Thanks Jeanne, since it is book 11, guess I will be offering it in another swap without bothering to read it.  With over 500 books sitting here waiting to be read, I absolutely MUST make some headway in getting the numbers down.

I am about to start Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith. I really don't know if this is a mystery or not.

Una --- You really must read Sebastian's tale in series order.  I highly recommend the series and you will love it when you read Book One.  After you finish the 900 books you have on your shelf (hee hee).

Here ya go Charles, sounds like a mystery/thriller to me:

Now part of American film and literary lore, Tom Ripley, "a bisexual psychopath and art forger who murders without remorse when his comforts are threatened" (New York Times Book Review), was Patricia Highsmith's favorite creation

I'm making an effort (failed already) to read all the books I have going by the end of the month without starting another.

Murder at Dolphin Bay / Kathi Daley  Kindle
Hard Road / Barbaraa D'Amato  Hardcover
Address to Die For / Mary Feliz  Kindle
Maxican Booty / J J Henderson  Kindle

Still to go

The Witch and the Dead / Heather Blake  mmpb
Betrayal of Trust / J A Jance  mmpb
A Grave Prediction / Victoria Laurie  Hardcover
Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies / Janis Thornton  Kindle

How did I fail you ask - by picking up the latest Sofie Kelly, Paws and Effect! 

I think I'll do it since there are seven days and five books. 

Now also reading Night Detective / Jon Talton - thriller 7th in series

Was there not a film with Leonard DiCaprio about Ripley???  "The Talented Mr. Ripley" --- do not know if it was based on this same book.

Read a book yesterday.  The whole thing!!!  So you know I accomlished very little.  "Deadly Scandal" by Kate Parker.  About a young woman in London just prior to WWII.  Her husband dies, she becomes a society writer for the paper (also a bit of a spy). Parker write the books about the Bookshop and the "Antiquarian Society".  This one was quite good.  It is the first in the series.  There are two at this point.

There are several Ripley books. The Talented Mr Ripley is maybe the first one. That was Matt Damon in the movie.

Well I think I'm about 1/3 into the book and Ripley has just killed somebody. There may be more on the horizon.

I tried reading The Talented Mr. Ripley and got through about a third of it before I gave up. I found it dead boring...I was disappointed as Patricia Highsmith is often so highly touted. I just didn't get 'why.'

Becky, I think the key to the Shetland Island books is to not read more than one in a row. Then again, that's kind of a rule I have anyway...I find that even series I really enjoy I will end up getting irritated with or feel like I'm OD'ing on if I read a bunch sequentially. Just be sure to read some lighter things around the "downer" books. They are very good even though they fairly drip with despair.

I also agree about reading the Sebastian St. Cyr series in order. I'm generally a stickler for reading in order anyway, although admittedly there are some series you can get away with dipping into the middle and not having it be confusing. This is definitely not one of those! But it is a VERY good series and I would highly recommend it!

Currently listening to Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch, #4 Peter Grant paranormal mystery...has become one of my favorite series. In print, I'm reading The Abbot's Agreement by Mel Starr, #7 Hugh de Singleton historical mystery and on the kindle, Fair and Tender Ladies by Chris Nickson, the sixth and (so far) last of the Richard Nottingham historical series. I hope he does more in this series, though I do have several of the author's other series to get to yet.

Cheryl

Sorry about the confusion of actors!!! 

Cheryl ---Thanks for the tip on "Shetland Island".  Like you, I typically do not read one series book directly after the other.  As dreary as he seemed at times, I was fond of the detective in the first book.  Assuming he continues as a character in the following books.

I am enjoying Ripley so far. The person he killed was bigger than him and Ripley is having trouble disposing of the body. The bisexual aspect of Ripley has not appeared in this book. I'm not surprised it would happen though since Highsmith was a lesbian herself. She wrote a fairly well regarded lesbian novel called The Price of Salt. alternatively titled Carol.

I've been reading, just not mysteries.  I did read Murder in Containment, the 4th Acton and Doyle British police procedural by Anne Cleeland.  Liked it very much as usual, but it is definitely not one you can read out of order.  Not sure what I will pick up next.  It is so beautiful outside.  That's where I want to be right now.

Finished 'Title Wave' by Lorna Barrett and really liked it.  It's one of those books where the main characters go to a different location, in this case on a cruise.  Pretty interesting.

I've now picked up the new book in the 'Amish Quiltshop Mysteries' by Isabella Alan.  'Murder Handcrafted.'  Good so far.

2016 seems to be the year for the end of a series...just finished Without Mercy/Jefferson Bass and it appears that it is the end of the series.  At the end, Dr. Brockton (MC) is going on sabbatical, his assistant has gotten her PhD and has taken a job with the FBI and his secretary has taken a leave of absence.  In the authors' notes, they say that they are granting Jefferson Bass a sabbatical also.  This wasn't the best of the series, so maybe they are just tired of it!

Trying to remember what else I've been reading...

Sun, Sand and Murder/John Walker Keyse...set in a remote topical island, Constable Teddy Creque discovers biologist murdered on the beach.  But, he isn't who everyone thought he was.  Sort of a cross between serious cozy and light police procedureal.  Ending was a surprise!

Coffin Road/Peter May...a stand-alone, not part of the series.  This involved environmentalists and some really interesting stuff about bees!  Good read.

Dark Road Home/Anna Carlisle...MC is a medical examiner in Chicago.  A body is found in the woods near her hometown and it turns out to be her sister who disappeared when she was in high school.  Lots of family secrets come out in the course of the investigation.  Nothing exceptional, but enjoyable.

A bunch of others, plus some non-mysteries, biographies, and such!

A few years ago, dh gave me the first three Mr. Ripley books.  Read the first one and that was enough for me!  Didn't like anything about it!  I agree with Cheryl...it was just boring, along with irritating!!!  Just my opinion!

Finished Ripley Under Ground by P Highsmith. Enjoyed it. The end was a little slow. I have a wish for Ripley Under Water.

I think I will start next Trap for Cinderella by Sebastien Japrisot. Just received it a few days ago. Japrisot may be best known for A Very Long Engagement. That is an interesting mystery but very complicated. There are several threads to the story. It might be best to keep a notebook and a pencil to keep track of everything. I never did see the movie that was made from this book.

Marla, I actually read five series books that ended this year and have another here that's the last of a series.  So sad. 

Reading one I think you'll like Becky, An Affair with Mr Kennedy / Jillian Stone.  Now didn't that title grab your attention?  Mr Kennedy just happens to be a detective with The Yard, takes place in 1897.  He's after The Dynamiters, a group that's for Irish home rule.  Cassie is his new tenant and he has suspicions about a relative of her dead husband...

Just finished Dragen's Lair by Sharon Kay Penman, historical mystery, and I loved it.  My copy is a beautiful HB complete with dustcover.  However, as I read it I found two facing page that had what appears to be coffee stains.  If anyone is interested I'd be happy to send it FREE.  Simply send your name and address and I'll get it off to you.

Geri --- the cover makes it look like a "heavy breather" book, but the storyline no so much!!!  Are you reading paper or Kindle???  If paper, perhaps we can "make a deal"!!!  Okay in looking around for this book, it is definitely billed as a romance --- are you feeling romantic????  Really do not read romances so will need to know your final opinion.

Currently I am reading a modern day mystery/thriller "Gideon's Sword" by Douglas Preston.  It is evidently the first in a series.  Thus far it is keeping my attention.

Becky, paper.  We can always make a deal.  I'll let you know about the romance part.  So far we have a prostitute supplying Mr Kennedy with information, a bombing in the Underground too.  But, now he's met his new neighbor.  The one he thinks might be a part of the conspiracy.  I must admit when he first saw her up close he lost his breath thinking she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen - romance part.  :)

Just finished The Shut Eye/Belinda Bauer.  Her books are always a bit "different", shall we say, and this one was no exception.  MC is a grumpy, grumbly, sometimes rude, sometimes obnoxious, DCI.  The plot revolves around two missing children (and a missing dog), a possibly fake psychic and a woman who has visions and everyone thinks she is simply crazy.  Both children went missing months earlier and the MC is told to consider the cases closed but, of course, he ignores that and persists.  It's one of those books that become addictive...you can't stop reading.  The ending is very intersting (for lack of a better word).

R.E.K., I got excited for a minute there, thinking maybe Sharon Kay Penman had come out with a new mystery, but Dragon's Lair is one of her Justin de Quincy series that I read a few years ago. I do wish she'd kept writing that series. Love her straight historical fiction books, too, but they tend to get a bit long and draggy. The historical mystery series she wrote were just right.

Marla, I also seem to be finishing off a lot of series this year, although not necessarily last books written this year. There have been quite a few series that I have been mentally hoarding the last book and "not wanting it to end" but then realized once I cross that series off my list, I can move on and find something else equally good. Just finished Fair and Tender Ladies by Chris Nickson on my Kindle--fortunately, though, he's got several other historical series. This was a planned ending and he did it well. Also finishing up a sort of "cozy saga," the Prior's Ford series by Eve Houston/Evelyn Hood. Just starting Festival in Prior's Ford, again on the Kindle. It's an unlikely choice for me, being sort of cozy--almost like a written soap opera, which I also detest!--but have loved this fictional Scottish village from the start. Not sure if there will be any more or not, it's been almost 3 years since this one came out.

And in the "new beginnings" category, I'm going to start Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo, the first Kate Burkholder series, in audio from the library. I believe I picked up the recommendation here, so I hope it's good! :)

Cheryl

Finished 'Murder Handcrafted' by Isabella Alan.  It was good, although in this one I thought the MC was just a tiny bit obnoxious a few times.  But the mystery was good and I had no idea who the culprit was until I was told at the end.  Now I'm reading 'The Cat, the Collector and the Killer' by Leann Sweeney.  I love this series and they are such a good quick read.  I've picked up quite a few books from my wish list that were just not moving through Amazon this month, so I have a stack of them to read.  I also have gotten a few books from here as well. 

My DH and I took a few days last week to go to New Hampshire to just kind of get away and to indulge in a little 'retail therapy' while there. They have a lot of outlet stores.  I could not believe it, but the second day there it snowed!!  This was in North Conway which is right in the middle of the state.  It didn't accumulate where we were, but just 10 miles away it did.  I didn't think it would be as cold as it was, I froze almost the whole time there.  But we had a good time and did pick up some bargains. 

I just finished Cusp of Crazy / Vicki Graybosch.  I thought it was a cozy.  NOT!  A thriller, started off a bit slow, I was debating about just letting it go.  Then a chilling killing... and so it went.  Not a clue as to who this nut case was until almost the last page!  I read it on Kindle and right now book two is on Unlimited.  

Joy, that sounds like a nice trip away and just what you needed. I have a Facebook friend who lives in that area and he posted some snow pictures...looked like a couple of inches stuck (for awhile) where he was.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! This is the 25th anniversary of the Halloween Blizzard here in Minnesota. I remember it so well because I was 7 months pregnant with my youngest and we lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere...we got snowed in for 4 days and my pregnancy had a few complications so it was a little nerve-wracking for awhile there! I think we had 36 inches of snow over a 2-day period. This year...60's all week. I like snow, but I have my limits. Still, it's a fun thing to remember in retrospect.

Just finished up The Abbot's Agreement by Mel Starr (#7 Hugh de Singleton historical mystery)...one thing I do like about my Standard Membership is having the option to post books directly to friends rather than going through FIFO...so, R.E.K., another book headed your way shortly. Next up will be reading Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry, the first Alaska mystery. I haven't read any of her stuff, and this has been on my t0-read list for ages....my local library had it on the shelf, so...I'll give it a try.

Hope you all have a SPOOKY day!

Cheryl

I started another thread for November....