Introduce Yourself.

If you are new to the group, introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself, your favourite authors and favourite books.

If I were looking for a group to discuss mysteries in, I would go to the long established, active group http://www.librarything.com/groups/crimethrillermyster

We are coming from Leafmarks which is closing down July 1 and we are transferring all our members here. Some may want to join the crimethrillermystery group but for now we are moving here. Thanks for the invite, MarthaJeanne, and I'll be sure to check it out.

There are something like over 2,000 members there and like all groups I'm sure most are not active just lookers. So far Andrew is making progress here.

We're up to 10 already. We do want people to be active as opposed to lurkers. Also looks like the reviews we do and group reads do add something else (not to mention Birth of a Book).

I think we would get lost over there. We can check it out on our own but I find that I'm already busy enough. lol

Lynda and Hope are the only two I see in that group that i know.

I joined when I transferred my books but never participated so just dropped out. I'm excited to see us all here.

Howdy, y'all. I'm ending a chaotic school year to find another online site shut down. Grrr.

Maybe you'll have some good reading this summer, Jaret:)

Welcome one and all:) we are like wandering nomads!

Eadie thinks that we are all sinners and have been cast-out by Shelfari and Leafmarks. I think she described it as "rent asunder".

"In order to come back together, we must form a trio and face our final quest: We must undo our greatest sin and return what was thought lost forever. The shackles of Lucifer have been loosened, and his Chalice remains lost. We must forge the Chalice anew and banish Amazon to their eternal darkness."

>13 EadieB: OMGoodness! I am ROTFLMAO!

>10 Carol420: I hope so. I have a lot of books to get through. My TBR mountain is now an entire mountain range!

>13 EadieB: That's quite some challenge you've set for us there, Eadie.

I wonder where I got that one!

Okay how did you get the blue link to previous posts? Mightily impressed!

>17 Andrew-theQM:
Okay found out! For anyone that doesn't know put this symbol (>) followed by the number of the post you are replying to without a space.

>18 Andrew-theQM: Thanks Andrew! Just practicing! :)

>18 Andrew-theQM: I'm practicing too.

Looks like practice makes perfect.

Hi people! I have been so busy setting up my other groups I havent had a chance to say hello here. I always feel I am part of this group under false pretences since I participate so little and barely read 30 crime books a year. Huh! Our Carol reads those in a month.And so far with the latest Pinkish Banner of Death kerfuffle,I havent even completed one book yet. And the only crime book I had started,Peter May's The Critic is required by another reader and must go back with only 35/380 pages read.
I did see that we are already showing up among the most active groups on the site,and we havent even got into our stride.
Well I should - eventually - have more time to participate,because the number of sites to maintain are getting less. Started off with shelfari,LM,GR and LT. Now I will be down to only one! lol.
If possible I think one group would be less confusing than the spread over two groups,but ,poor Andrew,its going to be a nightmare to run!

>23 .Monkey.: Welcome Monkey. You're not too far away from one of our other members (Sushicat) who is based in Switzerland.

>22 dustydigger: Welcome Dusty - 30 Crime books a year still sounds a lot and definitely no false pretences as far as I'm concerned. :) Frustratingwhen you have to give a library book back before it is finished. I don't know that book but love Peter May's writing.

>23 .Monkey.: Welcome to the group Monkey. I totally agree with you about the "chicklit". A waste of paper and good ink. I guess 99% of what I read are mystery/suspense/thriller/horror also. I am a sucker for a good ghost story. If Andrew can sort out how we are going to do our book discussions without destroying Library Thing, I hope you will join in. We read the book in sections and answer the questions that Andrew creates and believe me...he's the best! That's why we call him "The Question Master".

>22 dustydigger: I believe that Critic is one of his standalones.

Love the way the link for Critic takes you to a Narrative of the Life of Federick Douglass. I have fixed it with my link.
I have got it down as the second book in the Enzo MacLeod Investigation Series, and also published under the title A Vintage Corpse.

>26 Carol420: Hah, now I get the QM, I was wondering about that. :P I'm not sure how much I'll be able to join in group reads due to my location (sadly can't afford to go buying up every random book on a whim, dangit! xP and while the public library has a fair English selection for it not being a local language, it's still incredibly small; for this reason I have also let my subscription lapse and we have just been using Hubs' alumni card at the uni library instead, so now genre fic isn't much available to me unless I happen to own/buy it), but we shall see! And, clearly, I've no problem diving into the general chatter side of things. ;)

>28 Andrew-theQM: / >27 Carol420: Yes, you need to make sure the title/author in the touchstones box turns up what you intended, and if not, to click on "others" and locate the correct selection (then click the +).

I do like the Touchstones feature! :)

Yes...I like it also. Now my books are a pretty blue:)

Hi All. I entered the mystery and suspense genre via espionage thrillers. I fell in love with Robert Ludlum's books in the 1970's and slowly moved from him to Ken Follett, Alistair MacLean and Fredrick Forsyth. Later I found Tom Clancy and John Grisham. Since then I've branched out to a wider spectrum: from cozies to some of the harder stuff, but I'm still a newbie compared to most of you and tend to gravitate to the lighter fare. Last year I'll read all of Dorothy Gilman's Mrs Pollifax series via audio and loved them. Now I'm tearing through Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series on audio. This group has broadened my horizon's greatly and I've found some wonderful new-to-me authors: Robert Goddard, Elly Griffiths and Linwood Barclay in particular. (edited to add: oops, how could I forget Peter May. I loved the Lewis Man trilogy!) I'm looking forward to our new adventure on Librarything.

I'm an Inspector Gamache fan, too. I go from cozies to hardcore myself. :0)

>32 bluebird_: Yes Bluebird another new phase in our reading journey. Like you the group has greatly expanded my repertoire. I also like a good espionage thriller, I am enjoying the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva and the Project Series by Alex Lukeman. Also the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn real shame he is no longer with us.
>33 jguidry: I'd like to read the Inspector Gamache books but very difficult to get hold of here.

>32 bluebird_: Bluebird, you and I got to the mystery and suspense genre via the same action route. I love a good espionage/thriller story. In addition to those that you listed, I have also read Len Deighton, John LeCarre, David Silva and have now added Brad Thor, Vince Flynn and Clive Cussler to the rotation. I also like the police/detective genre like Jonathan Kellerman, John Sanford, Elizabeth George and PT Deutermann (military crime).

I am planning to try out a few good straight-up mysteries - so far am looking at Robert Crais and Ann Cleeves. Will probably pull quite a few from the early group reads of the Mystery and Suspense Group. :)

>13 EadieB:
I am prepared for the challenge, and I will not wane or fall to defeat by the sword of the enemy known as The Zon.

**WAVES** Hi, everyone! I'm Anita yet another Shelfari orphan/refugee. I joined there in 2008, and I guess I'll always be a Shelfarian- and clearly a warrior. LOL! I'm into psychological thrillers, mystery and suspense. I admit, life has gotten in the way, and I haven't been able to do much reading at all, or even writing for that matter. And, the past few months have been more about finding a new book home than reading. (Well, a new actual home, too.) But, I hope to get back on track soon. I've never been involved in an online group read, so I hope to be able to do that with you.

I'm on GR (grrrrr), and I'm currently checking out booklikes just because I'm curious. I'm running into odd things, so I'm not super impressed. Anyway, nice to meet all of you!

Now, let the battle rage on!

>34 Andrew-theQM: I have all the Project series books on my TBR shelf (I guess I should change that to my To Read Collection). I hope to get to them soon. I keep hearing good things about Silva. I guess I should add him to my ever expanding collection.

>35 bhabeck: I forgot about Len Deighton. I read and enjoyed many of his books too.

Hi I have been around on LT for many years but never joined a Group like this. I like a good mystery but lean towards the Historical Mystery side a bit with

C J Sansom's Shardlake series starting with Dissolution set during the time of Henry VIII,

Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma series starting with Absolution by Murder set in Ireland in the 7th century (the series gets better with each book)

I have several other authors in this category

In a more modern vein I like

Tim Downs with his "Bugman" series... his best book in my opinion is First the Dead. His main character is a forensic entomologist who is brought in to New Orleans during Katrina for body recovery and identification. But he sees bodies that don't fit the mold of death-due-to-Katrina and against his supervisor's wishes investigates these as murders... slow to start but later a can't-put-it-down book.

My goals with this group is to find new authors from readers who really like mysteries :)

Welcome to the group, Lynxear. Hope you'll find some great authors here and we'll get some from you:)

>38 Lynxear: Hi Lynxear. I love the Shardlake series! There are a number of us who enjoy historical mysteries, so I think you'll find some like minded folks among us! Have you read Sam Thomas? I'm enjoying his Midwife Mystery series.

I haven't read many historical mysteries but I do like both of Charles Todd's two historicals...Ian Rutledge and the Bess Crawford series. I have just recently started some of Anne Perry's Thomas Pitt books. My mother loves her other series, William Monk. I know there are quite a few members here that read loads of historical mysteries.

>36 AnitaUnmuted: >38 Lynxear: Welcome to the group both of you. I am sure you will both find a lot of new authors from this group. You will find plenty of people in this group that enjoy both psychological thrillers and historical mysteries. I love both of these categories.

>37 bluebird_: I can not recommend the Gabriel Allon Series by Daniel Silva series highly enough.

>35 bhabeck: I also enjoy the books of Len Deighton. One of my favourites is Goodbye Mickey Mouse.

>40 bluebird_: I cannot find much on LT on the Midwife Mysteries by Sam Thomas other than it takes place in the 1600's. I like that time period so will be on the lookout in my used bookstores for a book from the series... is it necessary to read them in order?

>43 Lynxear: You may be interested up in this write up of the first book.

http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2013/01/cleveland_author_sam_thomas_th....

>44 Andrew-theQM: reading that link confirms that this author is a must-read for me...thanks

>43 Lynxear: I've only read the first two books (plus a short story) of the series. Book 4 was just published a few months ago. I prefer reading in order because I like to watch the development of characters and relationships from book to book. However, I don't think it's necessary to read the second book The Harlot's Tale before the first: The Midwife's Tale as Thomas gives enough refresher information that The Harlot’s Tale can work as a standalone. It takes place one year after the first book ends. The Midwife’s Tale is a great place to start, especially if you like historical fiction and the 1600’s. Thomas provides rich historical detail of the period and I learned a lot about midwifery of the time. I plan to read the third book this summer. I hope you are able to find hope you find his books and that you enjoy reading them.

>46 bluebird_: You should read CJ Sansom's Dissolution and then the others in the series if you like that one. The thing I like about different authors writing about the same time period is that you get different pictures of the time depending on the occupation of the main character. In Samson's case, he is a lawyer so you get a vision of what English law might be like back then. In the book you recommend the main character is a midwife. This will give me an insight as to life of the gentry as well as the poor depending on who her clients are... or at least those are my thoughts on the matter.

>42 Andrew-theQM: Thanks, Andrew! :)

>38 Lynxear: - Welcome. I love historical mysteries and have read all of the Shardlake series. It's one of my very favorites.

>40 bluebird_: - I'm adding The Midwife's Tale series to my TBR. Thanks!

>38 Lynxear: Historical mysteries are my absolute favorite, too. I'll dump most books I'm in the process of reading if a good (or even decent) historical mystery lands in my lap.

>49 Olivermagnus: >50 jguidry: Pethaps we should create a thread on this group to talk about historical mysteries as a number of us (me included) enjoy a good historical mystery.

>51 Andrew-theQM: >49 Olivermagnus: >50 jguidry:
I love them too!

>51 Andrew-theQM: I'm not sure if I've ever read one. If I have, it has been a very, very long time. I'd love a good recommendation. Possible monthly read?

>53 AnitaUnmuted: That's a good point a.n.ita. We've read some excellent books with historical links as Group Reads but not sure we've ever read a full blown historical mystery. Currently our Group Reads only take us up to the end of July so I will be looking to add some more soon. At one point we had them set out for at least the next 7 months!

Wow! Out 7 months? Just wow! I'll definitely be looking out for the historical mystery.

>55 AnitaUnmuted: I have a very organised mind, I like long term plans! I'm certain I have a number of autistic traits! I've set out a thread to discuss historical mysteries so we might well get a book or series to read from that thread.

>56 Andrew-theQM: Cool. Just Groovy, man!

>51 Andrew-theQM: You know I'm in! :0)

>56 Andrew-theQM: I would participate there too

>56 Andrew-theQM: - Me too!

June 16 - Here's wishing Punxsygal a very Happy Birthday. Have a great day!

Happy birthday, Punxsy! Hope it a great one!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Punxsygal 🎂🎉

We need to make a Black Forest cake for Punxsy!🍩🍒🎂🎉🎈🎁

>65 eadieburke: Okay...tell Andrew...he's the baker:)

Hey everyone! Stefan here. Another Shelfari/Leafmarks refugee stumbling around trying to figure this LT thing out. I have been a member here for a few years but have rarely actually used the site. With Leafmarks closing down, I am hitching my horsie to LT, I guess... ;)

I don't read a lot of mystery/suspense but occasionally do dip into the genre. I enjoy Agatha Christie, Dennis Lehane, Elizabeth George, and P.D. James, among others. I'm sure I will pick up on lots of other great reads from your suggestions too.

In case it might help others, I recently found this very helpful thread that is chock full of LT tips & trickery.

Cheers!

>67 ScoLgo:
Welcome Stefan!
Thanks for the helpful thread link. Hope you will join us for some of our group reads. They are great fun!

>67 ScoLgo: Welcome Stefan. That will be a useful link. Thanks.

>67 ScoLgo: Welcome, Stefan. Some great authors on your list!

>67 ScoLgo: Welcome Stefan, great to see you here! Everyone welcome here no matter how many or how few Mystery and Suspense books they read. 🤗 I keep meaning to read some Elizabeth George books. You will definitely pick up a stack of new authors in this group. Like you Library Thing is also my site of choice now - just wish it had nesting and would then meet all our needs.

Thanks for the warm welcomes, everyone!

>67 ScoLgo: Welcome Stefan. I like Elizabeth George and am planning to read Playing for the Ashes next month.

>71 Andrew-theQM: I am a fan of Elizabeth George. She does a great job with both the story and character development. I'm behind at the moment but I think I'm through her first ten or so...these definitely benefit from being read in order (mostly for the character development)

I have 18 of her books. I think I should get started reading her soon.

Hi ScoLgo,we meet again....and again....! On shelfari,LM,WWEnd and of course here. Pity we only see your well known dog on your profile page. He would be very appropriate as a mascot for this group! :0)

>76 dustydigger: That is one good looking dog and there's SOOOO much of him:)

>76 dustydigger: Yes, Dusty - we have got to stop meeting like this! ;) It's a shame that our options appear to be shrinking but I don't know that that is strictly true... there are quite a few book sites out there - but I am getting rather tired of this constant shuffling so am sticking mostly with LT. I am more fortunate than most Shelfari/Leafmarks refugees since I migrated my data here over three years ago and thereby have avoided the pain of doing so under a shrinking deadline.

>77 Carol420: Yes, at 170 pounds, there is certainly a lot of him. And then we recently lost our minds and adopted another one! What were we thinking?!? ;)

>78 ScoLgo: He's beautiful and now you have twice as much beauty and love in your life. What's his name...and his new friends?

>79 Carol420: The big one is Yorgo (which is a Greek nickname for 'George'), and the smaller one is Bubba. Yorgo is 170 pounds and Bubba is around 135. Yorgo is 8 years old and we have had him since he was a wee puppy of only 38 pounds, (at 11 weeks old). Bubba just turned 3 last week and he has been with us since this past February. He was rescued from a difficult situation and we adopted him from the rescue folks. He's had a very rough childhood and has issues dealing with other dogs, (fear/aggression is a big problem). He will probably never be 100% but he is improving now that he has a stable home. Yorgo is also an excellent influence. He is the most mellow dog imaginable.

>80 ScoLgo: Lucky Bubba:)

>80 ScoLgo: - What adorable dogs and so lucky to have found a home with you. They won the doggie lottery.

>80 ScoLgo: >82 Olivermagnus: It's so good to see people that love animals and are willing to take the mistreated ones in even t=if they do come with problems. My daughter had at one time 5 huge dogs that she rescued because people found after they were cute puppies that they were...SURPRISE...going to grow up. She has three now that were rejects two really small ones...chihuahuas... and a Wiemeriner.

>31 Carol420: I don't understand the Touchstone feature. Could you explain in terms which this old Luddite might understand! Lol!

>84 Raspberrymocha: Touchstones are a way to quickly link to 'works', (books, movies, etc). A quick explanation of their use is always shown to the right of the box where you type your posts. For instance, to enter a link for Pride and Prejudice, simply enclose the title you want in single [ and ] square brackets, (as shown over on the right). When you finish typing the right-hand bracket, the text in that box changes to show the first, or default, touchstone for the title you put inside the brackets. If it's not the one you want, click on the (others) link to see a list of other options for that same title, (however, every now & then, the one you want is not in the list).

To link to an author, use double [[ and ]] square brackets - as also shown in the example where they show it around Umberto Eco

Does that help?

>84 Raspberrymocha: ScoLgo explained it very well. Experiment with it. Putting the author in the double brackets and clicking over in the Tourchstones box will give you a list of every book that author has written. The single brackets around the title will show you the book and the "other" will show you all the books or movies with that title. I like it because it turns my book title a pretty blue:)

>86 Carol420: >84 Raspberrymocha: It also makes it quick to be able to research a book.

>67 ScoLgo: Welcome Stefan! Elizabeth George is another author I've yet to read (but keep meaning to). I'm also a fan of Agatha Christie and P. D. James.

Your dogs are gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing the pictures and their stories. It's so nice to hear when mistreated and/or abandoned pets are lovingly adopted.

>88 bluebird_: >85 ScoLgo:
My daughter is a vet and she saves animals and I get to take care of them. I had 3 cats and a dog until she had to put one cat to sleep. She actually put the cat to sleep on my dining room table with my husband assisting. I was in the bedroom with the dog. Our dog was her first spay while she was attending the University of PA Vet School and she called me in the middle of the night to ask me if I would take the dog because she didn't want to send it back to the shelter. She was crying, of course, so I couldn't say no. Now the dog is my husband's best buddy. I'm the disciplinarian so the dog stays clear of me because she is a very needy dog and bothers people to pet her all the time. I use a very stern voice and tell her, "Abbey, go lay down!" My husband is not too good at being stern so he wonders why Abbey is always bothering him and not me. lol

Winterslights from LM is now on LT and wants to be friends with carol, oliver, eadie, bluebird, and brenda. Anyone else that wants to friend gayle. Go under Mystery and Suspense. She is a member of that group. Just click on winterslights and it will go to her home page and on the upper right hand top you will send the friend request spot. I just sent her a friend request.

>90 EadieB: She's already my friend on LT.

>91 Carol420:
I'm sure she is happy about that! I was just helping her her by posting her message that she left at LM about wanting to be friends with us.

>92 EadieB: I thought maybe something had happened to her account and she had to start over. I looked at her profile page and she only had 5 friends listed.... Andrew, Darth Heather, Hope_H, you and me.

>93 Carol420: That's six. :)

Just friend-requested her.

>94 Andrew-theQM: LOL! Darth-Heather is one person. Jaret makes 6.

>96 Carol420: Oh yes! Duh!

>97 Andrew-theQM: OH MY!!! Does this mean I got you on...of all things...MATH??? I can count if it doesn't get too high and I run out of fingers and toes:)

>98 Carol420: Yes Carol! The chocolate cake as a reward is in its way!

>89 EadieB: The hazards of having a Vet in the family! How wonderful that Abbey got your husband as a best buddy rather than going back to the unknowns of the shelter.

>100 bluebird_:
Yes, Bluebird, my husband is happy about that too!

I just saw a post on an interesting website and thought I'd share...

the Literature Map ( http://www.literature-map.com ) is a unique way to find authors whose books are similar to those of other authors.

Here's how it works:
Type the name of one of your favorite authors into the search box on the Literature Map home page, then click on the Search icon and let the map do its thing. A bunch of names will fly around the screen and eventually settle into place with the most similar closer to the one you entered.

>102 bhabeck: Thanks for that link. :)

>102 bhabeck: Cool! Thanks!

>102 bhabeck: Nice. Interesting site. Thanks.

It seems to have its limitations, though. Tried to get a match for Catherine Lloyd (Kurland St. Mary Mysteries) and it said it didn't know that one - ah, well, perhaps it'll be alright if one sticks to the more well-known authors.

>106 Sergeirocks: Try putting the author in double brackets. It will give you a page with her books that the site recognizes. Catherine Lloyd.

>106 Sergeirocks: I assume you mean the literature-map site. I tried both Catherine Lloyd and Nadine Doolittle (her real name) and got nothing. This is a case where I'd check fantastic fiction. I got these as options from the bottom of her page there:

Anna Lee Huber
Kate Parker
Carola Dunn
Victoria Thompson
C S Harris
Carolyn Hart
Jenn McKinlay
Anne Perry
Rhys Bowen
Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Kylie Logan
Laura Childs
Susan Wittig Albert
Emily Brightwell
Victoria Hamilton

>106 Sergeirocks: >108 bhabeck: I double bracketed "Catherine Lloyd" and got her page with 4 of her books listed.

>106 Sergeirocks: >108 bhabeck: >109 Carol420: Carol is that on Library Thing as opposed to the Literature Map website I think (?) Sergei is talking about.
Pleased to have you back with us Sergei, you were a big miss. :)

>110 Andrew-theQM: Yes it's Library Thing. I didn't see that he was using something different. She didn't show up on LT either until you put her name in double brackets. I just want the meerkat back:)

Okay went back and looked and it was Brenda that made reference to the Literature Map website and then the next few conversations did specify which site they were referring to...sorry. I just want the meerkat!

>111 Carol420: Don't we all Carol.

>112 Andrew-theQM:
No meerkat for me! I want to see Sergei. I bet he's a handsome dude!

>113 EadieB: I wonder if he's as handsome as the meerkat! :)

>114 Andrew-theQM:
He better be more handsome or I'll feel sorry for Sergei. That meerkat is scary!

>115 EadieB: Ah, bless! Poor little meerkat!

>113 EadieB: Hope he looks like the meerkat:) There was one other person on LM that had a meerkat avi and it was a female. I tried to hook them up:)

LOL!

>117 Carol420: >113 EadieB: >118 AnitaUnmuted: 😂 Can just see them heading off together into the meerkat sunset. That's even more meerkats to frighten Eadie!

>119 Andrew-theQM:
I hope they don't multiply. Eek!

>119 Andrew-theQM: LOL She was such a cute little girl...ruffles on her dress and a big blue bow in her hair... They would disappear down a meerkat hole which is probably their equivalent to a sunset.

>120 EadieB: Shhhhh....They re multiplying as we speak... must be Scorpios.... they're good at math:) LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!!!

>121 Carol420:
No problem! I just stepped on one! I think we need that memorial now.

>121 Carol420: >122 EadieB: 😱😭

>119 Andrew-theQM: >120 EadieB: >121 Carol420: >122 EadieB: >123 Andrew-theQM: LOL! Ya'll are cray-cray. Funny.

(I know this was in a different thread, but Andrew, I can see your emojis now. They aren't boxes.)

I'm sure most of us aren't at a loss as to the next book to read (my Tower of TBR is proof of that), but if you do find yourself in that situation, I was just playing around with an interesting site www.whatshouldireadnext.com

Will check it out, I have so many books to read I struggle sometimes with which one to choose!

Ooohh... that is pretty cool. Thanks for the link!

>125 bhabeck: That is diffidently cool. Now is there a site "Where to Put Your Excess Pile of Books That Haven't Been Read Yet"?

<125 >128 Carol420:
Very interesting site. Carol, I keep my excess pile of books in my 2-room library!

>128 Carol420:
I think that site is called "The Entire Front Hall Closet." There may be other adjectives employed, depending on who is doing the talking and what his or her mood is. It may also depend on whether the previous sentence had anything to do with " . . . another new book . . . "

My husband is still amused by my house-buying protocol - of course I chose the one with a master bedroom full of built-in bookshelves :) I get to sleep surrounded by them and see them first thing every morning!

>131 Darth-Heather:
Sounds like a great bedroom to me!

>131 Darth-Heather: Sounds prefect to me also.

>131 Darth-Heather: Makes perfect sense to me. I bought the house with the best craft room lighting and set-up. Daddy and brother installed bookshelves later. Good to have handymen in the family. ;0)

Just making it not dormant.

Nobody seems interested in introducing themselves these days, 🙁.

>135 Carol420: >136 Sergeirocks: And very few even join.

>136 Sergeirocks: >137 Andrew-theQM: You are both right but we'll be good neighbors and keep the light on and the door open:)

Hi- i saw your group and decided to join; I was interested as I read a lot of Crime Fiction. Some of these books have elements of mystery but I'm not quite sure how you define the genre and how it differs from other types such as thrillers.

I just finished reading An Officer and a Spy byRobert Harris which was enthralling. However some would call this a historical novel as it does deal with a real event in history, the Dreyfus affair in France.

I thought of it as a thriller as the central character tries to unravel the truth behind the conviction for spying of Dreyfus.

I have looked at the titles members of this group have been reading but did not recognize many authors so may need to do some research.

I'm from the UK so it's possible that some of these writers are better known in other countries.Reccommendations for some of the best in this field would be welcome to this newbie.

>139 Maura49: Welcome to the group. I have only read one book by Robert Harris and that was his newest one, The Second Sleep, that I received a copy of from a friend. Although it had an interesting premise, and certainly was an enjoyable read.. the ending was really weird.

I think what people consider to be a book's genre has wide spread meaning and depends entirely what that person is looking for in the content of the story. I have read some books that were much more romance or paranormal than mystery, suspense or thriller. I am not a romance fan but some is okay as long as it's not the entire story line. I love a good ghost story...I say that I am the "Ghost Story Junkie" of the group:) I believe that everyone here reads a lot of the same authors...both American and British. Our group moderator, Andrew, lives in England as does Sergei, one of our most active participants. We are very interested in anything that you are reading and how you liked it. A great many of us review every book we read so you can see that our reading habits and authors are extremely varied. A book doesn't need to be mystery/suspense/ or thriller to be reviewed here. We are just interested in what each of us has read and what we thought of it.

We try to do 2 group reads a month but the virus has messed up our normal schedule. Anywhere from 6-8 people participate regularly. We just finished The Skeleton Room by Kate Ellis. Andrew will send you an invitation to join us on the next one. We do the read in sections because none of us can remember the beginning of the book by the time we get to the end. The discussion is usually done 4 or 5 sections at a time:) Andrew does the discussion questions for us. You can view all the books we've discussed since "forever" on the "Book Discussion Stats" thread...on this group home page. I just ask that you please don't make comments on that thread.

We've all been together for a long time. Started out on Shelfari and then had to pack our bags and move to Leafmarks and hopefully have found found our last home with LibraryThing. Most of us also make an appearance on Goodreads also...some more than others. Again, welcome to the group. We are glad to have you with us and look forward to hearing more from you.

I went back and looked at your home page and see you recently added an Ian Rankin book to your list. I love his books as do several others here. I also love Peter James' Roy Grace series.

>139 Maura49: Welcome. Carol gave you a lot of background of the group so I won't go there. Re the genre, we read a lot of different sub-genres of the Mystery/Thriller variety. In fact, there's a Mystery Sub-genre Bingo Game in Mystery and Suspense Extra! (our companion group) that you might find interesting and might help with your definition of Mystery.

A couple years ago, we did a monthly sub-genre challenge that introduced people to the different sub-genres - those monthly challenges are also located in the Mystery and Suspense Extra! group.

>141 bhabeck: Thank you Brenda for telling about the other things we have here. I didn't realize until I started forming paragraphs, that I had written a novel and not necessarily a best seller either:). We have so much fun on this group that I just have to tell new people about it and sometimes I can't stop.

Welcome >139 Maura49: . I think Crime Fiction fits right in with our Mystery and Suspense group. I think our definition is pretty loose and flexible. I've read Pompeii and The Fear Index by Robert Harris and I liked both. I'd say they were pretty different even though it was the same author. I hope you give us a try and post some of your reviews.

>140 Carol420: - Many thanks for the really helpful information.

As I am not sure how to link multiple posts may I also thank bhabeck and gaylebutz for their helpful comments. This looks like a great group and I'm looking forward to discovering writers new to me.

>144 Maura49: You are welcome and I look forward to reading your reviews. You can link in the same posts by just using the little arrows and the numbers of the posts you are replying to. In this case it would be the arrow > and the number 141 and another > and the number 143.

>145 Carol420: just be sure to put a space between the 2. >#space>#

I will make a note of both those tips. Many thanks

>147 Maura49: Thanks Brenda. I just "assumed"...and you know what they say about those of us that "assume":)

>147 Maura49: - Welcome to the group!

>149 Olivermagnus: Thank you very much. I have been made very welcome and it's lovely to be part of what is obviously a very active group.

Hello, Maura, welcome to the group.

I recently read An Officer and a Spy, too, (I say 'recently', it was April, yet it seems I only put the book down a few weeks ago - time is passing too quickly...!).

Lots of great authors out there, we all have our favourites. We've found some really great ones through our group reads, (admittedly, one or two donkeys too!).

Keep checking us out; feel free to nose around our individual reading logs (you'll find some of us on the 'Read It, Track It' group: http://www.librarything.com/groups/readittrackit2016 ), and keep us up to date with what you are reading - we're all quite nosey, 🙂.

You might also like to check out our sister group, Mystery and Suspense Extra!,
( http://www.librarything.com/groups/mysteryandsuspenseex ), where we have a couple of challenges on the go.

>151 Sergeirocks: Thank you for the welcome and the info. This group has zoomed to the top of my list for being active. I've noted down all the stuff that is done and will take some time to explore thoroughly.

I'm really looking forward to discovering new authors and sharing comments.

Thanks again.

>152 Maura49:



YEAH You made it!!! Welcome to the group. If you have any questions...someone will be here to answer or we'll work it out.

>153 Carol420: Thank you so much. I love the image- great footwear.

>154 Maura49: I am nothing but stylish:)

Hi, I'm Dee, and I was invited to join by Carol420, so thank you so much. I live in New Zealand, in a rural area, and enjoy reading pretty much anything. Out of of the authors and books I have read, I would have to say that my favorites are: authors-Sara Donati, Jean M. Auel, James Herbert, James Rollins, James Patterson, Aprilynne Pike, Gregory Maguire, and Jodie Meadows. Probably some more too! Books-Into the wilderness series, the Earth Children series, Wings series, and countless others. It is hard to say just what I like all the time, because my mood dictates what I want to read when I pick the next book.

>156 deaflower: Welcome!

>156 deaflower:


Glad to see that you made it over. If you have questions or need any help with anything please feel free to just ask. I'm sure there will be someone here that has the answer. Hope you have fun here.

Hi I just realize I never formally introduced myself but I am known by some I think and so are my literary proclivities. Colin is the name and mystery and thrillers is my game. Fav authors.....well I have many but John Sandford, Harlan Coben, David Baldacci and James Rollins top my list.

>159 ColinMichaelFelix:


If you never introduced yourself then I never said "welcome"...so I will say welcome even though I think we've had the pleasure of your company for i guess several years. You won't loose your "membership privileges" in the group because of a faulty memory. If that was going to happen I would have been gone a long time ago:) Always glad to hear from you whenever you have the time...and always what to know what you're reading. Remember you are a welcome addition to our group reads. We've had some good discussions with you and we share many of the same favorite authors. I know you're busy so just check in with us once in awhile.

>156 deaflower: Welcome, Dee, 😀.

>159 ColinMichaelFelix: "Welcome", Colin. (Even if you have been here for some time now, 😉)

>156 deaflower: Welcome Dee. I’m familiar with several of the authors you listed. I hope you post reviews of some of the books you read. It’s always interesting to hear about authors I don’t know.

>162 gaylebutz: I literally laughed out loud. Yes I have been here for a minute but it's always fun to say'hi'