Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910634 times)

Steph · « **Reply #6080 on:** January 24, 2014, 09:11:28 AM »

I love Kate and Chopper Jim is amazed at how he feels over time with Kate. Fun to read about.

ursamajor · « **Reply #6081 on:** January 24, 2014, 10:56:54 AM »

I love the Shugak books. I bought all the paperbacks for the books our library doesn't have so I could read them in order. I like the earlier ones best; they give you an idea how Alaskan natives live, or used to live. Kate now lives in a Lindal cedar home and has indoor plumbing, hot water for showers and a freezer. Not as interesting as the outdoor facility (Kate once met a bear on the way back to the house) and the food cache.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #6082 on:** January 24, 2014, 11:17:04 AM »

The old tv series, where the PI got bashed in the head (at least once every episode) was "Mannix". My hubby and I used to laugh about this particular story element. We would watch, and keep waiting for that moment when someone would rap him on the head! I don't think he ever went to the hospital to get checked out...just woke up and went on with his "detecting". If he was playing football in the NFL, they would have benched him already!!!

Frybabe · « **Reply #6083 on:** January 24, 2014, 11:23:13 AM »

Thanks, Tome, I forgot about Mannix, used to watch it.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6084 on:** January 24, 2014, 02:33:09 PM »

I agree Ursamajor, the best thing about the very enjoyable Shugak books is seeing how people live in rural Alaska. Similarly, I like Donna Leon's books because they give an insight into daily life in Venice (no cars, daily food shopping). I suppose even with my beloved Barbara Pym (not a mystery writer, I know..) part of the attraction is recognising how daily life has changed since the 1950s - rinsing the underwear out in Daz and having puddings called 'shapes' (blancmange).

Rosemary

JoanK · « **Reply #6085 on:** January 24, 2014, 03:37:51 PM »

Rosemary: I'll say it again: everything I know, I know from reading mysteries. They take you to all times and places.

I'm becoming more and more fascinated with Alaska. Strange for someone who feels the cold as much as I do -- I'm always cold, no matter how many layers of clothes I wear. Here in Southern California, I'm always walking around in sweater layers when everyone else is wearing shorts.

I don't think they make enough layers to keep me warm in Alaska. Or at least, you'd have to roll me down the street like a snowball.

Steph · « **Reply #6086 on:** January 25, 2014, 09:00:18 AM »

There are several mystery writers using Alaska as their backdrop and they present such a varied opinion on what happens there . I love Kate, but I also love a writer.. John Strahle.. much much darker than Dana, but an excellent writer. Mysteries.

marjifay · « **Reply #6087 on:** January 25, 2014, 12:31:14 PM »

Had not heard of John Straley whose books Steph said were set in Alaska. Have put his first on my TBR list -- The Woman Who Married a Bear.

I really liked M. J. McGrath's WHITE HEAT set in the arctic Canada and Alaska. The heroine is part Canadian, part Inuit, tour guide and the book was excellent. She has a new one out which I will read.

Dana Stabenow's A Cold Day for Murder was a DNF for me. Just did not find it interesting. I will give her another try. She seems to have a lot of admirers here.

Marj

Steph · « **Reply #6088 on:** January 26, 2014, 09:43:12 AM »

I love Strahle and since he is a town dweller, you get a different take on Alaska. Will look up White Heat. sounds interesting.

JoanK · « **Reply #6089 on:** January 28, 2014, 02:58:51 PM »

I like the Periodic Table Mysteries by Minichino. The author/narrator is a physicist and manages to do plots where chemistry is involved, and explain it simply enough to be understood by a non-chemist.

And it takes place in a small town where my niece used to live, Revere outside of Boston.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/camille-minichino/

Frybabe · « **Reply #6090 on:** January 28, 2014, 05:28:16 PM »

My library system has the series. I just ordered the first one. No telling when I will get it because the bugs are still not worked out of the new Encore software.

Steph · « **Reply #6091 on:** January 29, 2014, 09:23:37 AM »

Picked up a Michael Connelly "The Black Box" This one seems to be starting really slow. Hmm.

FlaJean · « **Reply #6092 on:** January 29, 2014, 12:25:37 PM »

I've read all the Camille Minichino books--interesting. Minichino also writes as Margaret Grace and Ada Madison. I've read her Margaret Grace books (not as good as her first series IMO) but not her Ada Madison series about a Professor Sophie Knowles. Think I will try to find one of those.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6093 on:** January 29, 2014, 03:32:59 PM »

I have today bought my first Carolyn Hart - 'Death in Lovers' Lane' - found it in an Oxfam shop. Is she good?

As the books were on 'buy one get one free' I also picked up 'The Flaneur' by Edmund White, subtitled 'A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris' - inside it has the stamp from Shakespeare & Company, the celebrated Parisian bookshop. The cover is beautiful, and the back says 'Edmund White, who lived in Paris for 16 years, wanders through the avenues and along the quays, into parts of the city virtually unknown to visitors and indeed to many locals, luring the reader into the fascinating and seductive backstreets of his personal Paris.'

I only went in to see if they had any good jigsaw puzzles :-)

Steph · « **Reply #6094 on:** January 30, 2014, 08:45:40 AM »

Carolyn Hart. I have read any number of hers.Very very light reading..But the original romance was fun.

nlhome · « **Reply #6095 on:** January 30, 2014, 01:06:32 PM »

I finished reading The Body on the Beach by Simon Brett, the first of the Fethering series. Part way into it I realized that I'd started the book before and quit because I didn't like the characters. This time I was able to finish it, then decided to read one of the later books to see if the characters were any more appealing to me. So I started The Corpse on the Court last night. The first 20 pages were very heavy going, involving "real tennis" and a description of the court and viewing area that didn't make sense. So, this morning I spent some time on the Internet looking at pictures of the courts in England and reading more about the game, so then the setting makes more sense.

One of the reviewers compared this series to Louise Penny books, I guess because of the character descriptions. Other reviewers seem to think there is a lot of humor. Am I missing something? Maybe this winter has done away with my sense of humor.

FlaJean · « **Reply #6096 on:** January 30, 2014, 02:31:22 PM »

I've read all the Feathering series by Simon Brett. Jude remains her likable, and a little mysterious, self as the series progresses, but prickly neighbor, Carole, mellows and is more likable as time go by. Simon Brett's best series by far IMO is his Mrs. Pargeter series. He only wrote six of those.

JoanK · « **Reply #6097 on:** January 30, 2014, 02:44:04 PM »

I like the Feathering series. Read "Corpse on the Court, and meant to look up "real tennis" but forgot. Probably if I'd understood the game, I would have seen the humor.

I've read the Ada Madison books, but not the Margeret grace. I'll try it.

Rosemary: That book on Paris sounds like a treasure. Let us know how it is, even though it's not a mystery. I haven't forgotten that I owe you a jigsaw puzzle to match the wonderful one of an ancient map of England that you sent me. I worked it with an English friend, and she was entranced. I'm still looking for something comparable for the United States.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6098 on:** January 30, 2014, 03:42:59 PM »

Joan - please don't worry about the puzzle! I'm just so pleased you and your friend enjoyed it! Madeleine and i go through several a week at times, so I am constantly scouring the charity shops for good one - especially as she doesn't like doing anything she deems 'boring' - flowers, Italian lake scenes (which for some reason are terribly popular with puzzle makers) etc.

I was so thrilled to find the book with the Shakespeare & Co stamp in it - I don't think the shop is quite the romantic venue that it was - we visited it a couple of years ago and I felt it had become a bit of a tourist trap ( I not being a tourist, naturally...

) but it still has a lot of romantic associations - Hemingway, etc. I had heard of Edmund White but never read any of his books - I think I once read an article he wrote for the Observer - so I'm looking forward to reading this, and if it's any good, I'll be happy to pass it on to you.

Rosemary

JoanK · « **Reply #6099 on:** January 30, 2014, 04:40:10 PM »

What a sweetie you are! No, you keep your Shakespeare and Company stamp. You deserve it.

salan · « **Reply #6100 on:** January 30, 2014, 08:16:25 PM »

I just finished The Body on The Beach. I liked it enough to finish, but not enough to read any more by Brett. There are too many others by other authors out there to try!!
Sally

Steph · « **Reply #6101 on:** January 31, 2014, 08:38:29 AM »

Reading an older J.P. Jance .... Beaumont book.. That is my current bed book. I like Beau, he always thinks..

MaryPage · « **Reply #6102 on:** January 31, 2014, 09:23:18 AM »

I am reading Jo Nesbo's NEMESIS.

maryz · « **Reply #6103 on:** January 31, 2014, 02:55:11 PM »

I like both of JAJance's characters, Steph.

JoanK · « **Reply #6104 on:** January 31, 2014, 03:22:43 PM »

How do you like "Nemesis", Mary?

GRRRR! Came home from the library with a huge stack of mysteries and thought I was set. But half of them are drenched in some perfume I'm allergic to. I've had this trouble before -- it's some kind of bug spray or cleaner that they use. I'm going to have to open each book and sniff it before I put it in my bag.

I'm going to have to complain to someone. Wish I still had that book on effective complaining that I borrowed from the library a few months ago!

MaryPage · « **Reply #6105 on:** January 31, 2014, 06:11:58 PM »

I am totally drawn into it, Joan, and I love it.

He just writes so well. And what truly blows my mind is that he writes in Norwegian and it is translated!

Yet it flows so well, and so much better than most writers in English, that I just can't figure it out. I hate it that Nesbo makes such a mess of his "hero." But the plots he comes up with, and the people he puts in those plots, are remarkably mesmerizing.

Steph · « **Reply #6106 on:** February 01, 2014, 01:26:37 PM »

I have a Nesbo in my TBR pile.. Must drag it out and look at it.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #6107 on:** February 01, 2014, 01:45:31 PM »

Marypage, that Nesbo's writing "flows so well" may be due to the translator. Without a good translator, I would imagine that a lot of books in other languages don't fare so well.

pedln · « **Reply #6108 on:** February 02, 2014, 12:49:10 AM »

Quote

I hate it that Nesbo makes such a mess of his "hero."

I may have to retry Nemisis, Mary Page. I got it for Christmas a few years ago, but at that time all it was to me was another alcoholic cop with a messed up love life. Since then I've heard lots of good things about Nesbo, but have just avoided hm.

Steph · « **Reply #6109 on:** February 02, 2014, 09:26:50 AM »

Ys, Ann, that is why the Nesbo is in the TBR pile. I figure I need to be in a good mood to try a cop with so many problems.

MaryPage · « **Reply #6110 on:** February 02, 2014, 05:40:27 PM »

Well, I want rather desperately (This is the 4th Nesbo book I have read, and I own all of the others that have been translated so far) to like Harry Hole (Arry ewe-lay) and to have good things happen to him. But yes, he IS an alcoholic.

That said, he would have lost his job years ago if he had not had this kind of sort of hunch thing that happens to him. He seems to get things wrong, but then stumbles over important clues that only he notices, and he follows up carefully, and he loves the job and the chase and lives it 24/7. He always gets it figured out in the end. But Nesbo likes to keep it dark and make it get darker, so bad things happen to Harry and to people he cares about along the way.

I, of course, like everything symmetrical and clean and tidy and everyone hugs and lives happily ever after. Bad guys incarcerated and good guys living the sweet life.

But seriously, Nesbo is an intoxicating master of writing skills. IMHO

Steph · « **Reply #6111 on:** February 03, 2014, 09:05:37 AM »

If I can just get a little caught up in f2f book club and two committees, that keep having more and more meetings , I will try a Nesbo.

JoanK · « **Reply #6112 on:** February 03, 2014, 03:46:47 PM »

When I retired from the government and was looking for volunteer work to do, I swore I wouldn't do anything that required going to meetings. So far I've been able to stick to it.

At work, the meetings I ran were known for getting a lot done. That's because I knew if I didn't, I'd have to have another meeting! (They were also known for having breaks. Men would rather die than admit they have to go to the bathroom!)

Steph · « **Reply #6113 on:** February 04, 2014, 09:00:07 AM »

I managed to successfully avoid meetings or clubs for 51 years, but joined things after he died. I needed desperately to meet people and that was the only way I could think of at my age.

maryz · « **Reply #6114 on:** February 04, 2014, 11:05:08 AM »

Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there. I did that when we first moved here - not working, no children at home, not a shopper, not a church-goer, John at work all day. I joined things until I found the ones that fit.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6115 on:** February 05, 2014, 03:47:39 AM »

I agree Mary, but I think you have also to be firm about ditching the ones that turn out to be not your cup of tea. That is what I find hard! I'm getting better at it though, have decided that even at my age, you need to be enjoying as much of your time as you can, and wasting it on depressing committees, etc is pointless.

Having said that, I'm just off to the gallery at which I volunteer! Sometimes it's fun, but I'll soon be living 20+ miles away (in the city) and they are assuming that I will keep trailing out here twice a week to do what I do now. And I'm not quite sure how to disabuse them of that notion....

Rosemary

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6116 on:** February 05, 2014, 03:51:53 AM »

Has anyone read any Sheila Connolly mysteries? I saw one that is set in Ireland reviewed on Lesa Holstein's blog and it sounded interesting. I think they are very 'cosy' so they won't suit everyone on here :-) I'm always a little bit wary of reading books set in countries in which the author doesn't live - some writers have a particularly sentimental view of places like Ireland and Scotland - but I understand that Connolly has visited Ireland many times, so perhaps she has got it right. Of course I don't live there either, so I really can't claim too much familiarity!

Steph · « **Reply #6117 on:** February 05, 2014, 08:59:02 AM »

I have finally managed to shed most of the groups that I really did not like.. I am still sampling the stuff at the 55+ community. Thus far, there are only a few travel things that interest me. Most of the travel is centered on big boat cruises. and I truly am not interested..My suggestions are generally struck down , with Oh, we tried that and no one wanted it Sigh.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6118 on:** February 05, 2014, 03:34:13 PM »

Oh I am forever getting that response at both of the places that i currently volunteer, drives me nuts.

I also gave up the library book group almost as soon as it had started, as the librarian had seemed so receptive to new ideas, then when it actually began she had reverted to the standard 'here's a book, read it and discuss' format that i had made it so clear I did not want to follow. Her argument was 'people like it that way' - but no-one had been asked, and I felt a bit patronised that she had seemed to enthusiastic about my slightly different ideas, but was clearly just humouring me.

I think I am going to be quite careful about what I get involved in in Edinburgh - though at least in the city there is more choice.

Rosemary

JoanK · « **Reply #6119 on:** February 05, 2014, 07:32:46 PM »

Here's Sheila Connoly:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/sheila-connolly/

I think I'll try her "museum mysteries". first.

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910634 times)