The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

So let me start things off. I'm reserving this post while I sort out what books might make my list. More to follow

1. Until the Night by Giles Blunt (Canadian mystery) (finished 6 Jan, 4 stars)
2. The Moche Warrior by Lyn Hamilton (Archeological mystery) (finished 05 Feb, 3 stars)
3. Beast In View by Margaret Millar (Psychological mystery) (finished 16 Mar, 5 stars)
4. The Shanghai Murders by David Rotenberg (Chinese mystery) (finished 25 May, 4 stars)
5. Dead Cold by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache) (finished 13 Jun, 4 stars)
6. The Reckoning by Rennie Airth (John Madden series) (started 4 Sep, finished 17 Sep, 4 stars)
7. The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion series) (started 30 Oct, finished 5 Nov, 3 stars)
8. Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass (forensic mystery) (started 17 Sep, finished 26 Sep, 4 stars)
9. Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley (English Detective) (finished 24 Jan, 4 stars)
10. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun (Cozy mystery) (started 29 Oct, finished 11 Nov, 4 stars)
11. Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse #1) (finished 21 Feb, 4 stars)
12. The Dragon Man by Garry Disher (Australian mystery) (started 31 Oct, finished 7 Nov, 4 stars)

Alternates

Alt 1 For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming (classic Bond spy novel) (finished 19 Apr, 4 stars)
Alt 2 China Lake by Meg Gardiner (Evan Delaney #1) started 27 Sep, finished 06 Oct, 3 stars
Alt 3 Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman (Navaho Tribal Police mystery) (finished 28 Jul) 4 stars
Alt 4 A Mind To Murder by P.D. James (Inspector Dalgleish mystery) (started 17 Aug / finished 27 Aug, 4 stars)

Currently Reading (completed 16 of 16)

Well, I've posted my initial challenge thoughts. I may change some of the books before end December and I may add a further challenge. But we'll see.. So many books, so many challenges, so little time to read.. ;)

some great choices I have never gone wrong with Colin Dexter, along with Reginald Hill he is one of the best English mystery writers.

Thanks, Alison. I'm looking forward to trying some new authors.

Lilian Jackson Braun has always been a favorite of mine. Maybe it's fabulous Kokos's 60 whiskers....or Qwill's moustache haha

Shelby wrote: "Lilian Jackson Braun has always been a favorite of mine. Maybe it's fabulous Kokos's 60 whiskers....or Qwill's moustache haha"

I enjoyed the first book, Shelby. It's a nice cozy read. I know what you mean about Qwill's moustache. It's got a life of its own.. lol

Shelby wrote: "Lilian Jackson Braun has always been a favorite of mine. Maybe it's fabulous Kokos's 60 whiskers....or Qwill's moustache haha"

I read those books for a while. But then I remembered that I hate cats. So I read books with dogs in them now.

How long did it take you to realize that, Jan?.. lol

Too long, Bill.

I am really thrilled with your choices. I especially love Lilian Jackson Braun and even I already read "The car who ate Danish Modern" in French, I would be more than happy to read it again in English! I am found of inspector Morse stories too. Chinese mystery (I read a lot of "Judge Ti" written by Robert van Gulik), and archeological ones are of great interest. I just read Lucy Worsley's "A very British Murder" and I think of reading another one of her next year. She wrote about Margery Allingham in this book, so I'll add your selection to my list! Forensic mystery tempt me as I watch a lot of "NCIS" style series!
I'll post my 2016 list when I'll have made up my mind!
Happy New Year, full of mystery to all of you!

Thanks for our comments, Annie. I'll have to check out Lucy Worsley.

In another group to which I belong, I've also challenged myself to continue with my ongoing series. I hope to read at least 45 books in that challenge. I'll keep track of them here too....

1. The Walkers of Dembley by M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin #4) (finished 9 Jan, 3 stars)
2. Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett (Sonchai Jitpleecheep #2) (finished 26 Jan, 4 stars)
3. Death On The Downs by Simon Brett (Fethering #2) (finished 30 Jan, 3.5 stars)
4. The Treatment by Mo Hayder (Jack Caffery #2) finished 6 Mar, 4 stars
5. The Chase by Clive Cussler (Isaac Bell #1) finished 14 Mar, 3.5 stars
6. Pieces of Modesty by Peter O'Donnell (Modesty Blaise #6) finished 18 Mar, 3 stars
7. Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers, finished 27 Mar, 4 stars
8. The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas finished 05 Apr, 3 stars
9. The Allingham Minibus by Margery Allingham (finished 13 Apr, 4 stars)
10. Winter Frost by R.D. Wingfield (Inspector Frost #5) (finished 21 Apr, 4 stars)
11. Hour Game by David Baldacci (King & Maxwell #2) finished 07 May, 3 stars
12. Blacklands by Belinda Bauer (Shipcott #1) finished 03 May, 4 stars
13. The Dark Monk by Oliver Pötzsch (Hangman's Daughter #2) finished 18 May, 4 stars
14. Death Times Three by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe collection) finished 20 May, 4 stars
15. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a selection of entrées by Agatha Christie (Poirot) finished 26 May, 3 stars
16. Mr. Campion: Criminologist by Margery Allingham started 30 May, 3.5 stars
17. Silesian Station by David Downing finished 15 Jun, 3.5 stars
18. Petrella at Q by Michael Gilbert finished 15 Jun, 5 stars
19. Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie (Grantchester #1) finished 07 Jul, 4 stars
20. Seaweed on the Street by Stanley Evans (Silas Seaweed #1) finished 06 Jul, 4 stars
21. City Of Ice by John Farrow (Inspector Cinq-Mars #1) finished 26 Jul, 3.5 stars
22. Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett by Georges Simenon (Maigret #1) finished 13 Jul, 4 stars
23. The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer finished 25 Jul, 3 stars)
24. The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #1) (finished 17 Aug, 4 stars)
25. The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (Leo Demidov #2) started 20 Aug, finished 06 Sep, 4 stars
26. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle started 06 Sep, finished 18 Sep, 4 stars
27. Memory Book by Howard Engel started 08 Sep, finished 12 Sep, 4 stars
28. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson, started 06 Oct, finished 29 Oct, 4 stars
29. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, started 16 Oct, finished 23 Oct, 3 stars
30. Slow Curve on the Coquihalla by R.E. Donald (started 7 Nov, finished 16 Nov, 4 stars)
31. Fountain of Death by Jane Haddam started 9 Nov, finished 22 Nov, 4 stars
32. Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert (started 11 Nov, finished 18 Nov, 5 stars)
33. Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh (started 13 Nov, finished 24 Nov, 4 stars)
34. Fractured by Karin Slaughter (started 18 Nov, finished 04 Dec, 3.5 stars)
35. Wycliffe and Death in Stanley Street by W.J. Burley (started 1 Dec, finished 6 Dec, 3 stars)
36. Gideon's Month by J.J. Marric, started 7 Dec, finished 11 Dec, 3.5 stars
37. Winter Study by Nevada Barr, started 09 Dec, finished 17 Dec, 3 stars
38. To the Nines by Janet Evanovich, started 17 Dec, finished 20 Dec, 3 stars
39. Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon started 20 Dec, finished 25 Dec, 3.5 stars
40. A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King started 27 Dec, finished 31 Dec, 3 stars

Currently Reading (finished 40)

I read every month another book with the Berkeley's University book club

Hello Bill, hello everyone
My 2016 Mystery books challenge 12 + 4

-1/ P.D. James : "Death of an Expert Witness"
-2/ Lilian Jackson Braun : "The cat who Talked to The Ghosts"
-3/ James Runcie : Granchester n°3
-4/ Dorothy L. Sayers. : "Gaudy Night"
-5/ Margery Allingham : "The Tiger in the Smoke"
-6/ Rebecca Tope : "Death in the Cotswolds"
-7/ Laurie R. King : "Dreaming Spies"
-8/ M.C. Beaton :"Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House"
-9/ Lesley Thomson : "The Detective's Secret"
-10/ Ellis Peters : "Flight of a Witch"
-11/ Michael Jecks : "The Traitor of St Giles"
-12/ G.K. Chesterton : "Father Brown"

Reserve
-1/ Tony Hillerman : "Listening Woman"
-2/ Nicci French : "Beneath The Skin"
-3/ Mary Higgins Clark : "Stillwatch"
-4/ Veronica Henry : "A Night on the Orient Express"

I hope I'll succeed to fulfill this challenge on top of the 12 ones of the book club of Berkeley University and my own "romance" novels for the cold, darkish evenings!
Happy New Year to all of you and your beloved ones!
Annie

Annie wrote: "Hello Bill, hello everyone
My 2016 Mystery books challenge 12 + 4

-1/ P.D. James : "Death of an Expert Witness"
-2/ Lilian Jackson Braun : "The cat who Talked to The Ghosts"
-3/ James Runcie : Gr..."

Glad you're jumping in, Annie! You may want to start your own thread so we can watch your progress. By the way, Gaudy Night is one of my favorite Sayers novels.

just to let you know Nancy that the Reckoning is very good though if you have read the other books as well you probably know the authors style and flow. my challenge to myself is to read as much as jo nesbo as I can and look for more interesting crime novels along with my fave authors :P

Zoe wrote: "just to let you know Nancy that the Reckoning is very good though if you have read the other books as well you probably know the authors style and flow. my challenge to myself is to read as much as..."

Thanks, Zoe. I think I've read only the first two in that series.

One of many great things about this group: You will never run out of ideas for "more interesting crime novels!"

Nancy wrote: "Zoe wrote: "just to let you know Nancy that the Reckoning is very good though if you have read the other books as well you probably know the authors style and flow. my challenge to myself is to rea..."

Very true Nancy. I've picked up so many good selections from this group.

Hi Annie!

I hope you'll consider joining our new Discussion, connecting Authors and Book Clubs! Here it is:

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Annie wrote: "I read every month another book with the Berkeley's University book club"

Hello, I joined two minutes ago! I won't be able meeting the authors as I live in Belgium but I'll try to read as many books as possible and share comments on GOODREADS or Skype! Happy New Year

Belgium! Always wanted to go. Well it's lovely to have you here and look forward to hearing your reviews!

Hello, I just finished my first book of the year : P.D. James : "Death of an Expert Witness".
I had some difficulties with the forensic hierarchy and vocabulary in the first chapters but I enjoyed it very much.

Now I'll start an easier one (I think so at least as it looks to be for younger readers ) : "Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House" by M.C. Beaton.
I won't be able to read it as fast, as we start to study "Jane Eyre" tomorrow and this will take a lot of my time as there are quizzes and homework to do!

Nancy wrote: "Annie wrote: "Hello Bill, hello everyone
My 2016 Mystery books challenge 12 + 4

-1/ P.D. James : "Death of an Expert Witness"
-2/ Lilian Jackson Braun : "The cat who Talked to The Ghosts"
-3/ Jam..."
Hello. I put this list in the Mystery group but I don't know how to start my own thread! Can you help me with this? Thanks

Annie wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Annie wrote: "Hello Bill, hello everyone
My 2016 Mystery books challenge 12 + 4

-1/ P.D. James : "Death of an Expert Witness"
-2/ Lilian Jackson Braun : "The cat who Talked to The G..."

Hey, Annie. What you need to do is open up the folder for the 2016 Reading Group Challenges. What you should see when you do is a list of everybody's individual threads. Just below the name of the folder and on the right hand side you should see two links, one that reads 'edit folder' and the other that reads 'new topic'. If you click on new topic a window will open up. Under topic make the title of your thread, something like, 'Annie's 2016 Reading Group Challenge' and then in the window called 'comment', list your books and author and whatever else you want, then just click 'Post' at the bottom of the page on the left side. If you can't find that, let me know here and I'll start the thread for you and post your books. Then you just have to comment as you normally would. Hope this helps. It's pretty straight-forward once you try. Now if you're doing this on a ipad or phone or something other than a laptop or computer, then it might be different and I don't know if what I wrote above will work. But let me know.

Finished my first book of the year this morning and enjoyed very much. by Giles Blunt is the 6th book in the John Cardinal police series, set in Algonquin Bay, Ontario, Canada. I enjoy this series very much, partly because it's set in my home town. Cardinal and his partner, Lise Delorme, are interesting character, to say the least and the cases are often gritty and well-written. This story has two ongoing, different cases going on and, as well, a story line set in the past and set in the Arctic, which seems to be totally unrelated. While it seems convoluted at times, it all ties together in an interesting fashion and it moves along very nicely. Excellent book and excellent series. (4 stars)

Starting one of my ongoing series books next, the 2nd Sonchai Jitpleecheep mystery/ thriller, Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett. It's been awhile since I read the first one, but I remember enjoying it very much.

I've only read PD James from your list. I'm interested to see what you think of the others. I've never read Ian Fleming. I'm trying to watch James Bond films with my son. We've watched 6 so far :)

Amanda wrote: "I've only read PD James from your list. I'm interested to see what you think of the others. I've never read Ian Fleming. I'm trying to watch James Bond films with my son. We've watched 6 so far :)"

I read a few of the Bond books when I was in school. I started to buy them again a few years back; I liked the covers and wanted to give the series a fresh try. I've enjoyed so far.

Maybe I'll try one next year!

I finished which I thought was great. Enjoyed very much; liked the way the story was presented and the nice little twists at the end. I will have to find the other two books in this series. Starting two new ones now; , the 3rd archeological mystery featuring Lara McClintoch and , the 2nd Fethering mystery.

Bill wrote: "I finished which I thought was great. Enjoyed very much; liked the way the story was presented and the nice little twists at the end. I will have to find the ..."

I made it through 7 of the Fethering stories. Haven't been able to find Death Under the Dryer though.

Jan C wrote: "Bill wrote: "I finished which I thought was great. Enjoyed very much; liked the way the story was presented and the nice little twists at the end. I will have..."

I have yet to try the Charles Paris or Mrs. Pargeter series. Have you?

Bill wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Bill wrote: "I finished which I thought was great. Enjoyed very much; liked the way the story was presented and the nice little twists at the en..."

I've read a few of the Charles Paris stories. They're all pretty light.

Jan C wrote: "Bill wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Bill wrote: "I finished which I thought was great. Enjoyed very much; liked the way the story was presented and the nice little twi..."

My wife used to listen to BBC radio dramatizations of the series with Bill Nighy playing Paris. That's what got me interested in Simon Brett

Finished Bangkok Tattoo (4 stars) and Death On The Downs (3.5 stars) this past week. Enjoyed them both very much.

Bill wrote: "Finished Bangkok Tattoo (4 stars) and Death On The Downs (3.5 stars) this past week. Enjoyed them both very much."

I really liked Bangkok Tattoo. Good choice!

Finished The Moche Warrior by Lyn Hamilton, the 3rd book in the Lara McClintoch archeological mystery series. It was an entertaining adventure, moving around the world from Toronto to New York to Peru.. 3 stars

Started the 4th book in my 12+4 with the first Inspector Morse mystery, Last Bus to Woodstock. I've been watching the TV series on our PBS Station the last couple of months and look forward to comparing 'Book' Morse with 'TV' Morse.

I haven't read any of these books, I have read the first 2 book in the Body Farm series, but not the third. Might have to get back into it, I remember liking the series. Definitely going through your list, always looking for more books to add to my ever growing TBR shelf.

Stephanie wrote: "I haven't read any of these books, I have read the first 2 book in the Body Farm series, but not the third. Might have to get back into it, I remember liking the series. Definitely going through yo..."

If I can help add to your reading enjoyment, I'm happy.. :)

I finished by Mo Hayder, the second Jack Caffery thriller, part of my ongoing series challenge. For all the frustrations, specifically how Caffery's personal demons tend to take over the case he is working on, it's an excellent, tense thriller. (4 stars). Trying my first Clive Cussler (Isaac Bell #1) next. I've been collecting some of the books from the various series for the past couple of years and have been looking forward to trying them. So this is my first;

Finished The Chase this morning, a nicely paced, entertaining historical thriller. Isaac Bell is an interesting hero and I'm looking forward to reading more in this series. I also like the historical aspect, a very interesting time, the US in the early 1900's. I enjoyed. 3.5 stars

Hi Bill, my husband has read Clive Cussler and enjoyed his books. Are they more for men than women?

Amanda wrote: "Hi Bill, my husband has read Clive Cussler and enjoyed his books. Are they more for men than women?"

I've only read the one so far but I remember watching some of the movies based on the Dirk Pitt stories and, if you like a good adventure/ thriller, then you might enjoy.

Starting my 5th book in my 12 + 4 challenge, Beast In View by Canadian mystery writer, Margaret Millar.

I finished my 5th book this morning. Beast In View by Margaret Millar was a true gem. I've enjoyed a couple of her other books in the past few years, when I've been able to find copies. The Soft Talkers was one of my favourites of last year. Beast in View is another 5-star read. It's such an interesting story. I love how Millar plots her story. Is it about Helen Clarvoe, who lives alone in her apartment, isolated from the world about her? Is it about Mr. Blackshear, Helen's financial adviser, bored with his work, who she asks to help him find the woman who made the distressing call to Helen and who begins to conduct an investigation on her behalf? Or is it about Evelyn Merrick, the woman who makes the initial call to Helen and who seems to be making many calls to people that have upset her? I loved how it moved along, from the one character to the other, how the tension builds, how the story surprisingly makes a turn to the left. Excellent, excellent!! She is such a wonderful writer... Making a move to the thriller genre for my next selection, Lost Girls by Andrew Pyper.

I finished , a collection of short stories by Peter O'Donnell, featuring the talented heroine, Modesty Blaise and her ever-present right-hand man and best friend, Willie Garvin. It's always fun to immerse myself in this world. (3 stars). Next up is a collection by Dorothy L. Sayers, featuring her sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey; .

I'll have to pull my Modesty Blaze books off the shelf again. I had a huge crush on Willy Gavin in high school.

M. wrote: "I'll have to pull my Modesty Blaze books off the shelf again. I had a huge crush on Willy Gavin in high school."

He's definitely an interesting fella..

I finished yesterday. It is a collection of short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, that excellent sleuth. Dorothy Sayers has created a wonderful character in Lord Peter and each short story in this selection is excellent. I especially liked the last story as it was quite different and showed a different side to Lord Peter. Excellent read and it continued my enjoyment of this series. (4 stars). Starting the first book in the Inspector Adamsberg series next, by Fred Vargas