Mystery Lovers! discussion

I read a book several years ago about a murder set in ancient Egypt. The opening chapter involved the death of a woman. The main character was male and worked in the government as an investigator or something. People were also stealing treasures from one of the pyramids.

In one scene, several boats were floating down the Nile and the hero fell or was cast overboard. The details are sketchy.

Does that ring a bell for anyone?

The book was part of a series. I'd like to read the series b/c I remember enjoying the book, but can't remember the author's name or the title. I have found someone named P. C. Doherty who writes about murder in ancient Egypt, but from the description of his books, I don't think he's the author.

Any other suggestions?

I found it! As I was reviewing the suggestions from Bettie in the Mystery/Thrillers group, I found the book: Year of the Hyenas: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Egypt.

Great!

Hi All,
Hoping you have a dreams-come-true new year filled with fun and the occasional murder (mystery).
Nancy Lynn Jarvis
Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series
http://www.facebook.com/ReganMcHenryR...

hi all im new to this group,
i really wanna know which books do you recommend?
thanks
bridgette

Hi Bridgette, read the The Snowman by Joe Nesbo. Brilliant, lots of twists & turns.

Hi, Bridgette. What kind of mysteries do you like? I lean toward suspense and more "hard-boiled," somewhat darker mysteries. If you like those, try Robert Crais's Joe Pike books, starting with LA Requiem. He also writes the Elvis Cole series, but I prefer Pike.

Bridgette wrote: "hi all im new to this group,
i really wanna know which books do you recommend?
thanks
bridgette"
Hi, Bridgette,
Welcome! The group has several threads that will help you find books:

What are you reading? Do you recommend it?
Top Reads of 2010
Who is your favorite sidekick?

There's also a separate group for Scandinavian mysteries.

Ellis wrote: "Hi, Bridgette. What kind of mysteries do you like? I lean toward suspense and more "hard-boiled," somewhat darker mysteries. If you like those, try Robert Crais's Joe Pike books, starting with LA R..."

i tend to read any kind of mystery type books.

Hi Bridgett,
Usually I get hooked into authors and try to collect all they have written. So here are some of my favorites under categories
Cozy mysteries
Susan Whittig Albert-Pecan Springs Herbal Shop Mysteries (only,for me)
Victoria Laurie -psychic mysteries
Tamara Meyers - Antique store mysteries (my favorite),Penn-Dutch mysteries
Strong Woman characters
Jance- JoAnn Brady mysteries
Nevada Barr- Anna Pidgeon State Park mysteries
Strong sense of Place
Sharyn Mc Crumb-Applachian Ballad mysteries, also funnier, lighter mysteries - Elizabeth McPhearson
Good,gritty
Greg Illes
Harlan Coban -family themes,technology
John Hart -has 2 award winners that I know of

Whew, happy reading !!

Good list, Betsy. I like Nevada Barr too. And I love Sharyn McCrumb's The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter in her Appalachian series and If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him, the funniest Elizabeth McPherson. I laughed till I cried at that one.

Loved McPhearson's Lament.I used to live in a tiny town in the Northern Neck of Virginia. It was very pro-confederacy and mired in its' history.Bill would have behaved exactly as he was portrayed in that novel. A.P. Hill was another character that seemed too true to life,and I howled my head off.Have you read The PMS bandits?
Of the Applachian series I liked Ghost Riders - caught the civil war bug- and The Rosewood casket.

No, not Lament or PMS Bandits, but I'll look for them. Laughing is good, and I sometimes need a break from writers like Dennis Lehane (Mystic River was a definite 5 stars). Virgil Flowers, John Sandford's character, makes me laugh, but not like McCrumb can.

Just discovered Lehane Shutter Island. Tried getting your name on the Friends list -since we seem to have alot of books in common ,but no luck . I'll try again.

I'm Ellis Vidler. I don't quite know how friends works here, but maybe you can find me.

I thought I did- spelled your name right,but kept getting the error message Hmm...

Unless there's another Betsy, you're now on my Friends list, so it must have worked. Glad to be friends. I like your book list.

Hurray!!! You found me!

Delaney wrote: "I read a book several years ago about a murder set in ancient Egypt. The opening chapter involved the death of a woman. The main character was male and worked in the government as an investigator o..."

Have you ever read Eric Ambler? He wrote a few set in Egypt about a man a little less than ept named Arthur Simpson. It's been a long time since I read them, but I think he was half Egyptian. I remember liking them a lot.

Now, my thing lately is outdoor-oriented mysteries set in/near the west, since I started writing a series in that subgenre (see Deadly Currents).

Along with Nevada Barr, I recommend the following authors:

Dana Stabenow, CJ Box, Margaret Coel, William Kent Krueger, Sandi Ault, Craig Johnson

Stabenow and Box are terrific. I'll have to look for some of the others. I just don't have enough reading time for all the good stories out there. I feel deprived!

Delaney wrote: "I read a book several years ago about a murder set in ancient Egypt. The opening chapter involved the death of a woman. The main character was male and worked in the government as an investigator o..."

I had immediately thought of "Murder at the God's Gate" (A Lord Meren Mystery) by Lynda S. Robinson. Since you already found what you were looking for this might be a similar series to consider.

Betsy wrote: "Hi Bridgett,
Usually I get hooked into authors and try to collect all they have written. So here are some of my favorites under categories
Cozy mysteries
Susan Whittig Albert-Pecan Springs Her..."

I listened to Nevada Barr's "Winter Study" book on CD and I have to say it was chilling (punn intended). I had not had any prior experience with Nevada Barr and that book was scary good.

I don't know why I got off Nevada Barr. I used to love her books--I don't remember the title, but the one about the forest fires kept me reading all night. I'll have to look at them again. There must be several I haven't read. Glad you mentioned her.

Ellis - I've done the same with several long running series. I think I just lose track and can't seem to back track to the correct one. Sue Grafton comes to mind. I think I stopped around H or I.

I stopped on Sue Grafton around G--at least that's the last one I can remember. I'll have to put Superior Death on my TBR list. I'm not buying any more until I get through some of the ones I have but I do have a list. I already had to move the stack from the table to the floor because it was getting dangerous to walk by.

Some of Nevada Barrs stand alone books (13 1/2 is one I remember) are really quite graphic and disturbing. I'll bet if you got off Nevada Barr this might be why, Ellis. The books were graphic and chilling and dealt with child abuse.To me though it proves she's a good writer irregardless-if it's upsetting enough to make you ill then the writer knows his or her stuff.

No, I usually like darker plots unless it's graphic torture or we're witnessing child or animal abuse--then I do put it down. Some of John Sandford's Prey books are quite graphic but I can deal with that. I think I just got sidetracked by some other authors and forgot about her.

Have you all tried John Sandford's newer character, Virgil Flowers? I'm really enjoying him. He's lighter and funnier than Lucas Davenport. Flowers was a secondary character in some of the Prey books. Sandford did a good job of creating a different voice in the Flowers books. The first one is Dark of the Moon. Dark of the Moon

Gonna put this guy on my list...

i am looking for a new series and it looks like John Sanford is the go to guy for that. I look in my library and of course they have some of the prey books but not the first one. How important is it to read them in order?

I've found that, in general, reading out any mystery/suspense series out of order means you miss out on personal info of the main character. Each story will probably be complete and the book could stand alone, but you may not know things about the character that was brought up in the previous books. I learned that when I started reading Patricia Cornwell and James Patterson. In Cornwell's books, the main character has a niece who is a lesbian. It comes up in the first book, but then isn't mentioned for a while. And in Patterson's Alex Cross series, you learn about Alex's family and background. The family is mentioned in every book, but each time you learn a little more. I've found that reading from the beginning is very satisfying, whereas reading a series not in order can be a little confusing when info comes up about the past.

I often read books out of order but I find that it does leave gaps in my understanding of the main character-especially if I don't start with the first book. I find first books can be a little tedious because of the back story on the protagonist but it sure comes in handy in later books!

Tracy wrote: "I look in my library and of course they have some of the prey books but not the first one. How important is i..."

Check to see if your library does inter-library loans. There have been several times that my library did not have a book, but they would borrow it from another library system. (They charge a $1 fee for this service.) From what I remember of the Prey series, he will refer back to something that happens in the previous book.

It is a must for me to read series books in order, I really don't like not knowing the back story and how everyone came to be.

Dia wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I look in my library and of course they have some of the prey books but not the first one. How important is i..."

Check to see if your library does inter-library loans. There have be..."

Thanks Dial. I have heard someone mention that before. I guess I need yo ask them.