What Fiction are you reading this week, February 5, 2023?

[hermetic]

Reading The Cat of the Baskervilles by Vicki Delany, the 3rd Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery. I'm really enjoying this series. The writing flows nicely. Most of the characters are quite likable, except for the bad guys, of course. And there's one cop you love to hate. Perplexing mysteries with a refreshingly intelligent and witty amateur sleuth.

Listening to The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves, the 10th Vera Stanhope Mystery. A powerful novel about guilt, betrayal, and the longheld secrets people keep. Always happy to have another Vera story, with a witty and intelligent professional sleuth.

What books are making you happy this week?

[Bayard]

1. I have a stack of older Dean Koontz novels

I read, "Twilight Eyes," in two days. Written in 1985. Even though I couldn't put it down, you can definitely see how his style has improved over the years.

On to the next!

[hermetic]

3. Onward!

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Just finishing "The Last Temptation" by Val McDermid

It has taught me how to draw together sub plots. She weaves them all together all along then ties them together at the end.

A few phrases seem translated from another language. For my taste a little too much omniscient stream of thoughts. Foreshadowing predictable at times. It's an old book, like 2002.

[hermetic]

5. McDermid is pretty reliable

for absorbing thrillers. "There's no place left to run as a killer promises to fulfill his most twisted dreams." Thanks for your take on it.

[unc70]

4. Recently read The Cat of the Baskervilles

Last edited Sun Feb 5, 2023, 02:40 PM - Edit history (2)

I enjoyed it. Have read a couple of other books in that series. Good solid cozy mysteries. I tend to interleave them with more challenging works.

Have continued reading the various series from Sarah R Shaber. Finished the last book in her Louise Pearlie series.


Edited title to clarify

[hermetic]

6. I like The Cat Who... stories, too

I hadn't heard of Shaber. Looks like some good reads. Most get 4-5 stars. Historical, World War II,
Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths novels.

[SheltieLover]

13. The Cat... by Leann Sweeney?

Or The Cat Who series? I loved this series, read them all twice.

Thx for sharing.

[unc70]

15. The Cat of the Baskervilles

Mentioned in the OP. I have yet to read Sweeney's cat series.

[SheltieLover]

19. Thx!

I've checked out a couple of Sweeney's Cat series for a test drive. Lol i'll post back & report my impressions if you want.

[The King of Prussia]

7. Murder in an Irish Bookshop by Carlene O'Connor

Very cosy. We like to go to listen to authors discussing their works. They are full of praise for each other, but at such an event described in this book - three authors slag each other off unmercifully. I've just reached the point in the story where one of them is found murdered under a pile of books about European history. The book is every bit as much fun as it sounds!

Next week we will be going to an event with the author Elly Griffiths talking about her latest book "The Last Remains". It's the last in the series so I'm really looking forward to it.

In March we are going to an event in Whitley Bay called "Bay Tales". Ann Cleeves will be one of the speakers. All good fun.

Have a great week.

[hermetic]

9. How nice for you.

They don't do that sort of thing in my area, which is just another reason I hope to move from here, sooner than later.

I've quite enjoyed O'Connor's books and I believe that one is on my next-to-be read list. Looking forward to it.

Cheers!

[cbabe]

8. Revisiting Thomas Perry: Jane Whitfield series

From goodreads:

Jane Whitefield is a Native American guide who leads people out of the wilderness--not the tree-filled variety but the kind created by enemies who want you dead. She is in the one-woman business of helping the desperate disappear. Thanks to her membership in the Wolf Clan of the Seneca tribe, she can fool any pursuer, cover any trail, and then provide her clients with new identities, complete with authentic paperwork. Jane knows all the tricks, ancient and modern; in fact, she has invented several of them herself.

…

Entertaining thriller/mysteries.


One caveat: Perry, a white man, uses a lot of Native American religion and history to describe Jane’s thoughts and actions.

Would be interesting hearing from Senecas about this cultural appropriation. Is it correct? Sensitively written? Any objections?

[hermetic]

10. Wow!

That sounds really interesting and I will definitely be looking for those.

My relatives are Lakota Sioux and Jemez Navajos and I know how they feel about appropriation of their cultures. But I know nothing of the Senecas. Maybe you could post something in the First American Group here and find someone who is familiar with these books and has an opinion. I think it would be interesting.

[cbabe]

11. Good idea.

[SheltieLover]

12. The Forgotten Man, Crais

I love your "Happiness is..."

I've had some great reads this past week:

Forget Me Not, Fern Michaels.  Exceptional romantic espionage-ish.

Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins. About a librarian who hears books talking & doles them out as bibliotherapy.

But this one is so much deeper. There isa combat vet with PTSD, an elder developing Alzheimer's, & all set in a cozy little town in the South.

Guest list, Fern Michaels. Superb!

A Family Affair, Fern Michaels. Not a Sisterhood, but same type of schadenfreude. Lol

Tiny Dancer, Fern Michaels. 

Taken by Crais. Trafficking.

The Likeness, Tanya French. Cozy set in Dublin.

The Watchman, Crais.

A Dangerous Man, Crais.

Thx for the thread!

[hermetic]

16. Lots of good stuff there

Glad to see you. You haven't been around as much lately so hoping all is well. Or maybe you're just busy. I know how that is.

[SheltieLover]

18. Thx!

Just busy ignoring reality, in favor of fiction. It's much less strange.

I hope you & others enjoy these as much as I have!

[Beatlelvr]

14. Payment in Blood

By Elizabeth George. An Inspector Lindley
story.

[hermetic]

17. An oldie but a goodie

Emotions run deep in this highly charged drama. The inspectors must tread carefully through the complicated terrain of human relationships, while they work to solve a case rooted in the darkest corners of the past and the unexplored regions of the human heart.

[markie]

20. "The Furrows"

--Namwali Serpell so far very interesting

[hermetic]

24. ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022

“A genuine tour de force . . . What seems at first a meditation on family trauma unfolds through the urgency of an amnesiac puzzle-thriller, then a violently compelling love story.”

Wow.
Thanks.

[Number9Dream]

21. Finished "The Cabinet of Dr. Leng" by Preston & Child

Thanks for the thread, hermetic.

This is the newest book by these authors, and the latest Pendergast book. "The Cabinet of Dr. Leng" picks up where "Bloodless" left off. IMHO this is one of the best Pendergast books in a very long time.

[bahboo]

22. will be on my list....

[hermetic]

25. So I've heard

Agent Pendergast crosses paths with New York’s deadliest serial killer in this new thriller. Looking forward to reading it. Thanks.

[joshdawg]

30. Started reading Preston & Child's books a few weeks ago,

and got hooked. Will try to get a copy of "The Cabinet of Dr. Leng" as soon as possible.
TY.

[Number9Dream]

33. Reading "The Cabinet of Curiosities" & "Bloodless" as preludes would help.

[joshdawg]

34. I've read "Bloodless" and couldn't put it down.

Thanks for the suggestion about "The Cabinet of Curiosities."

[Paper Roses]

23. I'm back to another Baldacci: Divine Justice.

About half way thru, great so far.
I get most of my books from "The Little Libraries". Can't afford new ones.
The exception, all of the Lee Child "Reacher" books.
Have all as a collection and a bunch of duplicates given to me by friends, might sell-or try to sell duplicates on FB.
I have a group of people with whom I share books. They don't want the Reacher books. They are missing some good reading.

[SheltieLover]

26. Have you read the Joe Pike aeries? A lot like Reacher, imo.

Do you have a local library? I love e-books, as much as I read.

[Bristlecone]

27. The Handler - MP Woodard

American spy craft -esque

[hermetic]

28. New, 2022

A disgraced former CIA operative must go back in the field with only his ex-wife as his handler in this electrifying thriller from a former intelligence officer. Sounds good. Thanks.

[japple]

29. Just started reading Michelle Huneven's book,

Search. https://smile.amazon.com/Search-Novel-Michelle-Huneven-ebook/dp/B09B8XMWRF/ref=sr_1_1?crid=33EGHWUI5U2CZ&keywords=search&qid=1675642433&s=books&sprefix=search%2Cstripbooks%2C230&sr=1-1

I have read all of her works and my favorites are Round Rock and Jamesland

Michelle Huneven was born in Altadena, California. She received an M.F.A. at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. For many years her “day job” was reviewing restaurants and writing about food for the Los Angeles Times, the LA Weekly, Gourmet and other publications. Her first novel, Round Rock (Knopf 1997), was a New York Times notable book and a finalist for the LA Times First Fiction Award. Her second novel, Jamesland (Knopf 2003) was also a New York Times notable book, a finalist for the LA Times Fiction Prize, and a winner of the Southern California Bookseller’s Award for Fiction. Her third novel, Blame, (Sarah Crichton Books, FSG, 2009), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Michelle has also received a GE Younger Writers Award and a Whiting Award for Fiction. She presently teaches creative writing at UCLA and lives with her husband, dog, cat, and African Grey parrot in the town where she was born.

[yellowdogintexas]

31. Just started a new Vasheem Khan mystery

The Lost Man of Bombay

Bombay, 1950
When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed?

As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case in Bombay, they uncover a trail left behind by the enigmatic Ice Man - a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy.

Meanwhile, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose, targeting Europeans?

The author develops great characters and plot and the atmosphere of India really comes through.

These are his serious books. For a ton (literally) of fun, reat the Baby Ganesh series. Start with The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra (A Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation Book 1)

On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra inherits two unexpected mysteries.

The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want solved. And the second is a baby elephant.

As his search for clues takes him across the teeming city of Mumbai, from its grand high rises to its sprawling slums and deep into its murky underworld, Chopra begins to suspect that there may be a great deal more to both his last case and his new ward than he thought.

And he soon learns that when the going gets tough, a determined elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs. . .

[yellowdogintexas]

32. I finished another Dak Harper thriller

Interestingly also set in Mumbai

Two Nights In Mumbai: A Thriller (The Relic Runner Book 2) by Ernest Dempsey

When artifacts go missing, there's only one guy to call. And he's the baddest good guy you'll meet.

It seemed like a great way to bank some cash, travel to exciting destinations on his boss’ dime, and keep under the radar of some very bad men trying to kill him.

But Dak has traded one deadly set of problems for another. He might be making bank in his new career, but each country he visits is chock full of entirely new groups of heavily armed men aiming to stop his work and put him in a body bag. Dak might have traded his combat fatigues for jeans and trainers, but he’s still getting shot at for money.

Now in India to save a stolen idol and rescue the Mumbai museum curator protecting it, he’s got to duck Russian mobsters, sidestep an Indian casino boss who wants more than just his time, and distract a local police force who seems to be as incompetent as they are clueless.

If Dak has to keep this up, there’s a good chance this new job is gonna get him killed faster than his old one.

This fast-paced crime thriller with thousands of 5-star reviews by USA Today bestselling author Ernest Dempsey will have you ripping through the pages as Dak Harper races to solve the mystery, recover the artifacts, and save a town from its oppressor.

Ernest Dempsey can really write a thriller! I love the Sean Wyatt archaeology thrillers.

[lounge_jam]

35. Rabbit At Rest

Just picked up John Updike's Rabbit at Rest (though I must admit I haven't read the preceding three books; nonetheless this is amounting to a good read, even if at times I'm left strandled without information I'd have had if I'd read the three books). Very early on, the reader can tell that Rabbit is reckoning with his mortality, which seems tantalizingly close now, and the book is charged this way. I'm only about 60 pages in, and I must say it's a very rewarding read.
Other than that, as I often do, I'm just doing some random ecology-related readings. I just read about keystone species, a seemingly simple concept, but several intricate, many-pronged natural processes influence a specie's ability to become pivotal in a given setting. Very interesting to consider.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson.

I've just discovered her and will probably binge-read everything she has so far.

[hermetic]

37. I may be right behind you

That sounds really good. Swedish authors sure seem to know how to keep readers captivated with suspense.