One of my fellow mystery book lovers stunned me during our last Mystery Book Club discussion – the club I attend in Manchester, Massachusetts. He asked/exclaimed, “Why do you have to compare books?” In my mind, I’m thinking, “That’s more than half the fun of our meetings, the source of much fun, laughter, and thoughtfulness. What’s Joe’s problem?” I didn’t say that exactly, but my thoughts then and immediately afterward … Continue reading
The Manchester Public Library Mystery Book Lovers Club met today and discussed Open Season by Mayor Archer. Open Season (1988) is Mayor’s first book in his Joe Gunther series based in Brattleboro, VT. Since then Mayor has completed 23 Gunther stories. Apparently it’s open season for the former members of a jury that served on the murder trial of Kimberly Harris several years ago. One is shot and killed, another … Continue reading
Mysteries are not only great to read, they can be experienced at leisure. Earlier this month, mystery book fan and member of the Manchester Public Library Mystery Book Club, Mike O’Connor, did just that. He visited Gillette Castle on the Connecticut River, the home of the great actor, William Gillette. It was Gillette who immortalized Sherlock Holmes on the stage, and fixed the Holmes we now know in the popular mind. … Continue reading
Here is the latest trailer for the movie, Jack Reacher, scheduled for release in theaters December 21. It’s based on Lee Child’s book, One Shot, which I read last year. In fact I have read 11 of the 17 available Reacher books; I hope I can read them all before I give in to the temptation to see the film adaptation of One Shot. I’m afraid of allowing Tom Cruise … Continue reading
There are not too many mystery books where the author is writing for adults but the central character is a 13 year old boy. But The Last Child by John Hart departs from the norm in other ways as well for it is more than a mystery, it has an underlying theme. Moreover the theme is not the dangers of nuclear terrorism or corporate conspiracies (thrillers) or that crime doesn’t … Continue reading
Just finished reading Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini. I chose the book because I am a fan of Martini’s writing and of Paul Madriani, the lawyer who is featured in many of Martini’s books. I am trying to think just what it is that made me dislike the book even though I could not turn the pages fast enough all the way to the very end of the book. … Continue reading
Just finished Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James. This is the sixth of 14 Adam Dalgliesh novels written by the highly honored British mystery writer. Here Dalgliesh is called to investigate the murder of Dr. Lorrimer, the “Chief Science Officer of the Biology Department” at a forensic laboratory. While not exactly a “locked room mystery,” there are some of the elements: the victim is found when the … Continue reading
There is an old saying, “Always finish what you start.” And Sue Grafton seems to be on target with the release of V is for Vengeance in 2011 and the paperback version due out this October 30. Perhaps she will indeed finish; she only needs to write novels for W, X, Y, and Z. Unless… Unless in Vengeance, Millhone is confronted with an evil programmer, intent on destroying the remains of … Continue reading
I stumbled across Robert Dugoni’s books recently, probably as a result of the hoopla over his latest bestseller, The Conviction. I thought I knew all the major courtroom and legal thriller writers, starting with Erle Stanley Gardner, but apparently not. So I checked out his writings over on Stop You’re Killing Me to find the title of the first book in his series. That’s how I came to read The Jury … Continue reading
As the summer of 2012 is ending, and as I am getting this new Mystery Book Fan site up and going, I thought I would see how many of this summer’s mystery books I can remember reading! In no particular order: I decided to read the whole Harry Bosch canon. I had previously read only a few of them and wanted to go through it all. So these are the ones … Continue reading
LET'S PLAY CLUE: Was it MBC Leader Dick Goutal, in the garden, using the poisonous plant, Black Henbane?
