Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

While the weather here was most un-summerlike (and the wettest ever on record for Indy) at least I had a good month of reading. Here are my July reads:

Top Reads

Alex
Pierre Lemaitre
Set in France featuring an investigating officer with a small stature, this was intense and fairly graphic. The plot started out with a typical woman in jeopardy type situation so I was not too hopeful, but then it began to turn and I could not put it down because I wanted to find out how it would all end.

A Fatal Inversion
Barbara Vine
My favorite type of psychological suspense novel. Slow deliberate pacing with enough reveals to keep it interesting, fully developed characters, and a crime from the past made this a top notch read.

Goods Reads

A Murder Is Announced
Agatha Christie
I really like the Miss Marple books. The plots are always twisty, the small village settings interesting, and the characters are much better drawn than I expected. This book keeps up the high standards though the audio narration by Rosemary Leach was not the best.

Concrete Angel
Patricia Abbott
While there are plenty of crimes, both major and minor, in this debut novel the main focus is a rather dysfunctional relationship between a mother and daughter. Set mainly in the seventies, in and around the Philadelphia area, this was a good though dark read.

Night Soldiers
Alan Furst
Atmospheric espionage novel set during the buildup to World War Two and then the actual war. The opening section in Bulgaria was probably my favorite part of the book. Most of the rest of the book though seemed a bit rushed and I think I would have enjoyed it more if there had been more focus on a particular time period and setting instead of trying to span so much time and history. So overall, I'm glad I read it but just was not as impressed as I thought I would be given my usual tastes. Listened to the audio version read by George Guidall ,who did an admirable job, but I think this may have been a book that needed to be actually read since there were so many characters, many who used aliases frequently.

Spilling the Beans
Clarissa Dickson Wright
As only an occasional watcher of The Two Fat Ladies cooking show, I found this memoir fairly interesting because the author certainly had a most eventful life with many highs and just as many lows, but wish the writing and structure of the book were better done.

Sharpe's Battle
Bernard Cornwell
An entertaining installment of the Sharpe series which takes place during the lead up to and during the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in 1811. Lots of battle sequences in this book with just a bit of espionage and a personal battle between Sharpe and an evil French Brigadier thrown in. Listened to the audio version read by Frederick Davidson who is always OK but not really one of my favorites.

The Diggers Rest Hotel
Geoffrey McGeachin
I found this to be an enjoyable historical mystery. First in a series featuring a Melbourne detective constable and set in 1947, I really liked the Australian location, the time period, and the characters. The plotting in the book was fine and the narration by Peter Byrne was very good.

Go Set a Watchman
Harper Lee
I have some mixed feelings about this book. With all the media coverage I started the book with various preconceived notions but, overall, I did think it was worth reading. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by Reese Witherspoon.

OK

The Overlook
Michael Connelly
Very plot focused with lots of action, which makes sense since the story originated as a serial in the New York Times Magazine, but not nearly as good as the rest of the books in the series.

Barbara Vine is on my to read list. Good month!

I always enjoy seeing what you've read! Bet all that rain made for some serious humidity!

Sandi, very good month.

Nice selection, as usual. Here's to a better weather month in August.

Sandi: Good month! As always several that tempt me. Summer weather can be a challenge whether seasonal or unseasonable, and I look forward to cooler days in the coming weeks.