Just added to my waiting-to-be-read pile.

[Becke Davis]

I don't know why I continue to buy books when there's no chance I'll ever read through my whole to-be-read-pile in one lifetime, even if I never buy another book or check more out from the library. Today I stopped in the Barnes & Noble store in Bridgeport, OR and added two books to my stacks: an oldie, THE CROOKED HINGE by John Dickson Carr, and a 2018 publication from a series I'm not familiar with: THE VINYL DETECTIVE by Andrew Cartmel. Not sure what number this is in the series, but it's called WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX.

Did any of you add to your book collections over the holidays?

[JRob]

Written in Dead Wax is the first book in the Vinyl Detective series. I reviewed the 2nd one ("The Run-Out Groove") for the magazine. There's been 2 more published since then: "Victory Disc" and "Flip Back".

I recently picked up "Dead In Dublin" by Catie Murphy from the bookstore and got "The Ninja Daughter" by Tori Eldridge and "Read and Buried" by Eva Gates from the library.

Oh and I was given Archer Mayor's "Bomber's Moon" as a Christmas gift.

[Becke Davis]

Written in Dead Wax is the first book in the Vinyl Detective series. I reviewed the 2nd one ("The Run-Out Groove") for the magazine. There's been 2 more published since then: "Victory Disc" and "Flip Back".

I recently picked up "Dead In Dublin" by Catie Murphy from the bookstore and got "The Ninja Daughter" by Tori Eldridge and "Read and Buried" by Eva Gates from the library.

Oh and I was given Archer Mayor's "Bomber's Moon" as a Christmas gift.

Whoa - I hardly ever start at the beginning of a series, so it looks like I chose well with WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX. Two others were at B&N, but I can't remember which ones. I'll look up your review - thanks for the tip!

Lucky you getting a  mystery for Christmas!

I finished THE CROOKED HINGE by John Dickson Carr (it's not long). Just when I thought Gideon Fell had identified the murderer, a whole new twist was revealed. The solution boiled down to four words. I'm not sure today's authors could pull off an ending like this - readers are more sophisticated now - but it was definitely entertaining. Worth a read!

[JRob]

Whoa - I hardly ever start at the beginning of a series, so it looks like I chose well with WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX. Two others were at B&N, but I can't remember which ones. I'll look up your review - thanks for the tip!

Lucky you getting a  mystery for Christmas!

Hope you enjoy the book and like my review enough to pick up the 2nd one.

As for the mystery for Christmas, my mom gave books to all the children in the extended family. I have continued that tradition in a small way as a cousin's two kids get books from me. The cousin seems to think that she needs to send me a gift in return despite me saying I don't want anything. So this year, I told her that I didn't need anything but if she insisted then I'd appreciate getting the Archer Mayor book.

[Becke Davis]

Whoa - I hardly ever start at the beginning of a series, so it looks like I chose well with WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX. Two others were at B&N, but I can't remember which ones. I'll look up your review - thanks for the tip!

Lucky you getting a  mystery for Christmas!

Hope you enjoy the book and like my review enough to pick up the 2nd one.

As for the mystery for Christmas, my mom gave books to all the children in the extended family. I have continued that tradition in a small way as a cousin's two kids get books from me. The cousin seems to think that she needs to send me a gift in return despite me saying I don't want anything. So this year, I told her that I didn't need anything but if she insisted then I'd appreciate getting the Archer Mayor book.

That's a great plan!

I have a couple library books that are due soon and I'm halfway through a Nero Wolfe book, so I won't get to the Vinyl Detective for at least a week.

What issue was your review in? Maybe I can get a back issue. Or is it online? I found an interesting review here:

https://crimefictionlover.com/2016/05/the-vinyl-detective/

[JRob]

What issue was your review in?

It was printed in the magazine but it was also posted online here: https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/26-reviews/books/5782-the-vinyl-detective-the-run-out-groove

[Becke Davis]

What issue was your review in?

It was printed in the magazine but it was also posted online here: https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/26-reviews/books/5782-the-vinyl-detective-the-run-out-groove

So would you recommend it even though the ending was apparently not entirely satisfactory?

[JRob]

Yes I would recommend it. I'm going to be getting the 3rd and 4th books through my library.

[Becke Davis]

Yes I would recommend it. I'm going to be getting the 3rd and 4th books through my library.

I still have three library books to read before I get to it, and a couple books I ordered used and/or new releases I preordered have arrived recently so I'll just have to start reading faster!

[Becke Davis]

One of my local used-book sources has reopened! I picked up a couple of Martha Grimes' books I haven't read yet. I also picked up a used copy of AMAGANSETT, Mark Mills' first book.

I'm currently reading another Mark Mills book, THE SAVAGE GARDEN. I really like it!

[JRob]

No bookstores near me have opened back up to the public yet. They are either completely closed or doing curbside pickup or mail order.

I did just get the first novel by Mary Kellikoa called DERAILED in the mail today though.

[Becke Davis]

The one that opened isn't a bookstore, strictly speaking. It's a thrift shop with a HUGE book department, sorted by category and alphabetically by author. It's a great place to find a wide variety of books.

[Kate Stine, Editor]

Oblong Books, our local bookshop in Millerton, NY, is open for curbside pick-up and mail order. I ordered my mom some books for Mother's day and sent other books to two of my nieces who are going crazy in quarantine. I can't wait until the store opens again so I can go browsing on the shelves. They have a well-stocked mystery section among a lot of other topics. There's a second store in Rhinebeck, NY, too. Here's the website  www.oblongbooks.com

[JRob]

Kate, that's great you have a curbside pick up option now.

I still have to wait on curbside unless I want to drive 45 minutes or so to the closest indie store. I'd rather just order from them over the phone though.

My local comic shop was allowed to offer curbside pickup starting last week. So I'll be able to get some new stuff from them this week. There's a noir-ish graphic novel coming out this week called BOG BODIES that caught my fancy so I'll going to grab that for sure.

[Becke Davis]

In Oregon, some counties (mine included) have such low Covid numbers that limited openings have been approved. The thrift store I mentioned was in the first wave of openings. There's a rumor Barnes & Noble will be open soon for curbside pickup. I'm excited for that, but half the fun of bookstores is browsing through the shelves. Still, I'll take what I can get. :-)