MobileRead February 2016 Book Club Nominations

[WT Sharpe]

I'll third Deadly Appearances.

[DrChiper]

I nominate The Apothecary Rose (Owen Archer, #1) by Candace Robb

https://www.goodreads.com/series/41413-owen-archer

The Owen Archer mysteries (including the short story "The Bone Jar" ) are set in England in the late 14th century. Owen Archer is a spy for John Thoresby, Archbishop of York and sometime Lord Chancellor of England. Owen is ably assisted in his sleuthing by an ensemble of York residents who include his wife, the Apothecary Lucie Wilton; Bess Merchet, proprietor of the York Tavern; Magda Digby, midwife; and Brother Michaelo, the Archbishop's secretary.

[WT Sharpe]

Did Ellis Peters start all this with her Brother Cadfael series, or were detectives from the Middle Ages always popular? This is the second such nomination this month. But it does look interesting, so...

With my third and final vote, I second The Apothecary Rose.

[DrChiper]

I think it was Agatha Christie (remember "Death Comes as the End" 1944?)

But there are several good ancient sleuths, as Gordianus by Steven Saylor (Ancient Rome), Judge Dee by Robert van Gulik (Ancient China), Sano Ichiro by Laura Joh Rowland (Ancient Japan), to name a few.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Did Ellis Peters start all this with her Brother Cadfael series, or were detectives from the Middle Ages always popular? This is the second such nomination this month. But it does look interesting, so...

With my third and final vote, I second The Apothecary Rose.

People may have this; I'm pretty sure it was a freebie at some point. I'm out of nominations so I can't help it along.

Originally Posted by DrChiper

But there are several good ancient sleuths, as Gordianus by Steven Saylor (Ancient Rome), Judge Dee by Robert van Gulik (Ancient China), Sano Ichiro by Laura Joh Rowland (Ancient Japan), to name a few.

The club read a Judge Dee, The Chinese Maze Murders, in 2011.

[BenG]

In have a couple of nominations.

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey, first published in 1949.

Spoiler:

Amazon.com Review
Brat Farrar has been carefully coached to assume the identity of Patrick Ashby, heir to the Ashby fortune who disappeared when he was 13. Just when it seems that Brat will pull off the deception, he discovers the truth about Patrick's disappearance, a dark secret that threatens to tear apart the family and jeopardize Brat's carefully laid plans. Called "the best of its kind" by the New Yorker, Josephine Tey's classic is a tale of unrelenting suspense and tension.

Review
“Josephine Tey enjoys a category to herself, as a virtuoso in the spurious . . . the nature of the deception on this occasion is too good to give away.”
— New Statesman

Amazon

Also there's a PD version at the Unversity of Adelaide's website. You can read it online:
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tey/josephine/

The other book I'd like to nominate is Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler, the first of his Bryant and May series.

Spoiler:

This mystery features the impending retirement of a Scotland Yard detective and the death of another. When Arthur Bryant is apparently blown up, his erstwhile partner, John May, begins reflecting on their first case together more than 60 years earlier. May, a raw recruit of 19, and Bryant, a 23-year-old detective, became the core of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, created to handle cases that were too important to ignore, yet that somehow seemed disproportionately insignificant in the face of the hundreds of civilians killed each night during the Blitz. Both men had been hurried through training and were suddenly faced with the strange case of the Palace Phantom, a killer victimizing the cast in an elaborate production of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. May was both intrigued by and dismayed at Bryant's methods and seeming flights of fancy. He used everything from crime-scene forensics to spiritualists to help him build his case. Fowler skillfully shifts the action between 1940 and the 21st century, building suspense and growing awareness as each case comes to its respective climax. Not surprisingly, they are connected. The details of wartime London and the destruction and deprivation of daily life are vividly conveyed. Today's teens will identify with the young lives so drastically affected by the war while following the clues, and red herrings, to a satisfactory conclusion

Amazon
Kobo
Amazon UK

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I nominate Quiller Barracuda by Adam Hall.

This 1990 book is the 14th in the Quiller series. They need not be read in order.

How is it OK to read book 14 before any others? This I highly suspect. I've never read any series where you can read that far into it because it's OK to read out of order.

I would suggest you nominate the first book of the series. My guess is that you are up to 14 in the series and are just saying it's OK to read out of order just to try to get it to win so you can read 14.

[fantasyfan]

I'll second Leviathan Wakes.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How is it OK to read book 14 before any others? This I highly suspect. I've never read any series where you can read that far into it because it's OK to read out of order.

I would suggest you nominate the first book of the series. My guess is that you are up to 14 in the series and are just saying it's OK to read out of order just to try to get it to win so you can read 14.

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I nominate Quiller Barracuda by Adam Hall.

This 1990 book is the 14th in the Quiller series. They need not be read in order.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/adam-hall/

<SNIP>

The US price is currently only $4.99, less than other Quiller books.

I think it's obvious GA Russell choose the 14th book because it's the cheapest in the series, which is laudable.

Originally Posted by issybird

Some series benefit from being read in order; others, it doesn't really matter. I suspect Perry Mason's in the latter category.

I think the same goes for Quiller. With some series, the backstory is important and there's progression. With others, the situation is a given and largely unchanging.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think the same goes for Quiller. With some series, the backstory is important and there's progression. With others, the situation is a given and largely unchanging.

But what about the progression of the main character?

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

No problem. I'll just replace CRussel's name with yours. He'll have one more vote and you'll have two more more left.

Originally Posted by BenG

In have a couple of nominations.

Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey, first published in 1949.

OK, since I've had my vote restored, I'll toss in a second for Josephine Tey. I'm actually astounded that we've never read any of them. (And if you want another link to the book, in the Canadian Public Domain, here is the link to FadedPage.)

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think it's obvious GA Russell choose the 14th book because it's the cheapest in the series, which is laudable.



I think the same goes for Quiller. With some series, the backstory is important and there's progression. With others, the situation is a given and largely unchanging.

Actually, issy, I chose Quiller Barracuda because of the high praise it received. The second Quiller book, The Ninth Directive, is one of my most favorite books. I wanted to nominate a book I haven't yet read.

[Mims]

I'll second Brat Farrar and Full Dark House.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But what about the progression of the main character?

For some series, character growth is far less important than continuity. Nero Wolfe is a case in point. Fascinating but unchanging characters and relationships form the framework upon which the stories hang, and they can be read in any order with no loss. In such series, the stability of the key characters is a plus. Curling up with one of these books is like a visit from an old friend. Their very unchanging nature works to develop a bond of trust with the reader.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by Mims

I'll second Brat Farrar and Full Dark House.

Crussell already seconded Brat Farrar, so this would be a third.

Can I get a third for Full Dark House? I've never read it but I have a friend who's a big fan of this series.