The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

I don't know if you have done this challenge or not but I recently saw it on another site and thought it would be fun. The challenge is to read one book set in each of the 50 US states. This is not where the author is from, but where the book primarily takes place. Your start date can be flexible to start this month or if you want to start fresh with the book your going to read or the one your reading now that would be fine too. Just post when you start so you know how long it takes you to finish. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Sounds like fun. Would you like to set it up, Fred?

Sure what would I have to do?

Hi Fred, I just send you an email with suggestions on how to set this up.

Donna

Can it be any genre??

Hi Charlotte, I would think any mystery genre would be fine - cozy to noir.

Ok the rules of this challenge are as follows. First of all this is supposed to be fun, you are your own monitor. There is no dead line for when you finish the challenge. All genre of mystery count. Try not to repeat authors unless the books are from different series. When you finish reading a book post the date, author,book and series (if your book is part of one). For ex 7/3/10- Harlan Coben Long LostMyron Bolitar Series. The title of the book is linked to the book information. This can be done by clicking on add book/author button above you post box, clicking on it, find your book and click on add. This will help others who are interested in something new to read. The official start date will be July 1st, so any thing you finished on or after July first counts. Audio books also count. If you have any questions let me know, lets all have fun. Fred

Alabama (AL)
Alaska (AK)
Arizona (AZ)
Arkansas (AR)
California (CA)
Colorado (CO)
Connecticut (CT)
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Hawaii (HI)
Idaho (ID)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Iowa (IA)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Maine (ME)
Maryland (MD)
Massachusetts (MA)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Mississippi (MS)
Missouri (MO)
Montana (MT)
Nebraska (NE)
Nevada (NV)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New Mexico (NM)
New York (NY)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Oregon (OR)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode Island (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Utah (UT)
Vermont (VT)
Virginia (VA)
Washington (WA)
West Virginia (WV)
Wisconsin (WI)
Wyoming (WY)

Are we supposed to post the state, too?

I just finished Good and Dead by Jane Langton. It was a Homer Kelly book (for whatever that is worth). Took place in MA.

yes Jan copy the list from above and add your books to it. hope you have fun.

That sounds good at the end of your statement add your rating of the book. For ex 7/3/10- Harlan Coben Long LostMyron Bolitar Series. 4/5

This sounds like fun .... I'm going to try .... usually my mystery/crime reading is almost 100% set in Britain .... so I think this will be very interesting and challenging..


I'm hoping to find some new authors and settings .....

I'm definately going to need some recommendations .....

I found Northern Lights for Alaska, which I will be reading at some point.

If anyone needs some help finding a book for a state, SYKM has a location index.

Thanks K.B. That's great!

Wow, that is a cool site! This challenge comes a bit closer now, I might as well give it a go.

Thanks for the site ..... to be indexed by location is fantastic!

Yeah, it's a nifty site. I was stunned when I looked up Florida to see just how many authors have set series here. I haven't seen most of those authors in our bookstores. But then, we have a lot of chain stores and very few indies.

I'm definately in, but i have a lot of other challenges going on, so it's going to take a long time and I'll probably re-post my list after every 5-10 books or so.

This sounds like a lot of fun, I'm in. And that site is fantastic! So many books added to my TBR list. :)

"The Summer Guest" by Justin Cronin. Through this book, set in Maine, I mentally took a summer "vacation". I rated it 4 stars. Well worth reading.

Here is my most recent State challenge list. I will post it every few months to prevent repartition. If you would like my most up to date list at anytime, just let me know.

These books are rated on a scale of 1-5, where 5 is an outstanding book, 3 is a good book (recommendable) and 1 is a horrible book (struggled to get through it)

Alabama (AL)
Alaska (AK)
Arizona (AZ)
Arkansas (AR)
California (CA) Flight by Irene Kelly 4/5
Colorado (CO)
Connecticut (CT) Fear The Worse by Linwood Barclay 4/5
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL) A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava 3/5
Georgia (GA)
Hawaii (HI)
Idaho (ID)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Iowa (IA)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA) The Plantation by Chris Kuzneski 3/5
(LA) Altar of Eden James Rollins 3/5
Maine (ME)
Maryland (MD)
Massachusetts (MA) Play Dead by Harlan Coben 4/5
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Mississippi (MS)
Missouri (MO)
Montana (MT)
Nebraska (NE)
Nevada (NV)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ) One for the Money by Janet Evanovich 4/5
(NJ) Caught by Harlan Coben 3/5
New Mexico (NM)
New York (NY) The Cult of Osiris by Andy McDermott 4/5
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Oregon (OR) The Shack by Wm. Paul Young 5/5
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode Island (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX) Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr 4/5
Utah (UT)
Vermont (VT)
Virginia (VA)
Washington (WA) The Dark Place by Aaron Elkins 4/5
West Virginia (WV)
Wisconsin (WI)
Wyoming (WY)

This sounds really fun. It reminds me of the Around the World in 80 books challenge though. But, I'll give it a go.

Alex wrote: "This sounds really fun. It reminds me of the Around the World in 80 books challenge though. But, I'll give it a go."

what's that challenge?

Alex wrote: "This sounds really fun. It reminds me of the Around the World in 80 books challenge though. But, I'll give it a go."

I hope you enjoy the challenge, it is meant to be fun. If you have any questions just ask. Good luck and thanks for taking the challenge.

I am having a terrible time filling my list lately! Every book either takes place in Minnesota or Georgia!! LOL!

Keri, I keep bumping up against New York, California, and the UK. Too popular by half as mystery settings.

All of mine are in the UK too! Drats!!

Books set in South America are going to be a real challenge I fear.

I'm going to try this challenge.Thanks to Fred for the idea and list of states. Thanks to K.B. for referring us to SYKM. I signed up for their newsletter. It is a great resource for this group: "Mystery Lovers"

Oh so cool!! This is going to be such a fun challenge. I know I am coming into this group long after this started, but I am going to at least try it. Do the books we read as a group count as a book we can apply to our list??

Hi Michelle, Any mystery genre book you read either on your own or with the group can count. There is no deadline for completion either and you can set up a thread of your own to keep track.

Thank you Donna. :)

If you need any books for Alaska Sue Henry has a whole series that takes place in Alaska (Alaskan Mystery series). I have read both Murder on the Iditarod Trail and Death Takes Passage, both wonderful and go in a lot of great detailed about the wonderful state. Another good book for Alaska is Murder, She Wrote: Panning For Murder

I think I will start my own 50 states but give myself awhile to finish it.

Katrina wrote: "If you need any books for Alaska Sue Henry has a whole series that takes place in Alaska (Alaskan Mystery series). I have read both Murder on the Iditarod Trail and [bo..."

Thanks, Katrina, for making me aware of a Murder, She Wrote that I haven't read yet...I keep scouring the library for new ones, so I always light up when I find that there ARE new ones.

i have decided to do this challange next year. i am starting a list of all the challenges i will try to complete for 2011. hopefully, since i'm planning ahead, i might actually finish one of them!

And I need to make a list of all my lists...

For any having trouble with Arkansas. May Might Mean Murder by Bill McGrath, A Xara Smith Mystery, takes place in Arkansas. The rest of the Xara Smith Series takes place in Texas. http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcc...

I lost my list of the ones I had finished. My beta of Office 2010 expired and ended up losing my OneNote database with this list in it. Now I have to completely rewrite it. I give myself a finish date for this by June 2012, that will give me a year and half.

A couple for West Virginia are:
The Night of The Hunter
Too Many Cooks

Wow, Fred, this sounds like fine. There is no time limit or rush, right? Just fun reading and a challenge to read a book with a location in different states? Then just post updated list periodically like you did?

Can we make it 51 and add the District of Columbia?

Sure, Katrina... why not!

I'm in!!! Just happen to be reading "Wolf in the Shadows" by Marcia Muller. So California here I come!

Oooooh! I just got back from the library, they were having a 10 cents a book sale. What a lucky gal I am!

Picked up several that were on my 50 states list, and a couple Harlan Coben based on recommendations.

It's a good day to snuggle up with a book.

I don't know how I missed this, late but in! sounds like a lot of fun:)

3 down, 48 to go!
Harlan Coban The Woods NJ 3/5
Tami Hoag Ashes to Ashes MN 3/5
Connelly The Reversal CA 3/5

There's an odd thing going on here. ;o)

I have read a book set in California/Mexico and one set in New York, South Dakota and Nebraska.

I feel like I'm cheating if I count these reads! Neither one of them really revealed anything about the locale. I didn't learn anything about these states.

I expected the challenge to have a meaningful location backdrop, but so far I haven't chosen the book to satisfy that hidden agenda.

Well, I'm counting them for now...but I bet I'll find something else for California and New York's final entry.


CA-.Wolf in the Shadows-Marcia Muller-2/5
NY-.The President's Mystery Plot-Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Erle Stanley Gardner, et al-3/5

Hi Almeta, I know what you mean about a book that is set somewhere but really could be set in any of a number of places, very frustrating.

I tend to count only the place where the most plot of the story takes place....