The "I am currently reading" thread

[Fiat500]

Just finished reading The Lost by Simon Beckett ( Sheffield lad from Frecheville School). I couldn't put it down. Like all his books especially the David Hunter series. 

[Guest]

I've finished The Fever of the World by Phil Rickman (very good, but not the best of the series) and am half way through the most excellent The Furies by John Connolly.  But I'll be putting that on hold this weekend to crack on with The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith, out today and currently awaiting a nice big chunk of uninterrupted reading time.

[Mister M]

On 30/03/2022 at 09:46, metalman said:

March's roundup:

 

Richard Littler - The Scarfolk Annual. The book of the website (https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/) of the fictional Northern town locked in the 1970s of scary public information films.

 

Absolutely love The Scarfolk Annual.

If you get a chance to watch some of the BBC2's 'Inside No 9' episodes, there's definitely a Scarfolk weird world view with some of them.

 

I'm currently reading the anthology 'Night Shadows: 20th Century Stories of the Uncanny'. Some brilliant stories in here. The stand out for me so far is 'The Doll' by Joyce Carol Oates. Other authors include M.R. James, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury and Ransey Campbell.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Mister M

[metalman]

Here's what I've read this month, the usual mix of old and new crime with a bit of medical non-fiction this time.

 

James Harpole - Leaves from a Surgeon's Case Book. Published in 1937, a time when diseases like typhus, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, polio and so on were still major killers. Shows how far we've come really.

Rex Stout - If death ever slept. Archie Goodwin goes undercover and as always Nero Wolfe stays at home and solves the case. OK but I wouldn't say it was one of his best.

Harry Stephen Keeler - The search for X-Y-Z. In the fictional location of Wiscon City, populated largely by stereotypical German immigrants, Ezra Jenkins searches for his brother, who (as you might expect in a Keeler novel) is called X-Y-Z. This is a post-war Keeler and as he got older, the plots got more and more ridiculous, so this does show a falling off in quality compared to the earlier ones, but still worth reading.

Douglas Clark - Golden Rain. Er... no, not that sort. It refers to the flowers of the laburnum tree, used to poison the headmistress of a girls' school. Superintendent Masters and Inspector Green sort it out. Good.

Miles Burton - Early Morning Murder. An odd one, this. Several unexplained deaths occur in a small village, but everyone writes them off as accidents, including Burton's series sleuth Desmond Merrion, and the truth is only revealed when the culprit confesses, so there's no real detection involved at all. Burton was another pseudonym of John Rhode, who was never averse to trying something different, but this may be one of the less successful experiments. OK though.

Michael Howell & Peter Ford - Medical Mysteries. True stories of medical detective work, tracking down the source of mysterious diseases and unexplained deaths. Fascinating stuff. The paperback was retitled The Ghost Disease after the chapter which deals with kuru.

Julia Chapman - Date with Deceit. Sixth instalment of the Dales detective series, which ties up some loose ends and leaves other hanging. If you're going to read this series, you really need to read them in order.

Dorothy L. Sayers - The Five Red Herrings. In the wilds of Scotland, artist is knocked on the head and dumped in a stream. Six other artists are the suspects, all with alibis of varying suspiciousness. Lord Peter Wimsey gradually whittles them down to one. Very good but you might need a notepad to keep track.

Elly Griffiths - The House at Seas End. Forensic archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway investigates six wartime skeletons entombed in a Norfolk cliff, and inevitably ends up trapped with a serial killer and has to be rescued. Surely there's a limit to the number of times this can happen to one woman? I suspect we haven't reached it yet though. Quite enjoyable though nonetheless.

Keigo Higashino - The Devotion of Suspect X. Woman and teenage daughter kill her ex-husband. The next door neighbour, who just happens to be a genius, helps out afterwards. Detective, assisted by physics professor (who also happens to be a genius) try to work out what has gone on. Excellent.

 

Just started: Robert Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land. Don't know why I've never read this classic SF novel, but it's time to give it a go.

[Cazwaz69]

Currently reading The Twist of the knife by Anthony Horowitz. It's the 3rd or 4th in this particular series and very good. 

[feargal]

Just finished "The house on half moon street" by Alex Reeves. Really enjoyed this, an historical crime thriller with an unusual hero.  I've ordered the next one in the hope it will be just as good 👍 

 

I also finally struggled to the end of 1979 by Val McDermid.  I used to love her writing,  but the last couple I've read of hers, I've really had to try hard to get through,  her characters arent doing it for me any more.  

[Guest]

Finished the excellent and cunningly twisty The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith.  I did find the killer amongst the shoal of red herrings by spotting a clue that turned out not to be a clue, but which nonetheless could have been a clue; and by spotting another clue that practically sprinted to the guilty party when the pay off came much, much later. Missed a few though, including one very satisfying revelation. Highly recommended.

 

Reading A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz, shortly to be followed by The Twist of a Knife, the fourth in Horowitz's Hawthorne series.  I like this series very much indeed, despite the oddly opaque sleuth, though some might find it a wee bit too meta.

[top4718]

Has anyone ever read James Clavell's Shogun, thinking of giving it a go.

[Guest]

On 29/11/2021 at 17:59, Hecate said:

... Also reading The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean.  This is exactly my cup of tea so far; it takes me right back to the early 80s and scaring my 10 year old self silly with tales of Borley Rectory and spontaneous human combustion from The Unexplained magazine, lonely water public information films and watching Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World on the tele.

If anyone's interested in this creepy tale, it's currently 99p as part of the Kindle daily deal.

[metalman]

Not read many in September but they've been good ones.

 

George Bellairs - The body in the dumb river. Fairground showman bashed on the head and dumped in river is shown to be living a double life. Superintendent Littlejohn sorts it out in a manner somewhat reminiscent of George Gently or Maigret. Good, and easy to get hold of as the British Library have just reprinted it in their Classic Crime series.

George Bellairs - The crime at Leper's Hollow. Littlejohn sorts out several murders among the members of one family. Good again, though harder to get hold of.

Benjamin Stevenson - Everyone in my family has killed someone. Dysfunctional Aussie family marooned in ski resort are beset by a number of murders. Very cleverly done homage to the Golden Age. Recommended not least because you can buy the hardback for just £6 on Amazon at the moment.

Anthony Horowitz - The twist of the knife. The fourth in the series where detective Hawthorne is shadowed by a writer called Anthony Horowitz. In this one Horowitz is arrested for the murder of a theatre critic who savages his play. Excellent, possibly the best one yet.

Barry Pain - The kindness of the celestial. Although just about forgotten today, Pain was a short story writer of the early 1900s. Most of his works are available as e-books for free, including his supernatural collections Stories in the Dark and Stories in Grey.

Thomas Morris - The mystery of the exploding teeth and other curiosities from the history of medicine. Fascinating look at some unusual episodes of medical history. Excellent, but really not for the squeamish.

Alison Uttley - Wise Owl's story. Another regression to childhood; Little Grey Rabbit helps Owl find a new house when his is blown away by a storm. A classic.

Keigo Higashino - Journey under the midnight sun. After a man is killed in an abandoned building, detective Sasakagi takes 20 years to solve the case. Another excellent crime novel by an author who's quickly become one of my favourites.