Author Topic: Mystery Corner (Read 158184 times)

PatH · « **Reply #600 on:** May 19, 2009, 11:36:57 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 Leaders: BillH and JoanK

mrssherlock · « **Reply #601 on:** May 19, 2009, 03:27:59 PM »

Babi: Yes, but non inconsistent with the originals. There have been so many who have cashed in on the Holmes cult. Many years ago I used to read Ellery Gueen's Mystery nmagazine; there was a series of SS which were pastiches, by an author whose last name was Fish, which were hilarious. William S Baring-Gould wrote a "biography" of Holmes which was ingeious in ist collection of clues and extrapolation into a whole, fully realized human being.

Babi · « **Reply #602 on:** May 20, 2009, 09:28:03 AM »

That biography of Holmes sounds like fun. I wonder if it's still around? I've made a note of the author's name; I'll see if I can find it. Thanks for mentioning it.

Steph · « **Reply #603 on:** May 20, 2009, 09:40:24 AM »

Finished off when we were away.. The Spellman Files ( a different sort of mystery), the newest Nevada Barr.. A little too much isolation and foolhardy behaviour for me.. I generally like her so much.
Discovery- Seattle Mystery Bookstore.. Oh me, we fell on this one afternoon and after a short conference..( Yes, they ship) . went mad with stuff that was old , new and different.. What a neat store..
My book box arrived.. Got the newest Julia Spencer Fleming and hope to read it when life gets a bit calmer. I do like her and her episcopal female priest.. A complicated woman indeed.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #604 on:** May 20, 2009, 12:39:12 PM »

Tose of you who have read John Hart (King of Lies, Down River, know that he is a master story teller. The Last Child, his latest, reinforces his reputation for suspense and memorable characters . Johnny is a 14 year old who has been traumatized by his twin sister's disappearance one year ago. His family has disintegrated: his father deserted them and his mother has taken refuge in bottles of pills and alcohol, lead on by the town's richest man who bullies her and Johnny. The characters mesh and remesh into tight networks of shifting loyalties with Johnny as the focal point and lead stimulus. Everything is tested, nothing is sacred. I couldn't stop turning the pages. Please, John, write faster.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #605 on:** May 20, 2009, 01:52:03 PM »

I wonder if we will ever have the book swap/exchange here like we had "somewhere else"?

JoanK · « **Reply #606 on:** May 21, 2009, 01:06:55 PM »

So much has been going on while I was fussing with my computer. It's good to be back! I used to read Ellery Queen, too (Pat still has them) but I don't remember Fish and SS short stories. Does anyone remember the short "puzzle" mysteries, where you had to find the clue?

I like Laurie King, too, but I see I'm behind a couple of books. I haven't read the newest Barr yet, either. Have to get on the ball.

I'm off to check out the discussion of PBS's new Mystery series. I haven't been in there yet. Are you all overthere?

Steph · « **Reply #607 on:** May 21, 2009, 05:29:07 PM »

Since I spent the day in hospital waiting rooms, while my husband had more surgery.. This time the gall bladder.. Anyway I am reading Rhys Bowen..she writes about Molly, an irish female detective in New York at the turn of the century. Great fun.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #608 on:** May 21, 2009, 05:38:57 PM »

Steph: Glad you had a chance to unpack before hubby's hospital trip.

Frybabe · « **Reply #609 on:** May 21, 2009, 07:36:37 PM »

Steph, I got my Mom a Rhys Bowen book last year from the Constable Evans series. She couldn't follow the plot because she said the story kept switching back and forth between several different things. I didn't get it back from her yet to see what she was talking about. Mom is Welsh, so I thought she would like a series based in Wales. Oh, well.

maryz · « **Reply #610 on:** May 21, 2009, 08:26:49 PM »

Steph, sorry about your husband's surgery. I hope they were able to do it laparoscopically - we did and recovery was very smooth.

Steph · « **Reply #611 on:** May 22, 2009, 10:02:23 AM »

Yes, laproscopic was the way they went in.. Five holes.. which surprised me.
Molly is the second series for Rhys and I have never tried the welsh one yet. I like the atmosphere of this one since New York at the turn of the century was interesting.

Golden State Poppy · « **Reply #612 on:** May 22, 2009, 12:27:15 PM »

I am reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Robert Crais. "The Two Minute Rule" is set in LA as are all of his books. It is about Max Holman who is a convicted bank robber, getting out of prison after 10 years. He is assisted by an ex-FBI agent in searching for the killer of his son along with three other policer officers. It is very realistic and rational, which is my type of mystery.

http://www.robertcrais.com/

marjifay · « **Reply #613 on:** May 22, 2009, 02:10:18 PM »

Robert Crais is also one of my favorite authors. Loved his TWO MINUTE RULE. One of my favorites is his Elvis Cole mystery/thriller, THE LAST DETECTIVE. The only book of this genre that brought me to tears when Elvis's childhood was revealed. Crais is a great writer.

Steph · « **Reply #614 on:** May 23, 2009, 09:46:35 AM »

I love Crais and have not read the Last Detective.. Must put it on that long long list. I do like hisElvis.. A man who is true to himself always.. Interesting character.

JoanK · « **Reply #615 on:** May 23, 2009, 01:57:57 PM »

I just finished "North of Montana" by April Smith. The first of hers I've read, but it won't be the last -- I liked it a lot. A police procedural, the detective, Ana Gray, an FBI agent, has her ghosts, like Lars Wallender. Somehow the tone is different.

JoanP · « **Reply #616 on:** May 23, 2009, 02:14:35 PM »

Just a quick note to let you know that the PBS Masterpiece Mystery series has made 24 sets of THREE Detective Wallender novels available to our readers - just for cost of shipping. Are you interested in a set? Just email me and I'll get your set in the mail. (We have 7 sets left!)

Read what out readers are saying about the series - and some are enjoying the books even more! Masterpiece Mystery!

Quote

They are the best detective series I have ever read, bar none (and I love detective stories. Dana)

Steph · « **Reply #617 on:** May 24, 2009, 09:43:14 AM »

April Smith has written just a few novels. They are really good and I loved the NOrth of Montana more than any other. Its like Jamie Harrison. She only wrote a few books, but oh my I loved them and always check to see if she is writing more. Darian North is the same way.. Not many books, but fascinating ones. Some authors write slowly or have little to say after the first few. Such a shame.

CubFan · « **Reply #618 on:** May 24, 2009, 10:18:50 AM »

Greetings

For those watching the Wallender series - check your local schedules. Some people have indicated that their next program - One Step Behind isn't being shown until May 31. Our local TV schedule - both print and online - show Masterpiece Mystery - Wallender - One Step Behind as being shown tonight after the Memorial Day Concert.

Mary

maryz · « **Reply #619 on:** May 24, 2009, 10:37:24 AM »

I wasn't familiar with April Smith, but I have ordered a couple of them from our local library. Thanks for the mention.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #620 on:** May 24, 2009, 01:37:37 PM »

I had forgotten Jamie Harrison, love the books. Here is another fan: http://jcabooks.typepad.com/girlsleuth_the_mystery_di/2007/10/jamie-harrison-.html

Steph · « **Reply #621 on:** May 25, 2009, 08:58:03 AM »

Jackie, Thanks for the click... Read it and loved it. Quite a reviewer, but I do agree. I still think there is more to learn about the area and characters..Wonder if goggling the name will help. Think I will give it a try.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #622 on:** May 27, 2009, 03:24:27 PM »

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo is a whale of a book. Author Steig Larsson was a reporter/publisher in Sweden and his background lends verissimilitude to this engrossing tale. Something there is in Swedish detective fiction that reels me in from the first page. Over the years I have read them all from The Laughing Policeman et al by Maj Stowall and Per Wahloo (also a great movie starring Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern and Lou Gossett), Henning Mankell, and now, Stieg Larsson. See this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/23/scandinavian-crime-fiction

Larsson died suddenly of a heart attack in 2004, leaving three completed books and rumors of a fourth. Each one is Girl . . . If the standard set in Tatoo holds up then the others will be outstanding also.

Dana · « **Reply #623 on:** May 27, 2009, 04:45:28 PM »

I have to correct a quote attributed to me above ......when I said

"They are the best detective series I have ever read, bar none (and I love detective stories)"....

I was not referring to the Wallander series, which I do think is pretty good, but to the Martin Beck series by Maj Siowall and Per Wahloo which is far superior in my opinion. With the Wallander series there is really one main character and a few peripherals. With Martin Beck everyone is a character. There are 10 books, by the time you've read all 10 you feel all the characters are part of your life and get real upset that you can't find out what happens next to them all. The thing that's so good is that every character is so real--my favourite is Gunvald Larsen for example. When I was reading them for the first or second time the Swedish prime minister was shot leaving the cinema and I immediately thought, not to worry, Martin Beck and his men will sort it out. You can get all 10 books on amazon nowadays. For a while they were hard to find but they must have been reprinted. I have them all and keep them for rereading when I need a special treat!!

Steph · « **Reply #624 on:** May 28, 2009, 08:27:36 AM »

OH, I did love Martin Beck.. I had forgotten all about the series, but read every one. Such good writers.. I have never been to Sweden, but felt like I had.

JoanK · « **Reply #625 on:** May 28, 2009, 01:35:17 PM »

I just reread "Daddys Girl" by Lisa Scotteline. One of her best. I like the way she incorporates history into her books.

I do reread mysteries that I liked, waiting long enough that I've forgotten the details (that's getting shorter and shorter.) Do you?

Now i'm reading "Lethal Legacy" by Linda Fairstein, and enjoying it. Much of it takes place in the New York Public Library. As a library rat, I love being taken behind the scenes in a major library. Once I was doing some research in the Library of Congress, and on breaks, I would wonder around among the stacks. you wouldn't BELIEVE the stuff back there!

Of course that was forbidden, but I discovered if I walked purposefully and looked like I knew where I was going, noone would question me. There was one problem: I DIDN'T know what I was doing. It's a real rabbit warren back there, and I was always getting lost. I didn't want to ask questions of the rare fellow human I would see, so I would just wonder til I found a familiar place. I'm luckier than I deserve: I could still be wandering!

Steph · « **Reply #626 on:** May 29, 2009, 07:55:36 AM »

Oh me,, being in the stacks.. I used to be a member of the New England Genealogical and Historical Society. When you are a member, you can go into the stacks for your own books..... and explore.. I loved to spend hours sitting on the floor and exploring books on everything.. The most amazing things have been printed.. One my favorite library memories. I can imagine what yours was like.
New York and Connecticut genealogical libraries will let you back into the stacks as well.. Just not in the rare books area.. I do love libraries.
I like Lisa Scottoline as well, but my husband stopped reading her because she has "too much history, not enough plot". But I love the history stuff.a
I also like Fairstein. She does some interesting things in her books.

MsGray · « **Reply #627 on:** May 29, 2009, 05:33:37 PM »

Tomereader - I miss the book exchange too. I just finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and it is much, much too good to sit on my shelf and gather dust. I usually donate my books to our little library here, but I'm never sure anyone reads them or loves them like I do. If anyone would like this book, I will be happy to mail it.

Babi · « **Reply #628 on:** May 29, 2009, 05:37:35 PM »

Speaking of amazing things that have been printed, my library has a book devoted entirely to making paper airplanes! Why ever did the publishers decide to print that one, I wonder?
I just started a book of mystery short stories that I'm thoroughly enjoying.
It features some of my favorite, and is introducing me to a number of writers I've never read before. I'll have some new names to add to my reading list. "Death Dines In is the title.

Steph · « **Reply #629 on:** May 30, 2009, 09:48:43 AM »

Funny.. Death Dines in. I am reading a mystery that is written by a woman who was a food critic in Washington.. She writes under Phyllis something, but I suspect her name is different than that. Book is fun.. Talks a lot about restaurant scams..

JoanK · « **Reply #630 on:** May 31, 2009, 08:08:02 PM »

No, at least thats the name she used in The Washington Post: Phyllis Richmond. Is the book "The Butter Did It"?

Steph · « **Reply #631 on:** June 01, 2009, 07:48:06 AM »

No, this one was Murder on the Gravy Train.. A far stretch in the book to connect it all at the end. I did love the restaurant remarks however.. The murder.. hmm. far fetched to put it mildly. So her name really is Phyllis.. That surprised me. Am now reading John Sandford latest in paper back.. Just into the first 50 pages.. Lucas is such an interesting man and I like Weather.

Babi · « **Reply #632 on:** June 01, 2009, 09:20:12 AM »

I got "The Book Thief" from the library, along with a couple of others. I
believe someone here recommended that one. I'm reading the smaller ones first; save the biggest for last.
I always do that. I can finish the smaller ones more quickly and so am able to get to the next book more quickly. Probably doesn't really make a difference, but I prefer to do it that way.

Steph · « **Reply #633 on:** June 02, 2009, 08:21:32 AM »

Am probably half through Phantom Prey by Sandford. Fascinating.. a good deal more interior thinking than usual in this one.. Fairy is quite an interesting variant of person. Also a lot more about Goths than I knew.

Golden State Poppy · « **Reply #634 on:** June 04, 2009, 10:53:45 AM »

I just finished a book I can highly recommend. It is" Mark" by Jason Pinter. He is young and hasn't written many books. "Mark" is his first one.

http://www.jasonpinter.com/

Babi · « **Reply #635 on:** June 05, 2009, 08:02:58 AM »

I just finished enjoying Charlotte MacLeod's "Something in the Water". Her books are light reading, but here is an example of why I like her so much.

Professor Shandy is collecting seeds from some outstanding lupines. MacLeod writes: "He was in no great hurry, he paused now and then to settle aterritorial dispute with a bee or a butterfly or to pass the time of day with Miss Rondel's overweight cat, who'd strolled out to see what was going on. A blue jay gave him hell for trespassing on its turf while keeping a wary distance, as a lue jay naturally would. A wren less than a third of the blue jay's size was far bolder, bouncing on the tip of a brier and carrying on a running commentary not six feet from the fat cat's nose. She put Peter in mind of his next-door neighbor back home."

Steph · « **Reply #636 on:** June 05, 2009, 09:44:19 AM »

I must remember to catch up with Charlotte MacLeod.. I used to read the Boston series and enjoyed it.
Just read the newest Elaine Viets in paperback.. Its the dead end series.. and she worked in a country club in this one.. Sort of mean spirited, but fun.
I have just started Rampart Street. Heavy reading about New Orleans in the turn of the last century when Storyville was in full swing. Interesting.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #637 on:** June 05, 2009, 01:48:51 PM »

Its been a few years since I read Charlotte Macleod; time to start all over again. She has a rare sense of humor, mastering language so effortlessly the jokes sort of sneak up on you. Her characters remain as fond memories and when i read her stories agian it is like revisiting an old, dear friend.

fairanna · « **Reply #638 on:** June 05, 2009, 02:51:37 PM »

I have been a mystery lover for years Was even a member of whatever club that handled mystery books I have at least a dozen I havent had time to read and cant tell you who wrote them Oh Yes Dick Francis and his son had a new one out about a year ago and I bought it but havent read it ..A woman writer in Stanardsville Va is a mystery writer and a friend of my oldest daughter ., I have read all of her books but would have to look them up...they are pretty good perhaps not as polished as some but still interesting enough
A couple of nights ago I picked out "After all these years" by Susan Issacs ( I think that is spelled right) and enjoyed it ..I felt I have read it before and that could be true since I dont remember the mystery stories well , but it was a rather fun ( if murder can be fun???) book I am interested in seeing what everyone here is reading I have a new Baldaccia or however you spell his name , another by a famous lady mystery ( modern lady) whose name I cant recall and about a shopping bag full I have bought over the last two years and am just getting around to finding what I have and reading...Now that I have stopped by I will make it a point to do so and see what everyone is reading and report on what I read, I just smiled to myself and thinking what great fun!!!

pedln · « **Reply #639 on:** June 05, 2009, 04:06:28 PM »

Jackie, I just added The Laughing Policeman to my Netflix queue. I always liked Walter Matthau – have never seen this one.

JoanK – Fairstein’s Lethal Legacy sounds great, especially after last September’s visit to the NYPL with others from SeniorLearn. I do like Fairstein’s books. As for remembering mysteries – by the time I read the Wallendar series later this year it will all seem to be new material.

MsGray, if you’re serious about Olive Kitteridge, I would love to read it. (I nominated and voted for it earlier here, but it didn’t make the cut.) If you send me your email address, I’ll send you my address.

Has anyone read The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard? I believe it won either an Agatha or Edgar award in 2007. About the murder of a young girl in rural Kansas in 1987. Three families with teen-agers are involved, the conclusion comes about in 2004. My f2f, mostly mystery group will read it later this year. We’re also reading Sara Paretsky’s Bleeding Kansas, which is not a mystery, but maybe a bio of the mystery writer.

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner (Read 158184 times)