Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 898230 times)

Babi · « **Reply #4520 on:** December 12, 2012, 09:55:18 AM »

____

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

I've started both Mary Ann Evans "Findings" and Sarah A. Allen's "The Peach
Keeper", and enjoying both. "The Peach Keeper" is not classified as a mystery,
but there is definitely a past mystery involved. Not to mention superstition and
yes, ghosts.

JeanneP · « **Reply #4521 on:** December 12, 2012, 02:14:51 PM »

Death of A Butterfly, and Death in Blue Folders. I just picked up these 2 by Marg. Moran the other day. Just don't like them that much. She seems to go so slow. First time I have tried reading her. Must be me as lots of you seem to like her.

Steph · « **Reply #4522 on:** December 13, 2012, 06:11:07 AM »

Those are early books and I think about Sigrid, not Judge Knott.. Margaret Maron..Is that who you mean??

JeanneP · « **Reply #4523 on:** December 13, 2012, 01:37:44 PM »

Steph. yes. Sigrid she is called. She is not a judge in these two. Maybe will see if I can find some more current books of hers. I didn't see any other Large Prints.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4524 on:** December 13, 2012, 05:09:30 PM »

Steph, i tried a Sigrid book and didn't like it either, but love the Judge Maron books.

Jean

FlaJean · « **Reply #4525 on:** December 13, 2012, 05:51:00 PM »

I read all the Sigrid books years go and liked them. I don't believe they are any longer in print. Maron has brought Sigrid, her mother and grandmother into her latest Deborah Knott book, "The Buzzard Table"--a really interesting story and one of her best IMO.

MaryPage · « **Reply #4526 on:** December 14, 2012, 12:16:17 AM »

No, no, no! You don't want to read her Sigrid books.

I keep trying to explain she has different series of books and some books not part of any series.

I am recommending the JUDGE DEBORAH KNOTT series. And it says right on the front of each book that it is a Deborah Knott book. You want to start out with Bootlegger's Daughter and go from there.

Margaret Maron is the author and Judge Deborah Knott is the dectective. LOVE those books! Try one!

Steph · « **Reply #4527 on:** December 14, 2012, 06:02:41 AM »

Actually I like both of her series, but Sigrid is early and the Judge Knott books are more realized in bringing forth an entire large southern family in all of its glory..She has also written a few stand alones.. All are good.

MaryPage · « **Reply #4528 on:** December 14, 2012, 07:13:11 AM »

The Deborah Knott Series:

Bootlegger's Daughter, 1992
Southern Discomfort, 1993
Shooting at Loons, 1994
Up Jumps the Devil, 1996
Killer Market, 1997
Home Fires, 1998
Storm Track, 2000
Uncommon Clay, 2001
Slow Dollar, 2002
High Country Fall, 2004
Rituals of the Season, 2005
Winter’s Child, 2006
Hard Row, 2007
Death’s Half-Acre, 2008
Sand Sharks, 2009
Christmas Mourning, 2010
Three-Day Town, 2011
The Buzzard Table, 2012

marjifay · « **Reply #4529 on:** December 14, 2012, 11:52:32 AM »

A good place to find mysteries in chronological order, by author, by character, and other ways is at the website StopYoureKillingMe.com.

Marj

JoanK · « **Reply #4530 on:** December 14, 2012, 04:14:39 PM »

And a link to it is in the heading.

Lisa Mc · « **Reply #4531 on:** December 14, 2012, 06:55:10 PM »

Hi, everyone. This is my first post in SL; I joined the site today. Is anyone interested in the publications out of Rue Morgue Press? These are mysteries written during the "Golden Age of detective fiction" (per their website). I really like the style of the few authors I've read: Frances Crane, Lucy Cores, Juanita Sheridan. These stories feature female sleuths, many who are strong in their own right (no prominent male lead). I also like the Felony & Mayhem "Vintage" mysteries. Sorry if these have already been discussed: I didn't read every post in this subject!

JeanneP · « **Reply #4532 on:** December 14, 2012, 08:07:21 PM »

Welcome Lisa.

You will find some good reading in here.We cover everything.

Mary. Thanks for giving the list. I will give The "Deb Knotts" a try. Starting with the No. 1. Which on that list didn't you enjoy. Looks like she was writing one a year.

MaryPage · « **Reply #4533 on:** December 14, 2012, 10:34:17 PM »

Hi, Lisa! Delighted to have you join us.

Jeanne, I loved every single one of them. And let me tell you, you miss a lot if you do not read them all and read them in order. She has 11 brothers and heaps of sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. She has loads of admirers and some lovers (one at a time) and a best friend and a lifelong friend of her brothers who she falls back on for an escort when she is between relationships. She has an old daddy who thinks she hangs the moon (well, so do her brothers and nieces and nephews and aunts and so on and on) and is a hoot and a half. Her court cases are very real and so are the places in North Carolina that are real. The county she lives in is made up. And yes, Maron DID name her for the Biblical injunction: Judge not that ye be not judged. Judge Knott. I know; I asked her!

Frybabe · « **Reply #4534 on:** December 14, 2012, 10:50:08 PM »

Welcome Lisa,

I checked out the Rue Morgue Press. Sorry, none of the authors are familiar to me. I've bookmarked the site because there are several interesting sounding books. Have you read Dead Men Don't Ski?

Steph · « **Reply #4535 on:** December 15, 2012, 06:08:55 AM »

Welcome Lisa, we read everything and anything. Old,,,new.. and inbetween. A favorite of mine is a series on Falco, who is a roman detective( sort of)..I love any mystery where a woman is the detective..Most of those authors are new to me, but sound fine.
Judge Knott.. If you spend any time in the Piedmont of North Carolina, you realize that Maron truly loves the area and uses to great advantage in her books. I think that at the beginning of the series, she was living in NYC and was homesick..So they were a tribute to what she missed the most. I believe she now lives in the area however.
Another author in this general area that I love.. Sharon McCrumb.. She writes several types of mysteries..Her Nora is wonderful.

Babi · « **Reply #4536 on:** December 15, 2012, 08:49:20 AM »

Welcome, LISA. I'm sure you'll like this group. What does the Rue Morgue Press
consider to be the 'golden age'? I'm not familiar with any of the authors you
mention, and thought female sleuths to be a fairly modern lot.

I like Sharon McCrumb, too, STEPH, though I've only read a few of her books so
far. I don't recognize the name Nora, though. Which series is she in?

JeanneP · « **Reply #4537 on:** December 15, 2012, 12:33:48 PM »

So far only found 3 in LP at our library books Deb. Knott series. Booklegger not one of them. 2nd is Southern Discomfort they have and so will read that first.

MaryPage · « **Reply #4538 on:** December 15, 2012, 12:52:56 PM »

I love Sharon McCrumb, too.

Oh Jeanne, I do so wish that you could start with Bootlegger's Daughter.

For those of you who love Margaret Maron at least nearly as much as I do, there is a book that will interest you if you have missed it: BLOODY KIN. She wrote it BEFORE she started the Judge Deborah Knott series, but it has DWIGHT BRYANT and Miss Emily in it! In fact, it will give you the background of Kate and Rob and how Kate came (and later Rob, too) to adopt Mary Pat. I bought it used in paperback from THRIFT BOOKS. That place is just so great: they have everything and they are cheap and they mail out right away and everything comes through beautifully. I have had nothing but fabulous experiences with them.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #4539 on:** December 15, 2012, 12:54:00 PM »

And free shipping too!

MaryPage · « **Reply #4540 on:** December 15, 2012, 01:27:54 PM »

There's another fan! Hurrah!

JoanK · « **Reply #4541 on:** December 15, 2012, 02:25:16 PM »

LISA: WELCOME, WELCOME

Thank you for telling us about Rue Morgue press. I'm so excited! Their home page features all my old favorites from when I was a child: Manning Coles, Carter Dickson and John Dickson Carr (same person), Craig Rice (she had a series where a bunch of children were the detectives that I gobbled up as a child!) I want to go out and order their whole catalog!

http://www.ruemorguepress.com/

pedln · « **Reply #4542 on:** December 15, 2012, 05:09:17 PM »

Welcome, Lisa. And I'll echo JoanK and the others, thanks for the info about Rue Morgue Press. The only name I really recognized was that of John Dickson Carr. When you have a chance, tell us how you found SeniorLearn. (We're glad you did)

One of Maron's recent books, Three Day Town, includes both Deborah and Sigrid. Somehow, Sigrid is connected to the Knott family, but don't ask me how because I don't remember. But I enjoyed the book, as I always do Maron's.

MaryPage, I'm going to look for Bloody Kin. Other Marons have alluded to Kate adopting Mary Pat -- was she a cousin? -- but it will be interesting to read the background of that.

MaryPage · « **Reply #4543 on:** December 15, 2012, 05:24:24 PM »

Mary Pat and Kate are first cousins. Mary Pat's father, Kate's father's brother, was immensely rich. Mary Pat will inheriit a fortune when she comes of age.

Yes, Sigrid's grandmother is a grande dame who lives in Dobbs and is related to Deborah Knott's mother in some way. They are both descended from the same ancestor several generations back, or some such. The relationship is genuine, but quite removed. Remember, Deborah's mother married down quite a bit; but for True Love.

JeanneP · « **Reply #4544 on:** December 15, 2012, 05:57:56 PM »

What was the name of the last book she wrote as Sigrid prior to her Deborah Knott's books.
I will search further for "Bootlegger" and maybe read it in Small print. I am just spoiled now by LP Books. So easy to read.

MaryPage · « **Reply #4545 on:** December 15, 2012, 07:28:31 PM »

Better World Books, another reliable source, has some Large Print books by Maron.

http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Large-Print-Margaret-Maron-H0.aspx?SearchTerm=Large+Print+Margaret+Maron

The Sigrid Harald Series:
One Coffee With, 1981
Death of a Butterfly, 1984
Death in Blue Folders, 1985
The Right Jack, 1987
Baby Doll Games, 1988
Corpus Christmas, 1989
Past Imperfect, 1991
Fugitive Colors, 1995

Here is another source for used Large Print Maron. I cannot vouch for this site, as I have never used it.

Steph · « **Reply #4546 on:** December 16, 2012, 10:00:20 AM »

Sharon McCrumb.. Nora Bonesteel... The mountain lady who talks to Spencer.. A great lady indeed..

JoanK · « **Reply #4547 on:** December 16, 2012, 03:24:18 PM »

I recommended "Don't Cry Tai Lake" by the chinese writer Qiu Xiaolong. I got a second book by him, "the Mao Case", but I can't get into it. The author, who left china after Tienamin sqware, is using the mystery format to talk about problems in china. "Don't cry" was about pollution. "The Mao case" is dedicated to those whose lives were ruined by the Cultural Revolution, and is about Mao's legacy, good and bad. But the plot seems to be about Mao's sexual pecadillos. I can't bring myself to care about that. The problem was not that he was a weak human, it's that he was a weak human who had the power of a god.

But the book makes an interesting point. He says the Chinese were trained in the ideals of Communism, but are living in a country which is purely Capitalistic. Thus, people have no ideals to guide them beyond the purely materialistic.

Interesting. The US may not always live up to our ideals of Democracy and Equality of Opportunity. But they are there, as a guide.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4548 on:** December 16, 2012, 09:15:23 PM »

I read "With Friends Like These" by Gillian Roberts. As usual, i enjoyed it. She writes with good humor and makes Philadelphia a character in the story and since i know Phila so well i can picture just where she is. Her protagonist, Amanda Pepper, is an English teacher in a private school, so she also throws in literary references. It was a good read.

Jean

Steph · « **Reply #4549 on:** December 17, 2012, 06:03:54 AM »

I read several of the Gillian Roberts. I lived outside of Philadelphia for three years many years ago and enjoyed the city so much.No reading yesterday. Computer stuff.. aha..

Lisa Mc · « **Reply #4550 on:** December 17, 2012, 12:36:54 PM »

@ Babi - Rue Morgue places the "golden age" between 1920 and 1940, but they don't confine their publications to that specifically. The first book in the Sheridan series was published in 1949. Incidentally, one of the "myths" Rue Morgue publishers Tom and Enid Schantz try to disprove is that female sleuths are a recent phenomenon.

Sheridan's Lily Wu is a strong, independent protagonist.

Since the group appears to unequivocally recommend Maron's Deb Knott series, I downloaded "Bootlegger's Daughter"for my Nook. For the most part, the Rue Morgue and Felony and Mayhem books aren't available as ebooks, so I will usually read a hard-copy choice and a Nook selection simultaneously.

marjifay · « **Reply #4551 on:** December 17, 2012, 01:50:27 PM »

Thanks, JoanK, for your recommendation of Don't Cry Tai Lake. I've added it to my TBR list.

I read an interesting nonfiction book about China, CHINA ROAD, by Rob Gifford. He is a PBS journalist who lived in China for several years and speaks fluent Chinese. He decided to travel their new 3000 mile highway across China (by hitchhiking) from Shanghai, through the Gobi Desert, to tne border of one of the "-stan" countries. Very interesting to hear what the Muslim Chinese and Tibetans have to say about their country, and you learn some of the history of the different areas. I had to laugh when, way out in the "boonies" he is invited to an Amway party. Of all my travels, I'm sorry I never visited China.

Marj

maryz · « **Reply #4552 on:** December 17, 2012, 05:09:49 PM »

Marjifay, I've read China Road, too, a year or so ago. It's a great read!

Lisa Mc · « **Reply #4553 on:** December 17, 2012, 09:23:49 PM »

Oh, how I love a well-established mystery series that is new to me. Thanks so much for the Judge Knott recommendation, ladies. This Southern-born gal is settling in for a long winter's read.

Steph · « **Reply #4554 on:** December 18, 2012, 06:13:01 AM »

Now seniorlearn is still very very slow, so that tells me it is seniorlearn and not the computer. useful, but not helpful

Babi · « **Reply #4555 on:** December 18, 2012, 08:41:39 AM »

Well, that helps explain my ignorance of the authors you mentioned, LISA. I
definitely wasn't reading any books between 1920 and 1940. By 1945 I was probably
reading Nancy Drew, but right now she is the only female sleuth I can remember
from way back then.

Lisa Mc · « **Reply #4556 on:** December 18, 2012, 02:22:39 PM »

Ha! No, I didn't expect that anyone had read first editions! I guess when the used copies of some of these selections, many of which by then were out-of-print, got too damaged to resell or had disappeared into collections, the Rue Morgue founders decided to reprint. Anyway, they are just more titles from which a mystery lover can choose. For me, they beat some of the sillier "cozy" mysteries being published these days.

JoanK · « **Reply #4557 on:** December 18, 2012, 03:37:33 PM »

I bet I'm not the only one here who read the first editions of some of those books. (I know I'm not, since my sister is on Seniorlean too, and she read them. But she's abandoned mysteries for Science Fiction).

I admit to liking some of the silly cozies, too. They are the potato chips of reading (if you know what I mean).

pedln · « **Reply #4558 on:** December 18, 2012, 08:56:28 PM »

JoanK. And what are the pretzels?

Steph · « **Reply #4559 on:** December 19, 2012, 06:24:54 AM »

I suspect pretzels might define science fantasy..

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 898230 times)