Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Hi everyone,

Reliable seemed to be the theme of the month for me.

Here are my October reads:

Top Reads

Shadow of A Doubt
William J. Coughlin
A really good character driven legal drama featuring a recovering alcoholic who had been a big time lawyer in Detroit but has now been reduced to trying to eke out a living as a small town attorney. The first person narration was very engaging and the plotting was quite well done.

The Trespasser
Tana French
Another stellar work from Tana French. Great writing, an intricate plot that is unraveled with just the right pace, and characters that pop off the page are hallmarks of this author's work and this book had them all. One of my favorite authors who has always delivered.

Good Reads

Lords and Ladies
Terry Pratchett
The witches take center stage in this entry in the Discworld series and have their hands full with a Royal Wedding which brings both invited and uninvited guests. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg along with Magrat Garlick are some of my favorite characters and I found this adventure very entertaining. Listened to the audio which was read by the always reliable Nigel Planer.

Bad Blood
John Sandford
Though the crimes in this book were particularly unpleasant, Virgil is a great character and I always enjoy his investigative methods. As always with this series, the plot was compelling and the rural Minnesota setting well described. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by Eric Conger who has really improved since the first book and now adds to the experience.

Corporate Bodies
Simon Brett
Charles Paris, the usually out of work actor and amateur sleuth, is engaged by a television writer to work on some in house corporate videos as a forklift operator and all is going well until a body is found behind some pallets. This is always a reliably good series and this entry was no exception.

House Divided
Mike Lawson
Another entertaining thriller in this always reliably good series. I really like Joe DeMarco and his cynical regular guy attitude. Missed some of the usual supporting characters and the writing had quite a bit of telling at the end but the narration by Joe Barrett smoothed over any rough spots.

Ok Reads

The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp (AUDIOBOOK) CD
Marshall Karp
This debut police thriller could have been a pretty good book if it had been pared down a bit. I thought the two lead police detectives were interesting characters and the main story line was, at times, pretty suspenseful but all the side stories (which were not necessarily bad) just killed the momentum. Listened to the audio version and Tom Stechschulte handled the first person narration and was quite good while James Jenner read the parts that were written in the third person and did his best with the less inspiring material.

Festering Lilies
Natasha Cooper
Not a bad amateur detective story but not really to my tastes. More romance than what I expected and the plotting was a bit too drawn out. Liked the main character well enough to finish but probably will not read further in the series.

Good month!

Sandi: Reliable is a good theme when favorite series or authors are involved! Nice list. I agree with you on Tana French's latest which was quite stellar. Her skillls almost ruin a reader for abiding a more mediocre book.
I've got Bad Blood queued up in the "soon to listen" pile.

I didn't notice that when I read The Rabbit Factory. Maybe listening rather than reading exacerbated the problem, or maybe I just wasn't paying that much attention.

Dan in AZ wrote: "I didn't notice that when I read The Rabbit Factory. Maybe listening rather than reading exacerbated the problem, or maybe I just wasn't paying that much attention."

I think listening to the audio version definitely highlighted what did not work for me. For whatever reason, something that I can just shrug off while reading can be quite off putting while listening.

Sandi: I wonder if the contrast between two narrators voices was part of it, that is sometimes jarring and off putting on an audio when switching between the two.

Good month

Ann wrote: "Sandi: I wonder if the contrast between two narrators voices was part of it, that is sometimes jarring and off putting on an audio when switching between the two."

I agree that was probably part of it. Sometimes dual or full-cast narration is great but in this case I don't think it worked that well.