Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910542 times)

Babi · « **Reply #4200 on:** September 08, 2012, 09:10:25 AM »

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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 Leader: JoanK

What's the title on that Baldacci book, MARJ? I'd like to read a book about a hit
man with limits. And what government does he purportedly work for? I may be naive, but
I revolt at the idea of the American government murdering one of it's own employees,
and a mother of two young children. Arrest her, if she's done something treasonable.
Back her up, if she's simply found something criminal about someone in power. (Okay,
yes, I suppose I am naive.)

I enjoyed "The Circular Staircase" when I first read it, JEAN. It's very dated now, but
those who simply want to enjoy the century old ambience can find it there. And thanks for
posting that review. I once confused the two titles, and was wholly at a loss.

marjifay · « **Reply #4201 on:** September 08, 2012, 10:38:15 AM »

Babi, The David Baldacci book I'm reading and liking, is THE INNOCENT. The main character is described as a "free-lance hit man for the U. S. Government." And whether it's the American Government or someone else who wanted the woman killed is what he's trying to find out.

My favorite books by Baldacci are his Camel Club series. I love this group of four eccentric old "senior citizen" guys who formerly worked for the government. Each has his own special experience or brilliance and together they formed themselves into a group they call the Camel Club, and their conspiracy theories are meant to watch for and catch people who are out to do harm to the country. But, by poking their noses into what they believe are serious threats, they get themselves in serious trouble. If you decide you might like to try it, it's best to read them in order, starting with The Camel Club.

Marj

pedln · « **Reply #4202 on:** September 08, 2012, 11:30:58 AM »

Steph, do the Shaber books have to be read in order?

JoanK · « **Reply #4203 on:** September 08, 2012, 07:43:03 PM »

Here are the Shaber books in order:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/sarah-r-shaber/

I ordered "Simon Said", the first Professor Shaw book for my kindle. Only $2.99 and won the Malice Domestic award for first traditional mystery. Sounds like a good bet.

There was a pretty active chapter of malice domestic in the DC suburbs when I lived there, but I was never able to go to their meetings. have any of you gone?

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4204 on:** September 08, 2012, 10:46:39 PM »

The Camel Club books sound interesting. I'll have to check thse out.

Jean

Babi · « **Reply #4205 on:** September 09, 2012, 09:22:14 AM »

Thanks, MARJ. Yes, I have read a couple of the Camel Club books (starting at the beginning!)
and enjoyed them very much. I'll put "The Innocent" on my list.

Steph · « **Reply #4206 on:** September 09, 2012, 09:36:21 AM »

Yes, I think that Shaber needs to be read in order..Simon is quite a character and his female problems are a hoot.. Just now he is high around Boone where his fathers family has always lived and he has a real touch with certain types of characters..

pedln · « **Reply #4207 on:** September 09, 2012, 12:08:13 PM »

Thanks JoanK for the link to the Shaber books. The reviews of Simon Said sound really good -- "a great cozy for a lazy Sunday afternoon."

Best I check my library first -- must not buy any more books for a while, and it's so easy with a Kindle. I know it's not any more than a cup of coffee, but . . . .

And I have to buy Linda Castillo's Sworn to Silence because my f2f group is reading it for October. Kate Burkholder is the Chief of Police in Ohio's Amish Country. She grew up Amish, but did not join the adult church. I don't know if this is first in the series or not.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4208 on:** September 09, 2012, 02:12:50 PM »

Oh! Darn! The Shaber books do look interesting too. Another author for the TBR list.

salan · « **Reply #4209 on:** September 10, 2012, 04:48:30 AM »

I am currently reading Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies, about 2/3 of the way through and am beginning to find it a little silly. It's a little "too much". This may be my last Albert book!
Sally

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #4210 on:** September 10, 2012, 07:22:22 AM »

Sally - I haven't read that one, and I did enjoy the one that I read, but I know what you mean about this kind of series - they can easily get too much. I started to feel like that about Aurora Teagarden after the first few books.

I've just finished Catriona MacPherson's 'Dandy Gilver & the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains' (I know, it's taken me a ridiculous amount of time - it's not a long book or a difficult read, I've just had so many other things going on) - enjoyed it, especially the details about the General Strike and the miners.

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #4211 on:** September 10, 2012, 08:55:02 AM »

Now, PEDLN, you know you don't have to buy a book for the f2f club. Get a library copy, make any notes you wish
to, and return it when you're done. Can't let the club submerge you in book you would not otherwise have bought.

Steph · « **Reply #4212 on:** September 10, 2012, 09:17:09 AM »

Rosemary,, the Aurora books are the silliest ones that Charlaine Harris wrote. She did a wonderful short series ( six, I think) call titled Shakespeare....something.. for each on. Now there is a non cozy heroine. The amish book sounds good, must go and look it up.

salan · « **Reply #4213 on:** September 10, 2012, 01:29:19 PM »

Rosemary, I felt the same way about the Aurora Teagarden series!
Sally

Steph · « **Reply #4214 on:** September 12, 2012, 08:38:49 AM »

Found an early Bruce Alexander I had never read.. A Watery Grave. He does excellent research, so it is providing me with the British navy at an early period.. Interesting. and Jeremy is younger of course than the later ones.

pedln · « **Reply #4215 on:** September 12, 2012, 10:25:54 AM »

Quote

The amish book sounds good, must go and look it up.

Steph, the Linda Castillo Sworn to Silence is absorbing, and I'm enjoying (?) it, but there are scenes that are GRUESOME, GRUESOME, GRUESOME. I normally leave serial murder titles untouched.

Steph · « **Reply #4216 on:** September 13, 2012, 08:31:58 AM »

Hmm, I will try to find it in a book store first, so I can test the waters. I like serial killers, but not the ones that dwell on the horrible stuff.

Babi · « **Reply #4217 on:** September 13, 2012, 08:34:18 AM »

STEPH, would you like to rephrase that remark about "I like serial killers..."

Steph · « **Reply #4218 on:** September 14, 2012, 08:45:15 AM »

Hmmm, since I think I have never met one, it should be.. I like books about serial killers.. But only the ones that dont dwell on obscenities.. I love John Sandford.. as an example.

Babi · « **Reply #4219 on:** September 15, 2012, 08:54:49 AM »

Totally with you on that one, STEPH. I realize that some use of obscenity is necessary reality, but there seems to be
some authors who think an obscenity in every sentence is proof of how avant-garde they are. And those who like to take
gory descriptions to revolting lengths are doing the same with the shock factor, imo.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4220 on:** September 15, 2012, 12:27:09 PM »

I am reading a book that i think i downloaded from Amazon - freeby. A Shot in the Bark ( A Dog Park mystery) by Susan Newsome. I guess that means there is a series. I downloaded it primarily to send a link to a friend who will read anything that has a dog character in it. She and DH and two dogs frequent several dog parks in the area, so i thought she might like it.

It's not compelling, but a nice read.

Jean

Babi · « **Reply #4221 on:** September 16, 2012, 08:58:02 AM »

Sometimes a 'nice read' is all you need.

Steph · « **Reply #4222 on:** September 16, 2012, 09:40:52 AM »

Some years ago MDH and our dogs and I went to a dog park every day at 5pm..We met about a dozen other people and their dogs each day. It was great fun,watching the dogs make friends.. One of our corgi and a
Rhodesian Ridgeback became best friends, even though he did not even come up to her knee. We all loved seeing each other and the dogs.. Got ruined when a younger group with extremely rude and aggressivedogs started coming and all of us older folk ended up stopping..Sad.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4223 on:** September 16, 2012, 12:40:00 PM »

Steph, you might enjoy the book, here's the Amazon site! It's also a serial killer story!

http://www.amazon.com/Shot-Bark-Park-Mystery-ebook/dp/B005KQ5C2K

Here are the reviews

http://www.amazon.com/Shot-Bark-Park-Mystery-ebook/product-reviews/B005KQ5C2K

Steph · « **Reply #4224 on:** September 17, 2012, 08:52:43 AM »

When I go on IPAD later, will downoad the book..Sounds like fun.. The Rhodesians Mom and I wanted to do a childs book on the dog park.She was a talented artist and was skeching Winda ( her dog) and Dudley ( ours).They were so funny.. If we threw a ball, she would start to race, then slow down and match Dudleys pace and let him win.He would get so excited, barking and dancing and she would sit down and watch him..It was a real love match.

JoanK · « **Reply #4225 on:** September 19, 2012, 10:23:08 PM »

My brilliant daughter fixed my keyboard. Haven't been able to type for a week. But now, I'm back.

I think CJ Box is getting too far out for me, with his survivalist, government conspiracy stuff.

Babi · « **Reply #4226 on:** September 20, 2012, 08:37:17 AM »

Have I mentioned that I'm reading another of Carol O'Connell's 'Mallory' books? Mallory is brilliant, but she is also
extremely defensive and a 'loner'. If she had not had the love and example of her foster mother I suspect she would
be a full-blown sociopath.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4227 on:** September 20, 2012, 01:14:59 PM »

Finished James Patterson's 9th Judgement, a women's murder club mystery. He "wrote it" with a partner, as he did sev'l of the later books. As we've said here before, he can't possibly be writing all these books. This was the least interesting of the nine that i've read. Again, as we've said here before, series books often become less well-written in the latter books.

It was also very gruesome, killing "women and children", the killer was angry at a woman suicide bomber who killed his friend in Afghanistan. As with tv shows and movies, producers seem to think they have to get uglier and more violent in order to hold our attention. That doesn't happen to be true for me. I enjoyed the M.R. Richardson book from 1906, who merely said someone had been killed by a gunshot and didn't describe the body at all, as much as many mysteries i have read in the 21st century.

Jean

Lorac625 · « **Reply #4228 on:** September 20, 2012, 03:39:33 PM »

I really enjoyed the Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell,but I find I can't sit down and read 2 or 3 of them without depressing myself. They can be SO graphic,and it makes me sad and afraid to think of what humans are capable of. I very much agree with the last post- the Sherlock Holmes stories are always a good read, and not so graphic.

JoanK · « **Reply #4229 on:** September 20, 2012, 04:29:52 PM »

It's great to be back, after my computer grounded me for a week. That didn't stop me from reading mysteries, though. read one on Professoe Shaw that was recommended here and liked it a lot. Again, it was gentler than some.

And you all also recommended Simon Brett. I've tried two of his series, Mrs Pargeter, the widow of a thief, who is honest, but has all the right connections. And another series about a small town -- lacks the punch of the other, but I'll give it a try.

Welcome, LORAC! We seem to be in all the same discussions (great minds think alike!).

If we mention an author, and you don't know what we're talking about, ask. And "Fantastic Fiction", or "Stop, you're Killing Me" link in the heading will give you the names of their books in order,

JoanK · « **Reply #4230 on:** September 20, 2012, 04:33:45 PM »

I also got a new book by an author I used to like: Perri O'Shaughnessey (sp.) The detective is a lawyer in Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, her personal life has gotten so complicated, it's taken over the plot from the legal and detective stuff I liked. Oh, well, there are plenty of other authors.

In edit:looking in Fantastic fiction, I see her (their) last book was in 2009. I guess they came to the same conclusion I did: that the series is played out.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/o/perri-oshaughnessy/

Steph · « **Reply #4231 on:** September 20, 2012, 08:48:57 PM »

I found a Michael Connoly...Angel Flight, that had missed.. Very interesting.Bosch is something else.

Lorac625 · « **Reply #4232 on:** September 21, 2012, 12:51:50 PM »

I really liked the one Mrs. Pargeter book I happened across, 'Mrs. Pargeter's Package'. I should read more!

JoanK · « **Reply #4233 on:** September 21, 2012, 03:23:54 PM »

Found an Anne Perry I hadn't read: "Treason at Lissom Grove". I think a number of you mentioned it a while ago, and I failed to realize that it was a new one. I just can't seem to remember from the titles which I have read!

This one is good (if you ignore her usual complete lack of logic in detecting. Someone puts some money in a characters bank account, framing them for embezzlement. Instead of going to the bank and asking "Where did this deposit come from", he immediately thinks "This must be related to something that happened 20 years ago, that I haven't thought about since." and goes haring off).

Steph · « **Reply #4234 on:** September 22, 2012, 08:46:56 AM »

Ah yes, the jumps from common sense to detecting in some books is amazing.. Angels Flight is a failed murder case, that seems to have been messed up from day one. Noone checked anything. And it was supposed to be a high profile murder. Startling.

marjifay · « **Reply #4235 on:** September 22, 2012, 09:10:15 AM »

Thanks, Steph, for reminding me of Michael Connelly's Angels Flight. That's one I also missed and have been meaning to read. (I have Connelly's latest, The Black Box, on hold at the library.)

The Angeles Flight railway (where a man is killed in the book) is a beloved landmark in Los Angeles, known as the "shortest railway in the world" (298 feet) which you can ride for 50 cents up the steep hill from Hill Street to the California Plaza above.
(There is a photo of it on the internet -- look for "Angels Flight Railway.") And I've yet to ride it, altho' I've lived in So.Calif. since the 1950s!

Marj

JoanK · « **Reply #4236 on:** September 22, 2012, 05:31:59 PM »

As a newcomer to the LA area, I had never heard of Angels Flight. here is a siye for it. Look on the left for a picture that says AF slide show (you may have to scroll down a bit to see it).

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/23044083

nlhome · « **Reply #4237 on:** September 22, 2012, 09:50:42 PM »

Now I'll have to read that Connelly book.

Funny thing, last weekend I was on the Fenton Place (4th Street) Elevator in Dubuque, which also considers itself the world's shortest (and steepest) railroad. It was an interesting ride up the bluff - we took our time and walked down. Great view.

Steph · « **Reply #4238 on:** September 23, 2012, 09:19:18 AM »

I have been up on Angels Flight.. Fun,and it is a real character in the book..I am rereading a book that I loved.. Jamie Harrison wrote possibly four books on Blue Deer, Montana. Probably mid 90's.. Then quit and I have never seen anything by her again. Shame. She is funny and perceptive.

JoanK · « **Reply #4239 on:** September 23, 2012, 02:49:34 PM »

Here she is:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/jamie-harrison/

You're right, she hasn't written since 2000.

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910542 times)