January 2018-What are you reading?

Finished Hidden Order by Brad Thor. I liked it. Still reading The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne.

I just started Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec.

Because I didn’t have enough series to read, I started a new one with Cover Her Face. So far, so good!

Just about to start Dead Lagoon... I enjoy these Zen books so I don't know why it takes me so long in between each one.

I received Glass Houses for Christmas and made it my first book finished in 2018. Another great addition to the Gamache series which really had me guessing right up to the end.

Started The Widow by Fiona Barton last night.

Continuing the Deborah Knott series by Margaret Maron with Winter's Child. It's more intense than many of its predecessors; fewer chuckles, but good to reconnect with characters I've grown fond of.

Am pretty far into The Club Dumas a literary detective thriller-ish novel involving Dumas manuscripts and forbidden texts. I picked it up on whim from its title at a library book sale. Not bad. Definitely plot-driven rather than character-driven.

Started the year with Connelly's The Poet. A lot darker than I expected but very good.

Just finished Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill. I forgot how much I had enjoyed the first book in the series. This second one is just as good a read and I really enjoyed it. About to start A Rule Against Murder.

About to start Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton. Got it for Christmas and was gutted to discover that she died just after Christmas and that there will be no "Z"

Reading The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny.

Planning to make my first mystery of 2018 Quick Curtain, by Alan Melville.

I have started The Ice Princess - this will be my first book by Läckberg.

I also read Hide & Seek, the second Rebus mystery, by Ian Rankin. I started reading the Rebus series with number 10 I believe and I've read every one since then but I'm now reading the back issues. Rebus in the earlier books isn't quite the character he becomes later on but it is interesting to see the development.

Finished The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne. I enjoyed it, but I did have a hard time believing that every police official in Montana is an obtuse idiot. I'm not terribly familiar with predictive modeling and how it works to comment on that aspect of the book, but it certainly sounded plausible.

Club Dumas was ok. Virtually all of the woman characters were just devices and none had any real character. At best tools for the leading man to use and at worst a fantasy, wish-fulfillment vehicle of the most eye-rolling kind. I don't think I need read any more from that author.

So now I'm onto Burntown by Jennifer McMahon, an author I like, but this one is even more convoluted than usual and I really can't understand the major plot point of killing people who don't seem to know anything about a long-lost and forgotten "Edison" invention of a telephone you can use to speak to the dead. I'll keep going, but she better make this at least a little plausible.

Added Only the Innocent by Rachel Abbott to my reading rotation.

Finished Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda and The Last Mrs. Parrish by liv Constantine.
They were both page-turners.

Jumped into Warning Light by David Ricciardi and am having a hard time putting it down!

I was reading Necessary as Blood but took it back to the library before our Christmas trip. Having returned, I checked it out again and am enjoying trying to find my place.

I finished The Abbey Court Murder, the first Inspector Furnival book.

Sounded promising but proved a bit of a disappointment: Our Little Secret by Roz Nay

Started The Shivering Turn by Sally Spencer it is the first book in one of her new Jenny Redhead mysteries.

Finished Only the Innocent by Rachel Abbott. Disturbingly interesting even tho the who dunnit was obvious.

Next up is The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen.

Just finished Michael Connelly's Chasing the Dime It is my least favourite Michael Connelly novel. I did not like the main character, Henry Pierce, I thought he was a fool. Imagine breaking into a house looking for someone... maybe dead and leaving finger prints everywhere.... the plot was thin and totally unbelievable. After being exposed to detailed and logical books in the Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series this was a definite shock to my system.

>26 Lynxear:

I agree that Chasing the Dime is a low point. I wasn't really crazy about Void Moon or The Scarecrow either, but Chasing the Dime is my least favorite by far.

This year I plan to continue reading (or rereading in some cases) the Nero Wolfe series in order - I got about 30 of these when my folks moved several years ago and had owned a few already. I have read a lot of them ~30 years ago but can't remember which ones (though sometimes it comes back to me when I start reading).

I have finished the first 6 last year, so the first one of 2018 is Over My Dead Body…

Just started reading To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie.

>27 Dr_Flanders: What set me off the book from the get-go was the constant use of the phrase "chasing the dime"... at the beginning it seemed every 20 pages had this phrase and if the complete phrase was missing the word "dime" would jar my nerves.

I liked the fact the book was a break from heavy police/lawyer themes and I thought it could have been such a good book if Connelly put more thought to it. But this train wreck of a CEO was ridiculous.... It is a good thing that I like his writing over all. I have The Scarecrow on my TBR pile and it is quickly bubbling to the top

Anything by Ann Cleeves is always a good read to me- this is one of the Vera Stanhope series: Silent Voices

Finished into the water by Paula Hawkins. Creepy.

>30 Lynxear:

Yeah. Connelly is one of my favorite writers and I think he does the procedural about as well as anyone I read. The two books he put out last year were both pretty good... but like you, I thought Chasing the Dime fell flat.

I wasn't crazy about The Scarecrow, but I didn't hate it either. I'll hold off on saying any more about it, since you are planning to read it soon. You probably already know this, but you will probably want to have read The Poet before reading The Scarecrow.

Happy reading!

I just finished Magpie Murders by Antony Horowitz. I loved his Moriarty, so I was really looking forward to this one. It's a story within a story, and it was quite fun.

Currently reading Edinburgh Twilight. I'm enjoying it too.

Finished The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Disturbing and unpleasant.

Preparing to start the fifth Fiona Griffiths book: The Dead House, by Harry Bingham.

Finished Tips for Living by Renee Shafransky. Enjoyed it. Next up is Lullaby by Ed McBain.

>33 Dr_Flanders: yes I am reading the entire body of work in order... Connelly does cross over from one series to another though so reading them in order can be a challenge

Just finished Murder at the Mayan Temple by MJ Mandrake. It wasn't bad. It is a cozy mystery. It was a quick read but the ended abruptly. I bought the next in the series, so we'll see if it becomes more intense.

I am reading Rumble Tumble by Joe R. Lansdale. This is the 5th in the Hap and Leonard series. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite series.

>40 Dr_Flanders: I can see what you mean about Scarecrow. It is better than Chasing the Dime but lacks the "je ne sait quoi" that makes you not want to stop reading as other Connelly books do for me... I am not really being fair though as I am only 60 pages in.

Moving on to Ireland and The Trespasser by Tana French.

Just started In a Lonely Place by Dorothy Hughes. I have heard good things about it and recently watched the movie.

I finished Force of Nature by Jane Harper which was outstanding! Next up is Hellbent by Greg Hurwitz

>41 Lynxear:

I'd be interested to hear your opinion once you finish it. I don't have a great opinion of the book, but I also read it a long time ago... I am pretty fuzzy on some of the major plot points now.

>44 tottman: I liked her first book The Dry. I didn't know the second one had come out yet -- I 'll have to put that on my TBR!

Finished Lullaby by Ed McBain. Not completely my cup of tea.

>46 leslie.98: I got an early copy. It comes out Feb. 6th.

>48 tottman: OK, glad to know I am not totally oblivious!

In other news, I am currently reading a pre-Golden Age mystery, The Vanishing Man, the 3rd Thorndyke book...

I just finished reading The Black Echo, the first Harry Bosch book. I have read quite a few in the series but missed the first four so I am starting on those before I read any of the later ones. Such a great book.

Just started Daisy in Chains and it’s engrossing. Hope to spend more time with it tomorrow.

Almost done with J.A. Jance's Desert Heat, first book in the Joanna Brady series. Not liking it as much has her Ali Reynolds books.

Adding B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton to my reading rotation.

>45 Dr_Flanders: Well I finished Scarecrow and like you I was less than impressed. At first I struggled with "why don't you like the book?" So I gave it a lot of thought and here are some thoughts.

1. The Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series are very detailed with respect to the lead characters, Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller. You are in their head as they puzzle through the problem and you understand their insecurities and how they over come them.

In Chasing the Dime and Scarecrow, you understand less about the lead characters. And what you do know, you shake your head at the stupidity of some of the decisions. For example in Chasing the Dime the lead character breaks into the house of the victim, and wearing no gloves leaves finger prints everywhere...stupid.

2. The lead characters are loose cannons in Chasing the Dime and Scarecrow who don't follow rules and for the most part blunder into their clues
Bosch and Haller on the other hand are much more logical... there is some luck but for the most part they create their luck...not blunder into it.

3. The bad guys are stupid in Chasing the Dime and Scarecrow. So patient before the story begins in the book they start a killing spree taking more and more people without doing anything to help their cause... in fact if they just went underground and did nothing the good guys would have a difficult time getting clues.

4. There are stupid scenes... Spoiler Alert in Scarecrow there is a scene near the first part of the book where the good guy, Jack McEvoy has his identity stolen with his credit cards cancelled and cellphone rendered useless... not a bad scene. But the bad guys OBVIOUSLY know his name but Jack wanders around into the lion's den using his own name and they don't put 2+2 together. Jack and Rachel text and phone eachother but after that one incident the bad guys don't do any more snooping.

5. Finally in the Scarecrow especially the FBI are almost like Keystone Cops... they come down en masse when there is trouble but do they solve anything? Nopes, they seem to be there just to get in the way.

Both books are very similar in tone for me..... very disappointed in them.

Finally, in Chasing the Dime, I was annoyed at the constant repetition of the phrase "chasing the dime" every 20 pages or so at the beginning. In Scarecrow, I got tired of many flashbacks that referred back to other Connelly novels but they contributed basically nothing to the plot.

I am reading Money From Holme, a non-Appleby book by Michael Innes.

Yesterday I started No Night is too Long by Barbara Vine aka Ruth Rendell. I read her books like crazy during the time she wrote this one, but somehow it slipped through the cracks. If it keeps on being as good as it is now I will have to buy a copy for my Rendell collection.

I just finished Ellen Crosby's eighth Virginia wine country mystery, The Vineyard Victims. It's a good read, and she introduces some new themes/plot lines, which I assume she'll pick up in subsequent volumes. Currently I'm back in London and on the Thames with Kincaid and James in No Mark upon Her.

Finished my re-read of B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton. Really enjoyed it.

Just finished In a Lonely Place, terrific psychological noir, written in 1947, by an author I have only recently discovered, Dorothy B. Hughes. On to The Expendable Man, Hughes' last crime novel.

I am reading The Pericles Commission. This is a series that has been recommended to me by a couple of people...

if you like Dorothy Hughes, you might like Charlotte Armstrong. I've read her book Mischief and liked it and so just got The Better to Eat You which is on sale for $2 at Amazon and other ebook sellers.

audiobooks ~

Woman in the Window: a novel by A. J. Finn (my first 2018 fave!)
and
Widower's Wife by Cate Holahan

Just finished The Thirst, a Harry Hole thriller by Jo Nesbo. Grim and disturbing, as usual, yet he is one of my favourite crime fiction writers.

New here. Crime novels are the books I like best, and I have a particular taste for Scandinavian crime fiction.

>63 ted74ca: I read The Thirst when it first came out, and thought it was excellent. I'm a big fan of Jo Nesbo.

So far this year, these are the crime novels I have read:
The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg *very good
The Ice Child by Camilla Lackberg *very good
The Human Flies by Hans Olav Lahlum *this book I found deplorable
Love Story with Murders by Harry Bingham *excellent
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld *may be triggering for pedophilia
Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson *Jonasson's inexperience shows, but I think he shows promise

....and if true crime counts, Bitter Harvest by Ann Rule *interesting but too many dull courtroom scenes

I am currently reading The Preacher, yet another book by Camilla Lackberg.

I'm reading The Fabric of Sin by Phil Rickman. Loving it so far.

>64 ahef1963: I love the Fiona Griffiths series! :)

Welcome >64 ahef1963:! If time allows, I plan to read The Preacher (or rather listen to the audiobook) in Feb. since it works for the Feb. AlphaKIT.

Added Nightmare in Pink by John D. MacDonald to my reading rotation.

I am rereading Tenant for Death - I want to read the whole series in order (I have only read a couple and those years and years ago).

Finished Nightmare in Pink. Enjoyed it well enough.

Next up is The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie.

>61 Bookmarque: Thanks for the suggestion. I will check out Charlotte Armstrong. I have read the only two Dorothy Hughes that my library has.

I love Charlotte Armstrong. Her books start off exciting and don't let up.

I'm going to start the new Montalbano mystery, The Pyramid of Mud.