Sep 2019
General Info Sep Total
Books Read - 16 112 (Goodreads Total Challenge complete)
Pages Read - 3,500 32,100
Pages Breakdown
< 250 11 49
250 - 350 3 27
351 - 450 2 25
> 450 - 11
Ratings
5 - star - 5
4 - star 10 59
3 - star 5 45
2 - star 1 3
Gender
Female 11 46
Male 5 66
Genres
Fiction - 14
Mystery 9 73
SciFi 7 19
Non-Fic - 5
Classics - 1
Poetry
Top 3 Books
(once again, no five star books)
"Gideon's Week is the 2nd book in the Commander Gideon series by prolific author, J.J. Marric. In many ways it reminds me of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. Both are excellent police procedurals. They are concise, well-crafted and grab your attention.
In Gideon's Week, Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard is dealing with many situations. The main crisis is a prison break in Manchester. Of the 9 men who have escaped was one Syd Benson, gangster, murderer. He was put in prison by Gideon on the testimony of Benson's wife. Benson wants to get down to London to get vengeance on his wife. As they wait to see if Benson and the other escapees are captured or make it to London, Gideon prepares the force, protecting Mrs Benson and her children.
As well, the daily caseload never stops. Bad weather helped the escape in Manchester and kept the day-to-day criminal activities in London down. But the weather is improving and while Gideon's force is stretched thin, robberies are on the uptake as well as other crimes. These must be dealt with as well. There are other cases that take up Gideon's time, including the suspected murder of a young woman by her boyfriend. This case incites the interest of one of Gideon's daughters.
The story is fascinating, moves along nicely and holds your attention throughout. The various cases are all detailed and investigated individually, with Gideon tying them all together. There is intimidation, tension and excellent character development. All in all, an excellent mystery, well worth attempting. (4.5 stars)"
"Bitter River is the 2nd book in the Bell Elkins series by Julia Keller. I enjoyed the first book, A Killing in the Hills, but this one was even better. Keller is an excellent author spinning a tense mystery and crafting excellent characters.
Bell Elkins is the DA of a small town in West Virginia. She is called out by the sheriff, her friend Nick Fogelsong, when a body is discovered in her car in the Bitter River. The body is that of a young girl, Lucinda Trimble, a high school senior, who is also pregnant. The story basically involves their investigation of the murder of the girl. Complicating the story is the fact that Nick had previously had a relationship with the girl's mother, Maddie many years ago. Both had moved on, Nick marrying someone else and Maddie marrying as well.
Besides this main story, Bell is also dealing with a number of issues, her ongoing relationship with a younger man, Clay; the fact that her daughter has moved to Washington to live with her father and Bell's ex-husband; the absence of Bell's sister after her release (in the last story) from prison. As well, an ex-friend of both Bell moves to Raythune County to get away from things for awhile. He has some issues, it appears. Will these affect anything?
This is more than simply a murder mystery, as things begin to spiral out of control as the story moves along. The tension builds nicely and there are a number of surprise happenings that add to it. Judith Keller is an excellent story - teller. She develops characters very nicely, making them more than words on paper. She presents the locale and events clearly and in a manner that draws you in to the story.
I found the story flowed along smoothly and could feel the tension of the characters and events as they occurred. I enjoyed it very much. Some of the events seemed far-fetched, but in Keller's hands they just made for a more entertaining story. Well worth reading. I look forward to continuing the series. Next in line is Summer of the Dead (4.5 stars)"
"Kathy Reichs's Temperance Brennan forensic mystery series is always entertaining. I have felt at times that she is dialing in her story. This was not the case with Fatal Voyage, the fourth book in the series. I think this was one of my favorites so far, of the 9 that I've read.
Temperance is part of North Carolina's DMORT, a disaster response team, and is called to the hills of North Carolina to help in the investigation of a plane crash. This is a major effort, of course, involving local, state and federal investigators. Temperance is surprised to even find her partner from the Montreal police force, Detective Ryan, involved. His partner had been on the flight, escorting a criminal back to Montreal and Ryan is now part of the investigation.
At the outset, something strange occurs. Tempe discovers a foot that she must take from a coyote (with Ryan's assistance). The foot doesn't seem to be part of the crash remnants. Quite suddenly, Tempe is accused of disrupting the air crash investigation, especially by the lieutenant-governor and as the story moves along, she is removed from that investigation.
Some people don't believe what has taken place and continue to help Tempe with her efforts to prove that she didn't commit any wrongs. These include Ryan, an FBI agent, McMahon and a local police chief, Lucy Crowe. As well, Tempe is baby-sitting a dog for her ex-husband, Pete. Boyd is a great character. Anyway, the efforts to investigate this foot, and also to get into a hidden cabin located near the crash site, are stymied consistently, even to the point of a friend of Tempe's being murdered.
It's a tense, rich story. The people are well-crafted (I particularly liked Sheriff Crowe, smart, independent, down-to-earth) and the story moves along very nicely, especially considering its length. There are frustrations, but they are minor and don't take away from the overall enjoyment of the story. I like her relationships and her stubbornness, even though it does get her into trouble. But she is an intelligent, passionate, relentless investigator. There is some development of her relationships with her ex and with Ryan but this part of her life doesn't play too much of a role in this story. More to follow in the others. All in all, an excellent, enjoyable mystery / thriller with a pretty darn satisfying ending. (4.5 stars)"
12 + 4 Challenge (completed 16) (Challenge Complete)
-
Papa Bear Challenge (Books I've had the longest on my Goodreads bookshelf)
-
Mama Bear Challenge (Middle of my Goodreads bookshelf)
1. Bitter River by Julia Keller (4.5 stars)
Baby Bear Challenge (Books most recently added to my Goodreads bookshelf)
2. The Bone Garden by Kate Ellis (4 stars)
Goldilocks Challenge (Random Number Generator)
-
Break from Challenge Challenge
3. Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton (4 stars)
Freebies (Freebees every time I complete 10 books)
4. Murder or an Outsider by M.C. Beaton (4 stars)
Challenges from Other Groups (UK Book club September genre - Graphic Novels)
5. Tank Girl (Carioca) by Alan Martin (3 stars)
6. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Black Dossier by Alan Moore (4 stars)
7. Tank Girl - Bad Wind by Alan Martin (3.5 stars)
8. Birds of Prey - Of Like Mind by Gail Simone (3.5 stars)
9. Magdalena Blood Divine by Marcia Chen (3 stars)
10. Tank Girl Classic Vol 1 by Alan Martin (4 stars)
September Individual Genre Challenge - Women Authors
11. Friends in High Places by Donna Leon (4 stars)
12. Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs (4.5 stars)
13. Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh (4 stars)
14. Jazz Funeral by Julie Smith (2.5 stars)
15. The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters (3.5 stars)
16. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris (4 stars)
(finishing off my September Genre Challenge books - Women authors)
1. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton
2. The Last Temptation by Val McDermid
3. The Bee's Kiss by Barbara Cleverly
(Goldilocks Challenge - Random Number Generator)
4. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun
5. The World of Suzie Wong by Richard Mason
(My Individual Challenge October - Horror)
6. Relic by Preston & Child
1. Sharpe's Sword by Bernard Cornwell
2. The Passage by Justin Cronin
3. Children of the Night by John Blackburn
Back to our regular scheduled programming in my next entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment