Posted on 03/12/2005 8:24:51 PM PST by Tanniker Smith
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.
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.
please add me to your ping list!
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.
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!
I like Aaron Elkins' books, too. Very creepy. "The Dark Place" was fascinating.
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..
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
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
Where are all the bibliophiles?
It's a mystery to me.
TS
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
We're still reading the Happy Hollisters at this house. And the Boxcar Children too.
LOL
Starting my day off with a smile.
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".
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.
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
TS
Hi TS-
Thanks for the thread! I'm not a mystery reader but it's always interesting to see what others are reading.
RC
Watson, the list is afoot.
And Happy St. Paddy's to you.
(... and to Flanningan, Brannigan, Gilligan, Milligan, Duffy, McGuffy, Malacky, Malone, ...)
TS
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.