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-   -   MobileRead May 2014 Book Club Nominations (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237976)

WT Sharpe 04-20-2014 12:36 AM
May 2014 Book Club Nominations
 
MobileRead Book Club
May 2014 Nominations

Help us select the book that the MobileRead Book Club will read for May, 2014.

The nominations will run through midnight EST April 30 or until 10 books have made the list. The poll will then be posted and will remain open for five days.

Book selection category for May is:

Mystery/Thriller

In order for a book to be included in the poll it needs THREE NOMINATIONS (original nomination, a second and a third).

How Does This Work?
The Mobile Read Book Club (MRBC) is an informal club that requires nothing of you. Each month a book is selected by polling. On the last week of that month a discussion thread is started for the book. If you want to participate feel free. There is no need to "join" or sign up. All are welcome.

How Does a Book Get Selected?
Each book that is nominated will be listed in a poll at the end of the nomination period. The book that polls the most votes will be the official selection.

How Many Nominations Can I Make?
Each participant has 3 nominations. You can nominate a new book for consideration or nominate (second, third) one that has already been nominated by another person.

How Do I Nominate a Book?
Please just post a message with your nomination. If you are the FIRST to nominate a book, please try to provide an abstract to the book so others may consider their level of interest.

How Do I Know What Has Been Nominated?
Just follow the thread. This message will be updated with the status of the nominations as often as I can. If one is missed, please just post a message with a multi-quote of the 3 nominations and it will be added to the list ASAP.

When is the Poll?
The poll thread will open at the end of the nomination period, or once there have been 10 books with 3 nominations each. At that time a link to the initial poll thread will be posted here and this thread will be closed.

The floor is open to nominations. Please comment if you discover a nomination is not available as an ebook in your area.


Official choices with three nominations each:

(1) The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
Amazon Au / Amazon Ca / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Kobo US
Spoiler:
From Amazon:

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . .

A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London - from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho - The Cuckoo's Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.


(2) Rules of Prey by John Sandford
Amazon US / B&N / Kobo / Overdrive

Spoiler:
"Making his fiction debut, 'Sandford,' a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist using a pseudonym his real name is John Camp, has taken a stock suspense plot--a dedicated cop pursuing an ingenious serial killer--and dressed it up into the kind of pulse-quickening, irresistibly readable thriller that many of the genre's best-known authors would be proud to call their own."


(3) Baltimore Blues (Tess Monaghan #1) by Laura Lippman
Amazon Ca / Amazon US / Kobo (US) / Overdrive
Spoiler:
In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz’s death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer’s notoriety—and his taste for illicit midday trysts—make the case front-page news in every local paper except the Star, which crashed and burned before Abramowitz did. A former Star reporter who knows every inch of this town—from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill—now unemployed journalist Tess Monaghan also knows the guy the cops like for the killing: cuckolded fiancé Darryl “Rock” Paxton. The time is ripe for a career move, so when rowing buddy Rock wants to hire her to do some unorthodox snooping to help clear his name, Tess agrees. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the Charm City shadows. And Tess’ own name could end up on that ever-expanding list of Baltimore dead.


(4) In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddarda
Amazon (UK) / Amazon (US) / Kobo / Overdrive
Spoiler:
Six months after the sudden death of her husband, Leonora Galloway sets out on a trip to France with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin... Leonora takes her daughter to the battlefields of WW1, where her father is commemorated on the Thiepval Monument. But the date of his death is surprising, and reveals that Captain John Hallows cannot possibly have been Leonora's real father.

This is only the start of a series of revelations that span three generations of a distinguished aristocratic family who are not what they seem. Penelope must piece together a tale of war, of loss, of greed, deception and vice - and the perpetrator of a murder left unsolved for more than half a century...


(5) The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
Amazon (CA) / Amazon (UK) / Amazon (US) / B&N (US) / Kobo (AU)
Spoiler:
Named by The Times as one of the top ten crime novels of the decade and winner of the Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the Ned Kelly Award, the Colin Roderick Award and the H.T. Priestly Medal, The Broken Shore is a masterpiece.

Joe Cashin was different once. He moved easily then; was surer and less thoughtful. But there are consequences when you've come so close to dying. For Cashin, they included a posting away from the world of Homicide to the quiet place on the coast where he grew up. Now all he has to do is play the country cop and walk the dogs.

Then prominent local Charles Bourgoyne is bashed and left for dead. Everything seems to point to three boys from the nearby Aboriginal community; everyone seems to want it to. But Cashin is unconvinced. And as tragedy unfolds relentlessly into tragedy, he finds himself holding onto something that might be better let go.

Peter Temple is the author of nine novels, including four books in the Jack Irish series. He has won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction five times, and his widely acclaimed novels have been published in over twenty countries.


(6) Cocaine Blues (Phryne Fisher #1) by Kerry Greenwood
Amazon US / Kobo
Spoiler:
The Amazon description:
Quote:
From Publishers Weekly
The growing American audience for Phryne Fisher, Australian author Greenwood's independent 1920s female sleuth, will be delighted that her diverting first mystery is finally available in the U.S. Fisher's off-the-cuff solving of a high society jewel theft leads her to her first professional engagement when a witness to her brilliance asks her to investigate a possible poisoning-in-progress. The detective's admirable willingness to intervene to help those in distress involves her in a variety of other puzzles, including identifying the King of Snow, who has taken over the Melbourne drug trade. Many of the members of Fisher's entourage familiar from later novels make their debuts as well.

From Booklist
Australian Greenwood has been exporting her outstanding Phryne Fisher series to the U.S. for the past several years, but the books haven't arrived in chronological order. Finally, we have the series debut, which explains how the irrepressible flapper (the series is set in the 1920s) became a detective. Phryne fans will relish the chance to see how beloved characters like Bert, Cec, Dot, and Inspector Robinson wandered into Phryne's life, and newcomers will enjoy getting to know ultrafashionable Phryne, who's wealthy enough to do whatever she wants but whose previous poverty has created a strong empathy for the working class. In Melbourne to investigate the mysterious illness of the daughter of a family friend, Phryne stumbles into a case involving two of the 1920s' signature evils: cocaine and back-alley abortions. Banding together with a crew of colorful local characters, and finding time to indulge in some erotic fun with a sexy Russian dancer, Phryne soon leaves her mark on Melbourne. From beginning to end, Greenwood infuses her series with evocative settings, multidimensional characters, and satisfying mysteries.


(7) Still Life by Louise Penny
Amazon US / B&N / Kobo (US)
Spoiler:
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.


(8) The Water Room (Bryant & May #2) by Christopher Fowler
Amazon Ca / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble (US) / Kobo (US) / OverDrive
Spoiler:
Traditional mystery buffs with a taste for the offbeat will relish British author Fowler's wonderful second contemporary whodunit featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly odd couple, Arthur Bryant and John May (after 2004's Full Dark House). A former colleague asks the eccentric Bryant, whose lack of polish coupled with a razor-sharp mind will remind many of Carter Dickson's Sir Henry Merrivale, to investigate his sister's death. Incredibly, the victim was found dead in her basement, apparently drowned, despite the absence of any moisture on her body or her surroundings. Bryant rapidly loops in his more down-to-earth partner, May, who has also been looking into a mystery with a personal connection—the unusual nocturnal ramblings of a disgraced academic who has begun probing London's underground rivers. More strange deaths follow before the unmasking of the surprising murderer. The author's black humor evokes Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond series, and his successful revival of the impossible crime genre is reminiscent of John Sladek's superb Thackeray Phin novels, Invisible Green and Black Aura. Best known for his horror fiction (Rune, etc.), Fowler should win a whole new set of readers with these fair-play puzzlers.


(9) The Tiger in the Smoke (Albert Campion #14) by Margery Allingham
Kobo Ca
Spoiler:
London, 'the Smoke' to Cockneys and the hipsters who appropriate their slang, is living up to its nickname: an unusual cold snap has combined with the fug from coal-fires to produce the 'Great Smog', blanketing the city in choking shadow. And lurking in those shadows is Jack Havoc, a killer with a particular fondness for knives. Havoc is by far the most dangerous villain that Albert Campion has ever encountered, and his startlingly realistic menace, combined with the light touch common to all the Campion novels, gives the book a modern feel, as it straddles a line between Golden Age detective fiction and contemporary psychological suspense.


(10) Fast One by Paul Cain
Munseys (free)
Spoiler:
It is said to be the hardest of '30s hardboiled detective novels.

Some more detail from an Amazon review:

Quote:
This extremely fast paced story traces the activity of Gerry Kells, gentleman gangster, as he plies his trade in and around Los Angeles. There are no heroes in this novel. Only thieves, gamblers, gunmen, blackmailers and corrupt political bosses.

WT Sharpe 04-20-2014 12:36 AM
Wondering if a particular book is available in your country? The following spoiler contains a list of bookstores outside the United States you can search. If you don't see a bookstore on this list for your country, find one that is, send me the link via PM, and I'll add it to the list.

Spoiler:
Australian
Angus Robertson
Booktopia
Borders
Dymocks
Fishpond
Google

Canada
Amazon. Make sure you are logged out. Then go to the Kindle Store. Search for a book. After the search results come up, in the upper right corner of the screen, change the country to Canada and search away.
Google
Sony eBookstore (Upper right corner switch to/from US/CA)

UK
BooksOnBoard (In the upper right corner is a way to switch to the UK store)
Amazon
Foyle's
Google
Penguin
Random House
Waterstones
WH Smith


*** The Broken Shore by Peter Temple [caleb72, sun surfer, issybird]
Amazon (CA) / Amazon (UK) / Amazon (US) / B&N (US) / Kobo (AU)
Spoiler:
Named by The Times as one of the top ten crime novels of the decade and winner of the Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the Ned Kelly Award, the Colin Roderick Award and the H.T. Priestly Medal, The Broken Shore is a masterpiece.

Joe Cashin was different once. He moved easily then; was surer and less thoughtful. But there are consequences when you've come so close to dying. For Cashin, they included a posting away from the world of Homicide to the quiet place on the coast where he grew up. Now all he has to do is play the country cop and walk the dogs.

Then prominent local Charles Bourgoyne is bashed and left for dead. Everything seems to point to three boys from the nearby Aboriginal community; everyone seems to want it to. But Cashin is unconvinced. And as tragedy unfolds relentlessly into tragedy, he finds himself holding onto something that might be better let go.

Peter Temple is the author of nine novels, including four books in the Jack Irish series. He has won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction five times, and his widely acclaimed novels have been published in over twenty countries.


*** Rules of Prey by John Sandford [John F, Dazrin, BelleZora]
Amazon US / B&N / Kobo / OverDrive

Spoiler:
"Making his fiction debut, 'Sandford,' a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist using a pseudonym his real name is John Camp, has taken a stock suspense plot--a dedicated cop pursuing an ingenious serial killer--and dressed it up into the kind of pulse-quickening, irresistibly readable thriller that many of the genre's best-known authors would be proud to call their own."


*** The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) [sun surfer, caleb72, obs20]
Amazon Au / Amazon Ca / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Kobo US
Spoiler:
From Amazon:

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . .

A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London - from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho - The Cuckoo's Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.


*** Fast One by Paul Cain [GA Russell, BelleZora, fantasyfan]
Munseys (free)
Spoiler:
It is said to be the hardest of '30s hardboiled detective novels.

Some more detail from an Amazon review:

Quote:
This extremely fast paced story traces the activity of Gerry Kells, gentleman gangster, as he plies his trade in and around Los Angeles. There are no heroes in this novel. Only thieves, gamblers, gunmen, blackmailers and corrupt political bosses.


*** In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard [orlok, issybird, sun surfer]
Amazon (UK) / Amazon (US) / Kobo / OverDrive
Spoiler:
Six months after the sudden death of her husband, Leonora Galloway sets out on a trip to France with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin... Leonora takes her daughter to the battlefields of WW1, where her father is commemorated on the Thiepval Monument. But the date of his death is surprising, and reveals that Captain John Hallows cannot possibly have been Leonora's real father.

This is only the start of a series of revelations that span three generations of a distinguished aristocratic family who are not what they seem. Penelope must piece together a tale of war, of loss, of greed, deception and vice - and the perpetrator of a murder left unsolved for more than half a century...


** Love Song of J.Edgar Hoover by Kinky Friedman [obs20, Billi]
Amazon US
Spoiler:
No description provided


*** Baltimore Blues (Tess Monaghan #1) by Laura Lippman [obs20, WT Sharpe, John F]
Amazon Ca / Amazon US / Kobo (US) / OverDrive
Spoiler:
In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz’s death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer’s notoriety—and his taste for illicit midday trysts—make the case front-page news in every local paper except the Star, which crashed and burned before Abramowitz did. A former Star reporter who knows every inch of this town—from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill—now unemployed journalist Tess Monaghan also knows the guy the cops like for the killing: cuckolded fiancé Darryl “Rock” Paxton. The time is ripe for a career move, so when rowing buddy Rock wants to hire her to do some unorthodox snooping to help clear his name, Tess agrees. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the Charm City shadows. And Tess’ own name could end up on that ever-expanding list of Baltimore dead.


** Alone by Lisa Gardner [John F, Billi]
No links provided.
Spoiler:
From goodreads:

Alone . . . Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child. The man’s finger tightens on the trigger and Dodge has only a split second to react . . . and forever pay the consequences.


*** Cocaine Blues (Phryne Fisher #1) by Kerry Greenwood [CRussel, WT Sharpe, Synamon]
Amazon US / Kobo
Spoiler:
The Amazon description:
Quote:
From Publishers Weekly
The growing American audience for Phryne Fisher, Australian author Greenwood's independent 1920s female sleuth, will be delighted that her diverting first mystery is finally available in the U.S. Fisher's off-the-cuff solving of a high society jewel theft leads her to her first professional engagement when a witness to her brilliance asks her to investigate a possible poisoning-in-progress. The detective's admirable willingness to intervene to help those in distress involves her in a variety of other puzzles, including identifying the King of Snow, who has taken over the Melbourne drug trade. Many of the members of Fisher's entourage familiar from later novels make their debuts as well.

From Booklist
Australian Greenwood has been exporting her outstanding Phryne Fisher series to the U.S. for the past several years, but the books haven't arrived in chronological order. Finally, we have the series debut, which explains how the irrepressible flapper (the series is set in the 1920s) became a detective. Phryne fans will relish the chance to see how beloved characters like Bert, Cec, Dot, and Inspector Robinson wandered into Phryne's life, and newcomers will enjoy getting to know ultrafashionable Phryne, who's wealthy enough to do whatever she wants but whose previous poverty has created a strong empathy for the working class. In Melbourne to investigate the mysterious illness of the daughter of a family friend, Phryne stumbles into a case involving two of the 1920s' signature evils: cocaine and back-alley abortions. Banding together with a crew of colorful local characters, and finding time to indulge in some erotic fun with a sexy Russian dancer, Phryne soon leaves her mark on Melbourne. From beginning to end, Greenwood infuses her series with evocative settings, multidimensional characters, and satisfying mysteries.


*** The Tiger in the Smoke (Albert Campion #14) by Margery Allingham [msjo, Billi, treadlightly]
Kobo Ca
Spoiler:
London, 'the Smoke' to Cockneys and the hipsters who appropriate their slang, is living up to its nickname: an unusual cold snap has combined with the fug from coal-fires to produce the 'Great Smog', blanketing the city in choking shadow. And lurking in those shadows is Jack Havoc, a killer with a particular fondness for knives. Havoc is by far the most dangerous villain that Albert Campion has ever encountered, and his startlingly realistic menace, combined with the light touch common to all the Campion novels, gives the book a modern feel, as it straddles a line between Golden Age detective fiction and contemporary psychological suspense.


*** The Water Room (Bryant & May #2) by Christopher Fowler [msjo, WT Sharpe, Mims]
Amazon Ca / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble (US) / Kobo (US) / OverDrive
Spoiler:
Traditional mystery buffs with a taste for the offbeat will relish British author Fowler's wonderful second contemporary whodunit featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly odd couple, Arthur Bryant and John May (after 2004's Full Dark House). A former colleague asks the eccentric Bryant, whose lack of polish coupled with a razor-sharp mind will remind many of Carter Dickson's Sir Henry Merrivale, to investigate his sister's death. Incredibly, the victim was found dead in her basement, apparently drowned, despite the absence of any moisture on her body or her surroundings. Bryant rapidly loops in his more down-to-earth partner, May, who has also been looking into a mystery with a personal connection—the unusual nocturnal ramblings of a disgraced academic who has begun probing London's underground rivers. More strange deaths follow before the unmasking of the surprising murderer. The author's black humor evokes Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond series, and his successful revival of the impossible crime genre is reminiscent of John Sladek's superb Thackeray Phin novels, Invisible Green and Black Aura. Best known for his horror fiction (Rune, etc.), Fowler should win a whole new set of readers with these fair-play puzzlers.


*** Still Life by Louise Penny [msjo, issybird, BelleZora]
Amazon US / B&N / Kobo (US)
Spoiler:
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.


* The Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child [orlok]
Amazon Au / Amazon UK / Amazon US
Spoiler:
In and around a fictionalized version of New York City's American Museum of Natural History, a few select characters must solve a string of brutal murders that take place inside the museum during the days preceding the opening of "Superstition", a spectacular blockbuster exhibition.

Evidence begins to point suspiciously to a doomed expedition undertaken by the museum several years earlier to the Brazilian rainforest in search of the lost Kothoga tribe. It becomes apparent that behind the murders is Mbwun (translation: "He Who Walks On All Fours")—the Kothoga's crazed lizard god, whose father happens to be a demon analogous to Satan, according to Kothoga legend. A relic depicting Mbwun is to be shown for the first time at the upcoming exhibition.

It also appears that several museum leaders had known about previous murders on the museum's premises and that they had conspired to keep these murders a secret so as not to damage the reputation of the museum.

Voted #64 in the NPR audience-nominated top 100 "Killer Thrillers" poll.

caleb72 04-20-2014 08:53 AM
For my first nomination I'd like to put forward The Broken Shore by Peter Temple.

Quote:
Named by The Times as one of the top ten crime novels of the decade and winner of the Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the Ned Kelly Award, the Colin Roderick Award and the H.T. Priestly Medal, The Broken Shore is a masterpiece.

Joe Cashin was different once. He moved easily then; was surer and less thoughtful. But there are consequences when you've come so close to dying. For Cashin, they included a posting away from the world of Homicide to the quiet place on the coast where he grew up. Now all he has to do is play the country cop and walk the dogs.

Then prominent local Charles Bourgoyne is bashed and left for dead. Everything seems to point to three boys from the nearby Aboriginal community; everyone seems to want it to. But Cashin is unconvinced. And as tragedy unfolds relentlessly into tragedy, he finds himself holding onto something that might be better let go.

Peter Temple is the author of nine novels, including four books in the Jack Irish series. He has won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction five times, and his widely acclaimed novels have been published in over twenty countries.
Amazon (US): Link
Amazon (UK): Link
Amazon (CA): Link
B&N (US): Link
Kobo (AU): Link

There's several editions of the book available in eLibraries. The search function is now frustratingly only giving me results near where I live so I can be sure of the geographical spread, but the number of editions implies at least United States will be covered. I can see many libraries in Australia carrying a copy.

John F 04-20-2014 09:00 AM
I'll nominate Rules of Prey by John Sandford. Available at libraries everywhere. Amazon blurb:

Quote:
"Making his fiction debut, 'Sandford,' a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist using a pseudonym his real name is John Camp, has taken a stock suspense plot--a dedicated cop pursuing an ingenious serial killer--and dressed it up into the kind of pulse-quickening, irresistibly readable thriller that many of the genre's best-known authors would be proud to call their own,"

sun surfer 04-20-2014 10:53 AM
I nominate The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling). I'll try to post an abstract and links later when I have more time.


ETA -

From Amazon:

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . .

A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London - from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho - The Cuckoo's Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.


Amazon - Australia Canada UK US
Kobo - US

GA Russell 04-20-2014 08:07 PM
I nominate Fast One by Paul Cain.

It is said to be the hardest of '30s hardboiled detective novels.

It is available in the many formats for free from munseys.com.

http://www.munseys.com/book/27195/Fast_One

caleb72 04-21-2014 08:04 AM
I'll second The Cuckoo's Calling. I own that one already and if it wins it will be my first J K Rowling read ever. :)

orlok 04-21-2014 08:38 AM
In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard
Amazon (UK) / Amazon (US) / Overdrive / Kobo

I nominated this a year ago (I think the rules allow re-nomination after about 6 months?)

A superb book that reveals a hidden family secret that goes back more than 50 years.

Quote:
Six months after the sudden death of her husband, Leonora Galloway sets out on a trip to France with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin... Leonora takes her daughter to the battlefields of WW1, where her father is commemorated on the Thiepval Monument. But the date of his death is surprising, and reveals that Captain John Hallows cannot possibly have been Leonora's real father.

This is only the start of a series of revelations that span three generations of a distinguished aristocratic family who are not what they seem. Penelope must piece together a tale of war, of loss, of greed, deception and vice - and the perpetrator of a murder left unsolved for more than half a century...
"'A superbly plotted romantic thriller'" (New York Times Book Review)

"'A novel of numerous twists and turns and surprises'" (Sunday Telegraph)

"'One of my favourite books of the year...I recommend it to all ages and both sexes'" (Today)

"'An excellent story told with remarkable skill'" (Canberra Times)

issybird 04-21-2014 10:11 AM
I've had In Pale Battalions on my TBR for a long time. Seconded.

obs20 04-21-2014 05:50 PM
I'd like to nominate


Love Song of J.Edgar Hoover by Kinky Friedman

Baltimore Blues (Tess Monaghan Novel) by Lippman, Laura

I will third The Cuckoo's Calling

Dazrin 04-21-2014 06:25 PM
I will second Rules of Prey by John Sandford.

I am undecided on Fast One by Paul Cain, but here is some more detail from an Amazon review:
Quote:
This extremely fast paced story traces the activity of Gerry Kells, gentleman gangster, as he plies his trade in and around Los Angeles. There are no heroes in this novel. Only thieves, gamblers, gunmen, blackmailers and corrupt political bosses.

BelleZora 04-21-2014 06:26 PM
Third Rules of Prey.

WT Sharpe 04-21-2014 08:55 PM
I'll second Laura Lippman's Baltimore Blues.

Dazrin 04-21-2014 09:23 PM
Since there weren't any links for Rules of Prey, here are a few:

Amazon US, UK | Overdrive | Kobo | B&N

Amazon UK only has paper books from third parties, so no link provided.

John F 04-22-2014 07:05 AM
I'll third Baltimore Blues.

John F 04-22-2014 07:14 AM
I'll nominate Alone by Lisa Gardner.

From goodreads:

Quote:
Alone . . . Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child. The man’s finger tightens on the trigger and Dodge has only a split second to react . . . and forever pay the consequences.
Available at libraries everywhere.

CRussel 04-22-2014 03:51 PM
I'll nominate the first in the Phryne Fisher series, Cocaine Blues, by Kerry Greenwood. It's only $.99 on Amazon.com, is available in audio format as well, and is the start of a simply delightful series.

Set in Melbourne Australia in 1928, the Cocaine Blues features The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher, along with a wonderful (and increasing over the series) cast of characters. The writing is elegant and witty, the characters very fleshed out, and it's truly one of my favourite series. The description from Amazon:
Spoiler:
From Publishers Weekly
The growing American audience for Phryne Fisher, Australian author Greenwood's independent 1920s female sleuth, will be delighted that her diverting first mystery is finally available in the U.S. Fisher's off-the-cuff solving of a high society jewel theft leads her to her first professional engagement when a witness to her brilliance asks her to investigate a possible poisoning-in-progress. The detective's admirable willingness to intervene to help those in distress involves her in a variety of other puzzles, including identifying the King of Snow, who has taken over the Melbourne drug trade. Many of the members of Fisher's entourage familiar from later novels make their debuts as well.

From Booklist
Australian Greenwood has been exporting her outstanding Phryne Fisher series to the U.S. for the past several years, but the books haven't arrived in chronological order. Finally, we have the series debut, which explains how the irrepressible flapper (the series is set in the 1920s) became a detective. Phryne fans will relish the chance to see how beloved characters like Bert, Cec, Dot, and Inspector Robinson wandered into Phryne's life, and newcomers will enjoy getting to know ultrafashionable Phryne, who's wealthy enough to do whatever she wants but whose previous poverty has created a strong empathy for the working class. In Melbourne to investigate the mysterious illness of the daughter of a family friend, Phryne stumbles into a case involving two of the 1920s' signature evils: cocaine and back-alley abortions. Banding together with a crew of colorful local characters, and finding time to indulge in some erotic fun with a sexy Russian dancer, Phryne soon leaves her mark on Melbourne. From beginning to end, Greenwood infuses her series with evocative settings, multidimensional characters, and satisfying mysteries.


Kobo link. It's $1.03 at Kobo Canada, but couponable. :)

WT Sharpe 04-22-2014 04:52 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by CRussel (Post 2815006)
I'll nominate the first in the Phryne Fisher series, Cocaine Blues, by Kerry Greenwood. It's only $.99 on Amazon.com, is available in audio format as well, and is the start of a simply delightful series....
Seconded.

sun surfer 04-22-2014 06:58 PM
I second The Broken Shore and third In Pale Battalions, and that's all my votes gone.

issybird 04-22-2014 07:33 PM
Third The Broken Shore.

BelleZora 04-22-2014 07:46 PM
Second Fast One.

Synamon 04-22-2014 08:11 PM
I'll third Cocaine Blues, it might generate some good discussion.

msjo 04-23-2014 08:02 AM
All three oif the following nominations are available from Kobo and Amazon in Canada and the US. The reviews provided came from the metadata search results in Calibre.

Nomination 1: From the Golden Age of British Mysteries: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham.

Quote:
London, 'the Smoke' to Cockneys and the hipsters who appropriate their slang, is living up to its nickname: an unusual cold snap has combined with the fug from coal-fires to produce the 'Great Smog', blanketing the city in choking shadow. And lurking in those shadows is Jack Havoc, a killer with a particular fondness for knives. Havoc is by far the most dangerous villain that Albert Campion has ever encountered, and his startlingly realistic menace, combined with the light touch common to all the Campion novels, gives the book a modern feel, as it straddles a line between Golden Age detective fiction and contemporary psychological suspense.
Nomination 2: The Water Room by Christopher Fowler

Quote:
Traditional mystery buffs with a taste for the offbeat will relish British author Fowler's wonderful second contemporary whodunit featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly odd couple, Arthur Bryant and John May (after 2004's Full Dark House). A former colleague asks the eccentric Bryant, whose lack of polish coupled with a razor-sharp mind will remind many of Carter Dickson's Sir Henry Merrivale, to investigate his sister's death. Incredibly, the victim was found dead in her basement, apparently drowned, despite the absence of any moisture on her body or her surroundings. Bryant rapidly loops in his more down-to-earth partner, May, who has also been looking into a mystery with a personal connection—the unusual nocturnal ramblings of a disgraced academic who has begun probing London's underground rivers. More strange deaths follow before the unmasking of the surprising murderer. The author's black humor evokes Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond series, and his successful revival of the impossible crime genre is reminiscent of John Sladek's superb Thackeray Phin novels, Invisible Green and Black Aura. Best known for his horror fiction (Rune, etc.), Fowler should win a whole new set of readers with these fair-play puzzlers.
Nomination 3: Still LIfe by Louise Penny

Quote:
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.

issybird 04-23-2014 08:25 AM
Allingham is always unfairly overlooked when people invoke the big three doyennes of English mysteries and Tiger in the Smoke is excellent. But because I've been meaning to try Penny for a long time, Still Life gets my last nomination. Seconded.

WT Sharpe 04-23-2014 09:23 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by msjo (Post 2815470)
All three oif the following nominations are available from Kobo and Amazon in Canada and the US. The reviews provided came from the metadata search results in Calibre.

Nomination 1: From the Golden Age of British Mysteries: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham.

Nomination 2: The Water Room by Christopher Fowler

Nomination 3: Still LIfe by Louise Penny
Those all sound interesting, especially the first two, but since I have but one vote left, and I'm at the age where I can easily identify with elderly protagonists, I second The Water Room by Christopher Fowler.

Here are a few links:

Amazon Ca
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Barnes & Noble (US)
Kobo (US)

BelleZora 04-23-2014 09:53 AM
Third Still Life.

Here are some links:

Amazon CA
Amazon UK
Amazon US
B&N
Kobo US

Mims 04-23-2014 10:22 AM
I'll third The Water Room. Nice to find a "new to me" series.

Billi 04-23-2014 03:34 PM
I second this one:

Quote:
Originally Posted by msjo (Post 2815470)
Nomination 1: From the Golden Age of British Mysteries: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham.

treadlightly 04-23-2014 03:41 PM
I'll third The Tiger in the Smoke.

CRussel 04-23-2014 03:45 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by msjo (Post 2815470)
Nomination 1: From the Golden Age of British Mysteries: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham.
Thirded. Allingham is always a pleasure.

ETA: Too late. treadlightly got there before me. :)

Billi 04-24-2014 06:59 AM
I second Alone and Love Song.

samhy 04-24-2014 08:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by caleb72 (Post 2814011)
I'll second The Cuckoo's Calling. I own that one already and if it wins it will be my first J K Rowling read ever. :)
I'm with you here. If it's not picked, maybe we can read it together :)

orlok 04-24-2014 09:05 AM
Thought I'd nominate something that I haven't read, by authors I haven't read but would like to try:

The Relic, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Quote:
In and around a fictionalized version of New York City's American Museum of Natural History, a few select characters must solve a string of brutal murders that take place inside the museum during the days preceding the opening of "Superstition", a spectacular blockbuster exhibition.

Evidence begins to point suspiciously to a doomed expedition undertaken by the museum several years earlier to the Brazilian rainforest in search of the lost Kothoga tribe. It becomes apparent that behind the murders is Mbwun (translation: "He Who Walks On All Fours")—the Kothoga's crazed lizard god, whose father happens to be a demon analogous to Satan, according to Kothoga legend. A relic depicting Mbwun is to be shown for the first time at the upcoming exhibition.

It also appears that several museum leaders had known about previous murders on the museum's premises and that they had conspired to keep these murders a secret so as not to damage the reputation of the museum.
Voted #64 in the NPR audience-nominated top 100 "Killer Thrillers" poll.

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon Aus

BelleZora 04-24-2014 10:24 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by msjo (Post 2815470)
All three oif the following nominations are available from Kobo and Amazon in Canada and the US. The reviews provided came from the metadata search results in Calibre.

Nomination 1: From the Golden Age of British Mysteries: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham.
The Tiger in the Smoke is not available as an ebook in the US, although a few of the Campion series are now or will soon be available. The Crime at Black Dudley, #1 in the Albert Campion series, will be released May 6. Amazon US Kobo

Several of Allingham's titles are couponable at Kobo. I read many, maybe all, of this series many years ago and loved it.

WT Sharpe 04-24-2014 10:57 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BelleZora (Post 2816285)
The Tiger in the Smoke is not available as an ebook in the US, although a few of the Campion series are now or will soon be available. The Crime at Black Dudley, #1 in the Albert Campion series, will be released May 6. Amazon US Kobo

Several of Allingham's titles are couponable at Kobo. I read many, maybe all, of this series many years ago and loved it.
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/23...5a8103e286.jpg

Audible has the audiobook for $25.41, but that's a lot of money. They also have the abridged version for $13.08, but who wants an abridged version?

CRussel 04-24-2014 01:28 PM
I'm seeing The Tiger in the Smoke available on Kobo in Canada, for $12.74. Which tells me it's couponable. Just take a quick trip up to visit our friendly country. :)

CRussel 04-24-2014 01:30 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe (Post 2816309)
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/23...5a8103e286.jpg

Audible has the audiobook for $25.41, but that's a lot of money. They also have the abridged version for $13.08, but who wants an abridged version?
well, join as a Trial Member, and drop it after a month. :)

But even though I was willing to third the nomination, I think the problems with acquisition will end up ruling this excellent book out. Too bad.

fantasyfan 04-25-2014 01:00 PM
I'll third Fast One by Paul Cain

WT Sharpe 04-25-2014 01:30 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by fantasyfan (Post 2817025)
I'll third Fast One by Paul Cain
And Cain makes ten. I'll be back with the poll in a few minutes.

WT Sharpe 04-25-2014 01:44 PM
And the race is on! Remember, this is multiple choice, so vote for all your favorites! :)

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=238277


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