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Good to know you enjoyed it! I had been hesitant to risk it.
Mysteries!
- Thread starter Scrufflet
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- Feb 26, 2014
I'm glad to hear that. I'm gonna buy it. Thank you very much for your comment.
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- Jan 20, 2004
I've read several very good cozy mysteries recently & recommend:"Curiosity & the Cat Sitter" by Blaize Clement, "In Dublin's Fair City" by Rhys Bowen, "Diva Paints the Town" by Krista Davis & "The Dream Stalker" by Margaret Coel. I'm a big fan of this series by Coel.
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- Nov 13, 2012
Agatha Christie: "The Labours of Hercules" - Hercule Poirot gets inspiration for twelve cases from the legendary hero.
Note: Not, truth be told, that Poirot is all that impressed with the Ancient Greek gods and goddesses, whom he considers, essentially, to be a bunch of immoral criminals.
Note: Not, truth be told, that Poirot is all that impressed with the Ancient Greek gods and goddesses, whom he considers, essentially, to be a bunch of immoral criminals.
I like Agatha Christie mysteries very much, and I have learned lots of English words from her books. Other favourite mystery authors:
- The Rabbi books by Harry Kemelman
- Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik
From the authors of today I really love the Inspector Banks series by Peter Robinson.
- The Rabbi books by Harry Kemelman
- Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik
From the authors of today I really love the Inspector Banks series by Peter Robinson.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
I think it's time to mention some of the really good mysteries I've been reading since the beginning of '16. Greedy Bones by Caroline Haines; Delectable Mountains by Earlene Fowler; Threats at 3 by Ann Purser; Alpine Vengeance by Mary Daheim; Cereal Killer by G. McKevitt; The Thunder Keeper by Margaret Coel; & Graveyard Position by Robert Barnard.
If anybody else likes mysteries with loads of humor, I can wholeheartedly suggest most books written by Donald E. Westlake, particularly the series about John Dortmunder and some other titles like "Help, I'm being held prisoner" and "Dancing Aztecs" :agree:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_E._Westlake
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- Joined
- Mar 2, 2012
Some mysteries I am really enjoyed reading this year is the British Library Crime Classics series -- books from the golden age of British crime writing which have been republished for the first time in decades. Murder at the Manor, Death in the Tunnel, and Serpents in Eden are my favorites so far!
Have you already read this little gem? Seems like you may appreciate it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Host
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2012
Have you already read this little gem? Seems like you may appreciate it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Host
I have not! Thank you for bringing it to my notice!
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- Nov 13, 2012
Agatha Christie: "Elephants Can Remember" - Mrs Ariadne Oliver, the mystery writer, attends a literary luncheon - something she otherwise never does. She quite enjoys the lunch itself, but the aftermath proves less delightful. She is accosted by a stranger to her, a Mrs Burton-Cox.
A large woman. Ample proportions, large white champing teeth. What in French could have been called une femme formidable, but who definitely had not only the French variety of being formidable, but the English one of being supremely bossy.
She tells Mrs Oliver that her son Desmond might be about to marry Mrs Oliver's goddaughter Celia Ravenscroft - whom Mrs Oliver has not seen in years. Then, to Mrs Oliver's utter astonishment, Mrs Burton-Cox demands to know whether Celia's mother killed her father - or her father killed her mother? Knowing nothing about the matter, Mrs Oliver manages to extricate herself - but the incident worries her. Why would a complete stranger to her ask her such a question - and why does it matter to Mrs Burton-Cox whether the husband shot the wife, or the wife shot the husband? So she seeks the advice and assistance of her old friend, Hercule Poirot.
A large woman. Ample proportions, large white champing teeth. What in French could have been called une femme formidable, but who definitely had not only the French variety of being formidable, but the English one of being supremely bossy.
She tells Mrs Oliver that her son Desmond might be about to marry Mrs Oliver's goddaughter Celia Ravenscroft - whom Mrs Oliver has not seen in years. Then, to Mrs Oliver's utter astonishment, Mrs Burton-Cox demands to know whether Celia's mother killed her father - or her father killed her mother? Knowing nothing about the matter, Mrs Oliver manages to extricate herself - but the incident worries her. Why would a complete stranger to her ask her such a question - and why does it matter to Mrs Burton-Cox whether the husband shot the wife, or the wife shot the husband? So she seeks the advice and assistance of her old friend, Hercule Poirot.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
Just finished reading "The 12 Clues of Christmas" by Rhys Bowen. Very clever plot. Prior to that I read "Duck the Halls" by Donna Andrews. This particular series of hers has humor in it as well as a mystery.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
Maddy Hunter's "Passport to Peril" mysteries also include a slap stick type of humor. Take place in various countries.
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- Jan 20, 2004
Have you heard that Sue Grafton died this past Dec.? One of my favorite authors.
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Has anyone ever read Arturo Perez-Reverte, Spanish journalist and novelist whose fiction deals with art and antiquities in historical context usually with a mystery or mysteries attached? I have enjoyed:
EL CLUB DUMAS which deals with the murky often corrupt world of rare books and manuscripts.. the movie, Ninth Gate, was based on it..
THE FLANDERS PANEL about an art preservationist at a Paris museum who is asked to restore an unknown old master painting and uncovers a cryptic message hidden there
THE FENCING MASTER explores the world of weapons and swords in old and modern Spain
THE SEVILLE COMMUNION delves into Vatican secrets
THE NAUTICAL CHART shipwrecks and pirate treasure.. and
QUEEN OF THE SOUTH explores the violent dangerous world of a drug cartel whose leader is a mysterious diabolical resourceful woman. TV series here in America was based on this book.
His novels are fascinating, down to earth, earthy, gritty at times, all are compelling.
EL CLUB DUMAS which deals with the murky often corrupt world of rare books and manuscripts.. the movie, Ninth Gate, was based on it..
THE FLANDERS PANEL about an art preservationist at a Paris museum who is asked to restore an unknown old master painting and uncovers a cryptic message hidden there
THE FENCING MASTER explores the world of weapons and swords in old and modern Spain
THE SEVILLE COMMUNION delves into Vatican secrets
THE NAUTICAL CHART shipwrecks and pirate treasure.. and
QUEEN OF THE SOUTH explores the violent dangerous world of a drug cartel whose leader is a mysterious diabolical resourceful woman. TV series here in America was based on this book.
His novels are fascinating, down to earth, earthy, gritty at times, all are compelling.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2012
Michael Innes: "Death at the President's Lodging" (Re-read)
An academic life, Dr. Johnson observed, puts one little in the way of extraordinary casualties. This was not the experience of the Fellows and scholars of St Anthony's College when they awoke one raw November morning to find their President, Josiah Umpleby, murdered in the night. The crime was at once intriguing and bizarre, efficient and theatrical. It was efficient because nobody knew who had committed it. And it was theatrical because of a macabre and unnecessary act of fantasy with which the criminal, it was quickly rumoured, had accompanied his deed.
The college hummed. If Dr. Umpleby had shot himself, decent manners would have demanded reticence and the suppression of overt curiosity all round. But murder, and mysterious murder at that, was felt almost at once to license open excitement and speculation.
An academic life, Dr. Johnson observed, puts one little in the way of extraordinary casualties. This was not the experience of the Fellows and scholars of St Anthony's College when they awoke one raw November morning to find their President, Josiah Umpleby, murdered in the night. The crime was at once intriguing and bizarre, efficient and theatrical. It was efficient because nobody knew who had committed it. And it was theatrical because of a macabre and unnecessary act of fantasy with which the criminal, it was quickly rumoured, had accompanied his deed.
The college hummed. If Dr. Umpleby had shot himself, decent manners would have demanded reticence and the suppression of overt curiosity all round. But murder, and mysterious murder at that, was felt almost at once to license open excitement and speculation.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2012
Georges Simenon: "Maigret's Holiday" (Original title "Les Vacances de Maigret"; I read it in Swedish as "Maigret på semester") - Maigret's holiday is really not going to plan - Madame Maigret has had to have urgent surgery, and is now staying in a nursing home run by nuns. Then one day, Maigret finds a mysterious note in his pocket regarding the patient in room 15 - and then that patient dies...
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