Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Between work and vacation I did not get much read this month. Thank goodness for audios.

Top Reads

20th Century Ghosts
Joe Hill
A really entertaining collection of short stories that, while classified as horror, really seemed more like suspense with perhaps of a touch of the supernatural. None of the stories were really graphic, which is what I was expecting, so I was pleasantly surprised. Some of my favorite stories really had no horror elements at all. The audio was read by David Ledoux who did a masterful job keeping the pace and tone in tune with the level of tension the stories conveyed.

Fallen Into the Pit
Ellis Peters
The small village of Comerford is trying to come to terms with the end of the war and integrating the returning men back into the lives they left when it is rocked by a murder. Much darker than the Cadfael series but well plotted with interesting characters (including a couple of youngsters who are precocious but believable). I listened to the audio version read by one of my all time favorites narrators Simon Prebble

Good Read


Mortal Causes
Ian Rankin
Another good solid read in this series. A tortured body is found in a medieval cellar during the Edinburgh Festival and Rebus and his team investigate. I have really started to enjoy this series. Rebus and his supporting cast are becoming more fleshed out and believable and the plots in the last couple of books have been much more to my liking.

OK Reads

The Widening Gyre
Robert B. Parker
Not one of my favorites in the Spencer series. The audio only ran for a little over four hours, though the narration by Michael Prichard was as good as usual, and it seemed like Parker was fixated on the Spencer/Susan relationship and the main plot about blackmail, politics, and organized crime was an afterthought.


Martin Misunderstood
Karin Slaughter
The best part about this audio novella was that it was very short, only 2.5 hrs. Otherwise it was pretty dark with a few laughs here and there but not really something I would strongly recommend. Wayne Knight did the narration and at the end of the audio there is also a short interview with him.

Bad

In the Shadow of Gotham
Stefanie Pintoff
Not very good at all. This book was nominated for the Anthony Award for best first and won the Edgar in the same category which, frankly, baffles me. The plotting was simplistic (Whodunit was painfully obvious), characters were thin and wooden, and even the historical details were not interesting. This ranks up there as one of the most boring books I have ever finished.

The Spenser books around WIDENING GYRE all seemed to revolve around the Spenser/Susan relationship. That was the period when she left him. They get better!

Sandi:
I have 20th Century Ghosts around here somewhere in hardback and now I wish I had the audio book! I hope to get to it soon. Martin Misunderstood is loaded on my PDA for the right moment to listen to it. I won't rush based on your comments.

Sandi wrote: "Between work and vacation I did not get much read this month. Thank goodness for audios.
Top Reads20th Century Ghosts[author:Joe Hill... Martin Misunderstood
Karin Slaughter The best part about this audio novella was that it was very short, only 2.5 hrs. Otherwise it was pretty dark with a few laughs here and there but not really something I would strongly recommend. Wayne Knight did the narration and at the end of the audio there is also a short interview with him. "

Sandi wrote: " I listened to the audio version read by one of my all time favorites narrators Simon Prebble"

I also enjoy listening to him read. Fallen Into the Pit sounds like something I need to check out.