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Messages - Becke Davis

436
Welcome and General Discussion / Re: RIP Sheila Connolly
« on: April 25, 2020, 11:39:08 pm »
That's a wonderful idea, Jay!

437
Welcome and General Discussion / Re: RIP Sheila Connolly
« on: April 25, 2020, 01:07:27 am »
That is the worst thing when an author dies. Unless there are finished manuscripts that haven't been published yet, it's heartbreaking to realize there will be No More Books by this author.

I was living in England when Agatha Christie died, and I just couldn't get my mind around it. Luckily she and her publisher had arranged for a few more books to keep us going. I sure wish there were more Mary Stewart books.

438
What I'm Reading / Re: What I am Reading
« on: April 24, 2020, 04:34:17 pm »
I started to read one book yesterday, but was in the mood for something different today. I started reading Lee Child's PAST TENSE this morning and I'm about 150 pages into it. It's a good one!

439
What I'm Reading / Re: UNDER THE HARROW by Flynn Berry
« on: April 24, 2020, 04:32:29 pm »
I liked it but it was over-hyped. My daughter preferred DECONSTRUCTING AMELIA to GONE GIRL. I liked that one, too.

440
Pretty interesting. I don't know that I'd ever be able to go there or anything but it would be a cool little thing to do.

Well, life can spring surprises on us - I never thought I'd be living in this neck of the woods.

I hope we'll be able to check out some of the other author rooms, too. J.K. Rowling, Mark Twain, Dr. Seuss, Amy Tan and Ken Kesey, just for a start. I'd heard there was an Edgar Allen Poe room, but I don't see it on the list.

I found some other interesting places, too: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/91226/11-amazing-hotels-book-lovers

441
Welcome and General Discussion / Re: RIP Sheila Connolly
« on: April 24, 2020, 04:17:01 pm »
Jay - I realized we shared the same link after I posted it. Great minds think alike, I guess! ;-)

I think I met Sheila at Bouchercon, but I met so many authors there, I'm not sure. Either way, she will be a great loss to the writing community.

I didn't realize Maddie was Edith! I just noticed one of Edith's books in my to-be-read pile. I'll get to that one soon.

442
Ever since my husband and I heard about the Sylvia Beach Hotel on the Pacific Coast in Newport, Oregon, we knew we wanted to go for a stay in their famous Agatha Christie room. Well, my son and daughter-in-law got us an open-ended reservation to use once the quarantine is over. http://sylviabeachhotel.com/agatha-christie/

"In this room our guests can read from the many Christie books on the shelves and perhaps find a clue from each mystery hidden somewhere in the room."

They have a number of author rooms, but the Christie room is one of their most popular. The others are:

 J. R. R. Tolkien
 Oscar Wilde
 Jules Verne
 Gertrude Stein
 Ken Kesey
 Virginia Woolf
 John Steinbeck
 Shakespeare
 Lincoln Steffens
 J.K. Rowling
 Jane Austen
 Herman Melville
 Ernest Hemingway
 F. Scott Fitzgerald
 Emily Dickinson
 Dr. Seuss
 Amy Tan
 Alice Walker
 Mark Twain
 Chez Colette
 Agatha Christie

443
Welcome and General Discussion / Re: RIP Sheila Connolly
« on: April 24, 2020, 01:26:33 am »
I was shocked to see this. She was two years older than me, so of course I think of her as being very young.

Janet Rudolph wrote about this: https://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/2020/04/sheila-connolly-rip.html?fbclid=IwAR2Og9nxMkl7XPiwtE-a5xtL8YiV-IyZj6rzMILvxa-i3dKJ5IEDcnxM5CQ

And this was on the page of the Facebook group SAVE OUR COZIES:

Posted by Maddie Day

10 hrs

It is sadly true that Sheila Connolly has died. We were waiting for her daughter to give the go ahead to make the sad news more widespread, but someone edited her Wikipedia page, and now we can grieve publicly. Sheila has been ill with cancer for a while and did not want anyone to know. At least our friend died in her beloved cottage in her favorite place on earth. May her soul rest easy knowing she was loved by so many.

444
What I'm Reading / Re: UNDER THE HARROW by Flynn Berry
« on: April 24, 2020, 01:21:23 am »
I hate to say it but the idea of it being compared to Gone Girl kind of turns me off to wanting to read the book.

I think the comparison was made because readers aren't sure whether the narrator is reliable or not. The plot itself is nothing like Gone Girl, but it is very twisty. Figuring out who you can trust is part of the fun. :-)

445
What I'm Writing / Re: Southern Cross Crime
« on: April 23, 2020, 01:02:54 pm »
Craig, I just can't read a book on an e-reader. I will put the book on my buy list for when it comes out in September and then pick it up so I can take a look at your work then!

Congrats on the book's e-release!

Congratulations! I accidentally destroyed my Nook and rather than get another ereader, I'm sticking to "actual" books for now. So I'll put this on my calendar for September, too!

446

I had forgotten all about NUMB3RS - loved that one! I also really liked one called LIE TO ME. I wish they'd show repeat of that one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_to_Me

Ah yes, Tim Roth was excellent in that show. I think Amazon Prime has some seasons available to watch free - they did a few months ago, anyway, I remember. Good show.

Oh, good! I'll search for episodes of Lie to Me tonight. I've seen them all, but it's been awhile.

447
I posted this on the April thread but I see we've switched topics to Sports Mysteries to May.

There's a terrific Emma Lathen mystery that centers around the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. It features John Putnam Thatcher, her banker sleuth, who investigates a fraud scheme that swindles Sloan Guaranty Trust out of a half million dollars. There's a murder of a skier, too. Lots of scenes with the athletes who are at odds with the Olympic committee.

There's a lot of athletes at odds with the Olympic committee these days as well, so the book would have some modern day relevance for sure. Do you know the name of the book? I think this one sounds quite interesting.

According to Wikipedia, it's called GOING FOR THE GOLD. I thought this was interesting, I'm sharing it from this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Lathen

Emma Lathen is the pen name of two American businesswomen: economic analyst Mary Jane Latsis (July 12, 1927 – October 29, 1997) and attorney Martha Henissart (born 1929). The pseudonym is constructed from two authors' names:[1] "M" of Mary and "Ma" of Martha, plus "Lat" of Latsis and "Hen" of Henissart.

Henissart and Latsis met as graduate students at Harvard,[2] where Henissart studied law and Latsis studied economics and public administration.[3][4] Latsis grew up on Chicago, and graduated from Wellesley College.[3] Henissart received her B.A. in physics from Mount Holyoke College in 1950.[5][4] Latsis would work for the CIA, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, and teach economics at her alma mater Wellesley College. Henissart practiced law in New York and then returned to the Boston area to become the chief legal counsel for Raytheon. When they began writing mysteries in the early 1960s they decided to use a pseudonym and maintain the secret of their identities to avoid any conflict with employers and clients.[4] Their identities as co-authors of the popular Lathen books remained a secret until 1977.[1][4]

As Lathen, they wrote 24 mystery novels starring John Putnam Thatcher, a Wall Street banker. According to Latsis, “We decided on a banker because there is nothing on God’s earth a banker can’t get into.”[4] They also wrote under the pseudonym R. B. Dominic; the 7 Dominic stories feature Congressman Benton Safford as the sleuth. Each book features events in a specific industry or activity with which Thatcher or Safford become involved in the course of their work. The books often refer to specific public events in their plotting; for example, When in Greece is mostly set in that country during the Colonels' Revolution,[3] and Going for the Gold involves the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. Others relate to more general social and other trends, such as Death Shall Overcome[1] which links with the Civil Rights Movement.[4]

For each book they determined the basic structure and major characters, then wrote alternate chapters, with Latsis writing the first chapter, and Henissart the last. They would then do a joint rewrite to eliminate inconsistencies or conflicts.[4]

At the time of Latsis' death in 1997, the duo were eighty percent through a new book using the setting of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but Henissart elected not to finish it.[4]

448
What I'm Reading / Re: What I am Reading
« on: April 23, 2020, 12:55:17 pm »
I really loved THE LAST ACT OF HATTIE HOFFMAN by Mindy Mejia (her first crime novel) - I think that was sold as EVERYTHING YOU WANT ME TO BE, and had a different cover in the USA. To be honest, I think the UK & Commonwealth cover & title better suited the book - an outstanding rural crime thriller.

A couple of years ago, I really enjoyed LEAVE NO TRACE, and I'm looking forward to reading STRIKE ME DOWN, which is on my shelf right now.

I wish the library was open! I want to read these books but I can't afford to buy all the books I want to read. :-(

449
What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...
« on: April 23, 2020, 12:52:48 pm »
Read FAIR WARNING by Michael Connelly last weekend - it's not out for a few weeks yet but I got an advance copy. Very good, as usual - features the return of journalist Jack McEvoy and former FBI agent Rachel Walling (THE POET, THE SCARECROW) rather than being a Harry Bosch or Mickey Haller book.

I know that it isn't out yet but it is one of my most anticipated releases for this year.

I'm glad to see that you liked the story!

Before I get to his new one, I have some catching up to do. I found a couple of Michael Connelly books in my to-be-read library, so I want to read those soon. Also found a couple of Lee Child books I want to read. Guess I'll have to toss a coin to see what book I'll read next!

450
What I'm Reading / Re: UNDER THE HARROW by Flynn Berry
« on: April 23, 2020, 12:50:22 pm »
What's the general synopsis for the story?

A woman, Nora, travels north from London to visit her sister, Rachel, who lives in a country town called Marlow. Their mother died years ago and they avoid their father. The sisters are very close - they recently spent some time in Cornwall and are now planning to move there. Nora is eager to get out of London, which is too full of painful memories of her breakup with Liam. She is so attuned to her sister that she spends the train ride picturing her sister preparing for her visit, all the details of Rachel's food preparation fill Nora's head. Rachel isn't waiting when Nora arrives at the station. Nora is running late, for one thing, and it isn't part of their routine for Rachel to meet her.

As Nora makes her way to Rachel's house, she thinks about Rachel's German Shepherd. On her last visit, Nora gave the dog a bath and is eager to spend more time with her furry friend. The lights in the house are welcoming. Nora is hungry and shivering, more than ready for a hot meal and an evening listening to Rachel's stories of her work as a nurse practitioner.

The story is full of twists, and it includes some flashbacks to a defining incident in Rachel's life. I really like the writer's style - she makes you envision each scene in vivid detail, without becoming wordy. I've seen this book compared to GONE GIRL. There is a murder, a gruesome attack and one upsetting death that instantly sucks in the reader. It's not a long book so it doesn't require a huge investment of time. Well worth the read!