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Topic: February 2018 The month of hearts and love and good books!

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Date Posted: 2/17/2018 5:35 AM ET
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Mary, I decided to try Chasing Shakespeares. found a hardcover available and requested it. It's in the mail.

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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/17/2018 7:53 PM ET
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I finished A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Rayborn. Set in 1888 London. Very good book 3 of the series. Veronica Speedwell is a likeable spunky character.

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Date Posted: 2/18/2018 3:52 PM ET
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Alice ~ I love  Deanna Raybourn's other series: the "Lady Julia  Grey" series. 

I am currently reading "The Case of the Half-Wakened" wife by ES Gardner.  Again, another one I can't remember reading. Up next will be a book I received in the mail yesterday, "Mrs. Jeffries Rights a Wrong" by Emily Brightwell.  With some of these books I just don't have any self-control, I need to read it right away.  There are some books that come in that I love so much I'll just chuck aside the one I'm reading and get right to the new one.  wink



Last Edited on: 2/18/18 3:53 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 2/18/2018 5:01 PM ET
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I'm reading River of Darkness by Rennie Airth. A husband and wife, maid and nanny are all brutally murdered. The only survivor in the house is the little daughter, who was found by the local doctor hiding under a bed. She's severely traumatized and unable to talk. Inspector Madden of Scotland Yard is the investigator. He fought in the trenches during WWI and is dealing with his own trauma issues. The book is set in Surrey during 1921 so I'm able to use it for the Oklahoma category of the Mystery/Thriller challenge and the Roaring 20s category of the Historical Mystery challenge.

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Date Posted: 2/18/2018 5:30 PM ET
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This Night's Foul Work by Fred Vargas. was a little slow finding out this author is a woman. I'm about 70pp in and the mystery seems a little slow developing. Lots of social interaction among the police that seems a bit unnecessary to me.

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Date Posted: 2/19/2018 11:22 AM ET
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Charles - I tried reading The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas. There was  lot of discussion about fish in some woman's apartment. I got bored and never finished it. However, later I read her books Seeking Whom He May Devour and Wash This Blood From My Hand, also in the Adamsberg series. They were better, but Vargas is not on my list of favorite authors.

I read Vargas while I was attempting to read books by authors from all over Europe. Janwillem van de Wetering's books are set in Amsterdam. The one I read was Death of a Hawker. I seem to recall that the police in that book did a lot of eating and drinking together. I guess drinking beer on the job is allowed in the Netherlands. I didn't continue with any more of Wetering's books. Books by European authors are sometimes like films by Europeans, not to our American taste. I do, however, enjoy most of the Scandinavian authors. 



Last Edited on: 2/19/18 11:34 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 2/19/2018 12:15 PM ET
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I remember the first time I read a Simenon Maigret novel and Maigret stopped in a Brasserie or  a bar and had a beer while he was working. It sort of caught me off guard but I have seen it pretty regularly since. The guys in the Vargas book drink wine regularly also while they are working. I guess Americans still have that puritan thing in their makeup. The Vargas book I am reading is starting to get more and more involved and I am hooked. I'm not sure I would read another one though. This one is over 400 pages. That is a little long for a mystery to me.

Speaking of Europeans I really like Henning Mankell. He is from one of the Skandinavian countries.



Last Edited on: 2/19/18 12:19 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 2/20/2018 5:27 AM ET
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anybody read any of the Mrs Pollifax novels by Dorothy Gilman?

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Date Posted: 2/20/2018 12:40 PM ET
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Charles - I read several of the Mrs Pollifax books way back in the 80s. Both my mom and I enjoyed them.

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Date Posted: 2/20/2018 3:30 PM ET
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gosh. the 80's. I didn't realize they were that old. I have a sort of omnibus edition of 3 novels in one volume. I may try one.

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Date Posted: 2/21/2018 10:50 AM ET
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Read Blood of the Prodigal by R.L. Gaus. It's part of his series that's set in Ohio Amish country. In this one the Amish bishop's grandson, Jeremiah, is kidnapped. The note from the bishop's son, Jonah, who was shunned by the community a decade ago and hasn't been seen since, has the boy and will return him in a couple months, before harvest season. Rather than involve the police, that the Amish to trust, the bishop asks Cal Troyer, a Protestant minister, and Professor Michael Branden from the local college, to find Jonah. The book is okay, but not as good as another one in the series that I had previously read.

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Date Posted: 2/22/2018 4:23 AM ET
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Read Night Killer by Beverly Connor, part of the Diane Fallon series. Dr Fallon is a forensic anthropologist, museum director, crime lab director and spelunker. In this book she goes to pick up a collection of arrowheads for the museum. On the way back during a torrential downpour a tree comes down on the hood of her SUV and pieces of a skeleton fall out of it. That's just the start of her troubles. I really enjoy this series; it's right up there with Kathy Reichs. I'm happy to share that Connor's working on another book the series.

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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/22/2018 6:46 AM ET
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I finished an interesting HIstorical mystery A Simple Murder by Eleanor Kuhns.  It is set in late 1700's Maine. The murder focus around a Shaker Village. Interesting look into the Shaker religion and lifestyle.  I have put book 2 on my WL

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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/22/2018 5:56 PM ET
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Susan S is hosting a newbie swap or someone who hasn't played in a game for 18 months or longer.. I know some of you mentioned you would like to try games. Susan is a very good hostess and keeps the game moving

PAWS to READ wtih Newbies

Nice way to make more virtual friends.

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Date Posted: 2/26/2018 4:32 PM ET
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Just finishing up Sisters of Cain by Miriam Monfredo. The story takes place during the Civil War. Bronwen Llyr is working for the Treasury Department as a spy. Bronwen's sister, Kathryn, has come to Washington to work as a nurse. She's turned down by Dorothea Dix, but hired by the newly formed Sanitary Commission. Washington is crawling with agents and double agents. Who can be trusted? 

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Date Posted: 2/27/2018 4:31 AM ET
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Cinnamon Skin by John D MacDonald



Last Edited on: 2/28/18 8:52 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/27/2018 6:07 AM ET
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Mary I read that Sisters of Cain last year. Interesting historical facts in it.

Charles I read Cinnamon skin years ago. I liked it. enjoy

I am reading The Quiche and the Dead by Kirsten Weiss.  Fun cozy first in the series. I have enjoyed her ot her series. 



Last Edited on: 2/27/18 6:09 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 2/27/2018 2:12 PM ET
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Read Home by Nightfall by Charles Finch, one of my favorite mystery authors.  His characters have so much life and the novels include personal activities of the characters as well as investigations.

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Date Posted: 2/28/2018 4:09 AM ET
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Read Lethal Lies by Laurie Breton. Chelsea was a reporter for the River City Gazette when her car went into the river and she drowned. State police were treating it as a suicide. However, Chelsea was about to break a big story. Her cousin, Faith, is now guardian of Chelsea's daughter, and she doesn't buy the suicide theory. She's been asked by Chelsea's editor to dig around to see what the big story was. There's a good twist at the end of this romantic mystery, but it's a little too much romance for my taste. Qualifies for the Music Man category of the Mystery/Thriller challenge.

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