Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

A good month of reading with no real clunkers in the bunch.

Here are my October reads:

Top Reads

Shame the Devil: A Novel
George Pelecanos
A worthy conclusion to the DC Quartet. The beginning of this book was heart breaking and the rest of the book dealt with the aftermath of the extreme violence. There was some humor and redemption though too and of course music, car details, basketball and other Washington DC lore that the author always throws in.

The Leisure Seeker
Michael Zadoorian
An older couple, one with cancer the other suffering from dementia, decide to take an RV trip along Route 66. At times funny and at others depressing, I found this book to be very well written and thought provoking.

Good Reads

Pretty Girls
Karin Slaughter
Parts of this book were really good including the main characters, the family relationships, and the look at how a tragedy impacts the survivors but then the story kind of went off the rails for me. The last half was a bit too out there and graphically violent for my tastes. Listened to the audio version which was read by Kathleen Early who did a good job.

As If!: The Oral History of Clueless as told by Amy Heckerling and the Cast and Crew
Jen Chaney
Not quite as fun as the movie but nearly so. Highly informative oral history of all things Clueless. I especially enjoyed the details on how the how look of the movie was achieved and the work that went into the wardrobe and hair styling. It was also nice to read that everyone really enjoyed the whole experience.

Hell Hole
Chris Grabenstein
I enjoyed the characters (especially learning more about Ceepak) and the Jersey Shore setting but the plot was a bit of a convoluted mess. The narration on the audio versions of this series by Jeff Woodman really elevates the material which I don't think I could get through if I was actually reading it.

The Keepsake
Tess Gerritsen
Another entertaining entry in this series. More focused on the plot than the regular characters' lives and though the crimes were horrifying the details did not seem quite as graphic. Listened to the audio version read by Deirdre Lovejoy.

Uncle Janice
Matt Burgess
While not a traditional crime novel, since the emphasis was on characters and there was no real plot, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. Janice was a very real character and while I hope her working life as an undercover narcotics cop was exaggerated it was interesting to read about. At times the prose style teetered on the overwritten but never went over the edge.

The Running Woman
Patricia Carlon
What at first seems a tragic accident turns sinister when gossips start to speculate that an unknown women was seen fleeing from the site where a girl drowned. Like all of the author's works, this was a deftly written tale of psychological suspense.

Leaving Before the Rains Come
Alexandra Fuller
This third memoir by the author focused more on her life with her husband, their move to the US, and their marriage so I did not find it as interesting as the previous books about her childhood in Africa and her parent's lives. The best parts of the book for me were the parts about her father and his family. Listened to the audio version which was read by the author and she did a fairly good job.

Soul Murder
Andrew Nugent
Set at an Irish boarding school for boys, this was a well done mystery written in a nice straight ahead style that did not sensationalize the horrible crimes contained in the plot. I also liked the working dynamic between the two main characters and how they just got on with the job.

Good month!!

A very nice list Sandi!
I am going to have to look up Uncle Janice and agree that Shame the Devil is one of Pelecanos' books that really resonates with me too.
I listened to Pretty Girls this month too and agree the audio is very well done. The graphic violence was hard to take, but the story was expertly told.

Good month

Nice month, but a couple of your reads sound pretty depressing.

Dan in AZ wrote: "Nice month, but a couple of your reads sound pretty depressing."

Yes, besides the Clueless book pretty much everything else was depressing in some way and or graphically violent. I think I need to find something light and humorous soon.