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.
Your weekend sounds great!
Can’t wait to hear about your craft assignments, Iliana.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you! 🙂
Well, thanks to Wendy, I am here reading your blog! I loved your interview. I am a lover of thrillers, mysteries etc, but I’ve not read any on your list. Lately I’ve been desperately trying to branch out and diversify my brain. However, the first on your list “A Beautiful Place to Die” made it onto my list because of a compelling review in EW. I will look forward to hearing more about this one!
I look forward to reading more of your blog. Have a great Valentines weekend!
Oh no. More books for the list. Echoes from The Dead sounds especially interesting.
I have two Erin Hart mysteries my mother loaned me, Haunted Ground and Lake of Sorrows, and I’m anxious to read those. I also have The Savage Garden and The Book of Air and Shadows. I’m new to genre fiction, so I have a hard time knowing what’s considered a mystery/whodunit? vs. a thriller, or a thriller vs. horror. I guess I’ll learn!
I read your interview with Wendy. So much fun!
Have a great weekend.
Well I’ve just added Bad Traffic, Echoes from the Dead, and Death Rites to my wish list. Darn you! 😉
Have a lovely weekend and a productive blog break.
I read the interview! It was fun! Great idea!
Enjoy your weekend! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Make sure to have some coffee!
Happy V Day!
ahhh more great recommendations to keep up with! I am also new to the mystery/thriller genre but these look interesting. Since Rowan of the Wood (www.rowanofthewood.com) by Christine and Ethan Rose I have been getting into mythology/mystery/unexplained and am always looking for good recommendations!
Count me as yet another who followed Wendy’s map to your door. I’m glad I did! I’ve read Echoes From the Dead–it was one of my Top Ten Reads last year.
I havent read those but they all sound good, thanks for the recommendations.
Happy Valentines day to you too 🙂
Wow Bookster! You really like that book! Has anyone else here read it? Bookgirl? What do you think?
As for these others, Death Rites look the best to me.
Melody – Hope you have a great weekend with your family! I am a bit overwhelmed with all the crafting I want to do but I’ll get it under control – I hope 🙂
Sandy – Thank you so much for stopping in! Aren’t mysteries great? I think I like them so much just because if it’s a good series then you know you can revisit with the characters time & again. Have a great weekend!
Priscilla – Those books by Erin Hart are really good, I especially liked Haunted Ground so I hope you enjoy them! You are right, sometimes there is a fine line between thrillers/mysteries. For me, the difference is usually that mysteries tend to be more about the process and the characters. I prefer more of the police procedural type novels but I like to branch out too 🙂
nik – Thank you! You have a great one too!
tanabata – ha,ha… Don’t those sound good? All of a sudden I want to finish all of my current reads and dive into those! 🙂
Kailana – Isn’t that cool what Wendy is doing? I can’t wait to see who she’ll interview next! Have a good one 🙂
Isabel – Most definitely! Thank you girl for the treat 🙂
Bookster – I have so many series I follow for different reasons and I just have to warn you, that I think it’s easy to get hooked 🙂
Cathy – Thank you for visiting! And, so glad to hear praise for the book from someone who’s read it! I really think it’s going to be a good one. Do you have a review of it on your blog? I’ll drop in over the weekend to check 🙂
bookworm – You bet! You have a super one too 🙂
Kitty – Haven’t read it yet. It’s still on my mountain of TBR books but one day. I am sure it’ll be super fun.
I haven’t read any of the books you mention — look forward to hearing about them! Your mention of Maisie Dobbs reminds me I’ve got her latest on hand and should get to it soon!
I was so hoping that your list of new mysteries were all books I had read. Sadly, and gladly, that is not so. Now I have more books to add to my “look forward to” list. I have a love/hate relationship with series. I love getting to know the characters and picking up a new book and getting to be with them again. But it multiplies the number of books I want to read. Sometimes it seems I’m emotionally trying to balance this high stacks of unread books on my head, using both arms to keep them from toppling over. It’s a bit stressful at times.
Other than Death Rites, the rest are totally new to me. I will have to check out the Theorin especially. A silk screen press, eh? That sounds cool–hopefully photos will follow? 🙂
Looking forward to seeing your crafting results!
Yes, I did review it. You can find the review here.
I haven’t heard of any of these and am thinking I’ll just have to add all of them to my TBR list. Hope you had a great Valentine’s day as well!
What a wonderful interview at Literary Feline!
You have some n ice new books too. Did you get them at HPB with your coupon? I’m reading the new Maisie Dobbs mystery right now and enjoying it very much.
I’ll have to check out the interview. I’m reallllllyyyyyy behind in blog reading so it might take me awhile.
I haven’t heard of these books, and I don’t read too many mysteries. Guess I’m not much help, huh? LOL
Dorothy W. – Oh lucky you! I can’t wait until the new Maisie book is out and I’ve got it in my hands!
booklogged – I know what you mean. Especially as there are some series I really like but am so behind on. Oh well, at least that means I should have plenty of books waiting for me 🙂
Danielle – I’m very excited about the silkscreen adventures. I’ve seen people work with that before and it looks fun and not too difficult. Watch, I’ve just jinxed myself! haha
Care – Didn’t get to the final product this weekend but hopefully next weekend!
Cathy – Thank you! I did check it out and know I must read the book. Sounds like my kind of crime fiction.
Samantha – That’s the bad thing about making lists right 🙂 Hope you had a good one!
Stefanie – Wasn’t that sweet. And, no I didn’t get to use my coupon. I was so busy with my new project that I missed out on HPB but I’m sure I’ll just have to make a pit stop there sometime this week. And, yay, so glad you are enjoying Maisie Dobbs!
Anna – Oh believe me, I understand. I’ll be away from blogland for a couple of days and it seems like I can never catch up! 🙂
Hope you had a very Happy Valentine’s Day and I am finally starting to catch up on your blog! 😉
Loved the interview!
Eager to see the silk screening when you decide on a design. It will be a terrific addition to your lovely handmade books!
christine – It was wonderful! We got to spend it with friends. I want to hear about Paris!! 🙂
jenclair – thank you! Isn’t Wendy sweet. I’m very excited about the silkscreen too. You know what else I want to learn… letterpress! Oh my, so many things I want to learn and so little time 🙂