Author Topic: Mystery Corner (Read 160441 times)

Steph · « **Reply #800 on:** July 25, 2009, 03:30:02 PM »

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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

Laura Lippman does two types of books. One is a long running series with Tess. Who used to be a reporter and is now a private investigator.. Most are good, the others are stand alones, and much more intense. I have loved them.. The one I am reading is a Tess one, she has brought in her best friend, Whitney, who I adore. Funny and tough and no nonsense. Tess is getting a bit on the wuss side in this book.

joyous · « **Reply #801 on:** July 26, 2009, 04:51:09 PM »

I am NOT usually a mystery lover, but offer this as a question of you.
In the Sunday edition of our newspaper --Book Section---a second book
in a trilogy(which they say is as good or better than the first)-Girl Who Played With Fire.
I have not read
either #1 or #2, but am wondering if any of you have done so?
#1 is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, #2 is The Girl who played with fire
Author is Stieg Larson, a Swedish author I think, translated by Reg Keeland.
I have requested #1 from my library, but they do not have, as yet, #2.
Joy

Steph · « **Reply #802 on:** July 27, 2009, 08:04:34 AM »

I think that some one on here has been reading Larson. I have not, but am considering it.

marjifay · « **Reply #803 on:** July 27, 2009, 08:56:33 AM »

I read THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson and really liked it. Am looking forward to reading his THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. Larsson died of a heart attack in 2004 at age 50.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #804 on:** July 27, 2009, 10:39:33 AM »

I'm a Larrson fan as well. Tatto has a large cast of characters but it is worth it to stay the course. Quite an intimate look at Swedish society very different than Hanning Mankell's.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #805 on:** July 27, 2009, 05:34:05 PM »

I believe that it was here that author April Smith was mentioned. North of Montana is the title of her first book and I thought I was getting more of the milieu that C J Box has used so effefctively in his Joe Pickett, game warden, series. Was I in for a surpirse. Montana is a street in LA and north is not the place to be from. Ana Grey is an FBI agent assigtned to her home territory where she is somewhat loose,l as in loose cannon. She has good instincts and makes the big arrests but leaves her fellow agents and her superiors on edge. We see her life from her point of view so we know what's in her head and heart. They don't. April Smith has joined my list of auithors I will unquestionably read. Wish they could write faster. PS Her katest us Judas Horse and most of it takes place here in my beloved Oregon.

JoanK · « **Reply #806 on:** July 27, 2009, 08:48:25 PM »

Just finished Gillian Roberts' "Hole in Juan", and liked it. I think I recommended Roberts here, and some of you didn't like her. But if you do like Roberts, you'll be glad to know she is back to writing about her High School students, where (I think) she's at her best.

I made the same mistake with "North of Montana", but still liked the book. mean to look for more.

JoanK · « **Reply #807 on:** July 27, 2009, 09:03:49 PM »

I see I've been very remiss at putting the heading at the top of each page. If you catch me forgetting, please remind me. Thanks.

Steph · « **Reply #808 on:** July 28, 2009, 03:22:42 PM »

Gillian Roberts is a sort of writer for me. I generally read her, but not right away. I actually am on a sci fi kick just now.

dbroomsc · « **Reply #809 on:** July 30, 2009, 06:58:15 AM »

I have just finished reading "Deep Waters" by Kate Charles. The protagonist is a curate at a church in London. The story deals with the crib death of a child of a celebrity couple and the notority that follows.

Also read Marcia Muller's book "Burn Out." I understand she has a new book coming out entitled "Locked In." Both books are in her Sharon McCone series.

Steph · « **Reply #810 on:** July 30, 2009, 08:21:12 AM »

Will keep an eye out. I like Sharon much better than the Kinsey series.. But read both of them.

FlaJean · « **Reply #811 on:** July 30, 2009, 05:06:17 PM »

I've been reading a series by Patricia Smiley. The series is about a woman named Tucker Riley. Unfortunately, I checked out the latest book in the "new" section of the library but did go back and read a couple of the earlier ones. It's never a good idea to start with the latest book in a series and I try not to do that, however, Smiley is a pretty good writer. Some of you might enjoy this series.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #812 on:** July 30, 2009, 09:17:43 PM »

In another discussion I mentioned a series about a midwife in old NY when Teddy Roosevelt was Police Commissioner. Known as the Gaslight Mysteries these are compelling mysteries with lots of local color and interesting characters. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/victoria-thompson/

Another new name is Jon Loomis, a professor of literature whose previous work was two books of poetry but who has found his true calling in the adventures of Frank Coffin, a police detective in Providencetown, also know as P'town, where gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders gather to play in the summer sun. PG17

Steph · « **Reply #813 on:** July 31, 2009, 08:34:12 AM »

Will add the names to my lists..I am looking for anything by Kate Bryan. I have read two of her mysteries and there is another, but for some reason it is out of print and the copies I find are expensive. Strange for a mystery writer.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #814 on:** August 04, 2009, 12:36:11 AM »

Just finished Catherine Coulter's The Maze - very good, a compelling read. The only negative was that she jam-packed more exciting events into the time period than could ever possibly happen to one person, resulting in an "Oh, come on!" from this reader. But the story was interesting and i liked the characters................jean

Babi · « **Reply #815 on:** August 04, 2009, 08:24:35 AM »

Ah, yes. Another "Oh, come on!" situation. Personally, I tend to go with "Ah, come on!"

Steph · « **Reply #816 on:** August 04, 2009, 08:40:43 AM »

You two do better than I do. I tend to throw the book into the basket .. But then Coulter is an old romance writer, so her characters tend to be impossibly glamerous, etc.

Babi · « **Reply #817 on:** August 05, 2009, 08:19:51 AM »

One of my favorite "Ah, come on!" situations was one in which all the main characters were good-looking, clever, witty, very intelligent, etc., etc.
Even the villain. I mean really, there just aren't that many of us to be found
in one community.

maryz · « **Reply #818 on:** August 05, 2009, 01:17:29 PM »

This is why I quit reading Stuart Woods. His early books about a sheriff in Georgia were great. But then he started with this character, "Stone Barrington", and all he did was talk about the clothes they were wearing and their cars and their furniture. Sssshhhheeeeesssshhh.

JoanK · « **Reply #819 on:** August 05, 2009, 02:02:09 PM »

My favorite "Ah, Come on" moment came reading Diane mott Davidson's Goldy Shultz series where the detective is a caterer. She and friends are fleeing through the woods trying to escape the bad guys. They run across an empty cabin in the woods, go inside; Goldy finds enough ingredients in the abandoned cabin to cook a gourmet meal (an omelet. Personally, I always keep my abandoned cabins stocked with fresh eggs, don't you?) And then they continue fleeing.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #820 on:** August 05, 2009, 07:26:07 PM »

John Birmingham is an Australian but: His Without Warning describes a world where there is no US and most of Canada is gone, too, There is just this shimmery sort of curtain surrounding that area. For example, Guantanamo Naval Base is close enough that the curtain can be approached except when a US General and the top officer in the Cuban military go to ibserve ut first hand, it reaches out and snags the Cuban. Lengthy leadup to another literary snag. Mention is made of the Berkeley campus of UCLA! I had to read it again, not believing my eyes but that is what the man wrote. The book is pretty good, nevertheless.

JoanK · « **Reply #821 on:** August 05, 2009, 10:30:11 PM »

He'd better not come out here to California. Thinking that Berkeley is in LA could get him in major trouble with the natives (of either place).

JoanK · « **Reply #822 on:** August 05, 2009, 10:35:10 PM »

I reread "A Suitable Job for a Woman" by PD James for my face to face book group. It's still a good read. (Interestingly, all the women had already read it, and none of the men had. But everyone liked it).

Now I'm reading Laura Lippman's latest (I asume): "Life Sentances". It's a stand-alone. So far, it's pretty slow: I guess she's trying to develop character, but it's not working.

Steph · « **Reply #823 on:** August 06, 2009, 07:53:03 AM »

New Author for me.. Lynne Murray.. She has written a small series about Jo Fuller, a plus size lady wo works for someone like "The Millionaire", only female. I have read the middle one and found the other two in paperback swap and ordered them. She is fun.. A good read.. A proud woman, dealing with her weight with pride and joy.. Affirmative sort of book with that.. Nice plot.. All in all a nice addition for me.

Babi · « **Reply #824 on:** August 07, 2009, 08:26:44 AM »

JOANK, at least she didn't do something delicious with the mice. (Okay, sorry
about that.)

P.D. James is great, but his books are not readily available any more. I came
across one recently at the bookshelves at the senior center, the first one I had
seen in ages.

marjifay · « **Reply #825 on:** August 07, 2009, 11:34:29 AM »

Don't understand what you mean about P.D. James books not being available anymore, Babi. My library has 46 of her books available (some are repeats, of course, large print, regular print, etc.), and Amazon and half.com have pages of her books for sale, including used copies). I really like her mysteries.

Marj

pedln · « **Reply #826 on:** August 07, 2009, 12:40:41 PM »

Your comments surprised me too, Babi. She's still actively writing -- I'd like to read The Private Patient. My library has about 28 of them. Not too long ago I read Percival House (that may not be the title) about a publishing family, mystery. I'd seen it before on TV, but had never read the book. Really enjoyed it.

peace42 · « **Reply #827 on:** August 07, 2009, 07:19:41 PM »

haven't done a lot of reading these past few weeks..last wednesday 8 wonderful folks were here to help me move to my new and smaller apartment...I am still surrounded by boxes but they will get put away all in good time or my time or some time! i did finish True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman. Almost put it down after about 50/60 pages..just wasn;t catching my interest. Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis are on the periphery of the story...just a weird book and I dont think up to his usual stuff..but, I stuck it out and finished it...just got 2 new ones from the library inclucing a new Harlan Coben...in fact, I'm heading for the couch now to read a bit...
sleep well all...with a book or two/three, etc. on the nitestand

marjifay · « **Reply #828 on:** August 07, 2009, 10:15:12 PM »

An interesting book by P.D. James is her CHILDREN OF MEN. Her only foray into science fiction concerns a future world where the entire population has become infertile. Very interesting, thought provoking, and suspenseful. I liked it more than the movie made from it, although the movie with Clive Owen (The Croupier) is very good -- just different.

Have only read one book by Jonathan Kellerman, Peace. His GONE.
Supposed to have been a thriller, but I found if only boring. Like you, I finished it, hoping it would get better, but it didn't.

Marj

Babi · « **Reply #829 on:** August 08, 2009, 09:05:36 AM »

Really, PEDLN? I thought she was deceased. I guess I started reading P. D.
James so long ago I just assumed she would be. (I just checked; she will be
89 this year.) And you and Marj are both right; she's still available in my
library, too. I simply didn't look since I associated her with books I read
40-50 years ago! MARJ, I think "Children of Men" was the only book of hers
that I've read and didn't like.

Quote

"..in good time or my time or some time"

I love that, PEACE. That seems to sum up the rivileges of retirement so perfectly.

Steph · « **Reply #830 on:** August 08, 2009, 10:06:00 AM »

I like some of P.D. James. Not all however. I am about to start the newest James Lee Burke in Paper. It will be in Colorado however, but I will read it anyway..The Louisiana are the best ones.

isak · « **Reply #831 on:** August 08, 2009, 11:51:49 AM »

JoanK;
I had almost given up on Goldie Schulz mysteries until I listened to the audio book edition of
Main Corpse. It was still over the top, but the cabin you mention was not abandoned - but the
vacation cabin of people who are known to her, and she even knew how to find the key to the front door,and found their stash of extra fireplace wood. Maybe she'd catered some event there.
Scarey as he was, I also enjoyed meeting General Beauregard, the spooky retired military man
who helped them escape the bad guys. Granted it was over the top, but better than some of
hers, I thought.
isak

JoanK · « **Reply #832 on:** August 08, 2009, 02:20:57 PM »

I agree, but I had to laugh, non-the-less. Maybe if I liked cooking better, I'd be more sympathetic.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #833 on:** August 08, 2009, 02:55:51 PM »

I don't know how i missed The Main Corpse, i tho't i'd read all of hers. I do like Goldie Schultz, but as w/ many of these protagonists, including Jessica Fletcher, if she showed up at a dinner where i was? I'd leave!

Altho her recipes sound scrumptious.

I'm reading Jill Churchill's The Class Menagerie, which is a reunion of class mates from 20 yrs before and, of course, one of them is murdered. It's entertaining. I also just started a Mary Higgins Clark book, Do You Want to Know a Secret..........jean

pedln · « **Reply #834 on:** August 08, 2009, 02:59:14 PM »

This morning's Wall Street Weekend Journal had a short review by a mystery writer I'd not heard of before -- Linwood Barclay, who has apparently written others, as the Journal referred to his "latest thriller in a best-selling string of suburban tales." This one is Fear the Worst, about a divorced father searching for his 17-year-old daughter.

Quote

The most extreme events, which unfold with mounting tension and suspense, are all the more believble and scary for being rooted in human-sized characters and laced with humor.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #835 on:** August 08, 2009, 03:09:15 PM »

Maybe the reason he's not well known is that he's Canadian. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/linwood-barclay/

JoanK · « **Reply #836 on:** August 08, 2009, 09:29:19 PM »

He sounds interesting.

I like the early Jill Churchills a lot. Her last one was unreadable: don't know if I'll buy any more.

Frybabe · « **Reply #837 on:** August 08, 2009, 09:31:05 PM »

Just about to start reading Harlan Coben's book, Tell No One. Also, just discovered tonight that this book was made into a movie.

Babi · « **Reply #838 on:** August 09, 2009, 09:05:56 AM »

Linwood Barclay does sound interesting, PEDLN. I like books about 'human-sized characters'.
I am now reading "North of Montana", which was recommended here. I'm
enjoying it, but find it difficult to imagine an FBI agent who would be so dumb
as to take on a case in which there is a very big conflict of interest. Everything
she finds out will be compromised and thrown out of court. DUH!

Steph · « **Reply #839 on:** August 09, 2009, 09:32:07 AM »

I loved Tell No one and so did my husband. Neither of us knew about the movie though.

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner (Read 160441 times)