It’s been a mystery/suspense/thriller week for me, starting with Megan Miranda’s The Perfect Stranger
, a psychological thriller set in Western Pennsylvania, where a journalist takes refuge as a schoolteacher after being disgraced and discredited back in Boston. But where has her roommate gone? And why has someone attacked a woman with (almost) her face? So many thanks to whomever it was on the Great Thoughts Great Readers page who recommended this book! I read it in a night, and immediately went to hunt down the author’s first book, All the Missing Girls
.
For a change of tone, I moved on to the latest in Donna Andrews’s Murder with [Insert Bird Here] series, Die Like an Eagle
, in which the usual hijinks and murder ensue in the small Virginia county of Caerphilly, this time on the baseball field.
I’ve been meaning to read Val McDermid for ages (does anyone else remember the British tv series, Wire in the Blood
?), so I pounced on The Skeleton Road
, which surprised me by being less Jackson Brodie
and more international intrigue, tracing a dead body found on a roof in Edinburgh back to the siege of Dubrovnik and Balkan war crimes of the 1990s.
So, basically, it’s been a run of reading win, albeit all in very different ways. Which raises the question… what to read next?
What have you been reading this week?
“The Soldier’s Wife” by Margaret Leroy
Estelle Ryan’s The Morisot Connection…Enjoy all of this series.
I’ve been under a lot of stress so resorted to re-reading. I just finished Mary Stewart’s “Madam Will You Talk.” Early in the book, the main character was describing her visit to Nimes, where there is a Roman era arena still used for bullfighting. My daughter Darcie and I toured that arena on a trip around France in 2002. Such a great memory!
I *love* Madam Will You Talk! Probably my favorite Mary Stewart (though so hard to choose).
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – simply wonderful writing. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton – another excellent read.
Book 2 in Gulland’s Josephine Trilogy. Super interesting!
Re-read Mary Stewart’s This Rough Magic (set in Greece, Easter time, though must say to comment above that Madam Will You Talk is prolly my favorite Stewart of all. Also finished Defy The Stars by Claudia Gray, which was fabulous, definitely *wide* open for a sequel. Also read Ivy’s Homecoming by Fae Mallory, quick & fun e-book romance. Now starting on A Court Of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas, which is *terrific* (I hesitated about this one, as didn’t really care for first book in series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, but this one is SO much better!!).
I’ve been reading an ARC of Amanda Quick’s 1930’s Hollywood set murder mystery/suspense/romance? The Girl Who Knew Too Much and really enjoying it.
Also up are Deanna Raybourn’s new Veronica Speedwell book, A Perilous Undertaking, a delightful mystery with wonderful characters.
And because I was feeling nostalgic and having trouble sleeping, I’ve been rereading Harry Potter books. The audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale are amazing.
Just finished Dublin Murder Squad #2 The Likeness…thanks for the recommendation! Now starting Return to Tradd Street. It’s fun going between series!
YES! WIRE IN THE BLOOD! Years and years ago Murder by the Book in Houston was having an event with Val and I asked Johnny Cakes to get a book signed to my mom saying that “she’s glad she doesn’t live in Bradfield” and Val wrote “To Marian, who’s glad she doesn’t live in Bradfield, as am I.”
Comforting reading Sense and Sensibility… it’s been 200 years this year since Jane Austen died so I figured, time to re-read all six novels!
I just finished Always by S. Jio and now started the latest seven sister book by Lucinda Riley. also The Girl from Venice audiobook.
Oh my goodness, ‘The Perfect Stranger’ sounds great! This week I re-read ‘The Ashford Affair’ in preparation for the Pinkorama contest (!), ‘Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal’ which was AMAZING [memoir in a textbook format, like a more modern Nora Ephron], and ‘Girl in Disguise’ by Greer Macallister [about Kate Warne, first female Pinkerton detective].
I read Patrick Taylor’s An Irish Doctor in Love and at Sea. This is a great series with present day set in the 1960’s. This book switches between 1966 and 1940-41.
Am about to finish Deanna Raybourn’s Night of a Thousand Stars.
Also enjoying the reread of Tracy Grant’s London Gambit just before her new book releases.
Just reread Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey about a young man paid to impersonate a missing twin brother (who he’s a dead ringer for) just as an inheritance is in offing. When he gets there he’s accepted by most of the family as the real thing except by the other twin. It’s so good! Tey is a master! It’s similar to the Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. Which is another favorite of mine.
Tey is a master – I have loved every book of hers. Be sure to try Daughter of Time as I think it might have been her best.
Just reread Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey about a young man paid to impersonate a missing twin brother (who he’s a dead ringer for) just as an inheritance is in offing. When he gets there he’s accepted by most of the family as the real thing except by the other twin. It’s so good! Tey is a master! It’s similar to the Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. Which is another favorite of mine.
I just started The shadow sister by Lucinda Riley. I love this series.