December MysteryCAT: Futuristic/Fantastical Mysteries

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December MysteryCAT: Futuristic/Fantastical Mysteries

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1LisaMorr
Editado: Nov 18, 2018, 5:27 pm

Welcome to the December MysteryCAT!

The first book (book series, rather) that came to mind for me this month was Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files. I've read five of them so far and have very much enjoyed Chicago's only professional wizard, Harry Dresden.

There are so many more fantastical mysteries out there that I came across while researching this topic, and I put all these on my wishlist:
Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series - the first book is The Eyre Affair
Kim Harrison's The Good, the Bad and the Undead is the second book in The Hollows series and involves a witch bounty hunter on the hunt for a vampire master.
Four and Twenty Blackbirds is the fourth book in Mercedes Lackey's Bardic Voices series and involves a series of murder-suicides.
Relics by Maer Wilson looks like a fun stand-alone involving ghosts, angels, demons and detectives who can talk to the dead.
A Potion to Die For by Heather Burke is the first book in her A Magic Potion Mystery Series centering on the owner of a magic potion shop.
For Terry Pratchett fans, Men at Arms is a fun mystery in his Discworld series.
The Lord Darcy series by Randall Garrett has Lord Darcy and his sorcerer sidekick investigating all sorts of mayhem, with some magical help.
John Taylor finds lost things in the Nightside series by Simon R. Green - Something from the Nightside is the first book.
Vampires and werewolves abound in Dana Cameron's Fangborn series - Seven Kinds of Hell is the first book and has the protagonist investigating the abduction of her cousin.
I'm interested in checking out The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin for the title alone!

On the futuristic side, here's a bunch of interesting choices:
KOP by Warren Hammond - a noir thriller set on the colony world of Lagarto, first in a series.
Red Planet Blues a stand-alone novel by Robert Sawyer involves a private eye in a Martian frontier town investigating a murder involving Martian fossils.
Leviathan Wakes is the first book in a series that has inspired the TV show Expanse.
While William Gibson's Pattern Recognition is set in the present, I think it still fits with this month's theme.
Tea from an Empty Cup is a cyberpunk mystery from Pat Cardigan.
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester was the winner of the first Hugo award in 1953 - no murders in 70 years in a society policed by telepaths, how does one get away with murder?
Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton is a tome (~1100 pages) about a murder on a scientific expedition.
The City and the City by China Mieville involves a murder investigation across two very different cities.
Michael Chabon's Yiddish Policeman's Union is an alternate history mystery set in Sitka, Alaska,
Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel involves a detective and his robot partner investigating a murder on an over-populated Earth.

There's 20 good ones to start everyone off!

I'm planning on reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and continuing with Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries with Definitely Dead:



2sushicat
Nov 17, 2018, 3:28 pm

My first thought is J.D. Robb’s In Death series.

3whitewavedarling
Nov 17, 2018, 4:18 pm

I'm thinking of going with Kiss of Midnight, but I've got tons of options, a number of them from the Anita Blank Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton and a few from Angie Fox's Southern Ghost Hunter series, of which I'm devouring book 2 now, so we'll see what happens...

4Robertgreaves
Editado: Nov 17, 2018, 8:15 pm

I don't know if I've got anything suitable for this at the moment, but I do know my sister is getting me Lies Sleeping, the latest in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, for Christmas.

Also, I have just finished Flatlander by Larry Niven, which is a collection of novellas featuring a 22nd century detective.

5thornton37814
Nov 17, 2018, 8:34 pm

Since I don't really like sci fi and fantasy that much, I'm not looking forward to this category. I'm not sure what I will read or listen to.

6raidergirl3
Nov 17, 2018, 8:55 pm

A futuristic/police procedural trilogy The Last Policeman by Ben H Winters was a really good series. It's only a little bit future; an asteroid is going to hit the earth, so lawlessness is prevalent, but one cop is continuing to try to do his job. It might be good option for people like >5 thornton37814: who don't like the fantasy aspect.

7LibraryCin
Nov 17, 2018, 10:02 pm

>2 sushicat: That was where my head went, as well!

8LibraryCin
Nov 17, 2018, 10:04 pm

Some of my options:
Delia's Shadow / Jamie Lee Moyer
The Book of Tomorrow / Cecelia Ahern
The Brief History of the Dead / Kevin Brockmeier

9mathgirl40
Editado: Nov 17, 2018, 10:13 pm

>5 thornton37814: I wonder if you might like To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. A couple of my friends who don't normally read science fiction and fantasy had read it and liked it very much. It's a time-travel story partly set in Victorian England, and it's an unusual and charming mix of science fiction, mystery, comedy and romance.

Jasper Fforde's The Fourth Bear has been sitting on my shelves for a long time, so I will probably use that book for my challenge.

10thornton37814
Nov 17, 2018, 10:44 pm

>9 mathgirl40: It might be worth a shot!

11DeltaQueen50
Nov 17, 2018, 10:55 pm

I am planning on reading Across the Universe by Beth Revis, it has tags of Science Fiction and Murder Mystery so it should fit with this theme.

12Familyhistorian
Nov 18, 2018, 1:50 am

>2 sushicat: My first thought was the J.D. Robb in death series as well. I think my next one is #46.

13dudes22
Nov 18, 2018, 5:43 am

Actually, I was wondering what I might read as fantasy/fantasy mystery is not something I tend to read either. But your mention, Paulina, of The Fourth Bear reminded me that I had read The Big Over Easy and liked it so I might read The Fourth Bear for this. So, you might think of The Big Over Easy, Lori, With all it's references to nursery rhymes, it's a fun read. It's the first one in the series.

14virginiahomeschooler
Nov 18, 2018, 8:39 am

>12 Familyhistorian: 46?!?! How many of those are there?

15LibraryCin
Editado: Nov 18, 2018, 12:53 pm

>9 mathgirl40: and >13 dudes22: Oh, I really liked the Nursery Crimes series!

16fuzzi
Editado: Nov 18, 2018, 1:31 pm

>5 thornton37814: I would recommend Tea With the Black Dragon as a mystery with a touch of fantasy.

17owlie13
Nov 18, 2018, 7:40 pm

>6 raidergirl3: This is an excellent trilogy. I highly recommend all three books.

18owlie13
Nov 18, 2018, 7:41 pm

The Demolished Man is an excellent choice for this - I just re-read it, and still enjoyed it even after all these years.

19LisaMorr
Nov 19, 2018, 10:18 am

>18 owlie13: That one has been on my shelves forever; I really should squeeze it in for December!

20christina_reads
Nov 19, 2018, 3:27 pm

I'm considering Sharon Shinn's Wrapt in Crystal, since I've enjoyed other books by the author. The Amazon description: With the planet's religious groups being victimized by a serial killer, an Interfed agent must go undercover among the ascetics to save the lives of two spiritually gifted women.

21benitastrnad
Editado: Nov 25, 2018, 7:39 pm

If you want hilarity and highjinks you might try reading Year Zero by Rob Reid. This is one of those trips down memory lane with lots of trivia included in the plot. But the main story starts out as a typical lawyer thriller and morphs into Sci/Fi. It is a quick read with the author poking fun of. Sci/Fi and mysteries.

For a more conventional murder mystery with a time travel twist there is the Shining Girls by Lauren Bukes. This one is about a girl who figures out that a serial killer is a time traveler.

There is also the Altered Carbon books by Richard K. Morgan

22VivienneR
Nov 26, 2018, 5:49 pm

Surprisingly, in my huge collection of unread books I have only one that fits this category: Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch.

23MissWatson
Dic 4, 2018, 4:39 am

I've decided to count The burning page here, as the invisible Library series is taking a very thriller-y turn. This time Irene averts the destruction of the Library at the last minute, just like a Bond movie. We spend far too little time in an alternate St Petersburg.

24LisaMorr
Dic 9, 2018, 2:00 pm

I finished Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency yesterday and it was pretty wild. Somehow Douglas Adams managed to create a time travel end-of-the-world mystery based on Samuel Taylor Colerige's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. And it had a lot of funny bits of course. Well done!

25LibraryCin
Dic 10, 2018, 10:45 pm

Not futuristic, but fantastical

Delia's Shadow / Jaime Lee Moyer
4.25 stars

Delia has been in New York for three years, but has returned to San Francisco, along with a ghost (her “shadow” of the title) who prodded her to return. But, Delia can’t figure out what exactly the ghost wants. Delia returns to her best friend, Sophie (who is almost like a sister, as Sophie and her mother took Delia in after her parents died (either in an earthquake or a fire, both are often referred to, but I can’t recall which killed her parents) in the early 20th century).

Sophie is engaged to police officer Jack, who works with Gabe. They are working on a serial killer case that seems to have links to a 30 year old case that Gabe’s father worked on when he was a police officer. Unfortunately, Gabe and Jack get the sense that their loved ones are also in danger…

I really liked this! There was some supernatural (the ghosts), some horror, some mystery, some romance, and all set in 1915, so a historical setting. What’s not to like!? As I was reading, I kept thinking – oh, I hope there a sequel, I’d love to read more about these characters, so I was happy to find out, when I finished, that there are currently two more books in the series.

26whitewavedarling
Dic 15, 2018, 3:07 pm

Well, I read Kiss of Midnight and enjoyed it, but there wasn't really any mystery to it after all--it was more suspense/paranormal romance, though it's hard to tell that for sure from the blurb. Full review written if you're interested. Then, I picked up Daring the Moon since it seemed like that would definitely fit the bill. It did, though there wasn't as much to the mystery element as I would have liked, and it all felt rather forced (excepting the romance). In any case, I did finish it and it does fit the challenge, though I probably wouldn't recommend it.

27DeltaQueen50
Dic 16, 2018, 11:27 pm

I have finished Across the Universe by Beth Revis and wasn't totally taken with the book. The mystery aspect was quite obvious so the big reveal at the end of the book wasn't very impactful. This isthe first book in a trilogy but I will not be reading on.

28VivienneR
Dic 19, 2018, 3:19 pm

I finished Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch.

Wizard cop Peter Grant investigates the suspicious deaths of jazz musicians. An entertaining mystery with interesting jazz asides and with an excellent sense of location. I loved Peter's developing abilities with magic. The only downside, which downgraded my rating by a half star, is the explicit sex scenes that were completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story.

29Familyhistorian
Dic 22, 2018, 12:18 am

>14 virginiahomeschooler: Oops it was only #45. I am behind about 2 or 3 in the series and it is still going strong.

My read was a futuristic mystery, Secrets in Death was #45 in the in Death series and hit the spot like the 44 books that came before it. I love revisiting with Lieutenant Eve Dallas and the NY cops and other characters who back her up.

30fuzzi
Dic 30, 2018, 2:14 pm

Wait! No MysteryCAT for 2019?

Any plans for it returning as a KIT?

31majkia
Dic 30, 2018, 3:12 pm

>30 fuzzi: Not that I need more challenges to juggle, but yeah, I'd join a MysteryKIT

32Dejah_Thoris
Dic 30, 2018, 3:12 pm

>30 fuzzi: I read enough mysteries that I'd join in.

33LibraryCin
Dic 30, 2018, 4:06 pm

Well, no one suggested making it a KIT till now, but that's not to say we can't get started. I have plenty of challenges, so I'm not sure I'll do the MysteryKIT, but I just might... :-) I find it difficult to resist!

34fuzzi
Editado: Dic 30, 2018, 6:47 pm

>33 LibraryCin: I was waiting to see a post about it.

I organize the SFF-Kit, everyone hosts a month, so it’s not onerous.

35VivienneR
Ene 1, 2019, 4:44 pm

I'd take part in a MysteryKIT (if someone else organizes it).

36benitastrnad
Editado: Ene 2, 2019, 9:39 pm

As soon as I get it up and running I will be hosting a mystery challenge. This year we are going to read the Camilla Lackberg mysteries and continue with the Guido Brunetti series by Donna Leon.

This challenge will be over on the 75'ers group. I hope to get the thread up and started tomorrow. So will let you know where as soon as I can.

37LisaMorr
Ene 3, 2019, 12:41 pm

I finished the other fantastical mystery I had planned last week - Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris. When I first started reading Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries, I thought they weren't written that well - not sure how to describe them, simple, maybe? But I think Harris has gotten better over time with them. This one was a bit longer than the first few, and was well written. The book revolves around Sookie looking into what happened to her cousin Hadley, who had fairly recently become a vampire - a consort to the vampire queen of Louisiana.

38mathgirl40
Ene 6, 2019, 9:32 pm

I'm a bit late with my update, but I did finish The Fourth Bear. It was a fun read, but I prefer Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series.

39LibraryCin
Ene 6, 2019, 11:22 pm

>38 mathgirl40: I always preferred the Nursery Crimes. Glad you still enjoyed it, though!