Free Republic Book Club, Week of 3/12/05

[Tanniker Smith]

Welcome to the Free Republic Book Club

This week's topic, as noted last week, is mysteries.
Next week's topic has yet to be determined.

New comers are welcome. Feel free to ask to be added to the ping list. (Feel free to ask more than once if your name slips through the cracks.)

New threads are posted every Saturday. This thread is informal, but please respect the general rules of F.R.

Discuss.

[Tanniker Smith]

Thank you to all who participated in last week's discussion of historical fiction. Last week's thread can be found here.

My apologies for the lateness of this posting, but it has been one really hectic week, and another one is starting tomorrow.

A few items that I need to bring up: first, if you check this thread and notice that no one has posted yet in a given day, feel free to give it a bump so newcomers have a chance to stumble across our little club.

Second, we need a topic for next week. I'm open as to how to pick it.

Third, I will be at a science fiction convention next weekend, so I won't be able to start a new thread unless it's started on Friday (early afternoon) or sometime on Monday. Sunday night is probably out -- besides being Palm Sunday, I usually only average about 6 hours sleep for the weekend (the whole thing, not per night).

Now let us discuss -- whodunit!

TS

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Is this a new group?

[RaceBannon]

Just finished INTELLECTUAL MORONS by Flynn.

Highly reccomended, but he is against the war, be warned about that chapter

Also finished WAR STORIES part 2, Ollie North, stories from the Pacific, great read.

[Tanniker Smith]

Man, that was quick. I haven't even dug out the ping list yet!

[Tanniker Smith]

Mystery ping to you all.

The butler did it.

[Tanniker Smith]

Sigh. I linked the wrong week. Here is last week's thread.

TS

[clyde asbury]

bookmark - no pun intended

[Tanniker Smith]

ping. Sorry, mess up your id on the ping list. fixed it.

[Mrs.Liberty]

please add me to your ping list!

[CindyDawg]

Add me to the ping list please.

[cardinal4]

Can I get on the list too, please? And I always enjoyed the Robert Parker mysteries. For funny mysteries, check out Carl Hiaasen. He has written some very funny stories..

[Coyoteman]

Aaron Elkins

The Dark Place

A very good anthropological murder mystery. Some nice historical (anthropological) accuracy.

No, the butler did not do it. Hint, murder weapon: atl-atl.

[borntobeagle]

Have any of you read Shadow of Deception, by Gary Carmody?

I am wondering if it's worth the read.

[Tanniker Smith]

So my first mysteries would probably be the ones that Mr. G. made us read in the tenth grade. (I was never much for Encyclopedia Brown or the Hardy Boys before that.) He had us read Sherlock Holmes books (thanks to him, I read the four novels over two years) and a couple of Agatha Christie.

Q: are Sherlock Holmes stories mysteries? The reader can't really solve them. Information is held back. This is not that case with Christie books. The clues are there if you can put them together.

TS

[Katya]

please add me to your ping list also...

[Mears]

Michael Connelly,John Sandford,Laurence Block are my favorites.

I'm reading Greg Bean now----one of his Victory,WY books.

[cyncooper]

So my first mysteries would probably be the ones that Mr. G. made us read in the tenth grade.

My first mysteries were the Happy Hollisters series.

Anyone else remember Pete, Pam, Ricky, Holly and Sue?

As to adult fare, Miss Marple stories by Agatha Christie (pinging our own Miss M!) and I do consider Sherlock Holmes to be mysteries.

I need to ponder something to recommend that might be different.

(I have lots of Perry Mason paperbacks I got from my grandmother...I read them all when I first acquired them years ago...)

[Gene Vidocq]

Has anyone read this "mystery novel"?

Analyzing The Anthrax Attacks
by Edward G. Lake
Edition: Paperback

Product Description:
A comprehensive, detailed analysis of all the publicly available information about the anthrax attacks of 2001.
The book presents known facts, analyzes those facts and presents conclusions as to what the facts mean.

Errors by the FBI, the CDC, by other government organizations and by the media are examined. Conspiracy theories are debunked. Facts are laid out for examination.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0976616300/qid=1110515842/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-2205720-9800925?v=glance&s=books

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

My classmates read "The Happy Hollisters," while I checked out "The Hardy Boys." I really liked "The Mark on the Door." The newer HB series, where one of the girlfriends gets blown up in a car bombing, doesn't quite suit me, though.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

Please add me to your book ping list!

My favorite "new" mysteries are Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books. I had the misfortune of starting with THE NINE TAILORS, which really didn't suit me, but then started at the beginning of the series with WHOSE BODY? and was rewarded by getting totally sucked into the series! I love Lord Peter (who, I suspect, is a remote ancestor of Miles Vorkosigan, if I may mention a SF hero -- of sorts), and it was such fun to see Sayers develop his character throughout the series. I also love Harriet Vane, whom Sayers introduces as his romantic foil late in the series. Just too, too much for for an anglophile like me! (And Sayers is good about giving you all the clues you need.)

[mathluv]

I have just recently begun reading Christian fiction - but with mystery added.

Colleen Coble has 3 books with Bree Nicholls and her Search and Rescue dog, Samson. (very similar to Virgina Lanier's Bloodhound series.)

Dee Henderson has an excellent series on the O'Malley's.

[tommix2]

please add me to your ping list!

[codercpc]

I just finished a book by Brad Meltzer called "The Zero Game", more of a thriller than a mystery, but a very good book.

It centers in Washington DC, and the main characters all work in the Capital. Although the setting is political, it's not really. It's premise is a game that certain Congressional aides, and politicians play regarding bills that are about to be passed. They basically "bet" on the outcome of a bill, or if a bill will get to the floor for a vote, and because they are all Washington insiders they try and manipulate the process to their advantage. The twist is that no one knows who else is playing, because the players all have confidentiality.

After a murder of one of the players, a race ensues all centered on a abandoned gold mine in South Dakota.

Although not my favorite book of all time, it is certainly entertaining, and an easy read, I recommend it for a lazy weekend read.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Mysteries are one of my favorites. I recommend books by these writers:

John Sandford
Dennis Lehane
John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee & everything else)
Ruth Rendell (who also writes as Barbara Vine)
James Lee Burke
Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House & We Have Always Lived in the Castle)

One of my favorite books in this genre is "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt. If you've missed this one along the way, treat yourself. :)

Happy reading!

[Tax-chick]

I like Aaron Elkins' books, too. Very creepy. "The Dark Place" was fascinating.

[cardinal4]

I really liked "The Mark on the Door." The newer HB series, where one of the girlfriends gets blown up in a car bombing, doesn't quite suit me, though.

Mystery at Cabin Island was my favorite, followed closely by the Yellow Feather Mystery. The girl that gets blown up is Iola, Chet Mortons's sister and Joe Hardy's girlfriend. I never cared for the later ones, either.

A little off topic, but I just finished reading "Undaunted Courage" for the umpteenth time. Written by Stephen Ambrose, its a great account of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery..

[don-o]

Rex Stout: Nero Wolfe is a big detective (weighing close to 300 pounds) in NYC who never leaves his home on business. His assistant, Archie Goodwin does his legwork. Wolfe has absolutely no interest in women, but he is passionate about good food, good books and orchids.

He is somewhat lazy and Archie, who also handles their finances, often has to drive him to take a case. Archie also has to round up witnesses and bring them to the house, where Wolfe questions them and solves the mystery.

A special treat with all the books is the descriptions of the food that the chef, Fritz, prepares. Also, in one book, Wolfe scrambles eggs in a double boiler, which takes him 45 minutes. Someday, I do want to try that.

There was a television series based of the characters - I only watched it one time. I did not want my enjoyment of the books to be influenced by the images they chose for the characters and location. (I feel the same about "Cold Mountain. Will not watch that movie, ever.)

[squarebarb]

That sounds good! Death by atl-atl or is it atlatl? The thrower thingie.

What is the name of that Henry James mystery...Oh yes, The Turn of the Screw. I enjoyed it. Typical Henry James sentences that go on and on and never end but instead append yet more information in clauses attached to the main sentence without adding anything more than description of the previous clause....you get what I mean. :)

[Tanniker Smith]

Rex Stout: Nero Wolfe is a big detective (weighing close to 300 pounds) in NYC who never leaves his home on business. His assistant, Archie Goodwin does his legwork. Wolfe has absolutely no interest in women, but he is passionate about good food, good books and orchids.

Too interesting things about Nero Wolfe. My first exposure to him was actually a tribute story of sorts in Analog SF/SF (with an A.I. in Nero's place). I finally picked up a copy at a library sale after hearing more about him from other people. Oddly enough, it was the one book where Wolfe actually felt the need to leave his house. I was stunned.

TS

[Tanniker Smith]

Monday Book Bump.

Since I will be spending the weekend at a Science Fiction convention (one of the more literary-minded ones, no less), would there be any objection to discussing science fiction next week?

We can leave fantasy out of it. That was discussed a couple of weeks ago.

I was also thinking that sometime in April or May (NOTE: I said April or May, not *right now*), we can try to assemble a list of specific books for a sort of Summer Reading Program. At that point we'll be able to talk about specific things.

So far, each week has consisted primarily of lists of authors, lists of books, a few responses to those and a bunch of "add me to the ping list" messages, but not a lot of discussion on any particular book (or even genre). On the other hand, a couple of Harry Potter threads generated a few hundred responses last week. So I'm thinking we'll have to, at some point, though not right this minute, move on to specific books.

TS

[Tanniker Smith]

Tuesday Book Bump.

Where are all the bibliophiles?
It's a mystery to me.

TS

[Tanniker Smith]

So do people prefer single mysteries, ones with continuing characters or series books? Do you have any sort of preference?

I've read or listened to about 6-8 of Sue Grafton's alphabet series, not in order, by any means. The character's personal life continues from one book to the next, but nothing that has a bearing on any of the mysteries. As previously mentioned, I read all of the Holmes novels (not the short stories, though). Other than that, I think it's just whatever I come across and decide to read. One Nero Wolfe book. A couple of Fletch books.

THere was an Edgar Rice Burroughs book that I read a few ago. I forget the name of it. I think there was a bear on the cover. (Whoops, there's the bell. I have to get to class.)

TS

[mlmr]

We're still reading the Happy Hollisters at this house. And the Boxcar Children too.

[cyncooper]

Where are all the bibliophiles?
It's a mystery to me.

LOL

Starting my day off with a smile.

[cyncooper]

I read a couple "Cat Who..." books by Lilian Jackson Braun and they were odd in that they were almost completely about the detective in this Minnesota town and barely about the mystery. Mildly entertaining read for atmospheric and interpersonal presentation. No "on the edge of your seat" wondering "who done it".

[cyncooper]

Excellent. My daughter loved the Boxcar Children.

I still have all of my Nancy Drew books (my brother got the Happy Hollister collection) and said daughter has read almost all the Nancy's but recently pronounced she does not care for them very much, so I'm going to be selling the ones in decent condition on ebay.

[Tanniker Smith]

I have one of these. (Again, a library sale.) It was actually picked up by mistake. I won a set of four books, each starting with "The Cat ", but it was a different series. I haven't read either set yet. I misplaced the first two books in "The Cat Under Fire" series.

I figure that it's best to read them in order. I'm afraid that reading them out of order might give something away. But if I don't find them soon, I'll read 'em anyway.

TS

[Tanniker Smith]

I'm guessing that they're too "old-fashioned" for them.
My son came close to reading a Hardy Boys book, but he gave up on it. Too many characters to keep track of. It was a school assignment and he got to pick the book that he wanted to read (within the genre of the month), so I figured that if wanted to start over with another book, that was probably the best decision for him. (He's in 3rd grade, so it might've been a little much for him anyway.)

TS

[RushCrush]

Hi TS-
Thanks for the thread! I'm not a mystery reader but it's always interesting to see what others are reading.

RC

[Tanniker Smith]

Book bumping for Thursday!

Watson, the list is afoot.
And Happy St. Paddy's to you.
(... and to Flanningan, Brannigan, Gilligan, Milligan, Duffy, McGuffy, Malacky, Malone, ...)

TS

[firebrand]

Just finished INTELLECTUAL MORONS by Flynn.

Anyone who has seen the movie Kinsey, or hasn't, read Flynn's chapter on Kinsey to get the true, un-Hollywooded picture. They made the movie slightly negative so people would think they were getting the true picture. Uh-uh. Read Flynn.

[firebrand]

WAR STORIES part 2, Ollie North, stories from the Pacific

I laughed and cried through this book. Laughed? Well, what about the British soldier who hid in the bathroom when the Bataan camp was liberated? The prisoner who said the American liberators looked like Martians to them? There was more, mixed in with the heartbreaking scenes to give a little relief. Great book.

[firebrand]

He's always shelved in the Mystery section, so I'll submit Elmore Leonard as the champ, although they aren't classic mysteries. There is suspense, though. Crime novels, I guess you would call them.

Also, classed as a psychological thriller, Andrew Klavan's Animal Hour.

[RaceBannon]

Kinsey, Sex, and Fraud by Judith Reisman was better, although even for a former Marine, some parts just could not be read, it was so disgusting, the details of Kinseys experiments, Flynn actually glossed over it