It’s been a while since we caught our readers up on what we are
reading. I always get so many great ideas from these lists.
In no particular order:
Heather Weidner. My recent reading list includes:
Pour Choices
by
Adrian Andover,
Between Roquefort and a Hard Place by Linda
Reilly,
Murder by Design by Lee Goldberg,
Full House by Janet
Evanovich,
Peg and Rose Solve a Murder by Laurien Berenson,
Book of
Lies by Brad Meltze, and
Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle
Cosimano. And I’m currently enjoying
The Emperor’s Palace by LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin.
Connie Berry. This summer I’m reading and rereading some of
the Golden Age classics of mystery fiction. The last two,
The Double Turn
and
Impact of Evidence, were penned by Carol Carnac, a pseudonym of
Edith Caroline Rivett, a British crime writer who also wrote under the names E.
C. R. Lorac and Mary Le Bourne. Rivett wrote an astonishing 78 crime novels in
her lifetime, which is even more amazing since she died in 1958 at the young
age of 64. I think her novels hold up very well in the twenty-first century.
Debra H. Goldstein. In the
last few weeks, I’ve read
A Flower Traveled in My Blood by
Haley Cohen Gilliland,
Whistler by Ann Patchett,
The Bush Tea Murder by
Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier,
Famesick by Lena Dunham,
Whiskey
Business by Adrian Andover, and
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. Right
now, I’m toggling between
Kin by Tayari Jones and an arc of
Numb Were
Beadsman’s Fingers by Alan Bradley).
Martha Reed. - My summer reading list is all over the
board. 1)
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - epistolary tale with the
plot revealed through the use of backstory; 2)
What We See When We Read
by Peter Mendelsund - an intriguing meditation on the physical processing act
of reading; 3)
New Orleans Stories - Great Writers on the City by John
Miller - insider glimpses into the Big Easy from writers like Anne Rice,
Lafcadio Hearn, Tennessee Williams, et al.; and 4)
The Year's Best Science
Fiction - 10th Collection, Gardner Dozois, Editor which has turned out to
be drier fiction than I anticipated meaning more hard science and less use of
imagination.
Marilyn Levinson a/k/a Allison Brook. I just finished
Thirteen Guests by J.
Jefferson Farjeon, a Golden Age of Mystery author; Elizabeth Strout’s
The
Things We Never Say;
Unbound: Kate Reid Series, Books 1-3 by Robin
Mahle; The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai; Astonish Me
by Maggie Shipstead; House Rules by Jodi Picoult and I’m now reading Insidious
Intent by Val McDermid and listening to Don’t Let Him In by Lisa
Jewell.
K.M. Rockwood. Into
nostalgia right now--I just finished Dashiell Hammett's manuscripts for the
later
Thin Man movies (they were not written as novels, and they aren't
what we'd consider screenplays, so I don't know what to call them) and some of M.C.
Beaton's
Hamish Macbeth. I'm reading
Death of a Gossip, the first
of 37 or so books, and intend to pick up with a few of the later ones.
Annette Dashofy. I'm currently reading S.A. Cosby's
King of
Ashes, which deserves every accolade and award that he's getting for it. An
immensely dark setting, a powerful story, and such beautifully immersive
writing; it haunts me every time I have to put it down. I want to write like
him when I grow up.
Grace Topping. I'm a fan of audiobooks. So here is what I am listening to right
now:
A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn. It is the tenth book in
the Veronic Speedwell series. And since they are so entertaining, I've listened
to every one of them. They are historical mysteries filled with humor,
outrageous plots, unbelievable characters, and a dash of romance. Pure escapism
for these crazy times. The narrator does such a terrific job bringing these
books alive that she should be considered a character in her own right.
Susan Van Kirk. I'm reading
Nightwork by Nora
Roberts. It's the story of a young man who robs the rich, going into their
homes at night. There isn't a door or a safe he can't open. It's very
suspenseful but also full of food, locales, and culture since he moves around
the country and also travels to Europe.
Judy L. Murray. I’m
reading Lee Goldberg’s latest,
Murder by Design. An ingenious mystery
introducing a brain-injured yet confident, wealthy and handsome former
detective now insurance investigator who teams up with a likeable struggling
actor.
Margaret S. Hamilton. I'm catching up on my book club reading: Navessa
Allen,
Lights Out, which is as spicy as promised; Caro Claire Burke,
Yesteryear,
trad wife gets real; and eagerly anticipating: Daniel Silva,
Ransom, the
latest Gabriel Allon thriller, and Martin Walker,
A Murder in Springtime,
the latest Bruno, Chief of Police cozy crime.
Lori Roberts Herbst. My summer reading:
Murder at an Irish Session,
by Carlene O'Connor. The latest in the Irish Village Mystery series, it takes a
now-pregnant Siobhan to a murder at a matchmaking convention. I'm loving it!
Murder
at the Beacon Bakeshop, by Darci Hannah. Lovely locale and fun characters.
Revenge
Prey, by John Sandford. Lucas Davenport is one of my favorite series
characters ever. I'm a little bit in love with him.
The Secret of Secrets,
by Dan Brown. Just starting this one, so the review will have to wait!
James M. Jackson. When I
have a few moments from the last-minute push to publish
Niki Unbound
(Niki Undercover Thriller #3), I'm reading
The Bone People by Keri
Hulme, which won both the Booker Prize and the Pegasus Prize for Literature.
Shari Randall a/k/a Meri
Allen. My summer reads: Book club favorites
Project Hail Mary by Andy
Weir
, Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
, and
The
Correspondent by Virginia Evans. For me, Theo especially lived up to the
hype. My guilty pleasure: Barbara Taylor Bradford’s
A Woman of Substance.
They don’t write juicy family sagas like this anymore.
Molly MacRae. I’m reading
The Beast Must Die. Published
in 1938, it was written by Cecil Day Lewis writing as Nicholas Blake. It’s a
thriller with elements of Golden Age Mystery. The protagonist, Frank Cairnes,
is angry and bent on revenge when his young son is run down and killed by a
motorcar outside their small English village. The book has been adapted for
film several times (including in Argentina and France) and for a 2021 British
television series.
