What are you reading in 2016?

My first book in this category, for 2016 was not a great read, but not bad either. The Cipher Garden by Martin Edwards. One in a series, set in the Lake District.

I'm reading The Chessmen by Peter May, the third title in the Lewis Trilogy. All three books are vividly placed on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. I read the first two and was totally won over by them.

2 I'll have to look for that trilogy. I made my first but hopefully not my last visit to Scotland this fall, and heard about the Isle of Lewis for the first time.

Loved this trilogy, sorry I've finished the last one now : Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina.

I have loved Ruth Rendell for many decades now. Finished reading her last work yesterday: Dark Corners. Not a bad read, but definitely not her best.

Not sure if this book fits into this category because I gather the author, though born and raised in England, moved to Australia, but...I enjoyed it and it is set in London. No Trace by Barry Maitland. Good read; I'll look for more of his books.

I just read a cute little mystery Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor that I received from NetGalley. It was reminiscent of a Golden Age mystery where the plucky young girl solves the murder without the help of the police. A few flaws, but the author shows some promise.

Having read Jill Paton Walsh's continuation of Sayers and liking them a lot, I thought I'd try her Imogen Quy series and just got the first one. Hope to start it soon. Has anyone else read them?

Finished Desperate Measures, by Cath Staincliffe and have started The Parasite Person, by Celia Fremlin. My top novel of 2015 was The Hours Before Dawn, so I have high hopes for Parasite.

I am currently reading Even Dogs in the Wild the latest Rebus book by Ian Rankin (for some reason the touchstones aren't working). Rebus is consulting on a possible serial murder case which him brings him back into contact with Big Ger Cafferty but the two are helping each other out instead of trying to put the other in a jail cell or a coffin. To make matters even more strange Malcolm Fox is coming to Rebus for advice. I am loving it.

I think this one sort of fits in this category, as there is a serious crime involved in the story: Half the World Away by Cath Staincliffe.

Another novel by Cath Staincliffe: Blue Murder. Again, not very exciting but not terrible.

Just finished Moon Over Soho which is the second in the Peter Grant series. Peter Grant is a constable in the London Metropolitan Police Force and an apprentice wizard. As you can tell from that last bit there is a fantasy overtone to these books but they are so smart and funny that I can accept the fantasy and just enjoy the read.

I have read all the ones presently published in the series and they ae all just as good as the first one.

I still miss Ruth Rendell- recently found one of hers that I'd not read before: A Judgement in Stone.

I read right through today (home from work, sick in bed) and finished The Killing Lessons, a graphic yet suspenseful novel by Saul Black, alias Glen Duncan.

Back to Rebus novels: Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin. Another good one.

Finished A Dedicated Man (Inspector Banks Book 2), by Peter Robinson and have just started the third in the series, A Necessary End. Glad I have come across this series as it is quite good.

mvo62. I too, love the Inspector Banks series, especially the earlier ones. I do have to point out though, that Peter Robinson is a Canadian for some time now, though born and bred in Yorkshire. We consider him one of ours now!

This weeks Brit crime fiction was a Quick Read book by Minette Walters called A Dreadful Murder.

>ted74ca As long as he writes about eating toasted teacakes, I'll consider him a British author ;)

I seem to keep requesting books by Minette Walters from my library, and ending up with Quick Read novellas. I think I've read this book before: Innocent Victims.

@#21. OK, how about we share him?

Last I want to read of Minette Walters for a while now: The Cellar. I don't care for her later works as much as her earlier novels.

Finished Past Reason Hated (Inspector Banks Book 5) by Peter Robinson.

>23 ted74ca: OK, but I really have no claim as I am a Kiwi :)

25: Well, then, I think you should just let us Canucks claim him. His books are sold here with the red maple leaf on the book spine, after all!

I've just started The Lake District Murder by John Bude that is from the British Library Crime Classics reprint series. I love those 1930s mysteries.

I finished Murder by the Sea, the fourth book in Lesley Cookman's "Libby Sarjeant" series. These books are amiable and low-stress fun, although the two main characters have already gotten fairly repetitive by this point, only four books into an 11-book (so far) series.

As mentioned in 27, I love 1930s mysteries, but this one was a very slow read. It was not my favourite of the British Library Crime Classics series.

When what appeared to be the suicide of a petrol station owner turned out to be murder, Meredith begins by investigating a petrol fraud that may be linked. What followed was a detailed investigation requiring multiple locations to be kept under surveillance for days. Police budgets were not even mentioned. Neither was breaking the law to get information. Need to search a property? A break and enter will handle that. The fraud investigation continued for so long that even Inspector Meredith had forgotten about the murder. He was not the only one.

After filling half the book with the petrol fraud investigation it was found to have no basis and the inquiry took a different turn. Written in 1935 when women seldom had a major role in crime fiction by male authors, their absence is glaring in this yarn. Pity - a woman like Miss Marple would have found the solution much quicker that the ineffective Inspector Meredith. One thing I liked was the name of the petrol company - Nonock.

I've just finished, and very much enjoyed, Second Wind by Dick Francis.

I am reading through the Judith Cutler series but tend to get bored with the heroine of each series when I am about halfway through. The Lina Townend series was good and I wish that there were more of them but I am heartily tired of Kate Power and stopped the Sophie Rivers series halfway through. They are all on e-reader so I can go back to them if the mood moves me.

I am currently reading One Good Turn which is the second book in the Jackson Brodie series. Jackson and his lady love are in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival. While his girlfriend is rehearsing Jackson is getting into trouble. Love Kate Atkinson's writing.

Just finished Death of My Aunt by C.H.B. Kitchin a golden age mystery. Kitchen is an author that deserved more attention in later years after his glittering debut with Hogarth Press back in the 1920s.

Quite enjoyed: Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton

I am reading Point of Honour by Madeleine Robins. This is book #1 in the series...just at the very beginning.

I've just finished Another one goes tonight by Peter Lovesy.
Although part of a series it also reads as a stand-alone.... Interesting characters and plot, plenty of tantalising clues, no unnecessary descriptions of torture or other violence, and the wit that I so much look forward to in this author's clever writing.

The Sisters by Claire Douglas. A so-so read-rather predictable.

Suspenseful and exciting: Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton. The second in this series, and this one will make more sense if you've read the first one, but can stand on its own as a great read, if not.

I am not sure whether this book should be classified as Crime, Mystery or Spy fiction, but I think I'll have to give up on The Amber Shadows by Lucy Ribchester. It's opening chapters were promising with their evocation of the working lives of those employed as code-breakers at Bletchley Park, UK, during WW2, but the story thereafter has not held my interest at all.

I'm reading Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch. This is the third in a series about a London copper who can do magic and who has been apprenticed to an established magician. I know, I know, it sounds like fantasy but it is so clever as a police procedural that I think it works in this thread. Anyone else read any of these books? I am quite taken by them.

I just finished an Ian Rankin novel I'd not read before: Tooth and Nail; his 3rd Rebus novel, I believe.

My co worker has all the Rebus novels, so I've been raiding her collection and reading or re-reading some of the older ones. Just finished Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin. I think I prefer the earlier novels, actually. Also read one from a series new to me: Little Boy Blue: a DI Helen Grace thriller by M.J. Arlidge and can't decide if I want to read any more of them.

I've been waiting for a quite a while on the library wait list, but got it this week and loved it: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Two great reads this weekend: Different Class by Joanne Harris, which I thought was excellent and Raven Black by Ann Cleeves, which was also quite good.

I've been waiting to get this one from my library for a while, and it was well worth the wait: The Trespasser by Tana French. Loved it.

>44 ted74ca: The Shetland series by Ann Cleeves is one of my favourites - do read the rest :) BTW, your touchstone for Raven Black goes to Dracula!

@46 mvo62. Thanks for the touchstone heads up. Fixed now. I've already requested the next in the Shetland series from my library. I think the reason why I didn't rate the book as fantastic was that it did pale in comparison to the Joanne Harris novel I'd also just read ; also, that I had already watched the TV adaption of the Shetland series and I think that's spoiled the books a bit for me.

>47 ted74ca: The Shetland TV series has not arrived in my part of the world, yet. Will have to add a Joanne Harris book to my list - I have seen "Chocolat" - didn't realise she has written other books...

Another author new to me: Lucy Atkins. This was a psychological thriller, just so so: The Other Child

Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge. The 1st novel in her DI Helen Grace series.

The Widow by Fiona Barton which didn't live up to all the hype, and Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton which was marginally better.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware, which was a bit predictable and not really superb writing, but not a bad read to pass the time.

Another thriller that I really enjoyed-good writing and believable, albeit unlikeable characters: Watching Edie by Camilla Way

Reading old Rebus novels right now: The Black Book by Ian Rankin

>54 ted74ca: Hello, I hope you don't mind me joining you, but I noticed that you are reading the Rebus novels. I am a fan of Ian Rankin, having read the first six of his Rebus series. I'm overdue another instalment! I like to spread out his offerings between all my other reading (varied, but predominantly mystery and suspense books), so I always have something to look forward to.
I have just finished reading Beyond Recall by Robert Goddard, whom I find an outstanding writer of mystery.
Just started reading An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson - first time I've read one of her works but it looks very promising.

>55 Sergeirocks:. Please do join in with me and Rebus! I thought I'd read all Rankin's Rebus series over the years, in totally random order, but one of my work colleagues who is far more organized than I, set out to buy them all and is now reading them all in order of publication. She brings the ones she's finished to work and so I've been reading them on my lunch breaks. Sometimes I'll realize I've already read one and other times the book is new to me. I'm really enjoying even the re-reads, mostly because I paid my first ever visit to Scotland last fall, and spent some days in Edinburgh, so now can visualize lots of the locations in the novels. I think I have read some of Robert Goddard but a long time ago, but I haven't come across Nicola Upson yet.

I, too, have visited Edinburgh and find myself able to visualise Rebus in situ, as it were. I feel this familiarity only enhances the reading experience.
I have enjoyed reading Goddard for many years now, although I still have many of his novels to look forward to reading. I think he is a master storyteller.
Upson is a new find for me - I stumbled upon her work while browsing my local library recently. Her series of novels is unusual in that it has the writer, Josephine Tey, as one of the lead characters. I'm enjoying An Expert in Murder so far, although it's not what I'd call a quick and easy read.

Rebus is not at all well in Rather be the Devil by Ian Rankin. I wonder how long he's got.

>58 Thrin: Luckily, I have a long way to go before I get to that point in the series.

Finished An Expert in Murder, will be happy to continue with the series, 3.5★s

A great, albeit dark and convoluted, thriller: blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

Pretty good story, but my reading of this series is marred by the fact I've seen the television series already: Red Bones by Ann Cleeves

A new author for me with the first book in a series: The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill. I will be reading more of hers I am sure.

>62 ted74ca: l loved the Jimmy Perez books, looking forward to reading the latest in the series.

I'm going to be reading The Moth Catcher, a Vera Stanhope book, starting 9 December - a group read on the Mystery and Suspense group.

Have just finished Detection Unlimited by Georgette Heyer 4★s

I'm reading the The Big Sleep - not British or Irish you may say, but Chandler did go the school in London, so I'm incuding it - you may think differently!

I loved the book I just finished-should have read this series years ago. This one was The Blackhouse: The Lewis Trilogy by Peter May. Immediately requested the 2nd book in the series from our local library.

>67 ted74ca: I thoroughly enjoyed The Lewis Trilogy. I gave The Blackhouse 4★s, and the other two 5★s apiece.

This is another series we discussed as a group read (and all gave the thumbs up!) on the Mystery and Suspense forum.

If anyone's interested, check us out http://www.librarything.com/groups/mysteryandsuspense
Or our sister group, Mystery and Suspense Extra!, at -
http://www.librarything.com/groups/mysteryandsuspenseex
(For example, our last Ann Cleeves discussion can be found at https://www.librarything.com/groups/bookdiscussionharbou - all very fun and informal...)

Into my second Nicola Upson, Fear in the Sunlight, based in Portmeirion, Wales, and with a cast list including Alfred Hitchcock...

A so so book finished yesterday Pop Goes The Weasel by M.J. Arlidge. Back to shoveling the snow from my driveway now!

I must check out M.J. Arlidge, that book looks like a good one!

I heard about all your snow - it was the top story on the news. Our snow never reaches the news. Now go have a Christmas treat to recover!

Finished The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves, gave it 4★s.
I do recommend this series and this author.

In September this year, I discovered the writings of Brian Sellars. His ebook, Tuppenny Hat Detective, (a kindle freebie), totally hooked me. Full of humour and nostalgia, I loved this story of 11-year-old Sheffield lad Billy Perks who, with his chums Yvonne and 'Kicks', solves a murder which the police had dismissed as death by natural causes.
I'm currently reading the second in the 'Tuppenny Hat Detective' series: Dance Floor Drowning.

Finished Dance Floor Drowning by Brian Sellars; this second in series did not disappoint: 4.5★s.

Quite enjoyed Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths. Didn't realize it was part of a series till I got it home, so now I've requested the first one.

>75 ted74ca: I've not read any of her Stephens and Mephisto Mysteries.

>76 Sergeirocks:. This one was pretty good.

Just finished, and really enjoyed Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves

Finished my last 2 reads of 2016:-

30 December 2016 - Seeking the Dead by Kate Ellis 4.5★s (Mystery & Suspense group read)

31 December 2016 - Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear 4.5★s