September 2019 ~ What are you reading?

Finished Freaks by Tess Gerritsen. Meh.

Next up is Open Season by Archer Mayor.

Enjoying this iTunes audiobook ~

The Other Mrs. Miller by Allison Dickson (4 stars)

(domestic thriller/Phoebe had a troubled past with her now dead father, and she has a faltering marriage with her therapist husband/dysfunctional relationships/mysterious woman/satire)

I'm reading the Magus of Hay by Phil Rickman. Very good, I'm beginning to dread reaching the end of the series.

Yesterday I read Smallbone Deceased, by Michael Gilbert, in a single sitting.

That one is on my audible wishlist, Molly3028. If you remember, come back and let us know how it was.

I'm reading a library book - The Child Garden by Catriona McPherson. So far it's ok, but the people in it do things that I don't think real people would do. Interesting though.

Retreating from Lawrence Block to the relative safety of Rex Stout and The Rubber Band. DNF All the Flowers are Dying, my first since joining LT. Seemed as if I had read it all before in the previous Scudder books.

Getting into Thirteen after reading a recent very favorable review.

>5 Bookmarque:

I gave the twisty, satire-infused OMM novel a 4-star rating. The
twists kept on coming! I finished listening to it in the wee hours this
morning. I decided to buy the unabridged iTunes/Audible version
($15) because OverDrive and the library had extremely long wait
times.

The book I finished last night (way too late and then I couldn't get to sleep afterwards because I was puzzling over so many things in the story) was recommended to me as a literary thriller, but it was a lot more, too: sci-fi, horror, dystopian, introspective, chilling and just plain creepy! Foe by Iain Reid.

Thanks Molly3028! Sounds like one I'll have to get.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Social Crimes by Jane Stanton Hitchcock

(NYC society satire/Jo Slater is a socialite who loses everything and plots revenge)

>4 rabbitprincess: Oh, I thought Smallbone Deceased was excellent! I hope you enjoyed it.

I have been enjoying some old favorites - Miss Silver (Miss Silver Deals With Death aka "Miss Silver Intervenes" & The Silent Pool which is one I hadn't read before), Nero Wolfe (Three Men Out, If Death Ever Slept & And Four to Go, all of which were new to me) and Inspector Alleyn (Death of a Peer aka "A Surfeit of Lampreys", Death in a White Tie & Death and the Dancing Footman - of which only the last was new to me but all were fun).

And I finally have gotten back to Aurelio Zen in the 5th book - Cosi Fan Tutti. Why did I wait so long??

>12 leslie.98: I did indeed!

Now I'm reading an American Mystery Classic reprinted by Otto Penzler: Death on the Aisle, by Frances and Richard Lockridge. It's a theatre-based mystery so I'm hoping it will be fun! Those usually are.

I haven't read any of the Lockridge books in years but I remember them as fun. There was a TV show based on Mr. & Mrs. North back in the 50s or 60s which is on Amazon Prime video so I have watched a few of those too.

I just zipped through Hank Phillippi Ryan's latest, The Murder List. The final twist felt a little bit gimmicky but was quite well executed. Overall a very good read.

Finished Open Season by Archer Mayor. Liked it much better than I expected.

Next up is The Long Call by Ann Cleeves. This is the first book in her new Two Rivers series.

>14 leslie.98: I've given up on it :( It was too light for my taste.

>17 rabbitprincess: Oh yes, very light!

I finished Mr. Pottermack's Oversight, one of the Dr. Thorndyke series of the early 1900s. This one was a bit different as it is mostly told from the point of view of the culprit rather than the detective.

And I have reread via audiobook one of Tony Hillerman's Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn books - The Fallen Man. George Guidall does a great narration and I think that this book is one of the best in the series.

Just started Below Zero by C. J. Box to be followed by The Promise by Robert Crais

Trying again with a different American Mystery Classic: A Puzzle for Fools, by Patrick Quentin. The tone is definitely not as light as my previous selection.

Finished Darktown by Thomas Mullen. Good mystery/procedural set in Atlanta just after WW2. About 2 of the first 8 black police on Atlanta's force. They are only allowed to be beat cops, but they investigate a black girl's murder that none of their racist white colleagues seem interested in solving. There is a sequel: Lightning Men

I got the new Ann Cleeves, The Long Call, from the library, so I've dropped everything to read it.

Enjoyed this OverDrive audiobook ~

Dark Truth by Mariah Stewart
(Truth series, book 3/is an old series of murders related to new murders?)

and

Enjoying this library Playaway audiobook ~

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware (5 stars, spooky & twisty)
(modern-day Turn of the Screw tale/Scottish Highlands/nanny job/Echo-type home system/ghostlore/I don't normally like tales which unfold in missive style, but I am enjoying this one)

I'm reading The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde, the 7th book in the delightful "Thursday Next" series. Hilarious, inventive, alternate universe, SF mysteries.

Dark Saturday by Nicci French. 1/2 way through and it’s just as complex as usual. I’d hoped we’d be closer to wrapping up the whole Dean Reeves thing, but now there’s two more books. I hope that’s a good thing.

I finished The Titanic Secret by Clive Cusller and Jack DuBrul. An Isaac Bell book, with an appearance by Dirk Pitt! Really enjoyed it!

Next up is Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay.

Enjoying Vol. 2 of this wonderful 4-vol. collection ~

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency: BBC Radio Casebook Vol.2: Eight BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations by Alexander McCall Smith (5 stars)

https://www.amazon.com/No-1-Ladies-Detective-Agency-dramatisations/dp/B077TG7WX5...

I love these short revisits with my Botswana "friends."

I finished and adored The Woman Who Died A Lot, the seventh book in Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series. Science fiction/alternative universe and very, very funny, these books are also definitely crime novels.

Just started A Cold Death in Amsterdam, by Anja de Jager.

Finished a gripping suspense story, a debut novel, last night. Don't Wake Up by Liz Lawler

I'm reading Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny.

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

Vendetta in Death by J.D. Robb (5 stars)

(latest Eve Dallas tale/2060s/NYC)

*Thanks to my library's Wowbrary.com email, I was #1 in line for this new novel*

S.S. Murder by Patrick Quentin, writing as Q. Patrick. This edition is a Popular Library Wartime Edition with a back cover note by the author donating his profits to War Bonds.

Added Pure Instinct by Robert W. Walker to my reading rotation.

Started this OverDrive audiobook ~

Last Time I Saw You by Liv Constantine (pulled plug early on)

(psych thriller/dysfunction of Baltimore high society/a murder sets off an unexpected chain of events)

Finished # 2 in a crime fiction series set in post WWI England: A Medal for Murder by Frances Brody.

Finished the third Vera Stanhope book, Hidden Depths, by Ann Cleeves. Now preparing to start Miss Pinkerton, by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

After a break from mysteries to read some sci fi, I am back having just finished The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker. This book is the second one in the Bruno, Chief of Police series.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Whistleblower by Tess Gerritsen

(romantic suspense/Victor is a hunted man with a major work-place secret/Cathy is a stranger who rescues him and decides to help him/re-release of an early 1990's TG book)

Couldn't finish Pure Instinct by Robert W. Walker. Trying to slog through it was worse than pure drudgery.

Enjoying this Kindle-Audible combo ~

A Dark Lure by Loreth Anne White

(Dark Lure series/psych thriller/Watt Lake serial killer survivor/Broken Bar Ranch in Canada)

Since I last checked in here, I have read a couple more Nero Wolfe books -- Three for the Chair (3 novellas) and Champagne for One -- as well as a couple of Inspector Alleyn books that were new to me -- Singing in the Shrouds and False Scent.

And to make a change from my beloved Golden Age authors, I read Scott Phillips' first book which had been on my shelves for a while - The Ice Harvest. Phillips' noir crime novel was not my cup of tea but if you like that style, I would recommend it.

The Sixth Wicked Child - JD Barker - it's 3rd book. Interesting books

Gannon’s Line by John Whitlatch. Another obscure action, adventure, and thriller from an author whose books are valued for their lurid covers. This one is the last before his death.

Have to give a plug to my most recent read A Better Man by Louise Penny. This is the 15th book in her Gamache series and some other writers grow stale by this point but Penny always manages to keep it fresh. I also like the fact that she situates her books in Quebec by using some French and also by describing the countryside.

The last book I finished in September was The Magdalen Martyrs by Ken Bruen. I've really liked the other ones in this series, but somehow never got very interested in this one.

NEW THREAD: https://www.librarything.com/topic/311737