Posts tagged as mysteries

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."

During the Nov/Dec 2011 hiatus between meetings of the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, we encourage regular attendees to continue to participate as a group...but in a virtual way. While we may not have an actual meeting scheduled during these two months, this blog is available to keep everyone active with their mystery reading and discussions.

Our "hiatus author" for 2011 is Georges Simenon, creator of the legendary sleuth Inspector Maigret. We encourage Just Desserts participants to read any book in the Inspector Maigret series (or watch an episode of one of the Maigret TV or movie adaptations), at some point in November or December 2011, then come back here and leave a comment about whatever you read or watched, as a response to this discussion topic.

As a bit of background, here are some links to Simenon and Maigret information:

• Georges Simenon entry on Wikipedia
• Simenon's Maigret  -- a detailed site about the series, with tons of links

In all, there have been 75 novels and 28 short stories written by Simenon that feature Maigret, and the Lincoln City Libraries still have over 45 of these.

We look forward to seeing your comments here over the course of the next two months!

Scott C. - Just Desserts coordinator and host

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

At the October 27^th, 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 novels that were hot in October with this mystery-savvy crowd:

• Split by Catherine Coulter
• Evil Eclairs by Jessica Beck
• Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt
• Murder and the First Lady by Elliott Roosevelt
• The Hyde Park Murders by Elliott Roosevelt
• Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg
• Shockwave by John Sandford
• Blood Red Indian Summer by David Handler
• Dead by Midnight by Carolyn G. Hart
• The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
• The Cruelest Month, part of the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny
• Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson
• On the Line by S.J. Rozen
• The Treacherous Teddy by John J. Lamb
• The Ranger by Ace Atkins
• Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton
• Thunder Bay by William Kent Kreuger
• Kill and Tell by Linda howard
• Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb
• Aunt Dimity and the Duke by Nancy Atherton
• A Rule Against Murder, part of the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny
• The Wheel of Fate by Kate Sedley

Non-Mysteries read recently by group members:

• The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
• Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
• Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
• Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah
• Cutting for Stone (on CD) by Abraham Verghese
• The Story of Beautiful Girl (on CD) by Rachel Simon

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