May, 2022 ~ What are you reading?

New month, new thread.

>1 seitherin: We count on you to keep a new thread, thanks!

Starting May off with Garnethill, by Denise Mina.

>2 raidergirl3: Indeed we do — thank you very much, seitherin! I've pinned this topic and unpinned April.

Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country and old issues of EQMM at the moment. Need to get back to one of the long running series I am in the middle of...

In the middle of The Backup Men by Ross Thomas, the third book in the Padillo/McCorkle series. Additionally, just finished The Fugitive Pigeon by Donald E. Westlake. Two good storytellers.

Oh I love the Padillo/McCorkle books. So much drinking! So much smoking! So much banter! Schemes, shenanigans, double crosses!

>7 Bookmarque: Oh yes! The Golden Age (lol).

>2 raidergirl3: >4 rosalita: You're welcome. Sorry I was a day late, but life kind of got in my way and I didn't even realize it was May. Nothing wrong with me, but I do have a sick kitty.

>9 seitherin: Aw, I hope your kitty is on the mend very soon! It's so hard to see them not their usual happy selves.

>10 rosalita: Loki, my cat, is mostly doing OK. The vet upped his meds and he's slowly becoming his usual annoying self. ;D

On a reading note, I've picked up The Echo Wife again.

Couldn't be bothered to finish The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. Too self-absorbed for my taste.

I'm reading Transcription by Kate Atkinson, a delightful espionage novel with a light comical touch. The main character Juliet Armstrong is a clever daydreamer whose having a hard time seeing through all of webs of deceit and games her employer, MI5, plays.

Just started The New Iberia Blues by James Lee Burke. This is the second installment in his recent “trilogy.” Dave, Clete and Alafair are a lot older now, but it’s still a good read.

Finally started The Old Buzzard Had It Coming; first in a series I've wanted to try for a long time.

Reading for the first time and very much enjoying The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd.

Continuing the Glasgow theme with The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid, by Craig Russell. This is #5 in the Lennox series.

Now hopping over to Provence with Murder in the Rue Dumas, by M. L. Longworth.

I think this is the first book I've read in months that falls into this reading category, which is normally my favourite genre. However, I wasn't really impressed with this thriller: Hostage by Clare Mackintosh-I found it quite boring and wasn't drawn in by any of the characters at all.

Finished and loved The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd.

I’ve finally started Long Bright River.

Spent the weekend revisiting Hell Bay; Will Thomas' hat tip to a traditional country house party mystery--in this case, it's an entire island with a skillful assassin picking off guests one by one. Not my favorite in the series, simply because my favorite supporting cast members (Barker's butler, French cook, and the Chinese restauranteur Ho) did not come along for the ride.

Back to Glasgow now with The Heretic, by Liam McIlvanney.

Starting The Alamut Ambush by Anthony Price. The second book in the Dr. David Audley/Colonel Butler series of espionage thrillers, from the 70s, written in real time.

I've finished J'ai dû rêver trop fort by Michel Bussi, an expert in gas-lighting.

I've started Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers... nothing like a cozy murder!

Started a re-read of The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie.

Recently finished The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney,The Wolf and the Watchman by Nicklas Natt och Dag and currently reading In the Heat of the Night by John Ball. All three outstanding.

I just finished We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker, the first book of his that I have read. I was very impressed by this story of two young children who lose their mother and their grandfather to murder and have never known who their father is. A sheriff from their small California town who grew up with their mother and the man accused of killing her tries to determine who is guilty of the murders and how best to help these two. The oldest, Duchess, is one of the best teen-aged protagonists I've run across. And, to my amazement, Whitaker is British and still lives in the UK but his description of the land seems very accurate to me. I can't find any information that he has ever lived in the USA but he must have spent some time there.

Just finished Survivor's guilt by Robyn Gigl, her second novel that just came out. Protagonist is a defense lawyer whose initial client accidentally helped hack some people's computers and pissed them off royally. The crimes are about child sex abusers and the people who hack their computers. The second client is up for a murder they didn't commit but admitted responsibility for. Both the defense lawyer and one of the clients happen to be trans women with lives outside the office/courtroom. No sex acts are explicitly described, thank goodness, but it's still an unpleasant topic sprinkled with suspense and murders and the occasional FBI agent.

The biggest problem with finding a new author you like is that you have to wait for more of their books. A terrible, terrible problem that I'm happy to cope with again and again.

I've had a bad couple of months, reading-wise, so I've only finished two books this month and they were both pretty awful: Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson and When the Corn Is Waist High by Jeremy Scott. The book I'm reading now, which I'm unlikely to finish before the end of tomorrow, is much, much better, I'm happy to report!

>31 rosalita: I'm glad you have a much better book on the go!

After a slight interruption, I'm resuming Agent in Place, by Helen MacInnes.

>32 rabbitprincess: It's a relief, let me tell you!

I saw this on Twitter this morning and thought it was appropriate for this group. The labels seem pretty accurate from my reading experience.

>35 rosalita: That immediately made me think of the Ulf Varg detective story by Alexander McCall Smith I read recently: The Department of Sensitive Crimes. Fits perfectly!

Finished The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie and started Poirot Investigates.

Started Cold Skies, by Thomas King.

I am currently reading my way through the 'Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri and have reachedScent of the Night. Note its title on Touchstones however.

June's topic: https://www.librarything.com/topic/342131

>35 rosalita: This is hilarious!!!