Watery Grave (1996) Bruce Alexander Tom Durham–son of the now Lady Fielding–has returned to London on shore leave from the Navy. He returns with a love of the sea, and a desire to make the Navy his life. But coming ashore with him are orders for the trial of one of the members of the […]
Murder in Grub Street (1995) Bruce Alexander The second Sir John Fielding mystery, Murder in Grub Street opens with a recreation of broadsheet announcing the news of a horrific murder on Grub Street. A publisher on Grub street whose family and apprentices were all murdered in their beds. This cases shocks not just London, but […]
Blind Justice (1994) Bruce Alexander A Sir John Fielding Mystery Jeremy Proctor was orphaned at thirteen, after a mob kills his father–all under the guise of justice. Jeremy runs away to London, and it is there that he first encounters Sir John Fielding, the famous magistrate of Bow Street. While Sir John is trying to […]
The Water Room (2004) Christopher Fowler The second Bryant & May mystery, The Water Room takes place a month or so after the events of Full Dark House–at least the current day events. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is being rebuilt, and during the reconstruction, the unit is at loose ends, and two separate cases fall […]
Full Dark House (2003) Christopher Fowler A Bryant & May Mystery Full Dark House is the first Bryant & May mystery. An explosion destroys the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and Arthur Bryant is believed to have been inside. In order to discover the course and cause of the bombing, John May has to go back 60 […]
Seventy-Seven Clocks (2005) Christopher Fowler A Bryant and May Mystery I picked this up at The Bookshelf’s Clarence sale. The name intrigued me, and the back cover sounded interesting, although I wasn’t quite sure what London’s Peculiar Crimes unit was, other than something that sounded fascinating. It’s 1973 and the Peculiar Crimes Unit has just […]
The Vampire Files: Bloodcircle (1990) P.N. Elrod The third book in The Vampire Files series, Bloodcircle, seems to clear up the last bits of Jack Flemming’s past. Jack and Charles Escott decide to travel to New York to see if they can discover what happened to Maureen. I have to say that it’s a good […]
The Vampire Files: Lifeblood (1990) P.N. Elrod Several weeks have passed since the events of Bloodlust, and Charles Escott offers Jack a part in his investigative services. But the next case they end up investigating end up being a search for the whereabouts of Jack’s lover Maureen–the vampire who sired him. Despite the fact that […]
The Vampire Files: Bloodlist (1990) P.N. Elrod It’s Chicago, in 1936 and reporter Jack Flemming is investigating a case he takes rather personally–his own death. (I feel like I’ve written or read that sentence before. Strange.) I picked up this three book omnibus because we found three later books in this series used. Michael read […]
The Devil in Music (1997) Kate Ross Four years previously, Lodovico Malvezzi died of a heart attack. Now, four years later, it comes out that he was actually murdered, but local officials covered up the murder in fear it would encourage the revolutionaries, who it was believed were behind the plot. However, on her deathbed, […]
Whom the Gods Love (1995) Kate Ross Alexander Falkland has been killed. His head smashed in with a poker while one of his famous parties rages upstairs. But Alex is the darling of the ton (it took me awhile to figure this one out; the ton is the bon ton, or high society in London) […]
A Broken Vessel (1994) Kate Ross The second Julian Kestrel mystery, A Broken Vessel looks at prostitution in 1800s London, and the Reclamation houses that existed to recover these women. Julian is introduced to this world through his manservant Dipper, who discovers his lost sister, who is working as a ladybird. One of the most […]
Dead Beat The Dresden Files Book Seven (2005) Jim Butcher I had Michael read this book first, so he could warn me if it had a cliffhanger ending. He doesn’t mind being left hanging, whereas I hate it with a passion. But Michael said I’d be okay with this, so I dove right into the […]
Cut to the Quick (1993) Kate Ross Reading the T. F. Banks books put me in the mood for another Victorian mystery, and lucky for me, I had one waiting here to read. Julian Kestrel is a dandy. He’s making his mark on London society by being a sharp dresser, and the perfect gentleman–even if […]
The Emperor’s Assassin Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2003) T.F. Banks aka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell Although this book was as well written as the previous, I found myself disappointed in the ending. The mystery was perhaps even better than the first book, however, it was a Hollywood ending, with guns a-blazing, shots […]
The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2001) T.F. Banks aka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell I was browsing Sean Russell’s web page, when I saw two books listed that I didn’t own: The Thief Taker and The Emperor’s Assassin. My immediate reaction was one of shock: Sean Russell had co-written a series […]
Definitely Dead (2006) Charlaine Harris First things first, this book had me laughing out loud, and reading passages to Michael. That usually only happens for Steven Brust books, but in multiple places Charlaine Harris nailed the dialog, and forced me to keep interrupting Michael game so he could laugh with me. Additionally, for those of […]
Blood Rites The Dresden Files Book Six (2004) Jim Butcher This must be the point at which Jim Butcher started getting really popular. Because we’ve suddenly switched from having the title at the top of the page, to the author name at the top of the page at double the font size of previous books. […]
Death Masks The Dresden Files Book Five (2003) Jim Butcher Interestingly, I liked this book more once I put it down and started thinking about it, than right after I closed it. Not that I didn’t like it before–I just liked it better after thinking about it. One of the reasons is that (in case […]
Summer Knight The Dresden Files Book Four (2002) Jim Butcher Okay, so apparently the last book, Grave Peril, was a fluke, because I really enjoyed Summer Knight. Harry’s has spent his time since the events in Grave Peril searching for a way to cure Susan. Without luck. He has also been ignoring the fact that […]
Dead As A Doornail (2005) Charlaine Harris Dead As A Doornail is the fifth book in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series, and full of complications and murder and danger. Someone is killing the double-natured, and since Sookie’s brother Jason was bitten, he’s in the same danger as the rest. I really liked several different things […]
Grave Peril (2001) Jim Butcher The third book in The Dresden Files series occurs several months after the events of the last book, and introduces us to another of Harry Dresden’s friends and companions, Michael, a Knight of the Cross. Michael is helping Harry put down an uprising of ghosts that are rising up and […]
Fool Moon (2001) Jim Butcher Nope. I wasn’t at the bookstore right when it opened this morning, to get the second book in the Harry Dresden Files. The store had been open for at least twenty minutes when I got there. Plus, it was on the way to the grocery store. Fool Moon is set […]
Storm Front (2000) Jim Butcher Amazon had been recommending Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files to me for about a year However, the cover just looked like something I was not going to be interested in reading. But it kept coming up in relation to authors that I really like (Charlaine Harris, Simon Green) so I decided […]
The Nautical Chart (2000) Arturo Perez-Reverte Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden It took me awhile to get into The Nautical Chart. The other books I have read by Arturo Perez-Reverte have drawn me in immediately, but not so for this book. I started reading the book back in December, but kept picking up other books […]
Hex and the City (2005) Simon R. Green BAH! That was just completely uncalled for! Here I am, enjoying this series, which in many ways reads more like a mystery series than a fantasy series, when WHAM! No longer will the story be wrapped up in a single book. Oh no, now we must have […]
Nightingale’s Lament (2004) Simon R. Green In the third Nightside book, John Taylor is hired by a man to find out what has happened to his daughter. She has become a popular singer in Nightside, and he’s worried because he has lost contact with her, so following another job gone bad, John takes the case […]
Agents of Light and Darkness (2003) Simon R. Green >In the second Nightside book, John Taylor, back working in the Nightside, but still living in the Real World, is hired to find the Unholy Grail, so that it can be returned to the Vatican. I really liked this book. We learn a little more about […]
Something from the Nightside (2003) Simon R. Green After The Great Book of Amber, I decided that the requirement for my next book to read, was going to be small and slight. As a 203 page paperback, this fit the bill perfectly. Something from the Nightside is fantasy written as hard boiled mystery. John Taylor […]
The Flanders Panel (1990) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa I enjoyed The Fencing Master so much that I picked up The Flanders Panel and two other of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s books to read, in the hopes that I would like them just as well. While restoring the painting “The Game of Chess” Julia discovers […]
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (1998) Alexander McCall Smith My mom got me the first three books in this series for Christmas, but I hadn’t gotten around to reading the first book until now. This is a rather unusual book for a mystery. It’s almost a collection of short stories tied together by an […]
A Moorland Hanging (1996) Michael Jecks Okay, I give up. At least for now. Michael Jecks is a good storyteller, I will give him that, but his writing… The Merchant’s Partner was sllightly better than The Last Templar as far as his writing style, but A Moorland Hanging is just as frustrating to read as […]
The Merchant’s Partner (1995) Michael Jecks This is the second Knights Templar Mystery, and I’m still undecided about whether I’ll continue the series. Again, story was good, and I loved all the historical details. However, there remain problems. As with the first book, there are very abrupt changes in point of view. One paragraph were […]
Shakespeare’s Counselor (2001) Charlaine Harris My complaint about this book is that it was too engrossing. I laid down just to read a couple of chapters, and two hours later I found myself two-thirds of the way into the book, and not going to sleep early as I’d planned. Here I felt bad and wanted […]
A Conspiracy of Paper (2000) David Liss It’s 1719. Benjamin Weaver is a Jew and a thief-taker and an ex-boxer, all of which set him apart from the rest of London society, but it is his work as a thief-taker which leads him to the intrigues of the 18th century stock market, as well as […]
The Club Dumas (1993) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Sonia Soto (1996) I started this book, but couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of familiarity. Then I realized that I’d seen a movie of this story. The Ninth Gate (starring Johnny Depp) was the movie of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s The Club Dumas. So I’ve put it down for […]
The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Perez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998) I initially didn’t realize that this books were originally in Spanish, and was a little unsure when I realized they were translated, but then decided that it shouldn’t make a difference, and so happily read the book. The Fencing Master is set in […]
Burn Marks (1990) Sara Paretsky V.I.’s aunt Elena shows up on her doorstop at 3 in the morning after escaping the fire that burned down the hotel where she was living. As an alcoholic deadbeat aunt is not the idea roomate, V.I. gives her 24 hours to find a new place and get out, but […]
Blood Shot (1988) Sara Paretsky V.I. Warshawski reluctantly heads back to the old neighborhood–her childhood next door neighbor wants her help in solving the mystery of her past. V.I.’s mother had befriended the single mother next door, and made V.I. take care of Caroline, the little girl. Now, as her mother lies dying, Caroline begs […]
Killing Orders (1985) Sara Paretsky In Killing Orders V.I.’s bitter and unpleasant aunt asks her to look into a matter for her–securities have been forged at the church where Aunt Rosa works, and as everyone who had access to the safe is under suspicion, she is on leave from her job at the church. Worried, […]
Indemnity Only (1982) and Deadlock (1984) Sara Paretsky I used to own the V.I. Warshawski series, but in a fit of pique–and shelf space squeeze–I sold them all. I recently decided that I wanted to give them another chance, which means that I needed to reread them, which means I had to find all the […]
Cold Service (2005) Robert B. Parker I had figured that I was going to have to wait a year, until it came out in paperback, to read the latest Spender book. However, we found a hardback copy at Half Price Books, cheaper than the coming paperback will be, so we got it. There was a […]
The Last Templar (1995) Michael Jecks This was an interesting book. The mystery was good, the story was good, and I quite liked the historical setting and the history lesson. The writing was, for the most part, very good, with one glaring exception. In this book Michael Jecks switches point of view abruptly and sometimes […]
Small Vices (1997) Robert B. Parker Okay, so I didn’t totally resist, but I’ve limited myself to just Small Vices, which is one of my favorite Spenser books. Small Vices was my introduction to Spenser. It is also the reason I have some small affection for Burt Reynolds. Back when I worked in a lab, […]
Bad Business (2004) Robert B. Parker The danger in reading a Spenser book is that I then want to go back and reread all the other Spenser books. All 28 of them. But as I reread them just a year ago, I’ll try to restrain myself. Spenser takes what seems to be a simple divorce […]
Whispers of the Dead (2004) Peter Tremayne When I first came across the Sister Fidelma mysteries I was almost certain I was going to like them. Sister Fidelma is a nun and a lawyer in 17th century Ireland. Written by an Irish scholar, the stories are full of wonderful historical detail and are history lessons […]
The Southern Vampire Mysteries: Dead Until Dark (2001), Living Dead in Dallas (2002), Club Dead (2003), Dead to the World (2004) Charlaine Harris If I told you I’d been reading erotic, vampire mysteries, would you still respect me? If the answer is “No,” too bad. Since the Victorian part of my soul has to deal […]
Emerald Magic (2004) edited by Andrew M. Greeley This book first caught my eye because I didn’t expect to see Andrew Greeley’s name in the fantasy section. Then I looked at the list of authors who wrote in this anthology: Charles de Lint, Diane Duane, Elizabeth Haydon, Morgan Llywelyn, Judith Tarr, Peter Tremayne, Jane Yolen. […]
The Blackie Ryan Mysteries by Andrew M. Greeley Happy Are the Meek, Happy Are the Clean of Heart, Happy Are Those Who Thirst for Justice, Happy Are the Merciful, Happy Are the Poor in Spirit, Happy Are Those Who Mourn, Happy Are the Oppressed, The Bishop at Sea, The Bishop and the Three Kings, The […]
Robert B. Parker‘s Spenser mysteries. So while home sick, I decided to read all the Robert B Parker Spenser books I could get my hands on. I think that would be all of them but two. Here are my thoughts (will probably continue to be updated/): The Godwulf Manuscript (1973) is the first Spenser book. […]