Author Topic: My latest read is...  (Read 189115 times)

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #180 on: July 22, 2020, 05:50:13 pm »
I have been collecting garden-related mysteries to read, and this one - totally by accident - is the book I picked up after finishing Edith Hamilton's 'TIL DIRT DO US PART.  I mention this because A DEATH IN THE FLOWER GARDEN is actually about a death at a market selling locally grown produce and flowers. The marketplace reminds me of the markets in Edith's books.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #181 on: July 24, 2020, 10:49:21 pm »
This has been a binge-reading week. My granddaughters are going to swimming lessons (max 4 kids per class) in the afternoon, so while they are cooling off with their mom and dad, I'm catching the breeze and enjoying some good books!

Today's book is MYSTERY ON HIDDEN LANE by Clare Chase, an author who is new to me.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #182 on: July 24, 2020, 10:52:42 pm »
What are you reading, this fine day?

What upcoming releases are you eagerly awaiting?

Are there any mystery authors you'd particularly like to see featured here?


JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #183 on: July 25, 2020, 05:10:24 am »
What are you reading, this fine day?

What upcoming releases are you eagerly awaiting?

Are there any mystery authors you'd particularly like to see featured here?

I'm not sure what I'm going to read today. I may finish an issue of Sports Illustrated, I may read some comics. As far as books go, if I get to reading a prose novel it will be HANDBOOK FOR HOMICIDE by Lorna Barrett. It's the latest in the Booktown Mystery series and it was published this week. I picked it up yesterday. I also ordered the new printing of Edith Maxwell's SPEAKING OF MURDER. It was originally published under the name Tace Baker but it's been spiffied up and republished under her own name. So you know I have to have it (even though I have copies of both Tace Baker books already).

Oh and I finished my advance Ambassador Program copy of the new Kyle Mills thriller TOTAL POWER which is the new Mitch Rapp book due out in September.

The books I'm most looking forward to are FROM BEER TO ETERNITY by Sherry Harris (Due out July 28th), THE ORPHAN'S GUILT by Archer Mayor (September), CANDY SLAIN MURDER by Maddie Day (September), BADGE HEAVY by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro (September), MURDER AT AN IRISH CHRISTMAS by Carlene O'Connor (October) and COLD WIND by Paige Shelton (December)

I don't know which authors I'd like to see featured here but I'm sure whomever it may end up being I'll either be a fan or likely become one.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #184 on: July 25, 2020, 06:46:12 pm »
I have a couple Paige Shelton books in my waiting-to-be-read pile. I picked up a couple used hardcover books yesterday - a REALLY good deal!

SECRET SISTERS by Jayne Ann Krentz - I'm a longtime fan, but I've missed a few books along the way

and an author who is new to me, Laura Joh Rowland. This isn't her first book but I was intrigued by the cover blurbs:

THE INCENSE GAME

Hannah Adams

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #185 on: July 26, 2020, 12:42:33 am »
Someone mentioned Emma Lathen - I think it was when sports mysteries were featured - and I found more in my boxes of old books. The one I just finished was calle Accounting for Murder, and the cover says the author is "America's Agatha Christie." It was first published in 1964. My copy was published in 1974.

I enjoyed this book a lot, but it is definitely dated. One thing kind of got on my nerves. They must have had people check manually for typos, because I found a bunch. There a lots of secretaries, all female, and the rare women in power tend to be overlooked.

I just started another one called Brewing Up a Storm - the cover of this one says "The Agatha Christie of Wall Street."  This one isn't all that old, it was published in 1998.

Both of these books have chapter titles. That's an old fashioned style I always liked.

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #186 on: July 26, 2020, 06:23:05 am »
I have a couple Paige Shelton books in my waiting-to-be-read pile. I picked up a couple used hardcover books yesterday - a REALLY good deal!

SECRET SISTERS by Jayne Ann Krentz - I'm a longtime fan, but I've missed a few books along the way

and an author who is new to me, Laura Joh Rowland. This isn't her first book but I was intrigued by the cover blurbs:

THE INCENSE GAME

I think I have a couple books by Laura Joh Rowland on my to buy list.

That Paige Shelton book is the 2nd in her new series. I reviewed the first one, THIN ICE, and loved it. Here's the review.

I also read her Scottish Bookshop series though I'm a couple books behind on that one right now.

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #187 on: July 26, 2020, 06:23:56 am »
Someone mentioned Emma Lathen - I think it was when sports mysteries were featured - and I found more in my boxes of old books. The one I just finished was calle Accounting for Murder, and the cover says the author is "America's Agatha Christie." It was first published in 1964. My copy was published in 1974.

I enjoyed this book a lot, but it is definitely dated. One thing kind of got on my nerves. They must have had people check manually for typos, because I found a bunch. There a lots of secretaries, all female, and the rare women in power tend to be overlooked.

I just started another one called Brewing Up a Storm - the cover of this one says "The Agatha Christie of Wall Street."  This one isn't all that old, it was published in 1998.

Both of these books have chapter titles. That's an old fashioned style I always liked.

Hannah, thanks for this info. I am amazed that this is an author I have never heard of until the books were mentioned on this forum.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #188 on: July 26, 2020, 09:59:30 pm »
Hannah - You've got me looking for old mysteries now, too. Today I found one from 1994, so not all that old. It's by Mary Bowen Hall, and it's called EMMA CHIZZIT AND THE QUEEN ANNE KILLER. It's about a woman who clears out houses for a living. That reminded me of the old Lovejoy books by Jonathan Gash. My mom had all of those and I think I salvaged a few of hers. It might be fun to watch some old episodes of Lovejoy, too.

With all the fixer-upper-type shows on HGTV, I thought this might be a fun read. It kicks off with a pretty grim discovery, so it might be a little darker than today's cozy mysteries.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #189 on: July 31, 2020, 12:32:27 am »
I just finished SHADOW OF A SPOUT by Amanda Cooper, a Teapot Collector mystery published in 2015. I liked it a lot and I just with my mom was still around so I could pass it on to her. She would have LOVED this book! I liked it a lot, too, and I'll keep my eye out for more books in this series. TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT was the first in this series.

From Wikipedia: "Amanda Cooper is a pseudonym for national bestselling author Donna Lea Simpson, who also writes the Vintage Kitchen and Merry Muffin Mystery series as Victoria Hamilton."

It was HOT today, got up to almost 100 degrees. Even with air conditioning, it was the kind of heat that makes you want to take a nap. After I finished SHADOW OF A SPOUT, I picked up five different books, read a couple pages of each but just couldn't focus. I've narrowed it down but still haven't picked The Next Book to Read yet. I hardly ever do this - I could have almost finished a book by now!
« Last Edit: July 31, 2020, 12:45:22 am by Becke Davis »

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #190 on: July 31, 2020, 03:57:09 am »
Becke,

It has been sweltering here the last few days but I've managed to soldier on with reading in fits and starts.

I haven't written the reviews yet but I've finished an advance copy of the Kyle Mills thriller TOTAL POWER (the upcoming new Mitch Rapp book) and the newly published Booktown Mystery HANDBOOK FOR HOMICIDE by Lorna Barrett.

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #191 on: July 31, 2020, 11:13:32 pm »
I like Lorna's books a lot but I don't have the new Booktown book yet. I'm halfway through a vintage Robert Barnard book, THE CASE OF THE MISSING BRONTE.

I just got book 2 in the Vampire Knitting Club mystery series, too.

My granddaughter turns 8 on Monday so I've been spending time reading to her (Boxcar Children) in addition to my own reading. And with her birthday coming up, we've had friends and relatives drop in to wish her a happy birthday - wearing masks, of course!

Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #192 on: August 05, 2020, 09:08:16 pm »
I finished book 2 in Nancy Warren's Vampire Knitting Club series, called STITCHES AND WITCHES. While the series centers around a knitting shop, in book 2 there is a murder in the tea shop next door.

That put me in the mood for more tea shops, so I started reading Vicki Delaney's new release, TEA AND TREACHERY. It's worth the price of a hardcover for the beautiful cover art:



I also picked up a copy of Carolyn Haines' HALLOWED BONES. I've enjoyed other books of hers so this one is probably up next for me.

JRob

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #193 on: August 06, 2020, 03:42:31 am »

That put me in the mood for more tea shops, so I started reading Vicki Delaney's new release, TEA AND TREACHERY. It's worth the price of a hardcover for the beautiful cover art:



This book is on my list but I haven't picked it up yet.

I plan to get Hank Phillippi Ryan's new thriller tomorrow. And yesterday I finished reading FROM BEER TO ETERNITY, the first book in the new Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon series by Sherry Harris. Here's my Goodreads review!


Becke Davis

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Re: My latest read is...
« Reply #194 on: August 07, 2020, 04:57:27 pm »
The cover makes me think of Death in Paradise, a British mystery I enjoy.

I forgot to mention I also read HALLOWED BONES by Carolyn Haines this week. It was addictive - I stayed up reading it until the sun was coming up! There are over 20 books in the series, so this is going to take awhile. I'll have to wait until the library reopens unless I find a treasure trove of Carolyn's books at the thrift shop. I've read a couple of her books from other series - they are probably on my keeper shelves, which unfortunately are multiple layers.