Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Interesting challenge. I need to look at my calendar because I always want to do more than is humanly possible. :)

Sunshine wrote: "Sheri wrote: "Interesting challenge. I need to look at my calendar because I always want to do more than is humanly possible. :)"

Hi, there. I hope you can participate. I modeled it after Jenny's ..."

The Aussies always have the best challenges.
This one looks like great fun. Unfortunately I won’t have time to participate as I’m already “booked” for December but I’m looking forward to participating in your other challenges Sunshine.
Happy Reading 📚 🤗

Count me in! I'm going for Amateur Sleuth (1-2 books).

**EDIT** I decided to go for Sergeant because I think I can find books for all 5 tasks. 😎
COMPLETED

🎄 1. The Corpse: To find the body at the tree farm, read a book where a murder takes place during the winter season (specifically the months of December, January, & February).
Nightmare On Elf Street by Laura Levine (novella) - Dec. 18

🎄 2. The Weapon: To find the murder weapon, read a book with a method of murder in the title. (i.e. Gin & Daggers or Arsenic and Old Lace)
Yule Log Murder by Lee Hollis and Laura Levine - I read the Leslie Meier novella last year so this year I read the Death by Yule Log (<= using this to satisfy task) and Logged On novellas this year - Dec. 10

🎄 3. The Clues: To hunt for clues, read a book by an author whose first initial can be found in C-L-U-E-S.
A Roux of Revenge by Connie Archer - Dec. 13

🎄 4. The Suspects: To interrogate the suspects, read a book with at least 2 people on the cover.
Case of the Sneaky Snowman by Carolyn Keene - Dec. 7

🎄 5. The Resolution: To solve the crime, read a book with a satisfying ending.
The Haunted Carousel by Carolyn Keene - Dec. 10

Sunshine wrote: "Julesy wrote: "Count me in! I'm going for Amateur Sleuth (1-2 books)."

YAY! I'm thrilled that you'll be joining in the fun :)"

Thank you! I love book challenges and missed the ones that this group didn't have during autumn. The hunt for books to fulfill the tasks is half the fun.

I’m not sure how this works but that book looks fun do I’m in!

**Help solve a murder at the snowy Christmas tree farm!**

I'm going to try to be a Detective 3-4 books


TASKS:

1. The Corpse: To find the body at the tree farm, read a book where a murder takes place during the winter season (specifically the months of December, January, & February).

The Corpse in the Snowman by Nicholas Blake

2. The Weapon: To find the murder weapon, read a book with a method of murder in the title. (i.e. Gin & Daggers or Arsenic and Old Lace)

Murder By Hanging: Norfolk Cozy Mysteries - Book 2 Keith Finney

3. The Clues: To hunt for clues, read a book by an author whose first initial can be found in C-L-U-E-S.

A Nancy Drew Christmas by Carolyn Keene

4. The Suspects: To interrogate the suspects, read a book with at least 2 people on the cover.

One for the Books by Jenn McKinlay

5. The Resolution: To solve the crime, read a book with a satisfying ending.

Silent Night by Mary Higgins Clark

I was actually just made a Sargent!!! Outdid myself. And Murder By Hanging is a pretty good book.

Hi everyone,
This is going to be my first challenge and I'm going at it with a bang...aiming for the stars and hoping I don't fall too short.
Here are the books I plan to read.
by Julia Spencer-Fleming
by Kerry Greenwood
by Leighton Gage
by Edward Marston
by Gretta Mulrooney. This is the last in her Tyrone Swift series and as I've been pleased with all the endings so far, I hope this one is true to form.
Wish me luck with the challenge.

4/4 Completed

I'll try for Detective ~ 3-4 books.

Books read:

1. The Corpse: To find the body at the tree farm, read a book where a murder takes place during the winter season (specifically the months of December, January, & February).

by Agatha Christie.

by Dorothy L. Sayers

by Louise Penny

3. The Clues: To hunt for clues, read a book by an author whose first initial can be found in C-L-U-E-S.

Completed:
by Colleen Hoover

How fun! I just started reading Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap” which takes place in a snowed in guest house. It will be fun to find other books in the challenge!

Sunshine,
Even if you weren't my daughter, I'd join this book challenge for December. It sounds great! The Christmas season is always so amazingly fun, but busy, busy, busy. hHwever, one of the ways I try to relax for a few minutes is to read a book by the Christmas tree with the lights on. Two books have been chosen for me that fit the challenge - The Belles of Solace Glen and One Across, Two Down. Maybe I'll make to to amateur sleuth level! Happy Thanksgiving All!

Okey dokey. I'm ready. Going to edit my list already because I started my December reading.

Ok so here is my challenge list:
1. The Corpse: The Corpse in The Snowman by Nicholas Blake
2: The Weapon: Murder She Wrote, Rum and Razors
3: The CLUES: Grievance in Gingerbread Alley by Leighann Dobbs and AKiller Carol by Laura Bradford (I couldn’t decide)
4: The Suspects: Silent night by Mary Higgins Clark (hard to find more than one on a cover)
5: The Resolution: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

Hi This sounds like fun. I'm in

1. The Corpse:

2. The Weapon: The name is not a weapon, but there are bullets on the cover. Maybe it counts?

3. The Clues:

4. The Suspects:

5. The Resolution:

Happy December Bookish Friends!
I have two books that Sunshine chose for me that fit two different categories. The first one fit # 3 - Clues. There is an S in the author's first name. The Belles of Solace Glen. The other fits task #4 - a book with two people on the cover. I lucked out. This has 3 people on the cover, each of whom are doing interesting things. I mean how many books can a person find where a character is walking into a burning fireplace. The book is One Across, Two Down. I'm looking forward to reading these mysteries.

Sunshine wrote: "Rubena wrote: "Hi everyone,
This is going to be my first challenge and I'm going at it with a bang...aiming for the stars and hoping I don't fall too short.
Here are the books I plan to read.
[book..."

Thanks Sunshine. I was a good girl and waited for 1st Dec to start reading. Then I realised that I'd failed to do what I have been preaching to my students for years "Read and understand the instructions before you begin any task." Seems I was trying to interrogate the suspects without having found the corpse! I hang my head in shame. I will therefore release the suspects and go look for the body.
Happy reading everyone.

A Body at the Tree Farm
December 1-31, 2020

DONE

1. The Corpse: To find the body at the tree farm, read a book where a murder takes place during the winter season
Murder in Her Stocking G.A. McKevett 12/3

2. The Weapon: To find the murder weapon, read a book with a method of murder in the title. The fruitcake did it. Antiques Fruitcake Barbara Allan 12/3

3. The Clues: To hunt for clues, read a book by an author whose first initial can be found in C-L-U-E-S. A Killer Carol Laura Bradford 12/3

4. The Suspects: To interrogate the suspects, read a book with at least 2 people on the cover. Nicole Helm 12/8


5. The Resolution: To solve the crime, read a book with a satisfying ending. Survivor In Death J.D. Robb 12/22

Rubena wrote: "Sunshine wrote: "Rubena wrote: "Hi everyone,
This is going to be my first challenge and I'm going at it with a bang...aiming for the stars and hoping I don't fall too short.
Here are the books I pl..."

You're too funny.

Jonquil wrote: "A Body at the Tree Farm
December 1-31, 2020

1. The Corpse: To find the body at the tree farm, read a book where a murder takes place during the winter season
Murder in Her Stocking..."

I see that you like cozies. Me too!!!

Sheri wrote: "Jonquil wrote: "A Body at the Tree Farm
December 1-31, 2020

1. The Corpse: To find the body at the tree farm, read a book where a murder takes place during the winter season
[book:Murder in Her St..."

Cozies were created for challenges like this. Scary tree farm photo, by the way, or maybe I've been reading too many cozies.

Finally found my corpse by reading Through the Evil Days and I really had to dig into all that snow and ice to get to it.

I liked the book but I wasn't able to connect with it the way I did with the first in the series, In the Bleak Midwinter which I really enjoyed. The writing was good. I tend to visualise what I read and the action played out easily in my head but I didn't "feel" the urgency, the need to keep on reading. I guess it was more thriller than mystery and I was in the mood for more mystery than thriller.
Anyway, I am now on a cruise, Death by Water heading toward New Zealand. Still not sure who the culprit is, although I have my suspicions. Hope you're all enjoying your reading.

Thanks, Sunshine I will. I`ve got a couple other books in the series so I´m definetly going to read them. Almost nearing the end of my cruise so I´ll let you know about the murder weapon soon.

Hello Fellow Body at the Tree Farm Readers!
I have made it to the Amateur Level. I see many others have done better than that. Good for you!
I read The Belles of Solace Glen as my first book. I really didn't enjoy this book, sad to say. I often enjoy cozy mysteries. The only likeable characters were the little old dowagers, but I did not care for the main character Flip Paxton or any of the others. A lot of cozy readers have nosy main characters and that is okay, but Flip drove me nuts. I ended up reading the 3rd one, Solace Glen Honeymoon as it had been on my shelf for some time. I didn't like it either. Flip was still obnoxious, but her friend Lee was a royal pain. This fit the clues task because the author's name had an S starting the first name.
My second book was One Across, Two Down by Ruth Rendell. This fit the task for more than 2 people on the cover. There were 3. I didn't like this book at all. Thank goodness it was a quick read. None of the characters were likable, and I kept waiting for Vera Manning, the wife in the story, to wake up and smell the roses. She kept hanging on to her husband when she knew he was a swindling, lying, lazy bum. Oh well.
I am sure I will find some books that I won't be so critical of.
Happy Holidays!

Ok I finished Grievance in Gingerbread Alley it was a cute cozy mystery.... now reading The Corpse in the Snowman, Rum and Razors and Silent Night. Yes, I can confuse myself reading multiple books but it also makes me think more....

Happy holidays everyone. I finished my challenge on Christmas Day. Since my last post I´ve read Death by Water which was my first Pryne Fisher book. I enjoyed the writing, the pacing, the atmosphere, especially the music and the characters. It was a nice easy read, with no real sense of danger.

This can not be said of my clues read Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage, the first in his Mario Silva series. The book is set in Brazil where Gage lived and his knowledge of the people, the country and its issues are felt in the writing. I really had to force myself to put it down. The book deals with the land issue in Brazil, those who own land "half the size of Denmark" and wield economic and political power and those who have nothing, There´s corruption, murder, land reform activists, investigative journalism and priests who follow "Liberation theory". It is a violent book. There were two instances where I skipped a page because I knew that torture of two characters was going to take place but that violence is part of the story. I felt the impotence that Silva and his team felt and wondered how Gage was going to give us that sense of resolution that we as readers look for, that some sort of justice will prevail in the end. He did it for me, in the most unexpected way and not through the main character which really would have been impossible and unbelievable given the circumstances.

I then picked up my suspects again after finishing The Frost Fair I love historical fiction and this one is set in 1669 with Christopher Redmayne an architect and Jonathan Bale. I enjoyed the interaction between the two main characters and the respect they showed for each other given the social and religious distance between the two and the way they finally work togther to solve the case.

My final book was not The Lost Sister but Your Last Lie by Gretta Mulrooney her 6th Tyrone Swift novel. I love her writing. She hooks me with each of her stories. Swift is a PI and the stories are as much about his clients and their problems as about his own personal life and the way he deals with it. The characters are people you can relate to: you mightn´t like them but you know people who behave like they do. As usual with her books, I was pleased with the outcome although to be honest I was more personally satisifed with the end of Blood of the Wicked

I really enjoyed this challenge and am looking forward to the next. Happy holidays all.