Crime Fiction Recommendations

[CRussel]

I've been re-reading Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series recently, starting from the first one, A Cold Day for Murder, which is free from the author's website, or $.99 from Amazon, etc.

I had originally read all of them via Audible or Books on Tape, but going back to them has been rewarding and well worth the read. The re-issues all have a short (1 - 2 page) intro from the author, giving you some context on where she was when she wrote the book.

If you haven't read any of these, I'd strongly recommend downloading the first. At the price, you can't lose. And there's a whole bunch more if you like it.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I've been re-reading Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series recently, starting from the first one, A Cold Day for Murder, which is free from the author's website, or $.99 from Amazon, etc.

This is a terrific recommendation -- thanks!

First in the Kate Shugak series. Dana’s Note: Yes, this is the one that was lost for two years in my father’s garage and went on to win the Edgar award.

Edgar Award Details
1993 - Best Paperback Original - A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow - Berkley

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I've been re-reading Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series recently, starting from the first one, A Cold Day for Murder, which is free from the author's website, or $.99 from Amazon, etc.

I had originally read all of them via Audible or Books on Tape, but going back to them has been rewarding and well worth the read. The re-issues all have a short (1 - 2 page) intro from the author, giving you some context on where she was when she wrote the book.

If you haven't read any of these, I'd strongly recommend downloading the first. At the price, you can't lose. And there's a whole bunch more if you like it.

and the books from dana's web site are not drm contaminated.

whoops! sorry i dittoed the recomendations, but i've not done the audible thing.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by alansplace

and the books from dana's web site are not drm contaminated.

Unfortunately, trying to get her site to accept a Canadian CC turned out to be a non-starter, so I got all mine from Amazon. The DRM didn't concern me, that's easy to deal with. But I'd rather have given her the $$ directly.

whoops! sorry i dittoed the recomendations, but i've not done the audible thing.

They're actually quite good as audiobooks. The reader is excellent, and the stories lend themselves to the medium. She has a new one due out this winter, I'll probably get it from Audible first. Depending on how many audio books I have backed up at that point.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Unfortunately, trying to get her site to accept a Canadian CC turned out to be a non-starter, so I got all mine from Amazon.

horrible, an alaskan not taking a canadian cc!!!

[speakingtohe]

horrible, an alaskan not taking a canadian cc!!!

Hey we take Alaskan credit cards in Canada and even except US pennies as legitimate currency. Try using a Canadian penny in Alaska even 50 miles from the border.

Like you killed God and forgot to bury him


Helen

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Hey we take Alaskan credit cards in Canada and even except US pennies as legitimate currency. Try using a Canadian penny in Alaska even 50 miles from the border.

Like you killed God and forgot to bury him


Helen

well, admittedly i've not lived there or even been been there since the late 60's, but i found that credit card business to be kinda' odd.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by alansplace

well, admittedly i've not lived there or even been been there since the late 60's, but i found that credit card business to be kinda' odd.

I strongly suspect it's a glitch with her store provider, since it ACTS like it's perfectly happy to take it from you. But then fails at the last step. One of those things I just wasn't willing to deal with, and reminds me of why I love my Kindle. Amazon absolutely has THE BEST JFW-factor. I was willing to go through the extra steps to make sure the author kept the maximum $$ out of the transaction, but when it failed, my fallback was simple. At some point, I'll undoubtedly go back and sort out if one of the alternatives works, but at the time, I just wanted to feed my "jones".

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I strongly suspect it's a glitch with her store provider, since it ACTS like it's perfectly happy to take it from you. But then fails at the last step. One of those things I just wasn't willing to deal with, and reminds me of why I love my Kindle. Amazon absolutely has THE BEST JFW-factor. I was willing to go through the extra steps to make sure the author kept the maximum $$ out of the transaction, but when it failed, my fallback was simple. At some point, I'll undoubtedly go back and sort out if one of the alternatives works, but at the time, I just wanted to feed my "jones".

by the way did you know that after a decade of refusing to grant/sell the rights to movie/tv producers, because they refused to film in alaska, she's finally found a production company who contractually agreed to do so and that kate shugak is now on the way to becoming a tv series?

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by alansplace

by the way did you know that after a decade of refusing to grant/sell the rights to movie/tv producers, because they refused to film in alaska, she's finally found a production company who contractually agreed to do so and that kate shugak is now on the way to becoming a tv series?

Really? Didn't know that. One can only hope it isn't on one of the broadcast channels, since it's hard to imagine them being able to do it justice. And who can they possibly get to play Mutt?

But seriously, I'm glad she held out. There is no way it should be done anywhere but Alaska.

[estelle58]

Oh dear, oh dear, this thread is killing me... there's soo much good suggestions... Thank you all... I'm up to about 130 books on my Kobo and there's still a lot of authors I want to try to read...

[estelle58]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Louise Penny, in her second Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novel, A Fatal Grace (published also as "Dead Cold"), is a brilliant follow-up to Still Life where murder returns to the cheerful village Three Pines in the eastern townships of Quebec, an hour's drive or so from Montreal.

It is a year later, and the austere, aloof Hadley home, had known such grief, has been purchased by CC de Poitiers and her husband Richard Lyon. CC is a glamourous, late forties bleached blonde with ambition far, far exceeding her talent. She annoys, belittles, betrays, and alienates everyone in her path, and in her circle: even her not-so-secret lover despises her. What a fine choice for a murder victim!

The great characters of the original novel return: Ruth Zardo, a curmudgeonly poet; Clara Morrow, a painter struggling to invest the real world with a shred of the beauty of her inner world and canvasses; her husband, Peter, also an artist by trade; Gabri and Olivier, the gay couple who run the B&B and popular bistro in Three Pines; Myrna, a black therapist who has settled here to recharge; Gamache himself, an immensely warm, thoughtful man who struggles every moment to do his best for those he cares about -- including murderers whom he inevitably comes to care about as he gets inside their heads and hearts; and the others of his crew, including the delightfully off kilter Jean-Guy Beauvoir and the return of Yvette Nichol and a new officer, Robert Lemieux. Penny's magic is to share each character's inner voices and asides, commenting on scenes from multiple perspectives.

These are murder mysteries, and there is endless delight trying to guess how the clues, sometimes obvious and sometimes not, fit together, only to have them confirmed, then dashed and a new solution presented in the nick of time as the tale comes to a close. This is virtuoso stuff and hugely pleasurable to read. Bravo!

Available for your Kindle in the US or Kindle in Canada (as "Dead Cold") for $10 and $8.50 respectively; the book appears temporarily withdrawn from Kobo in Canada.

I found "Still life" for 2.99$ on Amazon so I will have to read it on my iPhone
"A trick of the light" is the only one available on Kobo for the moment, I hope they will bring them all back so I can buy them for my Kobo

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by estelle58

I found "Still life" for 2.99$ on Amazon so I will have to read it on my iPhone
"A trick of the light" is the only one available on Kobo for the moment, I hope they will bring them all back so I can buy them for my Kobo

Buy them for the Kindle, and convert them.

(Calibre can easily convert from Kindle to Kobo format, once the DRM is removed. For that, google Apprentice Alf. )

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Buy them for the Kindle, and convert them.

(Calibre can easily convert from Kindle to Kobo format, once the DRM is removed. For that, google Apprentice Alf. )

i thought we were going to call that web site 'voldemort' or what is shared there 'the voldemort process'?

[Apache]

There are plugins for Calibre that will strip DRM from the books you purchase.
Apache