Messages

16

What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 27, 2021, 01:48:43 pm »

I just picked up the Amy Pershing book A SIDE OF MURDER today. It's the first book in the Cape Cod Foodie mystery series. I read about her and the book on the Jungle Red Writers blog and put it on my must-buy list.

But I also stopped off at my local comic shop where I put in an order for J.C. Vaughn's SECOND WEDNESDAY, which is the first book in the Donovan Bay series. It's a prose novel and it comes out in May. I also discovered that Image Comics will start publishing a nine issue miniseries called THE GOOD ASIAN, which is about (obviously) an Asian detective in 1936 Chinatown. I added that to my pull list.

And I picked up the first issue of a new miniseries called Stray Dogs. It's a murder mystery but the main characters are all dogs. The main dog is trying to find their owner and a killer may have done his human in. The art is done in the Don Bluth animation style and check out the fantastic homage cover art for the first issue.

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What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 26, 2021, 10:18:33 am »

I am currently reading an advance copy of the Marc Cameron thriller BONE RATTLE. I'll be reviewing it for Mystery Scene and I just got another ARC in the mail yesterday that looks promising as well.

Oh and I'm picking up Amy Pershing's A SIDE OF MURDER tomorrow. The series is set on Cape Cod (not sure about what town exactly yet) but since I'm just off of the Cape, I figured I'd give it a try.

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Welcome and General Discussion / RIP Margaret Maron

« on: February 24, 2021, 04:31:09 am »

The news was posted online via Twitter. I haven't been able to find an official news article to link to but author Margaret Maron passed away yesterday.

Here's the photo of the state released by her family:

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What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 19, 2021, 07:35:13 am »

I just finished reading an advance copy of the debut thriller from Robyn Gigl called BY WAY OF SORROW. I'm going to be submitting a review to the magazine so I won't say anything more here for now.

So I loved the book and my review was printed in the magazine. But the publication got pushed back from last year to the end of March this year.

When I looked at the review section PDF that was sent to me for the upcoming new issue, I noticed a trade ad from Kensington Publishing about the book. And wouldn't you know it, the review quote they used at the top of the ad was mine! Totally cool I must say.

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What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 17, 2021, 03:45:55 am »

I was trying to choose between several books but I started in on this one after reading the date on page one, as the story opens: Tuesday, February 16. I figure it's a sign I should read it today!

Yeah, that's a definite sign. 

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Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Interesting article about bookplates

« on: February 12, 2021, 04:50:38 pm »

In her latest author newsletter, J.A. Jance offered a signed bookplate and a signed bookmark for her latest book 'Missing and Endangered'.

I plan to buy the book, so I sent off a SASE. I included a note that included me taking a shot to request a couple extra bookmarks that I could share with the Mystery Book Club whenever we get to resume having in-person gatherings at the Wareham Free Library. I said that 2 or 3 bookmarks would be great and that Jance didn't have to sign them.

Yesterday, I received an envelope in the mail from the author. Not only was the bookplate there, but she included a baker's dozen of bookmarks and they were all signed as well!

So a big thank you to goes out to J.A. Jance for going above and beyond with the bookmarks! They will be shared quite enthusiastically!

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That's awesome! I'm always impressed by the generosity of authors. I like J. A. Jance's books and have several still on my bookshelves.

22

What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 12, 2021, 04:47:15 pm »

I finished reading the Joanna Schaffhausen thriller EVERY WAKING HOUR today. I loved it! You can check out my review of the book via this Goodreads link.

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What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 10, 2021, 03:59:49 am »

I finished reading the Carlene O'Connor Irish Village mystery MURDER IN AN IRISH COTTAGE today. You can check out my thoughts via this Goodreads link.

Next up for me: I'll be starting EVERY WAKING HOUR by Joanna Schaffhausen. It's a good time to start the book considering today is her birthday.

I have a book by Joanna Schaffhausen that you recommended. Maybe I'll start that one today.

Yesterday I read DEATH LIGHTS A CANDLE, an Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mystery by Pheobe Atwood Taylor. Goodreads and others give it good reviews:


Death Lights a Candle
by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

3.76 · 119 Ratings · 18 Reviews · published 1932 · 6 editions

Asey Mayo fans, and newcomers, will have much to discover in Death Lights a Candle, with its special New England flavor and Cape Cod characters. As Marilyn Stasio, columnist for the New York Times writes, "Taylor's droll period whodunits are a special treat, thanks to the Codfish Sherlock, Asey Mayo, a salty Cape codger who entertains summer visitors by solving picturesque crimes."

I've been reading a lot of vintage mysteries lately, with mixed results. This one was written in 1932 and is set in the same year. One of the things that bugged me was probably accurate to that period - the woman who played the lead character complained that she couldn't follow any of the legalese related to the reading of the will, but commented that the men had no trouble at all. I'm really glad I wasn't born then.

I have Massachusetts and Vermont relatives who spend (or spent) a lot of time on the Cape, so it was interesting to read about it.

One period note - throughout the novel upstairs and downstairs were hyphenated. I wonder when that became old-fashioned?

I'm unfamiliar with the author and the series so maybe I'll check it out. I don't know about old-fashioned but with language changing seemingly every single day for a multitude of reasons, at this point a book that came out last year could have language considered old-fashioned these days.

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What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 09, 2021, 03:25:30 pm »

I finished reading the Carlene O'Connor Irish Village mystery MURDER IN AN IRISH COTTAGE today. You can check out my thoughts via this Goodreads link.

Next up for me: I'll be starting EVERY WAKING HOUR by Joanna Schaffhausen. It's a good time to start the book considering today is her birthday.

25

What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 06, 2021, 08:49:03 am »

I took a brief break from mysteries last week to read the fifth volume of the comic strip For Better or for Worse: The Complete Library. The comic strip is my all-time favorite and when they announced they would be collecting it in these hardcover editions, I knew that I would be adding the pricey volumes to my bookshelves. My brief review of this volume can be read via this Goodreads link.

After that I dove into the David Baldacci thriller Daylight. It's the third in his Atlee Pine series and it is a phenomenal read. You can check out my review of that book via this Goodreads link.

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Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Interesting article about bookplates

« on: January 31, 2021, 07:01:20 am »

While we're on the subject of bookplates, this looks like a fun read - it's the third in a series:

https://lornabarrett.com/bookplate-special/

By the way, the next book in the series is going to be called A DEADLY DELETION and it is due out in hardcover on July 27th.

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Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Interesting article about bookplates

« on: January 31, 2021, 06:59:46 am »

It's fun to find bookplates when I buy an old book. I like to see who owned it before. Can't say that I've ever used a bookplate, but if I ever inherit one of those mansions with libraries full of gold edged books, I'll be sure to get some.

It wasn't a bookplate but when I bought an Ian Rankin book at a book sale a couple towns over back pre-pandemic, I found that it was actually signed by the author. I don't know who was crazy enough to just give the book away like that but I know that I'm not letting it go.

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Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Interesting articles about mystery books

« on: January 26, 2021, 02:40:57 pm »

10 NEW MYSTERY BOOKS YOU MIGHT’VE MISSED IN 2020
Community Jan 19, 2021

https://bookriot.com/new-mystery-books/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Unusual%20Suspects%20012221&utm_term=BookRiot_UnusualSuspects_DormantSuppress

On that particular list, there is one book that I bought and one that I want to get when it comes out in paperback.

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Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Interesting article about bookplates

« on: January 26, 2021, 02:40:08 pm »

While we're on the subject of bookplates, this looks like a fun read - it's the third in a series:

https://lornabarrett.com/bookplate-special/

I love that series, so I've read that book!

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Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Interesting article about bookplates

« on: January 24, 2021, 07:43:20 am »

I know some authors are signing bookmarks and bookplates and mailing them to fans on request since so few of them are doing book signings during the pandemic.

I had received a bookplate from Archer Mayor and now Vicki Delany. Add in the sort of private signing I had with Edith Maxwell and at least I'm having some sort of contact with the people who write the books I love to read.