October 2020 ~ What are you reading?

Still reading Dead Man in a Ditch.

Still reading The Poacher's Son

Next up in crime for me will be Bleeding Hearts, by Ian Rankin (writing as Jack Harvey).

I have just finished An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris and found it riveting. A thriller wrapped around a historical event(the Dreyfus affair in France) and full of suspense and riveting forensic detail concerning possibly faked documents. I don't know how Robert Harris makes such potentially dry detail exciting but he does.

Finished The Sceptred Isle Club by Brent Monahan

So far, I've enjoyed everything by Ann Cleeves, but had never read any of her stand-alones before. Quite liked Burial of Ghosts.

Recently finished Devil's Garden (DI Kelso Strang Book 3) by Aline Templeton, as well as The Colour of Murder, by Julian Symons.

Have just started Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards.

Finished Sanford - Heat Lightning; discontinued Higgins - The Death Trade; and started Deaver - The Never Game.

Still haven't started Bleeding Hearts yet; instead, I picked up Quand sort la recluse, by Fred Vargas.

I just finished A Private Cathedral by James Lee Burke. It's the 23rd book about Dave Robicheaux that Burke has written but it is set in either 1999 or 2000. Burke has delved into supernatural occurrences before but this time he goes all out. I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

Deviating from the plan to read Death Under Sail, by C. P. Snow.

Never Going Back by Sam Wiebe
LTER, ARC, c. 2020
3 1/2 *

Allison Kidd, a very good thief, vows to never end up in prison again. The problem is that her brother never showed up at the prison gate to take her home. Home is above Kidd's, a restaurant run by her brother. Ali asks an old friend, who is also a city cop, to be on the lookout for her brother. Ali soon finds that her brother has been kidnapped. To free him, she must pull one last dangerous job.

This was a very fast read, as it was a novella rather than a full length book. This proved to be a disappointment, as the writing was so spare. While reading I could envision how much more enjoyable it would have been if fleshed out. This has the makings of a great book, but 121 pages just wasn't satisfying enough.

I finished another in Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae series today-found this one had repetitive scenarios and it's definitely not a series for the squeamish, but I still enjoyed it-mainly for the humorous bits, I think. Dying Light- 2nd in this series.

Just coming to the end of the first Enzo Mc(whatever) audiobook Dry Bones by Peter May. It's a bit...macho for my taste these days, but not too much. I might continue the series. The French settings are interesting, the French authorities are exasperating.

Added The Thirst by Jo Nesbø into my reading rotation.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - kept showing up for those looking for books similar to Knives Out...taking a break from the Bernie Rhodenbarr series

No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories by Lee Child. Appropriately found and started on a lonely stretch of US-60 in eastern New Mexico.

Hi, I am currently reading a Netgalley copy of Never Came Home by Gretta Mulrooney. Not sure when the U.S. pub date is, but the British edition was published on Oct. 6, 2020. I'm really enjoying it!

Started The Honjin Murders, written by Seishi Yokomizo and translated by Louise Heal Kawai.

After visiting Japan in >19 rabbitprincess:, I'm off to England with The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman.

Finished The Knife by Jo Nesbø. Really liked this one.

Added Bad Memory by Lisa Gray to my rotation.

Sounds fascinating.

Finishing up Strangers at the Gate by Catriona McPherson - it was pretty good up to now. Now the lead character is acting like a total ninny. Only in fiction do people never keep their phones charged, drop them when something startles them and then step on them. Oy vey.

Finished Bad Memory by Linda Gray. Liked it.

Added The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer to my rotation.

>24 seitherin: I have that one in the pile as well! Not sure if I'll watch the series yet, but I do want to at least read the book.

Currently in crime: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards.

I'm on schedule with A Dance to the Music of Time and am reading the tenth book, Books Do Furnish a Room.

>27 pamelad:
What do you think of this series? I have heard about it but haven't read any of the books yet.

Finished The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer. It was enjoyable enough but definitely intended for younger readers. I enjoyed the Netflix show (Enola Holmes) much more.

Added Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith to my rotation.

>28 emgcat: I'm enjoying it. It starts with the schooldays of the narrator, Nick Jenkins, and continues through his life. It's dryly humorous, undercut by sadness, with sharp and witty descriptions of the people who become part of his life. It's not much about what's going on in the world, just the people and events that have an impact on Nick.

>31 pamelad:
Thank you for your insight into the books. I will go and hunt down a copy of the first in the series.

November thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/325937