English Mysteries Club discussion

Is anyone in this group interested in doing a reading bingo challenge? I recently came across two different ones that were specifically for mysteries...

The first one is called the Silver Vintage Mystery Bingo

I'm doing one with a few friends that we made up but I think this vintage mystery one sounds great. I'm in. I might be able to pull it off just by reading Agatha Christie books. :)

What does 'TBR First Lines*' mean?

Amy wrote: "What does 'TBR First Lines*' mean?"

I am not sure. I will take a look at the page I found this to see if the * gives an explanation.

Looking more closely, the second one was almost identical. Oh well.

Would you run it by drawing a category each week/fortnight so everyone had to read a book fitting that, or would it just be up to the individual to read a line/entire card, or ...?

Ella's Gran wrote: "Would you run it by drawing a category each week/fortnight so everyone had to read a book fitting that, or would it just be up to the individual to read a line/entire card, or ...?"

I think it would be better to leave it up to each person to decide whether to do a single row/column or to do more.

Regarding the TBR First Lines, here is what I found:
"TBR First Lines = randomly select four books from your TBR stacks …. Read only the first sentence of each one and choose which book to read for this square based on that sentence."

I'm interested.

I'll give it a go. You'll need to guide me through technical issues of how to mark off the card etc. Good a reading but tech stuff ...! ☺

looks fun but I too am not sure how to mark off a bingo card - any advice?

Penny wrote: "looks fun but I too am not sure how to mark off a bingo card - any advice?"

I just discovered a way yesterday -- a bit cumbersome so if anyone knows a better way I would be happy to learn about it!

I downloaded the original graphic (which you can do from message #2), then used Microsoft Paint to add shapes to mark off the squares done (other programs could also be used for this such as Powerpoint). If you want to post your progress here, you can then upload your modified jpg to your profile and link to it here. I can give more detailed instructions for any part of that process either here or in a personal message.

Will this be only for books we haven't read yet? I think it will be more challenging if we don't fill in spaces with previously read books.
Will we discuss as we go along what books we've read for the different categories?

Jean-Luke wrote: "What about just transforming the card into the above, then changing each X to an O as you progress? Though of course this would mean that those taking part will have to keep referencing the orginal picture, but at least others will be able to see how you're progressing.

Just be sure to skip a few lines at the beginning or the columns will not be correctly aligned...."

Excellent idea!

@Diane -- yes, it would be for books read during 2015. And I think much of the fun comes from discussing what we chose & seeing what others pick, so yes to discussion!

Here is my 6x6 grid -- I added spaces because the other hurt my eyes!: (updated 6 Feb; 4 Feb; 22 Jan.)

S  I  L  V  E  R
O X X O O O
O X X O O O
O O O O O X
O O O X O O
X X X O O O
O X X X O O

(23 Jan.) I am following Ella's Gran's lead and identifying column & row...
(4 Feb.) updated my square:
(11 Feb.) changed letter coding from ABCDEF to SILVER
(27 Feb. update); (18 March update); (2 April update)
(27 April update) Rearranging by column:

S1 Color in the title: A Red Herring Without Mustard (1/15)
S2 Book set outside US/Europe: Voice of the Violin (2/2)
S3 Book about a crime other than murder: Appleby's End (2/24)
S4 Locked room or impossible mystery: The Three Coffins (4/26)
S6 Book with a professional detective: Strange Shores: An Inspector Erlendur Novel (3/3)

I3 A book with an animal in the title: The Quick Red Fox (4/1)
I4 Book by an author never read before: Deadly Valentine by Jenna Harte (2/7)

L3 Amateur detective: Out on a Limb: A Smoky Mountain Mystery (4/19)
L4 Man in the title: Bony and the Kelly Gang (4/13)

V1 Country house mystery: A Night of Errors (4/19)
V2 Book with a lawyer/barrister: Rumpole of the Bailey (4/26)
V3 Book already read by another challenger: The Mad Hatter Mystery (5/21) {read in March by Martha}
V5 Book involves clergy or religion: Wine of Violence (4/27)

E1 Mystery with a detective team: How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny (2/12)
E2 Book with a time, day or month in title: January Exposure (1/9)
E3 Book published in my birth year: Silence Observed (8/29)
E4 Short stories: Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories (3/15)
E5 Book set in England or U.S.: The Deep Blue Good-By {Florida, U.S.} (1/19)
E6 Book I had to borrow: She Shall Have Murder (1/13)

R1 Method of murder in the title: Why Shoot a Butler? 2/4
R2 Book published under more than one title: The Paper Thunderbolt 7/9 (other title is Operation Pax)
R4 Historical mystery: The Masuda Affair (3/19)
R5 Author with a pseudonym: Room with a Clue by Kate Kingsbury (aka Doreen Roberts, Rebecca Kent, Allison Kingsley) (3/22)
R6 Eat, drink, and be merry: Excursion to Tindari (3/17) (bit of a stretch but there are plenty of details about what Montalbano has to eat!)

I read the first book in the challenge and set up a Silver Mystery Challenge category under My Books. Thirty six. That's a lot of mysteries. Three a month for a year sounds do-able.

O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O
S1 Mystery in White 4/7.
S2 Angelica's Smile 3/4 audio
S3 The Patience of the Spider 3/1 audio, reader not best in world but story good enough to carry it
S4 In Spite of Thunder 8/14 not the best Carr I've read. Actually, I found it annoying for some reason. Read his other mysteries.
S5 The Nursing Home Murder 5/19
S6 The Vows of Silence 3/20 very good - #4 in a series with lots of character pathos

I1 A Pinch of Poison - 5/16 "Max Fineberg sat on the running-board and the late July heat sat on his shoulders."
I2 Vertigo 42 2/13 - Not the best of the Richard Jury series; not enough of Wiggins, Melrose, and Aunt Agatha.
I3 Death of a Kingfisher 8/8- audio book
I4 What Was Lost 2/8 - audio book
I5 The Various Haunts of Men 4/4
I6 Blanche Cleans Up 3/3 a lot of fun

L1 Steal the Show: A Willis Gidney Mystery 7/29
L2 The Third Man 2/16 - excellent
L3 The Crime at Black Dudley 5/4 very good
L4 Armadale 7/22 an excellent Victorian page turner
L5 The Jewels of Paradise 3/17
L6 The Girl on the Train 2/28 super; discovered it looking for a transportation mystery

V1 Appleby and the Ospreys 2/10
V2 The Cutting Season 6/3 excellent book and excellent reader
V3 The Three Coffins 5/29 read by Leslie
V4 Find Me 4/9 serial killer, not what I would normally read at all
V5 Reverend Randollph and the Holy Terror 8/4
V6 Doctored Evidence 3/22 author Donna Leon - first name begins with same letter as mine

E1 Death of an Old Girl 1/22
E2 A Catered Fourth of July 1/24 - It was a light "cozy" mystery but possibly the reader (it was audio) made it sound lighter than it was. Readers can make a big difference.
E3 Foggy, Foggy Death 4/18 published in the year of a friend
E4 Green for Danger: The Official Anthology of the Crime Writers' Association 5/7 a collection of short mysteries
E5 The Norths Meet Murder 5/14 Set in the U.S.
E6 Identical 7/21

R1 Spotted Hemlock 5/2 method of murder in title
R2 The Children Return 7/4 this was published everywhere else as Children of War
R3 The Long Skeleton 4/16 size in title
R4 A Rich Full Death 2/26 super good
R5 The Moving Toyshop 2/2 - I liked this one a lot and want to read the rest of the series
R6 Bowled Over 8/1 audio

Here's my grid.


XO O O O O
O O O O O X
O O O O O O
O O O O X O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O

S1
S2 Set anywhere not USA or England Fallout 07/29/2015 (set in NZ)
S3Mystery not murder The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding: Hercule Poirot 04/24/2015
S4Locked room The Mystery of the Yellow Room 10/19/2015
S5 Nurse/Doctor The Nursing Home Murder 11/05/2015
S6 Detective Death on Demand 04/16/2015

I1 TBR First lines Knit One, Kill Two 04/23/2015
I2 Number in title Service for Two 03/13/2015
I3 Animal in title Bats and Bones 08/23/2015
I4 Author not read before More Work for the Undertaker 03/28/2015
I5 Something spooky on cover (skull & cross bones)Plum Island 05/28/2015
I6 Woman in title Aunt Dimity's Death 05/22/2015

L1Set in entertainment world A Christmas Homecoming 04/25/2015
L2Made into a film/tv The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side 11/19/2015
L3Amateur detective Bogey Nights: A Bogey Man Mystery 1/29
L4Man in title The Ringmaster 09/04/2015
L5 Academic (college campus) Strangled Prose 04/17/2015
L6 Mode of transport The Girl on the Train 03/05


V1Country house setting The Clock Strikes Twelve 06/20
V2Lawyer courtroom New Tricks 1/24
V3Another challenger read Why Shoot a Butler? 02/16
V4Outside comfort zone Milkshake 10/06/2015 -political thriller/mystery, not my first love.
V5 Involves clergy Saint Brigid's Bones: A Celtic Adventure 05/06
V6 Author last name same initial as my first name Lesley (author Kylie Logan) Button Holed 02/21

E1Detective team Overture to Death 10/19/2015
E2Time in title Dead By Midnight 05/12
E3Pub. in year of birth She Shall Have Murder 1/19
E4
E5 Set in US Murder on the Ghost Walk 02/27
E6Borrowed Perfect Sins: A Mystery 2/1

R1 Method of murder in title Murder by Yew 06/21
R2
R3 Size in title Big Little Lies 02/25
R4 Historical Mystery Church of Marvels 06/13
R5 Author with a pseudonym Murder Most Frothy 03/21/2015
R6 Food features A Slice of Murder 02/18

How long do we have to complete the challenge or is it who ever finishes first?

Sorry - another question. Do all the novels have to be by English authors?

Martha wrote: "How long do we have to complete the challenge or is it who ever finishes first?"

Well, it is just for fun so no firm deadline. I guess the calendar year of 2015...

Martha wrote: "Sorry - another question. Do all the novels have to be by English authors?"

No, unless you want to really make it a very challenging challenge :D

Can I add Jeffrey Archer's Clifton Chronicles in this category??

Our book of the month this month could fit into several different categories: country house mystery (D1), mystery with a lawyer/barrister (D2), method of murder in the title (F1)...

I'll have to see where it will help me most.

I just edited my previously created grid with updates. Is this how you would like us to post updates?

Will the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency would meet the "Detective Team” requirements?

And can someone recommend a book with a size in the title. I haven't been able to find one.

Martha wrote: "And can someone recommend a book with a size in the title. I haven't been able to find one."

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler was the first thing that came to mind; would that count? And there's "The Long Divorce," by Edmund Crispin, and "The Long Skeleton," by Richard and Frances Lockridge, or "Death has a Small Voice," also by the Lockridges.

Diane wrote: "I just edited my previously created grid with updates. Is this how you would like us to post updates?"

I think that is easiest but I leave it up to the individual members.

@Martha, I am not sure who would be part of the "team" in that -- Mma Precious Ramotswe and who? My memory was that she worked mostly alone in that one...

I think I might have to try this one, but to make it challenging for me, I will probably go for covering the whole card (I read WAY too much and VERY fast). It's already nearly the middle of February, but since I am starting now, I will only go with books that I read from here on out. This will make a 3rd challenge for me this year - The March Madness in Cozy Mysteries that I have technically already finished, but still have two categories to go to have all the categories covered, and the 2015 Reading Challenge that I set for myself to read 365 books this year and am already way ahead of the curve on. Hopefully this will keep me out of trouble, but I somehow doubt it...

Great Kay! I'm in awe of your goal of 356 books! A book a day is too fast for me, especially with some of the longer classics I love to read :)

Karen wrote: "Martha wrote: "And can someone recommend a book with a size in the title. I haven't been able to find one."

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler was the first thing that came to mind; would that co..."
Very good and thanks for the suggestions. I couldn't think of anything for that category either.

Diane wrote: "Karen wrote: "Martha wrote: "And can someone recommend a book with a size in the title. I haven't been able to find one."

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler was the first thing that came to mind;..."

Me neither so thanks from me too.

Thank you all for your suggestions. For some reason I wasn't thinking big, small etc.

So far I've discovered two super good books by trying to fill specific slots - A Rich Full Death and The Moving Toyshop
I've been updating the chart I made in message 15.

I absolutely love The Moving Toyshop!!

My library system, which is large, doesn't carry any of Edmund Crispin's other books. How disappointing.

Is anyone else still working on this challenge?

I am! Just haven't had a chance to update recently... But I am going to count Appleby's End as a book with a mystery other than murder (S3).

Too bad that your library doesn't carry Crispin -- other than the first book, I enjoyed them all.

I'm still doing the challenge. My library doesn't have any of Edmund Crispin's books! However I see they are on finally being released for Kindle but not until June 2015 - for me anyway.

Leslie wrote: "I am! Just haven't had a chance to update recently... But I am going to count Appleby's End as a book with a mystery other than murder"

Wow, a mystery not dealing with murder is difficult to find. We may all end up with Appleby's End for that category. I read my first Appleby mystery, Appleby And The Ospreys to cover the country house mystery. It was enjoyable.
I just finished a super mystery for the transportation category, The Girl on the Train. One of the narrators travels by train to and fro daily and keeps track of a couple in a house on the way.

Diane wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I am! Just haven't had a chance to update recently... But I am going to count Appleby's End as a book with a mystery other than murder"

Wow, a mystery not dealing w..."

Ive just started reading this today.I'm only on page 102 and it's intriguing.

OK I couldnt work out how to do it any other way so am following Jean-Luke's grid

S I L V E R
X X X X X X
X O X X X X
X X X X X X
X X X X X X
X X X X X X
X X X X X X

I2 book with a number in the title Five Dead Canaries

Penny wrote: "I2 book with a number in the title Five Dead Canaries."

The Goodreads blurb sounded intriguing. Was it good?

Update 8/5/2015:
Update 12/5/2015 - rearranged some of the titles into other categories.
Update 12/22/2015 - added last books. Finished Challenge

O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O
O O O O O O

S1 Color in the title:The Man in the Brown Suit 12/3/2015
S2 Book set anywhere except the U.S. or England:A Cereal Killer 3/5/2015
S3 Book that features a crime other than murder: Aunt Dimity's Death 10/10/2015
S4 Locked room or impossible crime: Cover Her Face 3/8/2015
S5 Read a medical mystery (or features Dr. or Nurse): The Nursing Home Murder 12/22/2015
S6 A book with a professional detective: The Daughter of Time 2/1/2015

I1 TBR First Lines: Still Life 3/16/2015
I2 Number or quantity in the title: The Big Four 3/5/2015
I3 Read one book with an animal in the title: Cat on the Edge 12/14/2015
I4 An author I’ve never read before: The Mad Hatter Mystery 2/28/2015
I5 Something “spooky” in the title: Cat Cross Their Graves 2/8/2015
I6 A book with a women in the title: Aunt Bessie Decides 2/2/2015

L1 Book set in the entertainment world: The Postman Always Purls Twice 6/19/2015
L2 Made into a movie or TV show: Death on the Nile 3/3/2015
L3 A book with an amateur detective: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder 2/22/2015
L4 A book with a man in the title: For the Love of Mike 7/15/2015
L5 Academic mystery: Inferno 3/15/2015
L6 Read one book that involves a mode of transportation: Murder on the Ballarat Train 12/20/2015

V1 A book set in a country house: A Man Lay Dead 5/15/2015
V2 A book with a lawyer, courtroom, judge: Dark Fire 7/4/2015
V3 Read a book already read by a fellow challenger: Why Shoot a Butler? 2/17/2015
V4 a book outside your confort zone: My Sister's Grave 4/10/2015
V5 Read a book that involves the clergy or religion: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late 12/14/2015
V6 Author whose last name begins with the same letter as mine: Plagued By Quilt 2/17/2015

E1 A book with a detective "Team": The Secret Adversary 4/5/2015
E2 A book with time, day, month, etc, in the title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story 2/20/2015
E3 Birthday - published 1930 year of my father’s birth: Murder at the Vicarage 2/23/2015
E4 Read a short story collection: Murder in the Mews 12/10/2015
E5 A book set in England or the U.S.: Death of Riley 4/24/2015
E6 A book that you have to borrow: The Body in the Library 5/102015

R1 A book with a method of murder in the title: Strangled Prose 4/24/2015
R2 A book Published under more than one title:Dumb Witness 8/17/2015
R3 A book with a size in the title: Five Little Pigs 5/3/2015
R4 Historical mystery: In Like Flynn 8/28/2015
R5 Book written by an author with a pseudonym: Oh Danny Boy 12/3/2015
R6 Eat, drink, & be merry: Peach Cobbler Murder 2/11/2015

Leslie wrote: "Great Kay! I'm in awe of your goal of 356 books! A book a day is too fast for me, especially with some of the longer classics I love to read :)"

I read so fast that I am already way ahead of my goal... Being that I am disabled and currently mostly bedridden, reading is one of the few things I can do to help pass the time. That and knitting socks. And I'm on a break from knitting right now...

Kay wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Great Kay! I'm in awe of your goal of 356 books! A book a day is too fast for me, especially with some of the longer classics I love to read :)"

I read so fast that I am already wa..."

I gather from that that you don't listen to audiobooks while you knit -- I find knitting and listening to audiobooks a great combination. Imagine how many books you could finish then!

I just finished a book, The Patience of the Spider,that did not involve murder (S3) and it was very good in spite of the reader (it was an audio book).

And another audio by the same author as the Patience of the Spider - Angelica's Smile. This takes are of S2, a mystery that takes place in another country.

I found an academic mystery, The Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon, who wrote a very good series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti of Venice. This book was not part of the series. It was interesting but not particularly thrilling.
Does anyone know of a book published under more than one title? I'm guessing it would be one published with one name in Britain and another in the US.

I have read a few mysteries since my last update. A couple are obvious fits to the bingo squares:

S6 Book with a professional detective: Strange Shores: An Inspector Erlendur Novel - very good entry in this Icelandic mystery series but would suffer if read as a stand-alone
E4 Short stories: Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories -- very fun if you like Agatha Christie

My current mystery is a historical fiction mystery (R4) set in 11th century Japan -- The Masuda Affair. I love this I.J. Parker series :)

The last one, Excursion to Tindari, I am tenatively assigning to R6 (Eat, drink, and be merry; mystery involving food, drink or a celebration) (bit of a stretch but there are plenty of details about what Montalbano has to eat!). But I could also use it as R2 - mystery published under more than one title (also published as La gita a Tindari in the original Italian)

Leslie, did like the Montalbano mystery? I read two of his looking for mysteries to fit the bingo categories. The fun part of this challenge has been the discovery of new (to me) authors.

Diane wrote: "Leslie, did like the Montalbano mystery? I read two of his looking for mysteries to fit the bingo categories. The fun part of this challenge has been the discovery of new (to me) authors."

I did! I had read a couple out of order before but a few months ago decided to start over from the beginning (well actually I started with #2) and read them in order. I am finding the characters are really growing on me, even Catarella ("is that you boss poissonly in poisson?").

Leslie wrote: "is that you boss poissonly in poisson?"
I kept wondering how Catarella acquired a Brooklyn accent.

Diane wrote: "Leslie wrote: "is that you boss poissonly in poisson?"
I kept wondering how Catarella acquired a Brooklyn accent."

LOL! I do imagine his voice as having a Brooklyn accent in my head! The translator Stephen Sartarelli explained Catarella's accent in his end notes to one of the early books (The Shape of Water maybe) -- his Sicilian accent I guess could be an Italian equivalent of a Brooklyn accent :D

I've found two books of one of my favorite mystery writers, Donna Leon, that will fit categories. I've been updating my original post with the grid, message #15.
Besides her wonderful descriptions of the food, I find the relationship of Commissario Guido Brunetti and his wife appealing. Added bonus, it takes place in Venice and casts a different light on it, hopefully an accurate light, from what we tourists would see.