Posts tagged as mysteries

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting on October 25th, after our book discussion, we spent time doing a round robin at the table, giving all attendees an opportunity to share what they’ve been reading lately. Here’s what was popular in October 2012 with this mystery-savvy group:

Mysteries

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• Phantom by Jo Nesbo
• Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben
• The Camel Club series by David Baldacci
• The Berger & Mitry series by David Handler, including The Snow White Christmas Cookie
• Death by Darjeeling and others by Laura Childs
• Oh, Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
• Sherlock Season One
• Rock Bottom by Sarah Andrews
• Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs
• NYPD Red by James Patterson
• Long Lost by Harlan Coben
• Blood Ties by Kay Hooper
• The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
• The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell
• Criminal by Karin Slaughter
• The B&B series by Mary Daheim
• A Fistful of Collars by Spenser Quinn
• The 1948 film Impact
• Brethren by John Grisham

Non-Mysteries

• Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly
• The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
• Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
• Oklahoma City by Andrew Gumbel
• Season of Wonder by Ann Patchett
• Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Quiet by Susan Cain
• The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
• The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
• The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

What mysteries have you been reading lately?

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group meeting on July 26^th, after our book discussion, we spent time doing a round robin at the table, giving all attendees an opportunity to share what they’ve been reading lately. Here’s what was popular in July 2012 with this mystery-savvy group:

MYSTERIES or THRILLERS

• The Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
• The works of John Sandford
• The works of Tom Clancy, particularly The Sum of All Fears
• Cold Harbor by Jack Higgins
• Free Fire and Bloodhunt by C.J. Box
• Point of Impact and others by Stephen Hunter
• Knit One Kill Two by Maggie Sefton
• Spin a Wicked Web by Cricket McRae
• Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag
• Dragonwell Dead by Laura Childs
• Dead Men Can’t Crochet by Betty Hechtman
• I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
• The Last Days by Joel Rosenberg
• Out of the Shadows by Kay Hooper, part of her Bishop/Special Crimes series
• Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich
• Defending Jacob by William Landay
• Gun Games by Faye Kellerman
• Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton
• Snagged by Carol Higgins Clark
• Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
• The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
• Sleeping Beauty by Ross MacDonald
• The Lew Archer series by Ross MacDonald
• The Shane Scully series by Stephen J. Cannell
• The Jesse Stone, and Sunny Randall series by Robert B. Parker
• Stay Close by Harlan Coben
• The Cinnamon Roll Murders by Joanne Fluke
• The Bad Hair Day series by Nancy J. Cohen
• Day of Atonement by Faye Kellerman
• The Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt
• The works of Margaret Coel
• The works of C.J. Box
• The works of Emily Brightwell
• The works of J.A. Jance
• The Magic Bullet by Larry Millett
• Sea Change by Karen White
• The works of Suzanne Arruda
• The works of Val McDermid
• The works of Donna Leon
• The works of Deborah Crombie

NON-MYSTERIES

• Bleak House by Charles Dickens
• The works of Stephen King
• The Submission by Laura Waldman, one of the One Book – One Lincoln finalists
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, one of the past One Book - One Lincoln selections
  
• Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard, one of the One Book – One Lincoln finalists
• Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

What mysteries have you been reading lately that you would recommend?

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the April 26th Just Desserts meeting, after discussing our monthly “assigned” book, we did a round robin at the table, asking attendees to share what mysteries they’d been reading lately that they felt they could recommend.

Here’s a list of the books that were hot last month with this mystery-savvy crowd:

• A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny (part of the Inspector Gamache series, used previously for Just Desserts)
• Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson (part of the Goldie the Caterer series, used previously for Just Desserts)
• The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King, an author used previously for Just Desserts
• Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
• D.C. Dead, Short Straw and Strategic Moves by Stuart Woods
• Hotwire by Alex Kava
• The Closer on DVD
• Brute Strength by Susan Conant
• The works of Suzanne Arruda, an author being used for next month's Just Desserts
• Bad Boy by Peter Robinson
• The works of Margaret Coel, an author used previously for Just Desserts
• Left for Dead by J.A. Jance
• Heart of a Killer by David Rosenfelt
• Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs (part of the Temperence Brennan series, used previously for Just Desserts)
• I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley (part of the Flavia de Luce series, used previously for Just Desserts)
• The works of Margaret Truman, an author used previously for Just Desserts
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• The Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich, also in Book-on-CD format
• Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell
• Crawlspace by Sarah Graves (part of the Jacobia Tiptree series, used previously for Just Desserts)
• The works of Leann Sweeney, including The Cat the Professor and the Poison and The Cat the Lady and the Liar
• The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis
• Where Memories Lie by Debra Crombie

Non-Mysteries recommended by group members:

• The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
• Lasser's Tax Guide
• Paco: The Cat Meowed in Space by Homer Hickam
• You're Not Doing It Right! by Michael Ian Black

So, what mysteries have you been reading that you’d recommend?

Hey, mystery fans! Looking for something good to read?

At the March 29th Just Desserts meeting, after discussing our monthly “assigned” book, we did a round robin at the table, asking attendees to share what mysteries they’d been reading lately that they felt they could recommend.

Here’s a list of the books that were hot last month with this mystery-savvy crowd:

• A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
• A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
• The Dog Who Knew Too Much and others in the Bernie and Chet series by Spencer Quinn
• The works of Donna Leon
• The Sudoku Lady vs. The Puzzle Lady by Parnell Hall
• The Scarecrow and others by Michael Connelly
• Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson
• In Harm’s Way by Ridley Pearson
• The Criminal by Jim Thompson
• Heartland by David Wiltse – a former reading selection of the Just Desserts group
• The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow
• The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King
• Defending Jacob by William Landay
• Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow
• Fools Puzzle by Earlene Fowler
• Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
• Privileged Witness and others by Rebecca Forster
• D.C. Dead by Stuart Woods
• The Line by Olga Grushin
• Brute Strength by Susan Conant
• Black Friday by Alex Kava
• The Insidious Fu Manchu by Sax Roman
• Broken by Karin Slaughter
• The Devil’s Food Cake Murders by Joanne Fluke
• Rebel Island by Rick Riordan
• Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
• A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander
• Where Memories Lie by Debra Crombie

Non-Mysteries recommended by group members:

• Miss Morrison by Mari Sandoz
• Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson
• Heart 411 by Marc Gillinov
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali

So, what mysteries have you been reading that you’d recommend?

I hit the Readers' Jackpot over the Veterans Day weekend--started and finished a whole book, "The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo, a mystery set in Norway. I enjoyed it immensely.

I picked it up off of our "Books to Go" shelf because I'd heard its title come up in conversation about mysteries to read that might be similar to Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who..." series. Not that I'd ever judge a book by its cover, but this one is eye-catching, a snowman made of torn white paper on a black background.

Its star and detective is Harry Hole, a nonconformist detective in Oslo, an expert on serial killers (of which there have been almost none in Norway). Typical of any mystery, its plot confounds a brief synopsis. As the story progresses, Harry contends with the murders and all of the red herrings and clues therein, the love of his life who is moving on to another man, and a new detective in his department who he's supposed to take under his wing. Throughout, he has a sense that he is being watched, followed, and maybe fooled.

Initially, each murder happens with the first snowfall of the year. The book opens with one such scene. Nesbo carefully introduces each character and places each within the mystery. He weaves in a sexual/medical mystery. Deftly, Nesbo explores social views of sexual behavior within a plot-driven novel. At various points, Hole believes that he knows who "The Snowman" is. Nesbo carefully crafts this plot to hit a few dead ends, and then pick up again. As I've noted previously, I tend not to read mysteries with the intention of solving the crime. In this case, the killer became clear to me.

I will recommend this to mystery readers who are accepting of some pretty forceful violence, sometimes combined with sex--the plot relies on sexual infidelity. The Norwegian setting adds a particular atmosphere, so readers who crave a "dark" setting may find themselves happy with "The Snowman."