Messages

286

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

« on: April 08, 2020, 12:34:13 pm »

Me, too! I saw that Acorn was free for a while (I think it may have ended today), so I watched seasons 2 and 3. My favorite episode was The Case of the Curious Curate. Lots of laughs in that one! Wilkes was at his most ridiculous, as he was campaigning for something.  I didn't think I had seen all of season 1, but I wasn't sure, so tonight I watched the last 2 in that season. I had seen them before, but I rewatched them anyway. They seem to have left out whatever happened between Agatha, James, and Charles in Cyprus, as at the end of season 1, Agatha was on her way there, and season 2 started when she got home. I take it that James rejected her (again!), and I'm not sure how Charles ended up there, too, but apparently he 'comforted' her.

I'm sick of imbecilic, idiot and incompetent characters in cozy type mysteries whether they be in books or on TV shows. Wilkes seems to be there for comic relief, but the thing about comic relief is that they are supposed to be funny. He's not. The character is awful and anyone that stupid makes you wonder just how they managed to live so long.

I wish he didn't exist in the TV show (I haven't read the books) because whenever he's on screen I just want to scream.

I'm not positive, but I think the AcornTV free preview is still going on. At least on the Comcast On Demand.

287

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Sports-Related Mystery Novels - Feature for May

« on: April 07, 2020, 09:01:30 pm »

I read one of the Troy Soos books. I'm pretty sure it was MURDER AT FENWAY PARK, but I can't remember for sure.

288

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Who are some of your favorite mystery pairings, like Holmes and Watson?

« on: April 07, 2020, 08:58:57 pm »

Okay, I'll bite - which are the outstanding ones? I'll figure out the "save one" by the process of elimination.

DARK SACRED NIGHT and THE NIGHT FIRE were fantastic. I got to review the latter for the magazine. You can check that out HERE!.

The one I wasn't crazy about, and the only Connelly book I didn't like, was THE LATE SHOW. It introduced the character of Renee Ballard but in my opinion I thought there was too many separate plots going on in the book and it gave short shrift to all of them. But that was just my opinion.

289

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Suggestions for April Feature at the Mystery Scene Forum?

« on: April 07, 2020, 08:55:21 pm »

Wow, I never heard of most of these books so I guess it is a good place to start.

By the way, apparently it is Mystery/Thriller week over on Goodreads.com this week.

290

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

« on: April 07, 2020, 08:53:34 pm »

I can't say that I read many short stories or novellas. However, because Edith Maxwell has been putting out some short stories/novellas in the past few months, I've been picking them up. (I'm a big fan of her work!)

She had a story in the novella collection Christmas Cocoa Murder. There was her short story in the March/April 2020 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Oh and released just today was an anthology with a story from her. The anthology is called THE BEAT OF BLACK WINGS. It's edited by Josh Pachter and each of the stories is inspired by a Joni Mitchell song. I haven't gotten that book yet but I will be adding it as soon as I can.

291

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Suggestions for April Feature at the Mystery Scene Forum?

« on: April 07, 2020, 02:46:57 pm »

What do you think? Should we still do an April feature? Any suggestions for May?

With everything going on in real time, I think skipping April is probably a good idea. I've seen many authors and readers posting stuff about how it has been hard or even impossible to focus on their work. I've found reading hard the last week or so.

I had to read almost an entire book today so that I could do the review which was due today. So move to May is what I say.

Baseball season would be in full swing if things were going on. How about May being a sports mystery themed month?

I would suggest Nicole Asselin's Murder at First Pitch as one of the reads for people here. I loved the book myself.

292

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Who are some of your favorite mystery pairings, like Holmes and Watson?

« on: April 07, 2020, 02:42:17 pm »

I am sooo behind on Michael Connelly's books. I really like Harry Bosch and several of his books are on my keeper shelves. But I haven't read a bunch of his more recent books - I've just found too many new authors I like in addition to his.

You are missing out. His last few books (save one) have been OUTSTANDING!

293

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

« on: April 07, 2020, 02:41:26 pm »

I finished Leonard Goldberg's THE ART OF DECEPTION today. I'm reviewing it for the magazine so I had to get it read and write my draft review so no spoilers about what I thought here.

294

What I'm Reading / Re: Quarantine Reading List?

« on: April 06, 2020, 07:48:47 pm »

When we lived in Chicago one of the best comic book stores in the city was just a block or two away. My daughter has always been into comics, and she still collects Archie, Betty & Veronica and the Jem comics. She also loves Manga. Her favorite is called Spirals (in English). It's kind of a mystery - you probably know about it: https://nerdist.com/article/uzumaki-junji-ito-horror-why-you-should-read/

Unfortunately, I've never heard of that one. I don't read many of the regular superhero titles anymore but I'm not into the really hardcore indie stuff either.

295

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

« on: April 04, 2020, 08:40:09 pm »

I haven't read this but the title reminded me, I watched the first season of a British TV series called BLOOD. I have mixed feelings about it but will probably watch season two (so far there are only two seasons). Anybody else watch this?

I haven't. The last British series I checked out was Season 3 of Agatha Raisin and that's because AcornTV is free on my cable system right now.

296

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

« on: April 04, 2020, 10:57:44 am »

I finished Catherine Maiorisi's A MATTER OF BLOOD a couple days ago and just got around to doing up my review of it over on Goodreads. I really liked it overall. Here's what I wrote about the book (I hope it does it justice) - REVIEW LINK

297

What I'm Writing / Re: Easter Hair Hunt

« on: April 04, 2020, 10:54:32 am »

Dead body in an Easter Bunny costume? Oh hell yeah, I want to check this one out Nancy!

298

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: March Feature: Mysteries in or about Ireland (and Scotland, too)

« on: April 02, 2020, 08:15:46 pm »

I watched the first couple episodes but didn't like it enough to follow the whole season.

Thanks for the information.

299

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Backward books?

« on: April 02, 2020, 08:13:58 pm »

I saw a chair that looked perfect for cozy reading - it was in Pottery Barn. It also cost around $1600, so unless I come into an unexpected fortune, it won't be coming to my house.

Yeah, definitely not coming to my house either at that price.

300

What I'm Reading / Re: Quarantine Reading List?

« on: April 02, 2020, 08:13:01 pm »

Carla,

Yes, I just found out today that I'm going to be out of work for an extra four weeks as Massachusetts has extended their stay-at-home advisory and business closures order until May.

So it would appear that I'm going to have even more time to read than I thought.

I'm dividing my time between reading, watching TV (embarrassed to admit this) and playing online. Looking forward to meeting all of you!

Why would you be embarrassed to admit watching TV? Speaking as a TV Junkie, I watch a lot of TV to begin with. I don't see anything wrong with this.