inexpensive ebooks. I know that Dana Stabenow does. and so does Lauri King

JoanK · « **Reply #3805 on:** June 10, 2012, 03:35:29 PM »

Read a new (to me) series: "Bound for Eternity" by Wisseman. Detective is a curator at a museum preparing an exhibit about Egyptian mummies. I like to learn weird things, and there's a lot about how museums work and mummies.

Steph · « **Reply #3806 on:** June 11, 2012, 08:39:48 AM »

I love museums and mummies, so I will try and find the book.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3807 on:** June 12, 2012, 11:50:37 AM »

I just finished a really great book: "Started Early, Took My Dog," by Kate Atkinson. She is my new favorite, now that my dear Reginald Hill has died and will write no more of his delightful Dalziel & Pascoe series.

If you have never read any of Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series, you might want to start with the first one, which was "Case Histories."

BBC did a short season of 6 episodes of Jackson Brodie which comprised the first 3 books in the written series. This TV series was titled "Case Histories," and was excellent. If your Public Television stations list it, do try to catch it if you have not already done so. I bought the DVDs after viewing it on the telly, and have rewatched them with great enjoyment.

Started Early, Took My Dog is the 4th in the Jackson Brodie series and has not been filmed.

JoanK · « **Reply #3808 on:** June 12, 2012, 02:52:11 PM »

I ordered a sample.

Steph · « **Reply #3809 on:** June 13, 2012, 08:55:45 AM »

Was bored and wanted something very very light.. So I picked up Scuse me while I kill this guy. by Leslie Langtree It is funny, weird and sort of stupid and much much more of a romance thanI like.. I will try to finish, but the premise of a whole family of funny assassins, who are also deadly is not ringing any bells.. Anyone else ever heard of her??

JoanK · « **Reply #3810 on:** June 13, 2012, 02:10:02 PM »

Nope. I have trouble with that premise!

Steph · « **Reply #3811 on:** June 14, 2012, 08:49:17 AM »

Yeah.. I gave it up yesterday. It kept getting dumber and dumber and true to romance traditions threw in lots of sexual episodes. So I junked it.. Ugh..

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #3812 on:** June 14, 2012, 10:57:39 AM »

Okay, forewarned is forearmed! I am reading one of the best psychological thrillers that I have read in years! Some of you Mystery hounds will remember "Suspect" by Michael Robotham. It was his debut thriller. (He lives in Sydney, Australia) This latest book is titled "Bleed For Me" and is a story about a young teenager accused of killing her father, who was an ex-cop. There are multiple, peripheral but pertinent, characters of interest here, well-drawn, some sympathetic, some definitely not. The main character is Joseph O'Loughlin, a psychologist, with a teen daughter who is best friends with the accused. The book has a lot of real and implied violence, which will be a turn-off for a lot, if not most, of you. I stayed up until 2:00 AM reading this, and am 250 pages into it (just started it at 10:00 PM bedtime). Anyone who has read & enjoyed early Jonothan Kellerman will appreciate this book.

Yes, it is grim, but besides dealing with the crime/suspect, Joe is dealing with his own family problems, very nicely and sensitively handled by the author. Set in or around Bath, England. At one point, Joe travels to Edinburg to meet with an investigator, Ruiz. Ruiz says at one point:..."The Scots get more of our taxes than anyone else. They've got better health care, free prescriptions and no student fees. "I could be a Jock (I assume this is nickname for Scots)as long as I didn't have to eat sheep's guts and support the Scottish rugby team". (I guess our rosemarykaye could comment as to whether any of that is true! LOL)

Steph · « **Reply #3813 on:** June 15, 2012, 08:44:49 AM »

OK.. sounds like a good book.. On the Scot situation, all I know is when I toured last September, both our guide and our bus driver were very anti english and kept insisting that Scotland plans on pulling out the union with GB.. Who knows.

ursamajor · « **Reply #3814 on:** June 15, 2012, 12:41:34 PM »

When we were in Wales a few years ago we were told that Wales was on the verge of pulling out of the United Kingdom. Haven't heard anything since. Both the Welsh and the Scots have long-standing grudges against the English.

JeanneP · « **Reply #3815 on:** June 15, 2012, 10:29:35 PM »

Those Rumors have been going around since I was young growing up. Never happen, places are not big enough. England no bigger that my State of Illinois and other about the same. Always will be Eng. Ireland Scotland and Wales. (Unless China rules the world one day.) They are beginning to own lot of the USA now.

Steph · « **Reply #3816 on:** June 16, 2012, 08:33:12 AM »

I always laugh in London.. Talk to people in pubs and they blame everything wrong in london on the G.D.Arabs... We actually went into a pub that had a large sign outside.. English owned,, and proud of it.. So the London areas doesnt think about Wales or Scotland as enemies.. Irish,, possibly

Babi · « **Reply #3817 on:** June 16, 2012, 09:31:53 AM »

Some years ago we were concerned that Japan was buying up too much of the USA. They
went bust, as you'll recall. America is rich enough that it is always going to attract
investors, but in the long run I doubt American financiers are going to let someone else
take over.
No one likes being the 'poor relation', which I suspect is the root of much of the Welsh and
Scots disgruntlement. But what do I know? My most pleasant memory of my one visit to
London was the wonderful cabbie who helped me into the cab with the words, "Where to, Luv?"
I still smile at the memory. Well, the Tate and the British Museum were great, too. And the
pub that served us grilled mutton and gooseberry tart.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3818 on:** June 16, 2012, 10:33:05 AM »

As an English woman living in Scotland, I would say that a large part of the problem stems from the very fact that London doesn't even think about Scotland. Our newspapers and TV news are all unbelievably London-centric. The move towards independence is very real in Scotland now. Alex Salmond (leader of the SNP) is very popular and has a huge amount of support. The technicalities of how an independent Scotland would work are baffling, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a Yes vote in 2013, which is I think when they plan to hold the ballot. The oil revenue in particular is a very thorny issue - Cameron is only too keen to point out that Scotland gets more than its fair share of benefits, etc from the central purse, but he never mentions the fact that all of the oilfields are off Scottish coasts, and all of the tax revenue goes to London.

Scottish people - especially outside Edinburgh - feel ignored and patronised by Westminster, and this government certainly isn't doing anything to improve the situation.

Rosemary

JeanneP · « **Reply #3819 on:** June 16, 2012, 12:38:24 PM »

Not much ours anymore. Getting Worse . Was just talking to people in UK and tracking one store they were researching.

Primark is a clothing retailer, operating 237 stores in Ireland (where it is branded as Penneys), the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal and now looks like it owns our Penney's

If you research will fine that our Interstates are owned by another country. All the toll booths. In Illinois our Water Company owned by Germany. Power and Gas is Swiss. Most of out bigger hotels in USA owned by UK or China now. The smaller Motel chains by Asia. Our biggest Old Hotel from 1890s now being all redone here in town. Owned now by Korean's All or most of Illinois best farm land by A south American Conglomerate.
Its something to think that we supposed to have won the Wars against Germany, Japan, and yet they now own a large part of our country.

Are our kids now taught all this in School? Do we read about it in the papers? Now way.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3820 on:** June 16, 2012, 05:20:40 PM »

One of the arguements i've heard over the deades is that when countries' economies are intertwined they are less likely to go to war w/ each other. I first heard David Rockefeller saying it when his bank was loaning money to the Soviets. His contention was that they wanted our money,so would be more malleable with us diplomatically and militarily. I recently heard someone say it about the European Union, and i suppose the arguement would be that countries who hold assets in the U.S. would have influence on their govt's, not wanting to have those assets cnfiscated by our govt if there was a conflict.

♪♫♪•*¨•.¸¸♪♫ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Look for the silver lining♪♫♪•*¨•.¸¸♪♫ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Jean

Babi · « **Reply #3821 on:** June 17, 2012, 08:53:24 AM »

That seems to be a long-standing attitude with the London government, ROSEMARY. Part
of our quarrel with them, back nearly 150 years ago, was the assumption that any Englishman
(meaning the lawmakers in London) was perfectly able to decide what was best for all other
'Englishmen'. Therefore, they required no input from the colonies to tell them what the
colonies needed. Obviously, they needed to pay taxes and generate an income for the
government in London!

JEAN,

Love the lyrical art work.

Steph · « **Reply #3822 on:** June 17, 2012, 10:11:16 AM »

Reading a nice cozy. the Heroine is a book restorer and binder by trade. Her parents and family have belonged to a commune for many years. San Francisco oriented.Homicide in Hard Cover by Kate Carlisle. like it..

JoanK · « **Reply #3823 on:** June 18, 2012, 01:36:16 PM »

I'm ready to read my fifth or sixth Kate Carlisle book. I like them too. They're on kindle for not too much.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3824 on:** June 19, 2012, 05:10:43 AM »

Just finished my first Charlaine Harris Aurora Teagarden book - 'Real Murders'. I enjoyed it a lot and thought the characters were very well drawn and intriguing - she's good at hinting at things without telling you too much (this was something I liked in the new author I recently discovered, Abigail Keam - 'Death by a Honey Bee', which is not nearly as twee as it sounds). I thought Aurora had great potential as a heroine. The only thing I didn't like was the ending - I felt that Aurora identified the murderer very suddenly, as if Harris had decided she needed to stop right there; I didn't find Aurora's thought process at this point credible.

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

Rosemary

salan · « **Reply #3825 on:** June 19, 2012, 06:29:04 AM »

Rosemary, I have read the first 5 Aurora Teagarden books. I enjoyed them; although after the last one, I decided that I needed a break. I've just finished the latest Aunt Dimity, Aunt Dimity and the village witch by Nancy Atherton. Have you read this series? I think you would enjoy them. However, you must start with the first: Aunt Dimity's Death. It sets up the story. They are light cozy mysteries.
Sally

Steph · « **Reply #3826 on:** June 19, 2012, 08:48:06 AM »

Harriss writes so many different series. I love them all, but Aurora ( I think) was her first books and therefore not quite as complicated as her later heroines.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3827 on:** June 19, 2012, 04:10:52 PM »

I love Aunt Dimity!

Steph · « **Reply #3828 on:** June 20, 2012, 08:59:20 AM »

I am reading an older herb mystery.. Mostly about Rubys daughter, but interesting.. The Pickle Queen is a real pain as far as I can see.

marjifay · « **Reply #3829 on:** June 20, 2012, 09:54:14 AM »

Just finished Agatha Christie's DEATH ON THE NILE. I do love her mysteries, especially those with Hercule Poirot, that egotistical little detective. This was one of her best.

Next up: WHITE HEAT by M. J. McGrath. Set in the Arctic tundra of Canada with an Inuit/Canadian heroine. Can't wait.

Also have waiting: THE ALBUM by Mary Roberts Rinehart, to be discussed in another mystery group. The couple of Rinehart mysteries I've tried to read have been DNF's--pretty awful IMO, but this one looks better. We'll see...

Marj

JoanK · « **Reply #3830 on:** June 20, 2012, 02:46:36 PM »

White Heat sounds awfully familiar. Have to check it out. Do you read Dana Stabinow (sp?) who writes about an Inuit woman?

There was a special on PBS about the Alaska wildlife area that Stabinow writes about. It made a lot of her writing clearer, to see the places she writes about. I lap up anything on TV about Alaska. I think I'm channeling my husband, who always wanted to go there, and never had a chance.

marjifay · « **Reply #3831 on:** June 20, 2012, 03:08:35 PM »

No, I haven't read any Dana Stabenow, but looking at Amazon her books sound good. I'll have to give them a try.

White Heat will be discussed in 4_Mystery_Addicts, a Yahoo group, June 20-30. Good group. I get a lot of mystery recommendations from them. (They don't read cozies, which is fine with me)

Marj

maryz · « **Reply #3832 on:** June 20, 2012, 03:31:20 PM »

Marjifay, we've read and obviously enjoy the Dana Stabenow books (both series). They are stand-alones, but are written in sequence with the characters progressing from one to another. If you enjoy the one you read, you'll probably want to go back to the first ones about Kate. Her other series is about a trooper in Alaska named Liam Campbell.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3833 on:** June 20, 2012, 05:56:02 PM »

I like Dana Stabenow - I've only read some of the Kate books so far, and I like them as much for the details of Alaskan park life as for the actual plots. Fascinating - I'd love to go there too.

Rosemary

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3834 on:** June 20, 2012, 09:44:46 PM »

Reading James Patterson's 7th Heaven. Has started out o.k. They're always a little more gory than i like, but i like the four women.

Babi · « **Reply #3835 on:** June 21, 2012, 08:14:07 AM »

Rinehart is quite dated. She is from the era where the servants were always the
prime suspects, as, of course, one couldn't possibly think respectable society would do
such things.

marjifay · « **Reply #3836 on:** June 21, 2012, 08:35:13 AM »

Babi wrote: "Rinehart is quite dated. She is from the era where the servants were always the prime suspects, as, of course, one couldn't possibly think respectable society would do
such things. "

It wasn't the fact that her books were dated that put me off. I knew that going in, as I was reading them with a group who liked vintage mysteries. What I didn't like, especially in The Yellow Room was that a lot of the plot made no logical sense. Someone (not a servant) was blamed for the murder by the police with no evidence, no motive. Poor writing.

Marj

Steph · « **Reply #3837 on:** June 21, 2012, 08:40:47 AM »

I like Stabenow..Have read most of her books..She also blogs and is on facebook and communicaes the most interesting things in creation.She is eternaly curious and encourages her followers to be as well.

Babi · « **Reply #3838 on:** June 21, 2012, 08:58:30 AM »

I haven't read "Yellow Room", MARJ, but I'm not surprised. When I went back and read one of
Rineharts books many years later, I decided she wasn't nearly as good as I thought she was
when I was, uh, much less mature.

Phyll · « **Reply #3839 on:** June 22, 2012, 09:13:58 AM »

Thanks, Maryz, for mentioning the Dana Stabenow series with Liam Campbell. I've read several of the Kate Shugak series but none of Liam C. I just downloaded Fire and Ice to my Nook from Barnes & Noble for the stupendous price of $0.99!

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910480 times)