Before I start in on today’s post, I just wanted to send a big thank you to Literary Feline who invited me to her feature A Page in the Life. I had fun answering her questions and again I’m just reminded of how nice it is to be a part of the book blogging community. And, thank you to everyone who’s stopped by too. I’m very behind on my blog visiting this week but I hope to catch up over the weekend.

So, yesterday I talked about thrillers so today I figured it was time for a talk about mysteries. I have a long list of sleuths who I love reading about… Maisie Dobbs, Inspector Rebus, Annie Seymour, Inspector Banks, Richard Jury and Melrose Plant and the list goes on but that doesn’t stop me from looking for new mysteries to check out.

In the past few days I’ve added some new titles to my list and one of these days I hope to check out the adventures of these detectives and amateur sleuths:

• A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn. Set in South Africa in 1952, Australian filmmaker Nunn’s stellar debut explores a divided society through the frame of a classic murder mystery.
• Bad Traffic by Simon Lewis. This Inspector Jian novel is getting a lot of good reviews and I am lucky enough to have gotten an ARC of this one.
• Defending Angels by Mary Stanton. This is a paranormal mystery series. Sounds a bit more cozy than my typical mystery reads but I like the premise.
• Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin. Another Scandinavian thriller. I’ve really enjoyed some of the crime fiction that’s been coming out from Iceland and Sweden in the past few years so looking forward to checking out this author.
• Death Rites by Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett. Danielle recently mentioned this police procedural set in Barcelona. Sounds very good and it’s one I hope to read soon.

So have you read any of these? Or have you discovered a new mystery lately?

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day weekend. Eat lots of chocolate and spend time with friends and loved ones. My husband and I just got a silkscreen press so this weekend we are planning to do some crafting! I’m going to take a few of days away from the blog but I promise to tell you all about the craft-o-rama weekend and of course tell you about the latest books.

Want to read a book that takes you on for a scary ride? Well, I’ve got two that you might want to make note of.

First up is Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. This Edgar nominated novel is disturbing, has some crazy twists and turns but best of all, has some very sharp writing. The main character is a newspaper reporter investigating the murders of two little girls. She’s had a difficult childhood and isn’t relishing the thought of going back to her hometown but she’ll do it. Oh yes, and she’s a cutter. Here’s a bit on that:

“Getting out of the bath and seeing, out of the corner of my eye, down the side of a leg: babydoll. Pulling on a sweater and, in a flash of my wrist: harmful. Why these words? Thousands of hours of therapy have yielded a few ideas from the good doctors. They are often feminine, in a Dick and Jane, pink vs. puppy dog tails sort of way. Or they’re flat-out negative. Number of synonyms for anxious carved in my skin: eleven. The one thing I know for sure is that at the time, it was crucial to see these letters on me, and not just see them, but feel them. Burning on my left hip: petticoat.”

I admit I didn’t like the ending too much but that is just me. I sort of wanted the ending to go in a different direction. Still a great book and I’d love to see what the writer comes up with next.

The other thriller I’ve recently read was Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen. I think I originally heard about this book via Les. The story is about Special Agent Smoky Barrett who was once one of the best FBI profilers but after a madman killed her husband and daughter she’s been on the verge of a breakdown. Until now, when another serial killer is challenging her to get him.

This is one fast-paced thriller. I was actually surprised though by how well the author was still able to take you into the thought process Smoky goes through as she makes her come back. However, there was one thing that bothered me quite a bit. There is one character who keeps calling everyone “honey-love”. I could get behind that the first few times but it got old very quickly. Oh and despite the thrill ride, I guessed who the killer was very early on in the book. That’s not terrible as sometimes it just happens that way but I would have liked to have been thrown off a little bit.

Would I read another though? Sure. Next time I’m in the mood for a thriller.

What’s my current mystery read? Booked to Die by John Dunning. This is the first in a series featuring a homicide detective who is quite a booklover. In this story, a book scout is dead. Why was he murdered? Was it over a precious manuscript? Can’t wait to see what happens.

So gotta a good thriller to recommend? Let me know and I’ll add it to my list.