December 2016-What are you reading?

I just finished The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen. One of my favourite series, for sure.

I am reading Miami Blues by Charles Willeford, which is the first in the Hoke Moseley novels.

Just got the newest Jack Reacher thriller from the library - Night School by Lee Child.

I will soon be starting Death on an Autumn River, another I.J. Parker mystery -- I want to finish it before winter officially arrives!

I plan to spend Christmas reading the whole Raymond Chandler oeuvre, starting with The Big Sleep and ending with Poodle Springs - wish me luck!

Every book has its time. Emperor of America by Richard Condon. One of the minor characters is Lieutenant General F.M. "Big Fist" Winikus, a distant relation to our current "Mad Dog."

Started Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø.

Loved my latest read-don't know how I missed reading this series before now: The Blackhouse: The Lewis Trilogy by Peter May. Have just requested the 2nd book from our local library.

>5 Vid12: good luck!

I've just finished two very good reads, the latest entries in favorite series: A Great Reckoning and The Champagne Conspiracy.

>9 Jim53: A Great Reckoning was very satisfying!

I finished Death on an Autumn River which was good and then quickly devoured The Age of Doubt by Camilleri. Next up is Mystery in White, a classic that has been recently reissued.

The Ipcress File - it has a somewhat weird narrative structure but it is not bad so far (first meeting with the author). It's technically a spy thriller so it qualifies for the group. :)

Next up in my mystery reading is the seasonally appropriate The Santa Klaus Murder, by Mavis Doriel Hay.

Pop Goes the Weasel by M.J. Arlidge. So-so.

Just started a re-read of Bruno, Chief of Police for my library's mystery book club. I read it a couple of years ago but remember very little about it.

The Limehouse Text, my favorite of the Barker/Llewellyn series, has returned after a long-term loan to a friend; enjoying it one more time.

I enjoyed Mystery in White, which is set in 1937 England on Christmas Eve during a snowstorm. Now onto The Twelve Clues of Christmas...

Having come in the middle of the Linley/Havers series, I've started at the beginning with A Great Deliverance which I'm about 1/2 way through. Enjoying it very much.

Eggnog Murder by Leslie Meier
3 1/2 ⭐️s

I'm not usually a short story reader, but these were fun. The first was a Lucy Stone story. It mixed a Santa beard club with Veterans , PTSD and alive triangle. I found it rather dry and preachy. Not to my liking. The second story by Lee Hollis also took place in Maine, featuring Hayley Powell. A cute story with. Scrooge-like town librarian who is allergic to eggnog. The final story by Barbara Ross, was my favorite. Julia Snowden was moving from NYC back to her hometown in Maine. She rather unwittingly invites the subtenant of her apartment to share the holidays with her family in Maine. Murder and mayhem ensue. I might check into reading this last series, as I enjoyed the character of Julia. All in all a cute quick holiday read.

And after struggling with Deighton for a few days, I finally decided that I am not in the mood for it so I just stopped reading it and now I am back to Perry Mason: The Case of the Crooked Candle :)

Just finished Lime's Photograph by Leif Davidsen, re-reading it after many years. A surpising book mostly set in Spain though the author is Danish and the book is translated from the Danish. More an espionage/thriller than a mystery. A good read but I liked it better the first time. Now back to the Chief Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. Up to #6 to Bury Your Dead. Glad that I am reading them in order.

I have started reading Dorthy L. Sawyer's Gaudy Night. It is a crime fiction novel set in about 1933-34 which is also the midpoint of Ms. Sawyer's writing career as it was written about the same time.

The writing style is not easy to read, I find so far... I hope it picks up or I probably won't finish it... which is odd since the book is well rated.

Reading A Hiss-tory of Magic by Harper Lin.

Finished A Hiss-tory of Magic. Quick, enjoyable read with a hint of urban fantasy thrown in. Next up is Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie.

>21 Lynxear: it took me a little while to get into Gaudy Night, but once I did I loved it.

I just finished my first Lew Archer in several decades, The Underground Man. About to start on Hank's new one, Say No More.

>24 Jim53: yeah I understand... you don't get a book rated about 4.5 stars and be hard to read :) It is getting better as we move away from the characters innermost thoughts and enter the story.

A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths features an archeologist who is a bit of a sleuth; I have been readinig this series, in spite of some misgivings, because I find the archeological aspect interesting. To be a bit picky about this particular story.... There's a scene in which an Australian Aboriginial man lets a woman try to play the didgeridoo. He wouldn't do that. The series is set in England, by the way.

I'm reading Darktown by Thomas Mullen, about the first "Negro" policemen in 1948 Atlanta trying to solve a murder, and it's excellent.

Well I gave it a 50 page try but I don't think I can continue reading Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sawyer. The print of the book is very small and details!!! Well I am a detail reader... love details... but this book is over the top on that score for me.

I am sure that it is a decent read if I stuck with it... a 4.5 rating or so means an awful lot of readers loved the book but it is just not for me. I won't add the book to my library or rate it.

>31 Lynxear: Did you read the other Lord Peter and Harriet Vane books before it? Strong Poison and Have His Carcase. If not, those two predecessor books probably would go a long way toward helping you enjoy Gaudy Night. She wrote a number of Lord Peter mysteries, but the ones with Harriet tend to be favorites of series fans.

>32 jnwelch: No, this was my first book by Dorothy Sawyer. The subject matter really di not grab me from the get-go. Attending a reunion at a college for women and reading about the anxiety of going there as well as meeting people she liked of more often disliked in gory detail did not seize my attention.

>33 Lynxear: Gotcha. I think that would be true for a lot of people if they started with that one.

Some day at the library try Strong Poison, or one of her other ones. IMO, Gaudy Night is a lot more enjoyable if you know the backstory.

P.S. I recommended to my wife that she read her Nine Tailors first, and she really liked it. But that's one of the longer ones, and you might want to start with a shorter one.

>33 Lynxear:
It makes a lot more sense as part of the series (and really does not work as a standalone...). Although the series have a certain... Englishness that is not for everyone

>34 jnwelch: >35 AnnieMod: Yes I realize I have started in the middle of a series and that is always difficult... so I will hang onto this book and look for Strong Poison or Nine Tailors to enter her body of work.

The language is somewhat stilted to my view and that does not help any. I know Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler were great mystery writers of the 1930's as well and I recall decades ago to try to read one of Hammet's novels but the language was holding me back there too. I think I have to get over this objection somehow for future reading :)

Couldn't stop at just one...following Barker and Llewellyn on the lam in Fatal Enquiry.

Finished The Long Way Home, by Louise Penny.

I started a tradition a couple of years ago of reading a Donna Andrews book for Christmas. I've read all her Christmas themed ones so this year I'm reading Die Like an Eagle which is as much fun as all the others. I love being back in Caerphilly with Meg and the gang:)

>39 tottman: That's a good tradition :) I always enjoy Andrews' books.

Just finished Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths and quite enjoyed it, although I realized very soon that it was actually book 2 in a series

The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry
#3 in the Cotton Malone Series
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I thoroughly enjoyed the feel of this book, and as usual Steve Berry's writing style. The book is centred around Alexander the Great's history, and particularly his death and the location of his body - this was a very interesting facet of the book and left me wanting to find more out about Alexander. Within the modern day context we have Irina Zovastina, Supreme Minster of the Central Asian Federation, who has dreams of Empire Building. What can this have to do with Alexander's body and the chemists Irina has working for her? Amongst all this mix we have Cotton Malone and Henrik Thorvaldsen helping Cassiopeia avenge the death of her friend and treasure hunters searching for medallions and destroying museums by fire as they go.

This is quite an epic adventure taking place across Europe and Asia, with sub-plots aplenty. It does keep you wanting to read on and find out what the next twist is, and there are plenty. I have to say Steve Berry pulled out a few surprises on this one that I didn't see coming. It was also good to have a book where us mere mortal readers had a chance of solving the clues, it always gets you more involved in the book. I really enjoyed this book and the only thing that let it down for me was a few inconsistencies in a couple of the characters, and the ending which I felt stretched credibility a bit too much. That said though I can't wait to launch onto the next book in the series as I do love Steve Berry's writing, plotting and the incorporation of historical facts within the book.

>40 tardis: It is a fun tradition. I just finished Die Like an Eagle and it was so much fun. Now I'm off to finish The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz which is the second book in his new series. I love this character and series.

I enjoyed Say No More quite a bit. Ryan has gotten quite adept at bringing separate story lines together and accelerating all of them to produce a fast-paced ending.

Started and finished The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny, after tearing through The Long Way Home. Now continuing with my audiobook of Sad Cypress, by Agatha Christie, narrated by David Suchet.

I finished The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz which was an excellent followup to Orphan X. It managed to surprise me, which a lot of thrillers don't.

Now I'm on to The Final Day by William Forstchen.

I'm really enjoying the Fiona Griffiths mysteries by Harry Bingham, set in Wales with a most unusual detective. Talking to the Dead is the first, and Love Story, with Murders was really good, too. I'm already in pursuit of the third.

Reading The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie.

I'm taking a break from heavier reading with Murder 101.

Finished the last in Ann Cleeves' great Shetland series:Blue Lightning.

Just started Payment in Blood the second in the Linley/Havers series from Elizabeth George. I might finish it in this calendar year, but don't care if I don't.

>50 ted74ca: Good news for you ted74ca, after she wrote the first four books Ann decided to write another sequence of 4 books. Dead Water and Thin Air have already been published (and are excellent reads, especially Thin Air). The seventh book is due to be published early in the new year. This is one of my favourite series.

>52 Andrew-theQM:. Thanks for letting me know there are more in the series. I was feeling a little melancholy this am after finishing the fourth!

Just finished The Red Road, by Denise Mina. Excellent book to end the year with. (Not sure whether I'll finish anything tomorrow.)

I have tried to read a couple of books that did not grab my attention recently... so I have fallen back on a writer that I generally like, David Baldacci in Memory Man. This is a new series for this writer and I enjoyed most of his writing with the exception of the King-Maxwell series.

I hope this will be a good read... I need one now :)

I'm on my third Fiona Griffiths mystery, The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths.

NEW THREAD: https://www.librarything.com/topic/245144

Starting the new year with Susan Dunlap's Out of Nowhere.