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Any mystery Readers out there?

wimseycat

By wimseycat,
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AmandaVT

AmandaVT

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Any specific titles that are more "Fallish"?

 

Thanks!

 

Louise Penny's "Still Life" is the first book in her Inspector Gamache series and it takes place in October, focusing around Canadian Thanksgiving and is very fallish. :-) One of my favorite mystery authors!

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mumto2

mumto2

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A personal favourite is Wicked Autumn by GM Malliet https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10946475-wicked-autumn?ac=1&from_search=true This is the first in a series featuring a retired British secret agent turned village vicar.

 

This website is wonderful. It can be sorted so many different ways. Here are the groupings for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Lots of choice.

http://www.cozy-mystery.com/blog/fall-halloween-thanksgiving-cozy-mysteries.html. I was going to list some favourites from the lists but many books by good cozy authors are there.

Edited by mumto2
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mmasc

mmasc

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I really like Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy mysteries. The first one is "Catering to Nobody" and takes place in Colorado during the month of October. IIRC, lots of references are made to the weather and time of year. I've been really enjoying this series!

Edited by mmasc
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billswife

billswife

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Posted

I love mystery books. These are some of my favorites:MC Beaton, Mary Daheim, Nancy Atherton, Leslie Meier, Joanne Fluke, Rhys Bowen, Donna Andrews, Denise Swanson, Margret Maron, Jill Churchill, and Rett MacPherson. Laurie King does a great series about Sherlock Holmes and a young girl he meets that eventually becomes his wife.

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Lori D.

Lori D.

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Since you enjoy Agatha Christie... :) Both DS#1 and I liked her short story collection: Hercule Poirot's Casebook.

 

 

Older series:

 

If you like Agatha Christie, then try Dorothy Sayers, of course! ;)

 

Josephine Tey, writing in the 1930s-40s, is my current treasure-find -- absolutely gorgeous, muscular, intelligent writing. I've been slowly savoring going through her Inspector Alan Grant series. I haven't gotten to her individual stand-alone mysteries yet.

 

Another older series (written in the late 1960s/early 1970s) I really enjoy because of the higher quality writing and the humor are the 5 Miss Seeton mysteries by Heron Carvic. The setting is contemporary (to the time it was written) England and Scotland Yard detectives trying to keep pace with a retired drawing teacher who very unaware has mysteries explode all around her. After Carvic's death, other authors have written additional works -- avoid, as they are not well-written and change the characters.

 

I also really enjoyed the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, set in the mid-1100s with a soldier/sailor-turned-monk as the detective in the midst of all the political intriguing going on in England at that time. Well-written, and solid in the historical depiction.

 

Tony Hillerman's Navajo Tribal Police Mysteries series (detectives Leaphorn and Chee) are solid in the writing and fascinating for the history/culture of the characters. He started the series in the 1970s, and continued up through his death in the early 2000s. I understand his daughter is continuing the series, but I've only read some of the original series books.

 

Current authors/series:

- For super-fluff mystery writing, the dog-lover in me enjoys the Chet & Bernie series by Spencer Quinn.

- The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith are charming.

- Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery series by Carrie Bebris, based on the Jane Austen characters and set in the early 19th century are enjoyable when you're wishing there were sequels to Jane Austen's books, and, hey, a mystery at the same time would be nice... ;)

- The Thursday Next series (Eyre Affair is the first book) by Jasper Fforde is very creative, but very different. The first 2-3 books work well, but the series starts to fall down after that. The world and setting of the book are for those who are fans of sci-fi/speculative fiction/alternate history fans. The world, the humor, and the writing style remind me a bit of something that would have come from Douglas Adams. Set in modern day Britain, but with an alternate history, a female Special Operative in literary detection has to literally enter into several novels in pursuit of a felon who is trying to re-write classic works of fiction, which in turn will completely change reality and history.

 

I'm looking forward to hunting down some of the recommendations from you other mystery fans! :)

 

 

ETA -- OOPS

Just now realized you are looking for very SPECIFIC works having to do with Fall (i.e. Autumn) ::doh!:: smacking forehead. I'll have to come back if I think of any specific books these suggestions having an Autumn setting or theme or connection...

 

. . . . . 

 

Brother Cadfael: The Devil's Novice (book #8) -- takes place in autumn (plus has sort-of Halloween-y connection in the title)

Edited by Lori D.
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ScoutTN

ScoutTN

Posted
Posted (edited)

I recently read several of the Cottage Tales mysteries. Set in the Lake country in England with Beatrix Potter as the main character. Loosely biographical. Gentle and humorous. Fun though formulaic after 3 or 4.

Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are great too.
Ooh , don't forget Josephine Tey!

Edited by ScoutTN
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mumto2

mumto2

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I am pretty sure the first Elly Griffiths mystery The Crossing Place is set in the fall https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6688087-the-crossing-places. I believe a later one A Dying Fall is too. No copies available to double check.....

 

I just wanted to invite all the readers here to join us over at the weekly Book a Week thread. We have several regular posters who read mysteries. We would love some new people. This is a great time of the year to join because our weekly threads are relatively short. In October we have our annual month of spooky reads which is lots of fun!

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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Louise Penny's "Still Life" is the first book in her Inspector Gamache series and it takes place in October, focusing around Canadian Thanksgiving and is very fallish. :-) One of my favorite mystery authors!

Yes I have read this one. That is a good suggestion. Have you seen the tv adaptation?

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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A personal favourite is Wicked Autumn by GM Malliet https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10946475-wicked-autumn?ac=1&from_search=true This is the first in a series featuring a retired British secret agent turned village vicar.

 

This website is wonderful. It can be sorted so many different ways. Here are the groupings for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Lots of choice.

http://www.cozy-mystery.com/blog/fall-halloween-thanksgiving-cozy-mysteries.html. I was going to list some favourites from the lists but many books by good cozy authors are there.

Yes I have read this whole series. What do you think of the Max/Awena relationship???

 

I think I am going to do a specific review of Wicked Autumn in addition to a fall mystery compilation. Thanks for the website suggestion!

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mumto2

mumto2

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Yes I have read this whole series. What do you think of the Max/Awena relationship???

 

I think I am going to do a specific review of Wicked Autumn in addition to a fall mystery compilation. Thanks for the website suggestion!

As someone who lives in a smallish English village and is involved in the village C of E many of the situations arising from those characters crack me up. I can just imagine the teeth sucking, as a good friend calls the polite disapproval, it would be shown in public. I find the relationship good for entertainment value but suspect that in real life it wouldn't last. How do you feel about them?

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DragonFaerie

DragonFaerie

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Posted

I really like Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy mysteries. The first one is "Catering to Nobody" and takes place in Colorado during the month of October. IIRC, lots of references are made to the weather and time of year. I've been really enjoying this series!

 

I own and love all of these books.  I also recommend The Ginseng Conspiracy. Incidentally, I was an editor on this book, too. :D

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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I love mystery books. These are some of my favorites:MC Beaton, Mary Daheim, Nancy Atherton, Leslie Meier, Joanne Fluke, Rhys Bowen, Donna Andrews, Denise Swanson, Margret Maron, Jill Churchill, and Rett MacPherson. Laurie King does a great series about Sherlock Holmes and a young girl he meets that eventually becomes his wife.

I am reading Beaton's Agatha Raisin series right now. It is good fun. I just started watching the series on Acorn TV too. I have read Rhys Bowen as well.

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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I recently read several of the Cottage Tales mysteries. Set in the Lake country in England with Beatrix Potter as the main character. Loosely biographical. Gentle and humorous. Fun though formulaic after 3 or 4.

 

Brother Caddael mysteries by Ellis Peters are great too.

Ooh , don't forget Josephine Tey!

I think are read a couple of the cottage of mysteries. They were cute but I think I stopped after the 2nd one.

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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As someone who lives in a smallish English village and is involved in the village C of E many of the situations arising from those characters crack me up. I can just imagine the teeth sucking, as a good friend calls the polite disapproval, it would be shown in public. I find the relationship good for entertainment value but suspect that in real life it wouldn't last. How do you feel about them?

I love the Suzanna Winship character she really keeps things going. I think the author married Max off too soon. Maybe she thought that would be the end of the series? I resent a little that Awena is portrayed (in the later books) as so accepting and above it all and the C of E people tend to come off as petty and mean-spirited at times. The bishop attending their "wedding" is a little unbelievable as well. I like the mysteries generally and of course an ex-MI-5 vicar will always make for interesting plot lines.

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Kareni

Kareni

Posted
Posted

I love the thread title- I was expecting to hear about something like a Mystery Shopper job we could get- We could go into various bookstores and secretly read books and review them, and get paid for it... Is that a thing? :)

 

I wish!

 

Regards,

Kareni

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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I love the thread title- I was expecting to hear about something like a Mystery Shopper job we could get- We could go into various bookstores and secretly read books and review them, and get paid for it... Is that a thing? :)

That should absolutely be a thing! :)

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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I think Busman's Honeymoon takes place in Autumn.  Gaudy Night is in the summer and BH is in the autumn of the same year.  October maybe?

 

Clouds of Witness takes place in October too.

Thanks for listing these. I was going to have a look through them all to see which ones are fallish but you did it for me! Yay! Clouds of Witness was a crazy book. What was his brother thinking? haha

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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I am pretty sure the first Elly Griffiths mystery The Crossing Place is set in the fall https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6688087-the-crossing-places. I believe a later one A Dying Fall is too. No copies available to double check.....

 

I just wanted to invite all the readers here to join us over at the weekly Book a Week thread. We have several regular posters who read mysteries. We would love some new people. This is a great time of the year to join because our weekly threads are relatively short. In October we have our annual month of spooky reads which is lots of fun!

Can you list the Book a Week thread link for me? Thanks!

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mumto2

mumto2

Posted
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Prophecy, by S J Parris, takes place in the autumn.

This is one of my favourite series!

 

 

  

I love mystery books. These are some of my favorites:MC Beaton, Mary Daheim, Nancy Atherton, Leslie Meier, Joanne Fluke, Rhys Bowen, Donna Andrews, Denise Swanson, Margret Maron, Jill Churchill, and Rett MacPherson. Laurie King does a great series about Sherlock Holmes and a young girl he meets that eventually becomes his wife.

Thanks for the ideas. Two of the authors are new to me. Now waiting on some library holds! :lol:

 

  

Since you enjoy Agatha Christie... :) Both DS#1 and I liked her short story collection: Hercule Poirot's Casebook.

 

 

Older series:

 

If you like Agatha Christie, then try Dorothy Sayers, of course! ;)

 

Josephine Tey, writing in the 1930s-40s, is my current treasure-find -- absolutely gorgeous, muscular, intelligent writing. I've been slowly savoring going through her Inspector Alan Grant series. I haven't gotten to her individual stand-alone mysteries yet.

 

Another older series (written in the late 1960s/early 1970s) I really enjoy because of the higher quality writing and the humor are the 5 Miss Seeton mysteries by Heron Carvic. The setting is contemporary (to the time it was written) England and Scotland Yard detectives trying to keep pace with a retired drawing teacher who very unaware has mysteries explode all around her. After Carvic's death, other authors have written additional works -- avoid, as they are not well-written and change the characters.

 

I also really enjoyed the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, set in the mid-1100s with a soldier/sailor-turned-monk as the detective in the midst of all the political intriguing going on in England at that time. Well-written, and solid in the historical depiction.

 

Tony Hillerman's Navajo Tribal Police Mysteries series (detectives Leaphorn and Chee) are solid in the writing and fascinating for the history/culture of the characters. He started the series in the 1970s, and continued up through his death in the early 2000s. I understand his daughter is continuing the series, but I've only read some of the original series books.

 

Current authors/series:

- For super-fluff mystery writing, the dog-lover in me enjoys the Chet & Bernie series by Spencer Quinn.

- The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith are charming.

- Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery series by Carrie Bebris, based on the Jane Austen characters and set in the early 19th century are enjoyable when you're wishing there were sequels to Jane Austen's books, and, hey, a mystery at the same time would be nice... ;)

- The Thursday Next series (Eyre Affair is the first book) by Jasper Fforde is very creative, but very different. The first 2-3 books work well, but the series starts to fall down after that. The world and setting of the book are for those who are fans of sci-fi/speculative fiction/alternate history fans. The world, the humor, and the writing style remind me a bit of something that would have come from Douglas Adams. Set in modern day Britain, but with an alternate history, a female Special Operative in literary detection has to literally enter into several novels in pursuit of a felon who is trying to re-write classic works of fiction, which in turn will completely change reality and history.

 

I'm looking forward to hunting down some of the recommendations from you other mystery fans! :)

 

 

ETA -- OOPS

Just now realized you are looking for very SPECIFIC works having to do with Fall (i.e. Autumn) ::doh!:: smacking forehead. I'll have to come back if I think of any specific books these suggestions having an Autumn setting or theme or connection...

 

. . . . . 

 

Brother Cadfael: The Devil's Novice (book #8) -- takes place in autumn (plus has sort-of Halloween-y connection in the title)

I am also waiting for a Miss Seeton. I am hoping that it is a series that I read years ago and have been hunting for the name to reread.

 

I love Tey also. Oddly the first new Hillerman was already in my stack when you wrote this. I decided to finally try the daughter's books.....

 

 

  

Can you list the Book a Week thread link for me? Thanks!

Here's a link to this weeks thread http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/622568-book-a-week-2016-bw35-summer-sun/. A new thread starts every Sunday afternoon. Hope to see some of you there!

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PrincessMommy

PrincessMommy

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The Gregor Demarkian mystery series tends to be focused on specific seasons.

 

I like this series.   The first book in the series takes place at Christmas.   That's the problem with trying to find one with a specific season.  I'm pretty linear and I like to start at the beginning of the series because that's when recurring characters are generally introduced.

 

 

In addition to many talked about here I've been enjoying Ann Cleeves' Shetland Series.  "Raven Black"  is the first one but it takes place in January on the Shetland Islands. 

 

Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn mysteries are also good.  I have no idea which seasons they take place in though.

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Beth S

Beth S

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I'll recommend a highly unconventional fictional mystery = "The S Book" by JJ Abrams (yes, the Star Trek/Star Wars director, written in 2013).

 

It is an utterly off-the-chart creative book.  There is no Kindle version, because it is a conventional book (made to look old) with 2 people writing in the margins & about 20 items inserted in between the pages.  It is pleasantly mind-stretching, with uncertainty in every single direction.

 

I've only read Chapter 1, and it is a large-but-satisfying effort . . . but it will likely capture ANY avid reader, or ANY mystery fan (IMO).

 

https://www.amazon.com/S-J-Abrams/dp/0316201642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472565710&sr=8-1&keywords=the+s+book

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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I'll recommend a highly unconventional fictional mystery = "The S Book" by JJ Abrams (yes, the Star Trek/Star Wars director, written in 2013).

 

It is an utterly off-the-chart creative book.  There is no Kindle version, because it is a conventional book (made to look old) with 2 people writing in the margins & about 20 items inserted in between the pages.  It is pleasantly mind-stretching, with uncertainty in every single direction.

 

I've only read Chapter 1, and it is a large-but-satisfying effort . . . but it will likely capture ANY avid reader, or ANY mystery fan (IMO).

 

https://www.amazon.com/S-J-Abrams/dp/0316201642/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472565710&sr=8-1&keywords=the+s+book

This looks wild! I loved the show Fringe that he did so this might be something I would read.

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wimseycat

wimseycat

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I like this series.   The first book in the series takes place at Christmas.   That's the problem with trying to find one with a specific season.  I'm pretty linear and I like to start at the beginning of the series because that's when recurring characters are generally introduced.

 

 

In addition to many talked about here I've been enjoying Ann Cleeves' Shetland Series.  "Raven Black"  is the first one but it takes place in January on the Shetland Islands. 

 

Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn mysteries are also good.  I have no idea which seasons they take place in though.

I agree with the linear series comment. That has been the tricky part. I am a pretty staunch "you read them in order" person so I will struggle with recommending a book in the middle of a series just because it is set in the season I want to cover. I am sure many books won't make my list (I think I will stick with top 10) for that very reason.

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