Messages

556

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

« on: February 29, 2020, 01:22:12 pm »

Happy Leap Day! As we transition from February into March, we leave our cozy feature behind (only chronologically - feel free to post on that thread as long as you want) and head into the month of clover and leprechauns. We started talking about this on the cozy thread, so I'll retrieve some of those comments and share them here.

Rather than stick to a St. Patrick's Day focus, I think we can extend the scope of this feature to include mysteries set in and around Scotland as well as Ireland, and even Wales. The feature is an excuse for us to talk about some of our favorite books and authors, so go ahead and dive in with your recommendations. If you are an author of books set in these parts, please tell us about yourself and your books.

I didn't plan this, but I just started THE LOCH NESS PAPERS by Paige Shelton, which fits in nicely. I have a couple shelves of Loch Ness related books, so I was excited to come across this title.

The next few comments/posts will be copied and pasted from the cozy thread, where we kick-started this feature several weeks ago.

557

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: RIP: Clive Cussler

« on: February 29, 2020, 01:38:13 am »

What a life Clive Cussler had! Discovering all those shipwrecks and discovering all those artifacts, wow! I also liked how he faked his way into getting an agent. (You can read the story in the New York Times obituary.)

This is interesting, too: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/clive-cussler-dead-best-selling-author-sahara-raise-titanic-dies-at-88-1281477

558

What I'm Reading / Re: Murder in the Monastery by Lesley Cookman

« on: February 29, 2020, 01:30:42 am »

I really love the drawings that Jane Langton contributed to the Homer Kelly series. We published some of them in Mystery Scene a few years back. She was really talented as both a writer and an artist.

Her line drawings remind me of James Thurber's line drawings, although his were funny and hers are more detailed.

559

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Bookmarks?

« on: February 29, 2020, 01:28:58 am »

Hey Becke,
I like to collect ephemera and other items linked to mystery writers and their lives. A good way to find these is to search on "detective fiction" and "ephemera" on Abe.com  I think I found the Erle Stanley Gardner bookends while doing some photo research on him. The bookends came with certificates of authenticity and a couple of photos. We're really happy to have them!

Thanks for the tip!

560

What I'm Reading / Re: Book Signings anyone?

« on: February 29, 2020, 01:27:58 am »

Your wide-ranging tastes and enthusiasm are two reasons we're so happy to have you as a reviewer, Jay. And thanks again for taking part in the "Fave Raves of 2019" article -- one of my favorites ever year.

Thanks Kate, I try to do the best job I can and it helps that Teri is a fantastic editor too.

By the way, the authors I featured in my part of the Fave Raves really appreciated their inclusion. I heard from every one of them via one form of social media or another.

It's funny that I have AND show this kind of enthusiasm since I am normally the "leave me the hell alone" kind of guy. LOL.

And here I am with author Bruce Robert Coffin in the background.

Very cool!

561

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Sherlock Holmes' 166th Birthday - January 6, 2020 - It's a Party All Month!

« on: February 29, 2020, 01:25:24 am »

IF you don't mind an older copy of the film, you can see it on YouTube here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRXkAhMYKEc

Sherlock Jr. is also available in a new upgraded version. Very funny film!

Great - thank you!

562

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

« on: February 28, 2020, 11:30:37 pm »

Jane Langton was one of those authors I'd heard of but had never read. When she died, all the wonderful comments about her books spurred me to pick up a few. I just finished THE FACE ON THE WALL and I LOVED it! It's underlying - and sometimes not-so-underlying theme - is the dark side of fairy tales in their original versions. I now want to find a book of fairy tales by Perrault!

I'm working my way through Jane Langton's books. I just finished DEAD AS A DODO and while I loved the Oxford setting (it made me think of Inspector Lewis, a TV series that is set there), I found the creationism theme (Darwin vs. the Church) a little wearing and the humor the not-really-funny sort. So while I have really loved several of the Jane Langton books i've read, this, sadly, isn't one of them. I think my husband might have liked this, but I can't see him every reading a cozy. I'll probably donate this one to the library. It's an interesting book, just not my style.

563

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself

« on: February 28, 2020, 11:24:33 pm »

Hi all! My name is Deborah Blake and I am the author of a number of paranormal romance and urban fantasy books. I'm now working on a new cozy mystery series for Berkley (The Rundown Rescue series) and Becke suggested I come by and introduce myself. So hello!

My favorite mysteries are those with some humor in them, like those by Donna Andrews, although I am have also read everything Dick Francis ever wrote :-)

Yay! Thanks for stopping by, Deborah! I'm pretty sure I have all Deborah's paranormal romance and urban fantasy books on my keeper shelves, and I'm excited to add the new cozy series to my collection. I don't think there is a release date yet for the first in her Rundown Rescue cozy series. Deborah, I hope you'll come by to tell us more about this series and let us know when it's available for preorder.

I'm a huge fan of Dick Francis' books (even though there is now some controversy about how much or how little his wife (and son) contributed to those books.

I bet we have a lot of Donna Andrews fans here, too - she has a huge following!

564

Welcome and General Discussion / Backward books?

« on: February 28, 2020, 04:23:32 pm »

I'm kind of addicted to HGTV's fixer-upper-type shows. It bugs me that when the designers actually put books on display in the redecorated house, they almost always display them with the binding facing the wall. They do this whether the books are stacked on a table or in a bookcase, whether the books are old and worn or newish, with shiny dust jackets.

I don't know if there is a reason for this (if so, WHAT? I'll go search Google in a minute) or if they don't want to introduce different color books that might clash with their design. What do you all think of this trend?

From Google:

 https://www.today.com/home/backward-books-shelves-controversial-home-decor-trend-t119006

https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliegerstein/omg-people-why-would-you-ever-do-this-to-books?
utm_term=.ooRXeP9yq#.edb2r3azZ

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article206003969.html

Wow, evidently this has stirred up a maelstrom! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5273879/Backwards-books-lifestyle-blogger-threatened-online.html

https://bookriot.com/2018/01/12/reasons-to-shelve-your-books-backward/

565

What I'm Reading / Malice Domestic: Murder Most Conventional, Edited by Katherine Hall Page

« on: February 27, 2020, 12:34:40 am »

I have read several editions of the Malice Domestic short story anthologies, but the one I just finished is one of my favorites. Called MURDER MOST CONVENTIONAL, every short story features a convention of some kind, either as the setting or in some other key role. It was fun to see all the different ways authors worked this out. The anthology includes a lot of my favorite authors and the quality of the stories is exceptional. As an added bonus, at the end of the book - just before the author biographies - there is an article called, "Hello, My Name is Plot," by Max M. Houck, Ph.D., FRSC. This is a fascinating read, highly technical but at the same time really interesting. You may want to have some post-its handy to mark some of the memorable sections. (If you read it in paper form, that is.) Highly recommended!

566

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: RIP: Clive Cussler

« on: February 27, 2020, 12:26:13 am »

Author Clive Cussler has passed away.

Oh my gosh! My computer has been acting up (I think I was hacked) and I haven't been online all day. I'm so sorry to hear this! Here's the obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/books/clive-cussler-dead.html

567

What I'm Reading / Re: Book Signings anyone?

« on: February 27, 2020, 12:24:02 am »

They are darker thrillers to be sure. I didn't review them for Mystery Scene but when I read them after buying that at a library signing event she did, I wrote reviews up on Goodreads.

They were spectacular reads in my opinion. I spotlighted both of them as part of my entry into the new Mystery Scene issue's Fave Raves article as well.

I just got my new issue of Mystery Scene. I've only skimmed it so far - I probably won't get to go through it cover to cover until the weekend.

568

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!

« on: February 24, 2020, 06:16:45 pm »

Hi Becke! Thanks again for inviting me to join you here at Mystery Scene. I haven't been to a conference in several years, either. Life and grandchildren have gotten in the way. Forgot to mention, another series I really enjoy is Amy Stewart's Kopp Sisters Series. It's based on the true life adventures of the first female deputy sheriff in NJ in the early years of the 20th century. The first book is Girl Waits With Gun. I think there are now 5 or 6 books in the series.

Thanks so much for mentioning Amy Stewart. I've been meaning to look this up for ages, but didn't actually do it until just now. I've been a fan of Amy Stewart's garden books for years - I've read them all and I think I own them all. When I started seeing the Girl With Gun books I wasn't sure if it was the same author. It is! I already know I like the way she writes - now I'll have to check out all those new books. https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-amy-stewart-20150830-story.html

And just to complicate things, I have a niece named Amy Stuart - no relation to the author!

569

Mystery Scene Magazine Issues / Re: Winter 2020 Issue #163

« on: February 23, 2020, 11:04:23 pm »

To keep up with everything we want to read, we'd have to be able to read a book a day every day forever.

We've either discovered the key to immortality or we'll eventually find out if it's true that "you can't take it with you!"

570

What I'm Reading / Re: Book Signings anyone?

« on: February 23, 2020, 11:02:42 pm »

Like I said, I already bought my copy of the new Joanna Schaffhausen book. But I'm probably going to buy a 2nd copy and have that signed as well in order to give as a gift to someone this Christmas.

I just been checking out her website. These books look pretty dark. I'm always hesitant with gruesome stories, even though I do read a lot of thrillers. What were your favorite books of hers? Did you review any of them?