Seventh time’s a charm for sjgoins

As a former high school librarian, a tutor for some lovely ESL students, and a library and a literacy board member, you’d think I could negotiate this site by now. Finally I see my way better into the program and will try to expand beyond adding to my own reading list to replying to some other threads. There is such a wonderful and diverse group of interests already on board.

(1) No Way Out by Alan Jacobson. A bit over the top in action and a little hard to believe that the main characters needed so much explanation of British expressions. But the story kept me reading.

Hope you have a great year in reading!

And keep up with my friends here. Have a great 2021.

Happy reading in 2021!

Welcome back!

Thanks for the messages. While my list will have a preponderance of mysteries (often British), it will be interspersed with book club selections and others that look promising to me. I do appreciate the occasional recommendation of other titles, similar or otherwise.

>7 sjgoins: Well, as far as British mysteries go, I’m about a third of the way through Magpie Murders and loving it.

I don't think I've read any Horowitz' books, but will definitely look for them. I just finished (2) A Woman Unknown by Frances Brody. It's okay. We've read the series up to this one and will probably keep reading them.

(3) Fear in the Sunlight by Nicola Upson. A fictionalized story based on Josephine Tey's meeting with Alfred Hitchcock. The reminiscences from present (1950s) to Tey's prime authorship time (1930s) are a bit bittersweet but finally show a reason for their existence.

(4) The Scarred Woman by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Another Department Q book. This one adds to the development of all the characters, particularly that of Rose. And practical justice seems to prevail.

(5) North of Nowhere by Steve Hamilton. The typical detective action book.

(6) A Death in Eden by Keith McCafferty. While I had read this only a year and a quarter ago, I recalled it only as I reread it. It is still a good story.

(7) The Bangtail Ghost by Keith McCafferty. I reread the previous book to lead into this current one. I like the dichotomy of the practical use of nature with a strong emphasis on conservation. The mysteries in this series provides a good story in which it is set.

(8) Just finished Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. I like the premise of parallels between the "book within the book" and the life of the "real life" main characters. My husband and I want to know how this can possibly become a series, so I'll get the next book to see. Thanks for the recommendation.

(9) Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger. Krueger keeps developing his characters and their relationship with the Assiniboine culture.
(10) Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens. A teen in the 1970s Ozark country has to deal with racism and other forms of prejudice when a new family moves across the road.

(11) Forgot to mention reading Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood. Nice to know Phryne Fisher books are still being written. They are a good interlude between more meaty mysteries, while still providing social commentary.

(12) AFewRightThinking Men by Sulari Gentill. A bit heavy handed but entertaining.

>15 sjgoins: I have seen so many positive reviews of that one that I must read it soon myself. x

(13) Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham. After watching Midsomer Murders, I wanted to see how it related to the books.
(14) Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger. Hard to believe this happens so much, but probably too true.
(15) I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider. Such a good reading interlude between such grisly books. Punny and clever.
(16) Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz. This author kind of bookends today's entries. Again the book within a book model.

(17) Murder at the Ashmolean by Jim Eldridge. An okay mystery. The characters try a bit too hard.

(18) Murder at the Manchester Museum by Jim Eldridge. A decent mystery but forced cleverness and not-quite convincing modern attitudes.
(19) Victim 2117 by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Two separate cases very slightly connected. Tension that was maintained throughout. And finally background on one of the main characters.

(20) Murder on a Summer's Day by Frances Brody. Post WW I books seem to be popular right now. This series is a decent addition to the period.
(21) Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood. A different series but with the same tongue-in-cheek style as the Phryne Fisher series. Enough diverse characters to allow for different types of mysteries.

(22) Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas. The story of a town's relationship to the presence of a Japanese internment camp by their community is driven by getting to know the people involved.
(23) The Lost Boys by Faye Kellerman. Some college boys go missing from their hometown. Ten years later bodies are discovered.
(24) 18 Tiny Deaths by Bruce Goldfarb. The author writes about Frances Glessner Lee, a woman from a wealthy Chicago family, who is fascinated by what forensic methods are available in the first half of the 20th century so much that she spends her life trying to establish college courses to teach police to use forensics to determine causes of "unnatural deaths."
(25) Serpentine by Jonathan Kellerman. Milo and Alex work together to solve a cold case. An interesting solution which still leaves some questions about possible recurring characters.

(26) American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Novel depicting the desperate lengths migrants go to in order to find refuge from those who pursue them. Intense.
(27) A Pattern of Lies by Charles Todd. In the Bess Crawford series. A good book though sometimes confusing in all its trips back and forth between England and France during WW I.
(28) A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd. The authors put everyone under suspicion till the last minute with action up to the end.

(29) A Cursed Inheritance by Kate Ellis. Decent mysteries but too much emphasis on unhappy wife and attraction between co-workers.
(30) Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood. Next in the Corinna Chapman series by Miss Fisher author. Proof that mysteries don't necessarily have to be about murders. Just fun characters and good food.

>25 sjgoins: Interesting that you just read American Dirt on approximately the day that I bought it.

>27 PaulCranswick: I fully intended NOT to like the book but found it well written and thought provoking. No easy answers.

(31) Murder & Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood. This IS a Miss Fisher book. She's in good form, and her young charges are growing up with unusual perspectives on life.
(32) The Girls by Emma Cline. While well written, I did not particularly like the book. It showed the susceptibility of the girls who joined the cult (Manson's, thinly veiled), but it is not a fun read when none of the characters have much humanity in them.
(33) Never Far Away by Michael Koryta. Fast paced and well developed characters.
(34) A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch. Charles Lenox and Graham make a rather earlier Peter Wimsey and Bunter. Will try the next.

(35) The September Society by Charles Finch. Giving the second book in the series a chance.
(36) Daylight by David Baldacci. Atlee Pine has too much happening to her, but lots of action and some surprises.
(37) Murder in the East End by Jennifer Ashley. Murder, mystery of lost children, and class struggles.

(38) Collision of Lies. by Tom Threadgill. Slightly new situation.
(39) The Girl Beneath the Sea by Andrew Mayne. Two new authors for me.
(40) The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch. So I am continuing this series.
(41) Cold Tuscan Stone by David P. Wagner.
(42) The Bookseller by Mark Pryor. These last two are set in Italy and France, respectively, but the two protagonists are former Texans who wear cowboy boots. Either an affectation or identifying characteristic, but strangely coincidental.

((43) Spin by Patricia Cornwall. Research is evident. Still waiting for characters to gel.

(44) The Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman. Good enough series debut but does need some editing. Some implied references were missing.
(45) The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Clever with intriguing characters. Good beginning.

(46) The Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman. How one decision affects all the characters.

(47) The Crypt Thief by Mark Pryor. Graphic and grim but interesting.

(48) The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by T.E. Kinsey. A potentially new series for us, but we find it has a prequel series to read.
(49) A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch. Grateful to Library Thing or I couldn't keep straight all the series/authors we're reading.
(50) Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Little. A quirky protagonist with low self esteem except when it pertains to her work. Not one I'd want necessarily to be a series but interesting as a stand alone.
(51) Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody. Okay series. Some historical perspective.
(52) Devil's Food by Kerry Greenwood. She's created a character as different in appearance, yet as capable as Phryne Fisher.
(53) A Death in the Dales by Frances Brody.
(54) The Blood Promise by Mark Pryor. A politician in an intriguing plot.

(55) Written in Blood by Caroline Graham. Darker plot and stronger characters than in the TV series.

(56) The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. Authors are finally acknowledging septuagenarians as main characters. DS Harbinder Kaur is the official police link to the amateur detectives.
(57) The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd. Bess Crawford series.
(58) A Quiet Life in the Country by T.E. Kinsey. The Lady Hardcastle mysteries as prelude to a new series (See #48.).
(59) Trick or Treat by Kerry Greenwood. Love the Insula apartment tenants and the food.
(60) The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg. Reminds me of Where the Heart Is. Light read but interesting.
(61) The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. Precedes Postscript Murders and introduces Harbinder Kaur.
(62) A Long Shadow by Charles Todd. Ian Rutledge still haunted by soldier he killed.

(63) In the Market for Murder by T.E. Kinsey. It has its moments.
(64) What the Devil Knows by C.S. Harris. Like Anne Perry, Harris' books depict the inequities of class consciousness in England with people who are determined to make a difference in balancing these injustices.

(65) 21st Birthday by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

(66) The Button Man by Mark Pryor. Written as a prequel to lead the protagonist from London to Paris. Consistently good series.
(67) Death with a Double Edge by Anne Perry. For some reason the conversations seem to be strained/not natural in this book. It still tells a good story with all its awkwardness.

(68) Faithful Unto Death by Caroline Graham. Not as “pretty” as the Inspector Barnaby TV shows and grittier characters. Wasn’t expecting exactly the ending, but it fit.

(69) Real Murders by Charlaine Harris. Maybe partly because the book was only 175 pages, the action seemed to develop and the murder to get solved overly quickly, though there were enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing.

(70) Deacon King Kong by James McBride. A NYC neighborhood with its variety of residents struggling to get by and get along.

(71) Triple Crown by Felix Francis. A timely read, since the Belmont Stakes was yesterday.

Hey there, hope you are well!
Will have to select a few of these mystery reads for my own bookshelves soon. You're almost at 75 already!

Thanks for the contact. Mysteries make up the bulk of my own preferred reading, but some like Deacon King Kong are read for book clubs, and I might not have read them otherwise. They give a bit of balance.
I’m open to suggestions of other authors you like.

(72) Angels in the Gloom by Anne Perry. This series and the two by the Charles Todd duo offer a grim perspective of what WWI was like for Europe with the mysteries as just an added element of each book. The character development in this book was strong.

(73) The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes. A bit tedious till the end. I’m not sure if the characters felt real.

(74) Murder on Wall Street by Victoria Thompson. A fast read.

(75) A Rising Man by Amir Mukherjee. A look at the end of colonial India and how it affected all who lived there.

>51 sjgoins: Congratulations on reaching 75!

Congrats!

Thanks.
(76) Ink and Bone by Lisa Untermeyer. While not a fan of paranormal books, I did find the story grew more interesting as it progressed.

(77) Bright Young Dead by Jessica Fellowes. The second book in the Mitford series. I wasn't enjoying the characters so much but by the end of this book might be willing to give them another chance.

(78) The Reluctant Matador by Mark Pryor. The series is developing well.

(79) A Place of Safety by Caroline Graham. The penultimate Barnaby mystery.
(80) Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger. Has potential if it becomes/is a series.
(81) The Princess Spy by Larry Loftis. Well researched. Am not sure what to believe about Aline.

(82) The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman. It is hard to fathom how daily life could go on in whatever form during occupation by an opposing army.

(83) The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey. It grew more compelling as it went along.

(84) Cover Her Face by P.D. James. After having read one of James' mysteries long ago, it's time to read the series.

(85) A Ghost in the Machine by Caroline Graham. Well developed plot but a finish that didn’t fit with the rest of the books.

(86) The Paris Librarian by Mark Pryor.
(87) Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert
(88) Death at the Seaside by Frances Brody.
(89) The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate.
(90) A Mind to Murder by P.D. James.
(91) The Gown by Jennifer Robson.
(92) Death in Daylesford by Kerry Greenwood.
(93) A False Mirror by Charles Todd.
(94) The Saboteurs by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul.

(95) The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. A novel based firmly in truth.
(96) When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson. Life during the regime of Saddam Hussein for three women of different backgrounds.

(97) Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks.
(98) Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood.
(99) The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
(100) The Sorbonne Affair by Mark Pryor.

(101) Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia. Potentially a decent series. Too much obvious foreshadowing.

(102) A Casualty of War by Charles Todd. A good series.

(103) Nantucket Sawbuck by Steven Axelrod. A new series for me with a lot of unlikable characters as well as a few who are more humane--guaranteeing a look at the second book in the series.

(104) Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri. The comparison to Martin Walker's Bruno series is apt.
(105) Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger. I like the blend of cultures.

(106) The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. A good story (because it's about the value of books), though predictable.

(107) The Spotted Dog by Kerry Greenwood. The food is as good as the mystery.
(108) The Book Artist by Mark Pryor. Paris is as important a character as any of the people.

(109) Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister.

(110) Nantucket Five-Spot by Steven Axelrod.

(111) The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor. Good, if slightly convoluted story. The past/present stories genre is okay for this book, but I hope it isn't in any following books. Adding the memory pages between chapters also added both clarity and confusion.

(112) Murder at Blackwater Bend by Clara McKenna. The book is mostly well written, but misuse of words (like snuck) kept me from enjoying fully when the writing was convincing.

(113) Thief of Souls by Brian Klingbord.
(114) Playing with Bones by Kate Ellis. Joe Plantagenet series.
(115) Death at the Crystal Palace by Jennifer Ashley.
(116) Death in the Stars by Frances Brody. Should watch actual moon phases closer. Still a good story.
(117) Nantucket Grand by Steven Axelrod.
(118) Danse Macabre by Gerald Elias. Loved the violin techniques.

(119) Murder at Keyhaven Castle by Clara McKenna. Series is good, though somewhat familiar. An ending conveniently opened up other possibilities. Still a good read.
(120) The Burning by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman. Gritty mystery, but not quite as compelling as Jonathan's Alex Delaware series.
(121) Murder in the O.R. by Susan Sears. As a former OR nurse, the author knows her subject. The writing is a little forced with some editing needed.

(122) Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. She always researches well and writes with both humor and respect.
(123) Death and the Maiden by Gerald Elias. Murder, madness, and music: what's not to like.

(124) The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. Adunni is a survivor and positive in spite of so many injustices.
(125) Stargazer by Anne Hillerman. Still good series.
(126) The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan. A totally feel good book, but the recipes making do with WW II rations are impressive.
(127) Nantucket Red Tickets by Steven Axelrod. I like the continuation of characters despite my forgetting who some of them are.
(128) A Pale Horse by Charles Todd. We do hope Ian gets help and can lose the voice in his head.
(129) Kissing the Demons by Kate Ellis. The Joe Plantagenet series is maybe more interesting than the Wesley Peterson series, though we haven't given up on it yet.
(130) A Forgotten Place by Charles Todd. Isolation creates an unusual society.
(131) Watching the Ghosts by Kate Ellis.
(132) A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs. Not her best work. Almost a Scarpetta-like relationship between Brennan and Slidell. Using her personal issues as part of the plot is, we hope, a catharsis.

(133) The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths. Nice to have a new book in the series.

A Thanksgiving to Friends (Lighting the Way)

In difficult times
a friend is there to light the way
to lighten the load,
to show the path,
to smooth the road

At the darkest hour
a friend, with a word of truth
points to light
and the encroaching dawn
is in the plainest sight.

To a friend in books and more this Thanksgiving

>80 PaulCranswick: Thank you.

(134) Tidings of Comfort and Joy by T. Davis Bunn. A feel-good book to continue Thanksgiving’s celebrations into Advent.

(135) Death and Transfiguration by Gerald Elias. I like the back stories of orchestras and music; the mystery is also intriguing, even with such a curmudgeonly protagonist.

(136) A Cruel Deception by Charles Todd. A logical post-WW I solution to an army nurse’s career. The solution to the mystery was a bit abrupt, but had some logic to it.

(137) The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleese's. The series continues well with more depth to the main characters plus a suitably convoluted mystery.

(138) The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny.

(139) Playing with Fire by Gerald Elias. The mystery was fine, but the puns (which started out being funny) became a bit of a distraction and not believable.
(140) A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd. So much happens that the prologue is forgotten till the end. Some situations that were wrapped up also at the end were surprises.

(141) An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor. I read it seven years ago and had forgotten it. It’s a bit of a rougher Maeve Binchy style.

(142) Flying Angels by Danielle Steel. I hadn’t read anything by Steele before. This was a decent story, but parts were rushed, and the romances were predictable.

(143) A Snapshot of Murder by Frances Brody. There were some unexplained jumps in the text, and some characters did not seem to fit their descriptions.

Have a lovely holiday.

(144) An Irish Hostage by Charles Todd. The series is good, and I hope Charles continues both this and the Ian Rutledge series without being able to co-write with his mother.

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year.