Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 897718 times)

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #6360 on:** April 21, 2014, 06:25:23 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
Fantastic Fiction
Stop You're Killing Me

Discussion Leader: JoanK

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Aoife is spelled correctly. Probably not on Fantastic Fiction. I don't think the Ebooks would be on FF, there are just too many of them. From time to time a "free" one will reappear on one of the free sites (BookBub, BookGorilla, ereadernewstoday). Hope you find it offered gratis again. BTW, how would one pronounce Aoife?

Steph · « **Reply #6361 on:** April 21, 2014, 09:58:04 AM »

Rosemary,, hope you enjoy the books. I like the main characters and the history seems very accurate.. Tells a lot about society in that period of Victorian times.

JoanK · « **Reply #6362 on:** April 21, 2014, 05:36:20 PM »

Everything I know, I know from reading mysteries. How about this-- "Chocolate may improve memory in snails", quoted by Joanna Carl in her latest.

I knew there was a reason why I wanted more chocolate, but I forgot what it was.

ANNIE · « **Reply #6363 on:** April 21, 2014, 08:06:57 PM »

Well, JoanK, I just bought a nice bag of Ghirradelis Chocolate Bittersweet Chips. Your are supposed to make cookies with them, right? Not me, I just like to grab a handful now and then.

Steph, I know I read one of your posts about your f2f group just reading "Round House" by Louise Erdrich and how much you liked it. Would you believe that I just started reading that title last night? My two favorites of her's are " The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" and the "Master Butchers Singing Club". But I have always enjoyed her writing and her wit and her teaching the reader about the Indian traditions.

Steph · « **Reply #6364 on:** April 22, 2014, 11:02:07 AM »

I finished the Charles Finch.. andloved it as always. Round House was not my favorite of hers, but it was interesting as always.. Still catching up and got my hair cut this morning.. Now if that last drain would fill up, I could be free at last.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #6365 on:** April 22, 2014, 09:01:16 PM »

Just finished listening to Evanovich's The Chase. Loved it! Yeah, you have to suspend reality , but isn't that true of most good mysteries. I hope there are more of this series.

Jean

mabel1015j · « **Reply #6366 on:** April 23, 2014, 01:55:28 AM »

I just finished reading the first in a series by David Rosenfelt, Open and Shut. The protagonist is Andy Carpenter, defense attorney in Passaic County, NJ. It was a light mystery, but well-written and Andy has a very sarcastic, self-deprecating wit. At first i thought it was going to be too much wit, but as they got into his trial work, it lessened somewhat. I enjoyed it and have just ordered (from my library) the second in the series to read on my ipad.

Jean

jeriron · « **Reply #6367 on:** April 23, 2014, 09:19:48 AM »

I like David Rosenfelts books because of his Golden Retreiver.

Steph · « **Reply #6368 on:** April 23, 2014, 09:51:11 AM »

I just finished Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford.. I liked it, but really had problems with how timid the main character was. She let men rule.. Maybe just the era or Chinese, but did they really abide by Chinese rules and customs even when they were born here?

Zulema · « **Reply #6369 on:** April 23, 2014, 02:42:21 PM »

I read the first few Colin Cotterill books and loved them, but the last few I am afraid I couldn't keep reading. They brought back such horror, not that I suffered it personally, but I didn't want to keep reading. You are very brave. I just read a cozy by Elizabeth J. Duncan, her main character a Canadian artist in her 50's who moves to Wales, a mystery. This is very relaxing reading. I don't have a Kindle but I'm happy with what is available from the New York Public Library. I request the new ones, and wait my turn.

Another Canadian writer I have recently discovered is C. C. Benison, whose main character is the Rev. Tom Christmas. The first book was Twelve Drummers Drumming, and the third in the series Ten Lords A-leaping. I read both. You get the idea. I am now reading the one in the middle, Eleven Pipers Piping and I find some of the passages a bit padded; you shouldn't really read them one after the other (I found that also with Dick Francis, the horse racing and much more series). But I do enjoy the village milieu and life - this time in Devon. They are relaxing books but toward the end, you do want to keep turning the pages.

Finally, I don't think anyone mentioned Peter Robinson, who came from Yorkshire and lives mostly in Canada. I have read every one of his mysteries over the years, and some twice. Most of them have Inspector Banks as the main character. I have seen a few of the TV episodes they've had, and I don't really like them. The TV Banks is definitely not my idea of Banks in the books and I find them disappointing. Perhaps it's because I prefer reading the books. I had the same problem with Branagh as Wallander, though I liked the Swedish films.

Sorry, I go on too long.

nlhome · « **Reply #6370 on:** April 23, 2014, 02:56:57 PM »

Zulema, I also like to read Peter Robinson, and I don't really like the TV Banks either.

The Cotterill books have enough spirits in them and enough humor for me to get past the horror. I have done some reading, though, to learn more about what happened in Laos in the 1970's.

JoanK · « **Reply #6371 on:** April 23, 2014, 03:47:51 PM »

I. too, just discovered the Andy Carpenter books. Don't read too many at once -- there's definitely a pattern to them I have his non-fiction book "Dogtripping" out from the library, but haven't read it yet.

JoanK · « **Reply #6372 on:** April 23, 2014, 03:56:06 PM »

Zulema: what a lot of riches you've discovered! If you like CC Benison, don't miss his earlier series with Queen Elizabeth II as the detective. Yes, that Queen Elizabeth! The narrator is a maid in the palace who acts as the Queen's gofer. The first is "Murder at Buckingham Palace." Those books, too, are padded and drag in places, but lots of fun in their portrayal of the Royals.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/c-c-benison/

MaryPage · « **Reply #6373 on:** April 24, 2014, 09:25:51 AM »

I, too, am a fan of DCI Banks, as written by Peter Robinson. However, as much as the one in the BBC series does not put me in mind of the Banks I have always envisioned, I DO like him. He is so intense, and basically kind. I like kind, as so many males for some reason I have never fathomed exhibit a rude and brutal persona to the world. I just checked my BOOKS file, and so far I have purchased and read 19 books by Peter Robinson. One of my ancestors came over from Yorkshire in 1645, surname Thornton. So anything set in Yorkshire tends to be of interest to me. My 2nd husband (actually, I think of him as the middle one, albeit 34 years is a long middle!) and I went to Yorkshire in 1971, and I quite simply loved it. And I DO try to catch every DCI Banks episode on PBS.

Steph · « **Reply #6374 on:** April 24, 2014, 09:36:33 AM »

I loved C.C. Benison series on the Queen. Did not know it was a male author.

jeriron · « **Reply #6375 on:** April 25, 2014, 11:54:44 AM »

I haven't read the DCI Banks books so I can't compare them with the show. I do like the show with the exception of the actress that plays "Annie". I wonder if she is the same in the books.There are times when I would like to smack her. I had hoped that because she wasn't in most of series 2 she wouldn't be coming back but she has.

FlaJean · « **Reply #6376 on:** April 25, 2014, 04:46:42 PM »

Just finished Donna Leon's newest Guido Brunetti "By its Cover". I never tire of this series and I usually enjoy the way her stories end, but this one had such an abrupt ending that I had to look twice to see if I was on the last page. I know Ms. Leon has lived in Italy for years and must love it there in spite of the contempt for Italian government and politics she writes about in this series. I wonder how Italians feel about her books.

Steph · « **Reply #6377 on:** April 26, 2014, 08:46:16 AM »

Got the latest BookMarks.. was disappointed for the first time. Just nothing that interesting in the articles. Darn..

ANNIE · « **Reply #6378 on:** April 26, 2014, 02:00:10 PM »

We received 2 new Smithsonian Magazines this week and as much as I enjoyed the mag back in the '80's, these are really a disappointment. They just aren't as interesting as I remember. We were offered an annual subscription for a year for $10 and I thought, why not? We used to enjoy them but will have to see what the next one covers. They don't begin to come up to National Geographic.

I finished "The Round House" by Erdrich and I did like that one. She says she wrote it to bring the plights of the American Indian to our attention. The book says she is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa. She lives in Minnesota and is owner of the Birchbark Books, an independent bookstore. She has written 14 novels for which she received many awards and many children's books. My grans favorite was Birchbark House. She also writes poetry.

Last night I opened my first copy of a John Connolly book last and couldn't get past the third page of Chap. 2. The graphic violence spelled out by the female criminal psychologist was over the top. Whoa!!! Just not my type of a good police procedural. So, that new author to me is being returned.
Like Mary Page, I am just not up to that kind of precise offering of the violence.

Last week, I also tried Anna Quindlan's new book "Still Life With Bread Crumbs" which is a great title, but just didn't click with me either.

So, back to the library to pick up my holds. Maybe they will present something more interesting and gentler on my nervous system.

Steph · « **Reply #6379 on:** April 27, 2014, 09:27:37 AM »

I generally like Anna Quindlen. Have not seen the new one yet.

JoanK · « **Reply #6380 on:** April 27, 2014, 03:41:14 PM »

ANNIE: sometimes are like that. I have another stack of DNF from the library again this week.

STEPH: I'm with you: I always assumed the author of the Queen series was a woman too.

ANNIE: I had a Connelly on my "to read" pile: guess I'll give it a miss.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #6381 on:** April 27, 2014, 04:18:14 PM »

as I did, don't confuse Connelly with Connolly. John Connolly = not so good; Michael Connelly = Good mystery/detective.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6382 on:** April 27, 2014, 04:33:53 PM »

Oh, I am sorry people didn't like John Connolly - I haven't read any of his books yet, but he was a fantastic speaker at Blackwell's bookshop recently, a very entertaining and genuine sort of man.

Rosemary

Frybabe · « **Reply #6383 on:** April 28, 2014, 08:11:08 AM »

I am curious to know if anyone has read Ann Cleeves. She is writing a police procedural series that is the basis for a BBC series called Shetland. I wonder if we will see it in the US in the future.

Steph · « **Reply #6384 on:** April 28, 2014, 09:09:26 AM »

Hmm, I have read Anne Cleaves.. but cannot remember,, she could be the one, who writes of an American who marries a Brit when they are older and lives in a village and solves a variety of crimes??

Frybabe · « **Reply #6385 on:** April 28, 2014, 09:39:01 AM »

I don't know Steph. Does the George and Molly series ring any bells?
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/C_Authors/Cleeves_Ann.html
http://www.anncleeves.com/

JoanK · « **Reply #6386 on:** April 28, 2014, 05:11:22 PM »

I'm pretty sure I've read Ann Cleeves, but can't remember her books. I would have remembered the bird watcher, since I'm one too, for my sins. Got to get that one.

Rosemary: he may be very good. The forensic shows on TV are very popular, but I have trouble watching them, because of a week stomach.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6387 on:** April 28, 2014, 05:52:42 PM »

Ann Cleeves does indeed write the books on which the TV series Shetland is based. It has just come back for a second series. I can't get on with it (despite the wonderful Douglas Henshall being in the main role) because I can't understand much of what they are saying, and many of the male characters seem to blend into one another. However, it is very popular so that's probably just me. I've read interviews with Ann Cleeves, who says she started writing because her husband is or was some kind of nature warden or in charge of a bird sanctuary - something like that - and she was not at all interested in birds, so instead of getting bored to tears she decided to write books.

Cleeves also writes the books on which the TV series Vera is based - Brenda Blethlyn plays the detective in the title role, and I love this series (Blethlyn could never put a foot wrong for me.)

MaryPage · « **Reply #6388 on:** April 29, 2014, 07:54:45 AM »

I like her, too, Rosemary.

Steph · « **Reply #6389 on:** April 29, 2014, 10:39:57 AM »

I don't remember any series with a bird watcher, so not sure who she is.

Zulema · « **Reply #6390 on:** April 29, 2014, 01:47:20 PM »

I am so happy to hear Benison's other books are a pleasure to read, I will look for them. Mathew Pritchett (?), grandson of Agatha Christie, once said that he thought Anne Cleeves was closest to his idea of a successor to his grandmother. So I read a couple of her books and I liked them, but didn't see the resemblance. I am not sure I like Annie at all in the later books by Peter Robinson, and definitely did not like her in his new Banks one, Children of the Revolution, which I just read. And Donna Leon has never been translated into Italian, can you believe? She has said this in talks. She doesn't dare or something to that effect.

And one more shout-out for Charles Todd, author with his mother of the Inspector Rutledge post WWI mysteries. I was reading Val McDermid's The Vanishing Point and my library got a Charles Todd I had requested, a 2014, Hunting Shadows, and as soon as I opened it I kept reading until I finished it. He is so pleasant to read and Val McDermid, however interesting and compelling is not what I'd call pleasant to read, so I am now back into her book, but I wanted to share my experience with you all. I will look for earlier Inspector Rutledge books.

Be well, all of you.

JoanK · « **Reply #6391 on:** April 29, 2014, 03:19:48 PM »

ROSEMARY: " I can't understand much of what they are saying, and many of the male characters seem to blend into one another"

I'm so glad to hear you say that! I have the same problem with a lot of the British TV series, but thought it was because, as a Yank, I wasn't familiar with the various regional accents.

I should have known better. When I lived in Brooklyn, an area of New York City with a strong local accent, I had a friend visit me from Virginia who had a Southern accent. I introduced her to my Brooklyn neighbor, and neither of them could understand each other. I had to "translate."

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6392 on:** April 30, 2014, 02:57:59 AM »

Joan, it's definitely not just you - Madeleine and I frequently put the subtitles on for English-speaking programmes - I was born in London and she was born in Scotland (and is only 16, with excellent hearing) , and we neither of us have a clue what people are talking about!

I don't generally have this problem when meeting people face to face, whether in London, Edinburgh or even Aberdeen - though when we first moved to very rural Aberdeenshire from London, the Doric dialect took a while to get used to - eg 'Fit like?' ('How are you? or How's it going?) requires the reply 'Mucktie Aye' (and I still have no idea what that means...) They also ask 'where do you stay?' to which I used to reply 'I'm not staying here, I live here' - till I realised it was the equivalent of a Londoner's 'Where do you live?', and 'Do you have family?' to which I first replied 'Yes, my mother lives in London' - when of course they meant 'Do you have children?- (as they could not understand a woman of 30+ being at home all day (as I had left my job in London and was not qualified at that time to work in Law in Scotland) without a brood of infants at her feet.) It was (probably still is) a very agricultural society. Central Aberdeen is quite different.

Rosemary

MaryPage · « **Reply #6393 on:** April 30, 2014, 09:39:00 AM »

The first time I remember ever seeing Brenda Brethlyn, it was when she starred in Saving Grace. I have adored her ever since. Probably saw her before then and just didn't notice. Now I look for her. Gosh, but she's great! Am dying to see Vera.

Steph · « **Reply #6394 on:** April 30, 2014, 09:42:01 AM »

I even have problems in Call the Midwife with some of the slang..
I have been culling TBR stuff. Some of it has been hanging on for over a year and you can see book marks, where I tried and tried to read it. Now I am taking them out one by one,, reading another 20 pages and in many cases, off they will go to the library book sale.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #6395 on:** April 30, 2014, 01:50:02 PM »

Serendipity!!! From today's open culture newsletter, Peter Sellers Explains All the Accents of the British Isles......good laugh.

http://www.openculture.com/2014/04/peter-sellers-presents-the-complete-guide-to-accents-of-the-british-isles.html

Jean

JoanK · « **Reply #6396 on:** April 30, 2014, 03:38:19 PM »

JEAN: that was hilarious. I hope his English accents were better than his American one!

One of the shows I have trouble understanding is "The Bletchley Circle." I like it a lot, but two of the four women are hard to understand, one with a Scotch? accent: the other slurs her words.

Steph · « **Reply #6397 on:** May 01, 2014, 07:33:04 AM »

I am struggling with Miss Peregrine's HOme for Peculiar Children... a best seller from a few years ago. It is postcards ,old pictures and test and decidedly odd. I cant decide if I like it or hate it.. Sigh

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #6398 on:** May 01, 2014, 11:22:54 AM »

Steph, I finished reading Miss Peregrine's Home, just last week. It was rather strange, but I did like it, not hated it.
Loved the old postcards. Thought it was rather well done. I'd guess it's one of those "not for everyone" books!

ursamajor · « **Reply #6399 on:** May 01, 2014, 02:14:03 PM »

I didn't care for the Miss Peregrine book at all. I thought it was just silly.

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 897718 times)