Comfort Reads discussion

I've noticed a few themes emerging in the mystery folder so how about we post historical mystery suggestions here.

To summarize the posts so far, I think we have:

Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma series about an Irish nun and legal scholar from the 7th century.

Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series set in Egypt.

Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series

Susanna Gregory's Mathew Bartholomew series.

Good timing Bunwat! Add some more if you are so inclined.

there are too many here to mention, but I loved The Name of the Rose and The Daughter of Time.

and Susanna probably will have a very very long list also...

I loved The Daughter of Time. We had to read it in high school and I became somewhat obsessed with trying to prove the innocence of Richard III.

BunWat wrote: "I hear you Gundula, I went through that phase too!"

then both of you MUST give a look at the GR group

Richard III

which is moderated by Misfit.

I'll check it out.

I love the Russell/Holmes series by Laurie R. King

The Beekeeper's Apprentice is the first. Loads of fun.

Hayes, I think a lot of our group members would like her work. I've read two of hers unrelated to that series and have been meaning to try them.

Her book Folly, a stand alone, is one of my all time favorite mysteries, mostly becasue the story is focused on the story, and the mystery comes later. Really good.

That looks VERY good and a wee bit spooky.

Diana Gabaldon's Lord John Grey series, beginning with Lord John and the Private Matter.

I love the Amelia Peabody series! Already on the library waiting list for the newest, due out in March. I'm also very keen on Lindsey Davis' Falco series. I'm not far through, as my stupid library doesn't have all of the earlier volumes, and I'm so anally retentive I must read them all in order!

Well of course you must read them in order! That's not being annally retentive, it seems perfectly logical to me. :-)

Darkpool, How else would you read a series except in order?! (Me too!)

I am a big fan of historical mysteries (discovered the Amelia Peabodies this last year, what a treat!) and I think the best historical mysteries I have ever read are by C.J. Sansom, about a Tudor lawyer working first for Cromwell and then for Cranmer. There are four out currently:

Dissolution
Dark Fire
Sovereign
and
Revelation

and I believe a fifth is due out this summer, which I think will be called Heartstone.

Susanna wrote: "I am a big fan of historical mysteries (discovered the Amelia Peabodies this last year, what a treat!) and I think the best historical mysteries I have ever read are by C.J. Sansom, about a Tudor l..."

agreed!!

Ah yes. I just went to add Dissolution to my "to read" list, only to discover it was already there. Doh!

I know the feeling Darkpool...

Darkpool wrote: "Ah yes. I just went to add Dissolution to my "to read" list, only to discover it was already there. Doh!"

Darkpool, I do that a lot.

Chandra wrote: "I also LOVE mysteries and so many of you have already mentioned authors that I love!

I also loved Dissolution and A Morbid Taste for Bones as well! And I can't wait ..."

Ichiro´s series sounds interesting Chandra. I read most of Sansom´s series already, they all are great. But The name of the Rose is my favorite, no matter what.

For those of you who enjoy Medieval mysteries, another enjoyable series is the Sir Richard Straccan series by Sylvian Hamilton; the first (and in my opinion best of the series is called The Bone-pedlar).

Chandra wrote: "I bought Daughter of Time today as an impulse buy at the book store - so thank you all for feeding my habit! ;-)"

Yes, yet another place to help us overburden our shelves.

I do remember really enjoying
The Daughter of Time.

I read The Daughter of Time in high school and became somewhat obsessed with proving Richard III's innocence. It is one of the greatest historical mysteries I have ever read.

I will be adding A Test of Wills and A Duty to the Dead. Both books are set post WWII (or close to). The war figures prominently in the stories, but they are murder mysteries set in England.

Post WWI (sorry!)

Lisa wrote: "Chandra wrote: "I bought Daughter of Time today as an impulse buy at the book store - so thank you all for feeding my habit! ;-)"

I also loved it!!

Duh! Just realised I should have added my post about An Expert in Murder here instead of "a different sort of comfort". Interestingly, Josephine Tey, author of Daughter of Time mentioned above, is one of the characters in this book.

Don't worry about it Darkpool. :-)

From my friend Virginie:

The Season of the Beast

Ooooh looks good! Thanks Laura and Virginie!

Lee, I just invited her to join us!!

Great! Thanks Laura. xo

Ohhh, look at this one

I love kitties!

me too, me too!!

I recently read The Flanders Panel by Arturo Peréz-Reverte, which is partly a historical mystery. It has people in today's world solving the mystery in a 15th century Flemish painting, but the mystery and the murder also spread into their current lives. I loved it and finished it in several hours of feverish reading in one evening and a part of the next day. I love stories that are both entertaining and intelligent, that have mystery entwined with art, cultural history and thoughts and life, and this was just such a thing. I had some minor complaints but nothing that detracted too much from the enjoyment, and I'm also going to take a look at the author's other books!

Sounds like a very entertaining and absorbing read Katri!

I've owned The Flanders Panel for years, and have really wanted to read it. BUT, I haven't read it yet. Maybe 2010 is the year! I hope so. I have friends who have really enjoyed it. In fact, my copy is from one of them.

I definitely recommend it, especially at a time when you're in the mood for something like that. I picked it up at a perfect time - I wanted something that would be both easy to read and have some depth and content, something where the story would just sweep me away and make me forget all my real-life worries and exhaustion. And it was just the thing!

I feel so at home, here. The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters is one of my favourites, too, and Laurie King's take on Sherlock Holmes--isn't Mary Russell the most amazing match for him?

I wonder now if some of the mysteries written in the 1930s can be classed as historical just because so much time has past? If so, I have to wave my arms around to say how much I love Georgette Heyer's charming mysteries.

We discussed this the other day about Jane Austen (on that group). If a book was actually written in a certain time period, it probably isn't considered historical fiction. If it is written in one time period, but is written about another, then it should be considered historical fiction. Do you think my definition makes sense?

(Regardless of my theories, the Comfort Reads group is very friendly, so you can certainly put Heyer here on this thread. I think I will have to break down and read one of her mysteries. I keep seeing them everywhere I go on Goodreads! Which do you recommend I begin with?)

Hi Jeanette, that seems like a good workable definition of historical fiction. Each time writes differently even about the same past time (I think I'm not making sense). Ah hem. What I'm trying to say is when I watch a historical drama on TV made in the 1980s it looks really different to a historical TV drama made last year. They might both be about the 1800s, but they feel different. I think books are the same. So your definition works for me.

But about Heyer, probably Death in the Stocks is my favourite mystery, but Footsteps in the Dark is fun, too. It's the touch of romance I love. Oh, and then there's Why Shoot a Butler? I guess I'm just seduced by countryhouse weekends.

I understand what you are saying, too. Since I watch a lot of Jane Austen films I can see how the movies made just recently are different from the ones made just ten years ago (more kissing, for one thing). Interesting.

I'll see if my library has any of the titles you listed and go from there. :)

Somewhere, somewhere around here we have mentioned Georgette Heyer's mysteries but I'm not sure where! I'd like to check out a few myself.

Lee wrote: "Somewhere, somewhere around here we have mentioned Georgette Heyer's mysteries but I'm not sure where! I'd like to check out a few myself."

You can key in "Georgette Heyer" into our group's search posts/search discussion posts field and hopefully the threads will show up!

Thanks again, Lisa! That is really helpful and actually in plain sight! You certainly deserve the title "Extraordinaire"!

Thanks, Jeannette, BUT, the "extraordinaire" refers to my incessant reading of comfort books. ;-)

And, the search doesn't work 100% of the time, but if you fiddle with it, it does eventually 99% of the time.

Lisa wrote: "Thanks, Jeannette, BUT, the "extraordinaire" refers to my incessant reading of comfort books. ;-)

And, the search doesn't work 100% of the time, but if you fiddle with it, it does eventually 99% ..."

Multi-faceted as well as multi-talented! :)

Any search is better than the way I am doing it now...