> i...@notcox.net wrote: > > Lauradog wrote: > >> I'm about three-quarters through "Death in Deakins Wood" by Rhona > >> Petrie, aka Clare Curzon, both pseudonyms of Marie Buchanan. It's a > >> British police procedural, my favorite kind of mystery. I seem to > >> recall seeing a list of other pseudonyms for this author on the > >> flyleaf of a book, but failed to write them down. Her mysteries have > >> good characterizations and plots and I usually never figure out the > >> murderer until all is revealed. > >> Sue D.
> > Half-way through Bad News by Donald E. Westlake, one of his Dortmunder > > books, it seems. I hadn't read any of them before, but I will be looking > > out for them now. Its a very funny take on two sets of crooks > > strategizing to con each other and the local court system out of a lot > > of money.
> > Ian
> I adore Donald Westlake. Not just the Dortmunder books, but his > standalones and the Parker books too. He was also a truly nice guy, met > him at a reading maybe 12 years ago in upstate New York.
Me too! We started with the Parker series and through hook and search read all of them, start to finish. It was then we discovered Dortmunder and Westlake's 'other' crime novels. I wish I hadn't already read all the Dortmunder books - so I envy anyone who is just beginning.
I was especially struck by his other novels, like AXE! Brutal but extremely well written and seriously humorous (readers of Westlake will understand the apt contradiction?).
BTW - none of the movies which were made from the Dortmunder books truly captured that wonderful group of ne'er do wells although I thought George C. Scott did a pretty good Dortmunder. de -- Everybody is right. -Rochefoucault
Just finished The Atonement Child" by Francine Rivers and I can't believe that I finished it. I read it at the suggestion of one of my sisters-in-law. It is a very Christian book, which would not have been bad if it wasn't so preachy, so full of clichés, so contrived, and so full of incorrect information. What bugged me was the chapter where a group of older women discussed how having an abortion will bring on breast cancer. I browsed the subject online and found a few rather dubious sites where that was claimed. However, the American Cancer Society site, which to me would be the most correct site, says no.
I was going to jettison the book early on when it was pointed out that the black preacher at a church where the services were lively (further clearly explained that parishioners interrupted the pastor during the service and the gospel music was loud) drove a maroon Cadillac. OK, maybe that could pass muster, but I found it to be a little racist.
> BTW - none of the movies which were made from the Dortmunder books truly > captured that wonderful group of ne'er do wells although I thought > George C. Scott did a pretty good Dortmunder.
I keep thinking of Kevin Spacey as the perfect Dortmunder, and wish he'd do one before he's too old to be plausible. I vote for Drowned Hopes, of the ones that haven't been filmed.
> Had a good streak with Billingham's BLOODLINES, then Hrwitz's I SEE YOU, > Jeff Abbott's TRUST ME, Don Winslow"s THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE and > now Pelecano's THE MIDNIGHT GARDENER.
> Recent aquisitions are Gerritson's KEEPING THE DEAD for 75p, Simon > Kernick's DEADLINE for 25p and Stuart B. MacBride's HALFHEAD (horribly > expensive at £2.50!) - plus the boxed set of Dresden Files DVDs for £3.99 > I also have a pile of graphic novels from the library to work through.
> Who needs Bouchercon, anyway.... :(
B'Con was fun as always, and very well run, but Indianapolis is a snooze. It's the generic American city, with most of the life redeveloped out of it. I had one decent meal in five days, and that only after wandering all over central Indianapolis on a Sunday evening, trying to find anything open at 9:00. Ended up a a perfectly decent tapas bar, though it was odd being served tapas by beefy blond guys in Colts jerseys.
Currently reading a true crime called BENT COPPERS - don't now the author, the book isn't too hand. It's about the fight against corruption in the Metropolitan police force in London.
It's written by a bloke who used to be a reporter for the Panorama tv show and apparently broke a big corruption story in the early 90's. For all that it's a bit dry. It seems to be a bare telling of the facts without much character put into the book.
The Met largely comes across as shambolic, disorganised and poorly funded in its attempts to deal with corruption in the 80's and 90s
Kunio Tsuji, *The Signore: Shogun of the Warring States* This is a contemporary Japanese novel (translation ) set in the time of Oda Nobunaga (it starts in the year 1572), and narrated curiously enough, from the point of view of a European soldier accompanying a Portuguese Jesuit Mission to Japan. Not as quick a read by any means as Christie, but quite satisfying. I have already read a lot about this era and I find that Kunio represents it well.
Have you read *Genghis, Birth of an Empire* by Conn Iggulden? All about the boyhood of Genghis Khan. Or the sequel *Genghis, Lords of the Bow*
> Kunio Tsuji, *The Signore: Shogun of the Warring States* > This is a contemporary Japanese novel (translation ) set in > the time of Oda Nobunaga (it starts in the year 1572), and > narrated curiously enough, from the point of view of a > European soldier accompanying a Portuguese Jesuit Mission to > Japan. Not as quick a read by any means as Christie, but > quite satisfying. I have already read a lot about this era > and I find that Kunio represents it well.
> Have you read *Genghis, Birth of an Empire* by Conn Iggulden? > All about the boyhood of Genghis Khan. > Or the sequel *Genghis, Lords of the Bow*
No, but thank you. In another coincidence, I think I walked by it (Birth of an Empire) yesterday at Goodwill.
-- Francis A. Miniter
Oscuramente libros, laminas, llaves siguen mi suerte.
> *The Blight Way* by Patrick F.McManus. > A sheriff Bo Tully mystery. > My husband recommended it to be. > I really am enjoying it.
Listened to it a few years back. Wonder if there are more? McManus's short article books (They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?) are a good listen on long drives. At 20 minutes on average, you don't get so engaged that you can't stop for dinner or at your destination without feeling like you need to keep listening. Hm. That sounds bad. They are good to listen to, but without a true plot, you don't feel like you will miss anything if you don't listen again until your drive home. kat >^.^< in Rhinelander
Joyleen E. Seymour wrote: > i...@notcox.net wrote: >> Lauradog wrote: >>> I'm about three-quarters through "Death in Deakins Wood" by Rhona >>> Petrie, aka Clare Curzon, both pseudonyms of Marie Buchanan. It's a >>> British police procedural, my favorite kind of mystery. I seem to >>> recall seeing a list of other pseudonyms for this author on the >>> flyleaf of a book, but failed to write them down. Her mysteries have >>> good characterizations and plots and I usually never figure out the >>> murderer until all is revealed. >>> Sue D.
>> Half-way through Bad News by Donald E. Westlake, one of his Dortmunder >> books, it seems. I hadn't read any of them before, but I will be >> looking out for them now. Its a very funny take on two sets of crooks >> strategizing to con each other and the local court system out of a lot >> of money.
>> Ian
> I adore Donald Westlake. Not just the Dortmunder books, but his > standalones and the Parker books too. He was also a truly nice guy, met > him at a reading maybe 12 years ago in upstate New York.
Well, Bad News was funny and smart all the way through, and I found another Dortmunder at a sle on Friday, so I think I'm hooked. From his gentle wit in Bad News I would have guessed he'd be a nice guy. Nice to have it confirmed.
>> Just started Rhys Bowen's latest, Royal Flush, and am enjoying it . . . >> in fact, I started liking it on page one. I'm on page 28 now.
>> Joan
> I just finished Connelly's Nine Dragons and started Blood Games by Iris > Johansen.
> Lois
Good Lord. I don't know how anyone goes from Michael Connelly (who can write) to Iris Johansen (who can't), <well, IMHO> without a long break in between. I once threw a book in the ocean after attempting something like that. Barb H
>>> Just started Rhys Bowen's latest, Royal Flush, and am enjoying it . . . >>> in fact, I started liking it on page one. I'm on page 28 now.
>>> Joan
>> I just finished Connelly's Nine Dragons and started Blood Games by Iris >> Johansen.
>> Lois
> Good Lord. I don't know how anyone goes from Michael Connelly (who can > write) to Iris Johansen (who can't), <well, IMHO> without a long break in > between. I once threw a book in the ocean after attempting something like > that. > Barb H
Oops, sorry. I had Iris confused with Catherine Coulter. It was one of her books I threw in the ocean. Barb
Just started listening to Michael Stanley's 'The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu' (aka A Deadly Trade in non-US-Can circles) Read by Simon Prebble. The second in the Detective Kubu series set in modern day Botswana. However this is set in the north along a river, not in the desert that I gather comprises the preponderance of Botswana. Plenty of ins and outs. The book comes with a map of the camp where the first murder takes place. I'm not sure if its like a train time table in a Dorothy Sayers book, necessary if one is to follow the clues to the ultimate end, because I'm following the story just fine without it. Michael Stanley inform you about the regional politics without clubbing you over the head. Prebble does a good job with the voices and regional accents. I hadn't realized a S African 'A' is so flat. *G*
I'm off to water the orchids and return to Botswana. If y'all are looking for something different try this series while its young and you don't have to read many books to catch up. The first is 'A Carrion Death' and I highly recommended it when it came out. I had to wait a while to get '2nd Death' in audio format, so its available in book, audio as well as Kindle.
> Just started listening to Michael Stanley's 'The Second Death of Goodluck > Tinubu' (aka A Deadly Trade in non-US-Can circles) Read by Simon Prebble. > The second in the Detective Kubu series set in modern day Botswana. > However this is set in the north along a river, not in the desert that I > gather comprises the preponderance of Botswana. Plenty of ins and outs. > The book comes with a map of the camp where the first murder takes place. > I'm not sure if its like a train time table in a Dorothy Sayers book, > necessary if one is to follow the clues to the ultimate end, because I'm > following the story just fine without it. Michael Stanley inform you about > the regional politics without clubbing you over the head. Prebble does a > good job with the voices and regional accents. I hadn't realized a S > African 'A' is so flat. *G*
> I'm off to water the orchids and return to Botswana. If y'all are looking > for something different try this series while its young and you don't have > to read many books to catch up. The first is 'A Carrion Death' and I > highly recommended it when it came out. I had to wait a while to get '2nd > Death' in audio format, so its available in book, audio as well as Kindle.
> K Barrett
John P picked that up at Bcon and got it signed by Stanley Trollip, the Stanley of the team. Wasn't hard to find him. He's another of the League of Very Tall Writers that include Lee Child, Mark Billingham, Jonathan King... kat >^.^< What say, ye, John?
Once Upon a Midnight Dreary, While kat >^.^< Pondered, Weak and Weary, Over Many a Quaint and Curious Forgotten Post, s/he wrote: --------------------------------------------------------------
>John P picked that up at Bcon and got it signed by Stanley Trollip, the >Stanley of the team. Wasn't hard to find him. He's another of the League >of Very Tall Writers that include Lee Child, Mark Billingham, Jonathan >King... >kat >^.^< >What say, ye, John?
All I can say at the moment is it's in the TBR pile, and I hope to get to it this year yet. Stanley was a nice, soft spoken South African, very interesting, which made me buy the book. Only one of three I actually purchased this year at B'con. So I have high hopes.
Joyleen E. Seymour wrote: > Finished the Vietnam book and just started "Witsec: Inside the Federal > Witness Protection Program," by Pete Earley. True Crime, great so far.
The first I ever heard of this program was about 1975 when I did a pre-sentence investigation on a woman involved in a gambling case. She handed me a proof copy of Leslie Waller's book, Hide in Plain Sight, and told me it was about her and her family. She and her boyfriend had been the first in the new witness protection program. The problem was that she and her husband had not completed their divorce, and he was paying child support but didn't know where the kids were. It was sort of a fluke that she got pulled in to the gaming offense, and she completed probation with flying colors, ended up going to work at the university's personnel (human resources now) department, where she helped my husband jump through various hoops for several years. She retired, and not long afterward lost her life to cancer.
It's something that has stuck with me for years. At one time, we were neighbors, living on the same street, and I came to count her as a friend. Unusual since I met her "on the job." The S.O.B. boyfriend is still alive, still running his mouth. LOL! -- Joanne stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.com http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/
> runs a mystery/science fiction bookstore in Brisbane, and who is now running > a small press dedicated to Australian works. They recently reprinted > Greenwood's first two Phryne Fisher books in a single volume with a very > nice cover that doesn't give the false impression they're cozies (and thanks > to Ron for giving me a copy). I'm currently reading Alan Gordon's The > Moneylender of Toulouse. Yeah, it's taken me a year to get to it, but it > was worth it, as I always love a visit with the Fool Family, and this is > better than the last two. A new one is due out soon, too. >>
*perks* Oooh, really? Any idea when?
Hmm, I know Alan
> gave me a bookmark, but it's buried in a pile of B'Con junque.>>
Heh. I just rediscovered a box of Stuff from last year's B'con, in a deep dark corner of the den.
On Nov 1, 8:54 pm, Jennifer Santo <jenni...@hotmail.com> wrote: I'm currently readingAlan Gordon'sThe
> > Moneylender of Toulouse. Yeah, it's taken me a year to get to it, but it > > was worth it, as I always love a visit with the Fool Family, and this is > > better than the last two. A new one is due out soon, too. >>
> *perks* Oooh, really? Any idea when?
> Hmm, I know Alan
I know him, too! The Parisian Prodigal is out on January 19, 2009. Alan
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