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#316 | |
Wizard
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Pity. What did that ex-President say? "I feel your pain." It's usually the other way around with the Canadian price being out of whack. Perhaps some others in the series are cheaper? |
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#317 |
Wizard
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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your Kindle in the US or Kindle in Canada (as "Dead Cold") for $10 and $8.50 respectively; the book appears temporarily withdrawn from Kobo in Canada. |
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#318 |
Nicwas
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Have you read George Pelecanos (co-writer of The Wire), Henning Mankel and Micheal Dibdin (now sadly deceased)?
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#319 |
Wizard
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I just borrowed a Henning Mankel from the library ... and Pelecanos is annoyingly hard to find in ebook form ... and Michael Dibdin (a Guardian obit is here) is new for me ... and I love the titles. Thanks for the reco!
Can you suggest a favourite novel of among these men of yours? (And welcome to MR and the thread!) Last edited by SensualPoet; 06-03-2011 at 08:39 PM. |
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#320 |
Wizard
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In Georges Simenon's 1942 novel, The Hotel Majestic, Chief Inspector Jules Maigret must solve the murder of an American tycoon's wife whose strangled body is found unceremoniously stuffed into an employee's locker in the basement of a Paris hotel. The tycoon, however, has an alibi (he's been dallying with the governess instead of his French-born wife), and if the tycoon's six year old son, with fiery red hair, happens to bear a striking resemblance to the accused murderer, a hotel employee named Prosper Donge, then it can only be because Simenon is up to his old tricks plotting a delightful yarn which needs serious unravelling.
If the year of the tale is a bit fuzzy -- there is no hint of a war in Europe -- there is no lack of clarity in Maigret's vision: the Inspector acts as if he's pieced the puzzle together long before the rest of us. Donge lives with a plump mid-30s woman, more roommates than lovers though they share a bed, and they both have some history with the murdered woman -- and another set of minor characters in Cannes which Maigret visits by train. But Donge has been unlucky in love, it seems, and his somewhat simple mental capabilities lead multiple characters to impose upon and take advantage of him. Ah, but he did have motive for the murder, as facts begin to come to light, and opportunity ... until a second strangled body turns up, in the same locker .... Simenon's gently eccentric characters, including Maigret who does some rather shocking things by current police standards, are delightful to spend time with. It's hard to dislike the bad guys, and the flaws of the good guys make them that much more charming. The wonderful thing about these stories is not the puzzle (although it can be torturous), nor the psychology (which is thoughtful and always humane), nor the language (which is evocative but never self-consciously clever) ... it is truly that the stories are comfortable and can be read over and over and still produce delight. Available in Kobo and Kindle from Penguin for around $8 to $9. |
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#321 |
Bah! Humbug!
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I love Maigret! I have all the books in paperback. Penguin released 8 titles as ebooks and then stopped! Don't know what's going on there.
Also, Michael Dibdin's books look wonderful! I too had never heard of him! Great - just what I need - more authors to add to my "Must Read" list! Also, the early Mankel titles are wonderfully dour bleak mysteries. The later ones get a bit odd - preachy. A lot of verbiage on why modern Sweden has so much crime. |
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#322 |
Plan B Is Now In Force
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The authors I would recommend are:
Carol O'Connell (Mallory series) Linda Fairstein (Alexandra Cooper series) Elizabeth M. Cosin (Zen Moses series) Leslie Glass (April Woo series) C.S. Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr series) Tami Hoag Richard Montanari (Philadelphia series) S.J. Rosin (Bill Smith/Lydia Chin series) P.D. James (Dalgliesh series) Anne George (Inspector Lynley series) Julia Spencer-Fleming (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series) P.J. Tracy (Monkeewrench series) Jeff Abbott Carolyn Haines (Mississippi Delta series) Katy Munger (Casey Jones series) |
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#323 | |
Wizard
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I really like Richard Montanari, too. My favorite was The Violet Hour.
He has a new book coming out in September - part of the Kevin/Jessica series - by Random House, on pre-order at Amazon for $5.99: The Echo Man Quote:
I read the first Mallory book but haven't decided if I like her yet or not. |
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#324 | |
Close to the Edit!
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#325 | |
Plan B Is Now In Force
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#326 | ||
Wizard
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#327 |
eBookaholic
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Thanks for all the new writers to try!
Don't think I saw Reginald Hill mentioned (British police procedural). I really like his Pascoe/Dalziel series. Also - I like David Rosenfelt. His character "Andy Carpenter" is a witty/funny lawyer in New Jersey. I am also a big fan of Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series, and many others that have already been mentioned. I plan to get acquainted with many of these! Last edited by ReneAZ; 06-06-2011 at 01:36 PM. |
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#328 |
Wizard
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Since we've all obviously run out of things to read (!!!), here's another suggestion.
David Ashton is the creator of Inspector James McLevy who first appeared on BBC Radio 4 in 2000. Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in a thrilling mystery, Shadow of the Serpent. 1880, Edinburgh, Election fever grips the city. But while the rich and educated argue about politics, in the dank wynds of the docks it's a struggle just to stay alive. When a prostitute is brutally murdered, disturbing memories from thirty years ago are stirred in McLevy who is soon lured into a murky world of politics, perversion and deception - and the shadow of the serpent. Kindle or Kobo for just over $1. The second in a new series of McLevy books, Fall from Grace revolves around the terrible Tay Bridge disaster. The story begins with a break-in and murder at the Edinburgh home of Sir Thomas Bouch, the enigmatic, egotistical builder of the Tay Bridge. McLevy is brought in to investigate. With the help of brothel madam Jean Brash, McLevy finds the murderer, but there is much, much more to unfold: murder, arson, sexual obsession and suicide. Kindle or Kobo for just over $2. There's a nice backgrounder here about the character's origins. |
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#329 |
Guru
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No lack of things to read but there is always room for one more, thanks!
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#330 | |
Wizard
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Tags |
mystery ebooks, thriller |
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Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
MR crime/mysteries recommendations sought | GA Russell | Reading Recommendations | 17 | 10-31-2011 12:15 PM |
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