English Mysteries Club discussion

This is the thread to discuss our monthly group read for October, which is The Body in the Marsh by Nick Louth.

This book tied with our previous modern English mystery, in the poll, so we will be reading it next 😊

Who's in for this one?

My life is a mess right now what with caretaking, but I’m in, and I do so enjoy these group reads.

Interestingly, I’m ordering this book from Great Britain as it was cheaper than getting it from the states (where I reside). Of course my library doesn’t have it….

It's cheap on kindle.uk if that helps anyone!

Sounds great! I can't wait to read it...in-between my Carlene O'Connor Irish Village mysteries!

The October read is a book I already have stashed away on my kindle! I’m sorry I’ve been inactive I developed night sweats and my lupus was active which made it impossible to sleep, or read, or concentrate, all summer. But now that it is cooler - I’m back!

Glad things are a little easier for you Joan; that sounds rough.

Looking forward to everyone's thoughts!

Oddly, our library has 103 copies of the audiobook 🤔 so i’ll gladly join you!

What? Surely that must be a mistake? ... 😂

I got my copy and am ready to start

Started listening last night, the narrator is terrific but his voice is too soothing, fell asleep just after chapter 2 😹
Will try again tonight!

Bionic Jean wrote: "What? Surely that must be a mistake? ... 😂"

There’s definitely not that much demand for the book. Maybe there was a big discount sale? 😜

Very odd! Ah well, as long as you have it 😊

I've already got this on Kindle, and this is a new to me author, so I'll be joining in.

103 audio copies! Perhaps someone made a typo error when ordering or entering the audio book into the inventory 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Icewineanne wrote: "Started listening last night, the narrator is terrific but his voice is too soothing, fell asleep just after chapter 2 😹
Will try again tonight!"

I'm also listening and agree the narrator is terrific! I am about half-way through and loving this book. It's odd but the soothing nature of the narrator's voice that put you to sleep is helping me slip past the more violent moments/finds without much ado. Love the characters and anyway, procedurals ae my fave.

Sharon wrote: "Icewineanne wrote: "Started listening last night, the narrator is terrific but his voice is too soothing, fell asleep just after chapter 2 😹
Will try again tonight!"

I'm also listening and agree t..."

Always enjoy a good procedural puzzle too

This read officially starts today. Who else is in for this modern mystery?

I read this book in 2 days because it just sucked me in (housework can wait)! I really enjoyed how well paced the book was, all the characters were fairly interesting and fully developed. I really liked how the investigation techniques were explained and expanded, some may find this boring but I enjoyed it. I really didn't have any idea who the killer was until about 3/4 through but I never figured it out completely. I did find myself getting tired of Gillard's fixation with Liz but that disappeared with the ending, so it's all good. I enjoyed this book so much that I've already downloaded the next one in the series!

Wow, it sounds fantastic Jenyfer! What a great find ... who nominated this one?

Thanks for this 😊

Jennifer, I agree! I listened to the book and finished almost before I began. I loved the twists, the pacing, the procedural detail, and the cat and mouse of it all. Great choice! I’ll be reading more by this author.

I started reading this yesterday and finished a short while ago. I really enjoyed reading this. At the beginning I didn't really like Gillard, but as the you get further into the book he does grow on you. It was easy to detect who the killer was, but not all of the elaborate planning that was undertaken. Will definitely read more books in this series.

I enjoyed this book. I sensed what was going to happen but all the same, it was a really good read.

I'm happy this is so popular - it's great to find a new series! Thanks to whoever nominated it, and thanks for waiting too!

I was delighted to find that my library has the entire series on ebooks using Hoopla. I listened to The Body on the Shore and enjoyed it so much that I continued with the series and am now in the middle of the third book. So glad to have discovered this author!

Fantastic, Kathy! It sounds as though lots of members will enjoy this one! And there's still just over two weeks to fit it in 😊

This book is not my favorite sort of cozy because of the grislier descriptions in it, but for its type, it definitely had a hold on my attention through the end.

Ah, I feel that way too with some books Liisa. Sorry about that!

Not bad; not great. It kept my interest but there was a lot to annoy me.

The police mishandling of evidence was shocking (it's not all to blame on the (view spoiler)[ bad cop (hide spoiler)]). One expects some procedure in a police procedural.

I never really warmed up to the MC. Usually detectives are smarter than the average bear, but I guessed the mystery (view spoiler)[actual victim and actual perpetrator (hide spoiler)] from the get-go (of course, I had the "benefit" of (view spoiler)[the prologue—which was another annoyance—why give away the entire mystery in the beginning of the book? (hide spoiler)]). But (view spoiler)[sleeping with coworkers, dating key witnesses, and worst of all, taking drinks from suspected murderers you've just caught? ("Oh, I promise you I didn't drug your drink!" "Oh, all right then, cheers!" I mean, seriously?!) (hide spoiler)]

I didn't love the third person limited multiple POV perspective. I would have preferred a third person omniscient in this situation, if telling the tale from only DCI Craig Gillard's POV was impossible.

And what's with the constant use of full names and titles? Once we are introduced to the characters, can we drop the formalities, please? "DC Shireen Corey-Williams" doesn't exactly role off the tongue, 20 chapters after she's first been introduced, and even in the last chapter, the author is still referring to his MC as "DCI Craig Gillard."

Mixed reactions to this one ... It will be archived in a couple of days, but still remain open for any further comments.

I’ve been mulling The body in the Marsh over. Although I enjoyed the ride with its twists and turns, I struggled with this book at times. Maybe procedurals are not for me.

Thanks for commenting Florence. It seems as though quite a few people felt this way!