English Mysteries Club discussion

Our group read for February will be Death in Delft by Graham Brack, which has won our poll for a more modern English murder mystery.

Death in Delft is set in 1671, and is the first historical murder investigation in the Master Mercurius Mystery series.

Who will be joining in with this one?

So glad my nomination won! I´ll definitely join. :)

Great! And thanks for nominating it Michaela - it was a popular win. I've just found it's only 99p on kindle, so l've bought it ready 😊

I'm in too :-)

Count me in. Sounds intriguing.

Still a few days to go - plenty of time to get your copy!

Our library unfortunately doesn’t have any copies, must check amazon

Hi, is this book only available in kindle format? I have trouble finding it: the bookstores don’t seem to have it and can’t even order it (paper version) and it’s not available on an epub format (I need this format for my ereader).

Sorry I should have added that I’m searching from the Netherlands.

Christi wrote: "Hi, is this book only available in kindle format? I have trouble finding it: the bookstores don’t seem to have it and can’t even order it (paper version) and it’s not available on an epub format (I..."

I have an epub file. I can send it to you by email :-)
If you agree, you can message me your email address, let me know.
Same to other people who need it ( but only epub file, no other format )

Christi wrote: "Hi, is this book only available in kindle format?"

No, I make sure possible group reads are available in accessible formats - this is on kindle.uk, in paperback and on audio. Usually that means it's relatively easy to get in other countries (I'm in the UK) but I'm sorry you've been having problems 🤔

Thanks Tiziana, for helping Christi! 😊

I’m new but count me in as well

Great!

Bionic Jean wrote: "Thanks Tiziana, for helping Christi! 😊"

Always a pleasure to be useful and if anyone else needs an epub file I'll be glad to send it by email.

On the German page it´s also available for about one Euro on Kindle, and free on Kindle Unlimited.

We begin this today!

I just started it this morning and it's a very smooth read.
From the first pages it sounds intriguing :-)

Oh good! Thanks for kicking this off, Tiziana 😊

I started yesterday and I’m on chapter 7. I’m at 49%. The book has very long chapters, but despite this, the book is a great read and it is hard to put down. 😎🙃😎

Initially I was more enthusiastic, but as I continued reading I found it lacking in tension and even if the main character is nice, this isn't enough to entice me to read other books by the author.
I'm at 45% and could still change my mind, although I don't think the book will change pace

I’ve finished reading this book and I must say that it is a very well written book. The book is a very interesting book and very entertaining. I enjoyed it immensely. And I gave it five stars. A new series for me. 🙃😎🙃

Tiziana wrote: "Initially I was more enthusiastic, but as I continued reading I found it lacking in tension and even if the main character is nice, this isn't enough to entice me to read other books by the author...."

I’m so sorry to hear that you are not liking the book. Maybe you should put it down and come back to it later. 🤫☺️

Zain wrote: "Tiziana wrote: "Initially I was more enthusiastic, but as I continued reading I found it lacking in tension and even if the main character is nice, this isn't enough to entice me to read other book..."
No , I'm going on ( I'm at 80% through the book), 'cause if I put it down I'll never take it again.
I agree it's well written, but not so interesting to me. I like the main character and his irony, but to me the investigation is a little bit boring, no actions , no twists...
If it was a classic from the Golden Age I wouldn't expect anything different, but considering it's setting I expected something something more lively. Furthermore, I really like historical notions, but here most of them concern religion and after a while I got tired of them. Even too many quotes in Latin (although the author later repeated them in English).

This book was on my WTR list anyway and the worst group reading I've ever had was actually a book proposed by me (months ago), so my comment it's not a criticism of whoever proposed the book, it's just that the mystery doesn't offer the pathos that I expected from it.

We always welcome varied opinions here, thanks both! And please don't worry about criticising anyone's choice either. Until you've read a book, nobody knows whether they will really like it 😀 I've done the same as you, Tiziana! And Zain, you are making me want to give this book a try as soon as I can!

Bionic Jean wrote: "We always welcome varied opinions here, thanks both! And please don't worry about criticising anyone's choice either. Until you've read a book, nobody knows whether they will really like it 😀 I've ..."

:-) Thanks Joan, you always so kind and a great group leader !

Thanks Tiziana - I really do mean this! We just do our best to be honest about what we think.

Apparently I read this in Sept of 2021. Goodreads tells me this. Don't remember anything about it but since I gave it 3 stars I will not be doing a reread. The fact I don't remember the plot is not the books fault however. My memory if I've read a book only once is nonexistent.

I'm that way too Ellen! When I first joined GR I gave everything I knew I'd read but couldn't remember 3 stars, and changed it if a reread showed it needed altering. Now I review everything I read, and that helps me remember 😊 I wish I'd done this years ago, but it's not a way which suits everyone!

I started this book at the end of January and finished at the beginning of the month, less than a week ago and I'm already forgetting most of the plot. There were some interesting tidbits, especially since part of my background is Dutch Reformed, and I loved Vermeer, but otherwise not my fave. I think I have become a very spoiled reader.

I started it today and find it really good so far.

I finished it yesterday and here is available my review :

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

There are no spoilers, just one at the bottom of the review, but it is WELL HIDDEN WITH THE SPOILER TAG, as Goodreads teaches us to do :-)

I really liked this book and wonder how other readers took the title of Vermeer’s work at the end—although maybe some would prefer to discuss at the end of the month so as not to spoil others’ reading who have not completed it yet? I’m really left realizing there was more to this book than a simple mystery and I love that.

I do hope to read this, but it would be the last week in the month 🤔 I thought I was managing my various reads quite well, but everything went pear-shaped today ... 😥

It's particularly interesting to me though, as my father's family were Dutch, and lived in Delft and Amsterdam. I have lots of Delft pottery! 😁

Liisa - I don't know if it's connected, but I did enjoy Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier too, and that was set in Delft too, and about Vermeer.

I’ve added that to my massive “want to read” list! Thanks!

Liisa wrote: "I’ve added that to my massive “want to read” list! Thanks!"

"massive" is the right adjective also for MY WTR list: I have 878 books included in that list, plus at least another 500 that I haven't marked (but have in a list on my PC) .

Every now and then it's nice to see that others are just like us 😅

LOL Tiziana! Oh yes 😊

Liisa - I should say that Girl with a Pearl Earring is not a mystery! It is about the painting by Vermeer and imagining the life of the girl who sat for it. The attraction for me was that it is set in Delft.

I was excited to try a new author and enjoyed this book until, because of one particular passage, the author lost my trust. I will not post the reason here, but I rated the book on my Goodreads shelf. I really wanted to like this book because it was well written.

Still, I will try again with next month's read!

Aw, I'm sorry about that Amy! You can certainly put the reason here, as long as you put it under a spoiler tag.

(Just click the little (some html is ok) at the top right of this comment box, and go to the bottom of the dropdown menu, if you're not sure how.)

Amy wrote: "I was excited to try a new author and enjoyed this book until, because of one particular passage, the author lost my trust. I will not post the reason here, but I rated the book on my Goodreads she..."

Oh noooo... now I'm dying of curiosity!! 😄

Looking forward to it!

Finished it today, and though I liked it on the whole, it somehow got less interesting towards the ending. The main character was divided, but I couldn´t believe all his scruples. Well written, especially the setting, and I enjoyed it mostly. No fan of the name-dropping though.

Why did Brack include a scientist and an artist in this tale? Why are their personalities so different from each other? What is the significance of the story’s last sentence?

Those are the questions that are bothering me!

I'll leave this current for a couple more days before archiving, just to allow any others to finish off 😊

Somebody, please: what’s the last sentence’s significance? Since I started reading the monthly selections, this book has been on my mind the most because I think it is not a simple mystery, but has major undertones. It is wonderful to read something that is not just a story but has substance.

Can anyone help Liisa here, please?