Author Topic: Mystery Corner (Read 160522 times)

Steph · « **Reply #480 on:** April 12, 2009, 09:16:54 AM »

I read the series on the shakers as well. Excellent.. Could it have been Deborah something..

EvelynMC · « **Reply #481 on:** April 12, 2009, 05:35:04 PM »

____

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

EvelynMC · « **Reply #482 on:** April 12, 2009, 05:39:28 PM »

Thanks for the list of legal thrillers, Margifay.

Thanks, Jackie, for the Manchester Library Readers list, I've bookmarked it.

Happy Easter everyone!!

The weather is cold and rainy here today in Arkansas. Not too many Easter bonnets around.

Evelyn

CubFan · « **Reply #483 on:** April 12, 2009, 07:40:01 PM »

Greetings -

While driving today I listened to an interview with the author Catherine O'Connell who has written two books - Well Read and Dead and Well Bred and Dead. Both are High Society Mystery Series. Has anyone read either of these books? Comments?? The setting of her books appears to be high society Chicago and maybe Aspen CO. The interviewer was rather "gushy" so I couldn't get a real handle on the books. O'Connell is doing book tours right now as the Well Read and Dead just came out in March of this year.

Just read the The Art Thief. Enjoyed it very much. Put to work the knowledge I gained from my History and Appreciation of Art class many years ago. Mary

Steph · « **Reply #484 on:** April 13, 2009, 07:45:02 AM »

Never read the OConnel. I have read Nancy Martin, who does Philadelphia society.. They are fun.. Not a whole lot of mystery, but wonderful funny plots..

Babi · « **Reply #485 on:** April 13, 2009, 09:46:30 AM »

I'm not familiar with O'Connell, either. I hope someone here has read her books, so we can get a 'book review'.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #486 on:** April 13, 2009, 10:28:28 AM »

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicherjis an engrossing study of a seminal murder in Britain in 1860. The Mr. Whicher in the title was one of only eight detectives at Scotland Yard. He was called in to solve the murder of a family which the locals couldn't do. A friend of Charles Dickens and the model of the detective in Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White Whicher reveals his methods and thoughts through original sources from that time. Historical mysteries have been an interest of mine and this is the real thing, not fiction but written in a narrative style that is sedate but captivating. http://www.amazon.com/Suspicions-Mr-Whicher-Victorian-Detective/dp/080271742X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239632843&sr=8-1

peace42 · « **Reply #487 on:** April 13, 2009, 08:32:08 PM »

how did I miss Ridley Pearson novel?! He is one of my favorites..will have to check the library.
I'm doing something I thought I would never do; I'm returning a Nelson DeMille book to the library after only 100 pages being read

I love his books and have read almost all the fiction he's written. But this newest one, The Gate House, just leaves me cold. Nothing has happened, the smarmy jokes from one of the characters are too smarmy for me...I know this would be the way such a person would talk but, well, enough said. It just has left me cold. It is a huge book, nearly 700 pages and weighs a ton. So, off I go to tomorrow to see what I can find. Don't know where to start when I get in the library; I want to read everything. Wish me luck in finding something readable.
Maybe a Linda Farstein; have read a couple of hers and liked them.

Steph · « **Reply #488 on:** April 14, 2009, 07:47:03 AM »

I have decided to revisit an old favorite.. The author is dead, but the books live on. Virginia Lanier started writing late in life and produced a small series of books about bloodhounds and their trainer in Georgia. A fascinating small town life with the dogs.. Fun.. If anyone likes strong women, dogs and interesting insights in bloodhound tracking.. here is a series for you.

maeve · « **Reply #489 on:** April 14, 2009, 08:07:21 AM »

I like Linda Fairstein also, so I googled her to find out if she had a new book out and discovered this site http://www.lindafairstein.com/ There is a video interview about Lethal Legacy and a tour of the New York Library. It looks interesting.

MaryE

mrssherlock · « **Reply #490 on:** April 14, 2009, 08:40:27 AM »

I really miss Virginia Lanier. Her treatment of the dogs was endearing and her descriptions of the searches were thrilling.

Babi · « **Reply #491 on:** April 14, 2009, 09:12:31 AM »

I picked up and am reading "As Dog is My Witness", which was recommended here. I am enjoying the author's wry sense of humor, though I find the whole premise of his investigating murders tenuous. He does have an atypical protagonist, though. A short, stay-at-home dad/writer who breaks off his investigations to be at home when the kids come back from school??

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #492 on:** April 14, 2009, 11:47:14 AM »

Jackie, there are just not enough words to "thank you" for the Manchester read next site. I have printed out the category page to introduce to one of my f2f book groups, and maybe we can branch out to something new and different. I have made the site a "favorite" and will refer to it often. Thank you Jackie!

mrssherlock · « **Reply #493 on:** April 14, 2009, 02:45:09 PM »

Tome: You're welcome. That's how I felt when I found that site. It will be a treasure trove for me to go through those catalogs and find new books to read. Small return on all the good reads I've found here and on SeniorNet.

JoanK · « **Reply #494 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:21:07 PM »

I was able to watch the first episode on The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency on HBO, thanks to a friend. It was EXCELLENT! Usually, I don't like movies of books that I liked, but they got the main characters just right!! And the pictures of Africa really added a lot.

It's a shame it's on HBO, which many of us don't want to pay for. But eventually, netflix will have it -- look for it.

JoanK · « **Reply #495 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:31:29 PM »

My goodness, I missed this whole page when I posted. I just didn't look!! Thank you, Evelyn for saving the heading. I've been sunk in a mire of income tax forms for two days, and just emerged.

I've heard that 84% of individuals use a paid preparer. Maybe I should join them. But I used one last year for the first time, as I had an unusually complicated situation, and I caught him in three mistakes.

pedln · « **Reply #496 on:** April 14, 2009, 09:45:49 PM »

JoanK, re taxes: Have you ever used AARP volunteer preparers or one of the other volunteer groups? They are trained, and if stumped will call on another volunteer. (I used to do it, but haven't for the past few years.) NOw I do mine, then take it to AARP, compare it, and let them file the return electronically, which they do for no charge. They don't do super complex business returns, but do handle most standard schedules except C, E, and F. And many have been doing taxes for years.

peace42 · « **Reply #497 on:** April 15, 2009, 02:11:24 AM »

Hi Pedlin: I agree that the AARP tax folks are wonderful; have used them for the last 3 years; one does the return and then another person comes and sits down and does the whole thing all over again, just as a double check. I wouldn't ordinarily file but when I do I qualify for a heat allowance from the state.

took my Nelson DeMille back to the library; one of the ladies there said she had heard from others that The Gate House was not his best effort. We expcet our favorites to be spot on every time but don't think that's possible..so I'll give him this one!

Picked up 3 more so we shall see. Just began one that my library friend above showed me; don't think it would win a Pulitzer but seems to be a nice easy read/mystery..and large print to boot. Think it's her first novel which I always like to read.

Nite everyone..sleep well

mabel1015j · « **Reply #498 on:** April 15, 2009, 02:45:33 AM »

Again i agree w/ Tomereader, in my thanks to Jackie for the Manchester list. I sent the "Dog's Life" list to a friend who is crazy about books w/ dog characters. She was a producer for a Philadelphia tv talk show for 20 years and had to read a lot of serious books as a preview of having the author on the show, or the topic to be discussed, so she's reading FUN stuff these days. She found many on the list that she had not read......................jean

Steph · « **Reply #499 on:** April 15, 2009, 07:44:20 AM »

I was an AARP tax volunteer for several years and also a volunteer on the question and answer site they have. I do my own taxes now with Turbo Tax, which I love. We moved and this county does not have a very active AARP program in this end of it. I wont drive an hour each way to volunteer, so am no longer helping. Just too far to the Villages.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #500 on:** April 15, 2009, 11:39:54 AM »

Our Humorous short story for the month starts today - come on over and join us for our monthly 10 day discussion - and - the O'Henry story was made into a movie although I did not see it as a movie - like most of you we read it in school. I remember laughing along with the rest of the class. - Here is the link to "The Ransom of Red Chief" http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=436.0

Steph · « **Reply #501 on:** April 16, 2009, 08:14:44 AM »

Reading one of the Bad Hair Day novels. Not sure I like the author. She keeps stumbling over the darndest clues.. Oh well.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #502 on:** April 16, 2009, 10:59:45 AM »

Nancy Kress writes SF so when I saw her name on the novel, Dogs, I assumed that it would be some stale (maybe( theme which she would twist to her own unique view. While it does have science at its core it is more of a thriller than s pace opera. Imagine that you have a darling 2-yr-old. As you are leaving for the day your mother-babysitter is holding the baby in her arms waving as you walk to your car. Suddenly a mastiff races toward the porch, leaps up the steps, and grabs your son's throat and holds on. You are a police officer, a man 6-feet of muscle, tremendously strong from the burst of adrenaline flooding your veins. You cannot pry the dogs jaws loose; only when you have emptied your gun into its body does it let go of your son's lifeless body.

This is just one of the many examples of beloved 4-pawed family pets who begin to fill the emergency room and the morgue with bite victims. The narrative is interrupted now and then with the mental ruminations of an unnamed observer. The action is centered on a female former FBI agent, recently widowed. She is thrust into the investigation when she begins to trace her Egyptian husband's last days and discovers a cryptic email in Arabic on his computer.

Kress more than fulfills my expectations. Though I am an animal lover I was entranced as I vicariously participated in the race to survive this menace.

Babi · « **Reply #503 on:** April 16, 2009, 03:25:09 PM »

Oooh. I don't think I would like reading that at all, JACKIE. Opening the story with the slaughter of a 2-year old, by 'man's best friend', is much too chilling.
I'll pass on that one.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #504 on:** April 16, 2009, 04:41:31 PM »

Babi: Strangely it was not as chiilling as it sounds. The emphasis is on the human's perceptions, the dogs seem to be impersonal, almost robot-like. See stimulus - react. That is the power of Kress' writing. And the story doesn't open with the death of the baby. I just picked that one for its shock value. The story is about the collective reaction to the disastrous events as they unfold.

Steph · « **Reply #505 on:** April 17, 2009, 07:39:58 AM »

Loving dogs the way I do. Think I will pass..There are some things I am not good at. I dont read Stephen King ( except for a few novellas) because of the hopelessness in his characters. I really do not like horror stories.. For some dumb reason, I like vampire stories though.. Hmm. as I think of it, that is extremely weird of me.

Babi · « **Reply #506 on:** April 17, 2009, 09:20:07 AM »

STEPH, I think I stopped reading Stephen King because his horror was so real, so convincing, and it disturbed me because he could turn ordinary, everyday things and people into terrifying objects. I do better with 'scary' stories that don't hit too close to home. I suspect JACKIE's post about "Dogs" was one of
those that "hit too close to home' for us.

Steph · « **Reply #507 on:** April 18, 2009, 09:17:33 AM »

I think you are right. It is the ordinary objects that are scary. I know that the original Red Dragon book by Thomas Harris(??) gave me nightmares for weeks. It was all about taking your pictures to be developed and he started hunting by seeing the developed pictures of happy families. Whew.. to this day, gives me the cold shivers.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #508 on:** April 18, 2009, 11:18:03 AM »

This is an interesting discussion about horror. Stephen King, yes I had to quit reading him, too. Like you, Steph, I enjoy the odd vampire story, Charlaine Harris, (have your tried her new series about the woman who can find bodies?) the Glass House series by Rachel Caine, the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Then there is the apparent horror story in the middle like Dogs by Nancy Kress which isn't horrible despite the odd graphic depiction. At the other end of this continuum is The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane ackerman,which depicts real life horrors in such a flat style that all menace is negated. King is too real to be enjoyable, Kress' suspends belief just enough to sustain suspense and Ackerman robs us of even the slightest frisson of ice down the spine.

JoanK · « **Reply #509 on:** April 18, 2009, 12:11:33 PM »

Brrr. I suppose you vampire-lovers are reading Stephanie Meyers? My daughter is addicted to her. I can take vampires or leave them.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #510 on:** April 18, 2009, 07:47:45 PM »

The only Stephanie Meyers book I've read, and enjoyed immensely, is The Host.

Steph · « **Reply #511 on:** April 19, 2009, 09:27:43 AM »

My 13 year old granddaughter and I bought read the Stephenic Meyer. I do not consider her nearly as good as Charlaine Harris or Patricia Briggs or Laurell Hamilton.. But Kait loved her and I was anxious to encourage her reading for fun. Her reading teacher assigns certain books and makes lists and that was making Kait turned off about reading.. I wish teachers would think first.

Babi · « **Reply #512 on:** April 19, 2009, 12:44:56 PM »

Besides the vampire books, Charlaine Harris has apparently written some light
mysteries taking place in Shakespeare, Arkansas. I came across them while
checking in books at the library. It seems to me I recall someone here mentioning a 'Shakespeare' mystery from this series. Has anyone else read them? I'm thinking about trying them when I finish with my present reading 'musts' for up-coming discussions.

JoanK · « **Reply #513 on:** April 19, 2009, 01:31:43 PM »

"Her reading teacher assigns certain books and makes lists and that was making Kait turned off about reading".

There are some people who are reading Nazis --- you have to read what THEY think you ought to read. I've had several run-ins with librarians who were like that. They don't realize the harm they do.

A bad English class can turn someone off reading for life. Reading books you don't understand, and then being called dumb because you can't answer obscure questions about them leaves people feeling they are too dumb to read. I'm not smart enough to know what makes the difference, but a GOOD English teacher manages to do just the opposite --- ENTITLE the children. The books we have are like this incredible legacy -- just as if we had inherited a billion dollars, we have each inherited the hearts and minds of thousands of people who have gone before us, there on a page for us to do what we want with -- laugh, cry, go to sleep, put on a pedestal, wrap the garbage with, whatever we want because it's all OURS!

Sorry I got started on this.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #514 on:** April 19, 2009, 03:27:51 PM »

Babi: Charlaine Harris is on my read-everything-they-write list. Her first series, being reissued now, is about Aurora Teagarden and should be read in order. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/charlaine-harris/real-murders.htm

Nest she began to write about Lily Bard who lives in Shakespeare Arkansas. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/charlaine-harris/shakespeares-landlord.htm

Her seires about Sookie, presently being televised on HBO as True Blood, started me off rather cautiously but Harris' talent and sense of humor kept me reading. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/charlaine-harris/dead-until-dark.htm

I like her new series better than the vampires. This one features a woman with a unique side-effect of her encounter with a lightening strike.

Quote

Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who's passed, and share their very last moment.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/charlaine-harris/grave-sight.htm

Steph · « **Reply #515 on:** April 20, 2009, 07:42:15 AM »

I am with Jackie. Charlaine Harris is a favorite of mine.. I love the Shakespeare series. It says some very important things about how to handle things that are impossible to understand.
I like the newest series as well. She finds dead people and she and her step brother wander to do it. Harris has an ability to make you care about some truly unusual people.

Babi · « **Reply #516 on:** April 20, 2009, 09:44:41 AM »

Well said, JoanK! I, for one, am glad you 'got started'.

JACKIE & STEPH, with an endorsement like that, how can I resist. I'll start with the 'Shakespeare' series I saw in my library, and take it from there.

Steph · « **Reply #517 on:** April 21, 2009, 08:30:07 AM »

Still collecting the bloodhound book.. Have thus far found four in various used book stores and my swap club.

peace42 · « **Reply #518 on:** April 21, 2009, 09:47:12 PM »

I very rarely read Stephen King but I do think many do not give him enough credit for being a really good writer. He puts out so many books that it makes one wonder if any of them can be any good! well, they are but, they are just so-o scary...and I just can't get into vampires. However, I do like Dean Koontz and his stuff can get pretty hairy.
o
After my Nelson DeMille let down I took out 3 from the library new book section,. Just finished one called Moving is Murder, a Mom Zone Mystery by Sara Rosett. Air Force wife plays sleuth and helps solve series of murders. Author is an Air Force wife so some authenticity there. Packing/moving/unpacking tips at the end of each chapter kind of runied the flow of the book. Think author was aiming for a Mary Higgins Clark touch,....well,she has a very long way to go! fast read and truly a fair read. now I'm on to the next selection

take care all and sleep well, after falling asleep with a book on your chest

JoanK · « **Reply #519 on:** April 21, 2009, 10:18:13 PM »

the best way to fall asleep.

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner (Read 160522 times)