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Last year's TBR stack of mysteries [2023]
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By
Michelle Y. Souliere
I
was looking over the blog, and realized that it’s been just over a year (crazy!!!) since I
posted my “now reading” and “TBR” stacks of all-mystery titles. Why not do a review? I was curious myself as to how many I’d
actually read, and was pleasantly surprised. Here's a rundown of what went on last year.
Previously: Michelle's
2023 "To Be Read" stack:
þ
The Castle of the
Demon
by Patrick Ruell (aka Reginald Hill)
See post
here: “If you put your ear to her heart, you will hear the crashing surf - A Gothic Valentine for book lovers!”
þ
Shady Hollow, Cold
Clay, and
Mirror Lake by Juneau Black (UK covers)
This, like
the Bannalec series I love so much, started out with a read of one of the books
to see how much I liked it, before committing to the full shebang. I’ll do a full post about these soon.
þ
The Fleur de Sel
Murders by
Jean-Luc Bannalec
I will
definitely be continuing this series.
But I think perhaps this one might be my favorite so far.
þ
Death on a Winter
Stroll
by Francine Mathews
Super-fun! I’ll be looking for more from this author.
þ
Agatha Christie's
Complete Secret Notebooks: Stories & Secrets of Murder in the Making by John Curran
I’m still
working my way through this – hoping to make it last as long as possible.
þ
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Well-written,
an atmospheric slow burn, but just not my thing.
þ
The Angel Maker by Alex North
This was a
real ripper. Great characters,
fascinating mysteries, and chilling villainry.
I’ll be reading more Alex North in the future!
See post here: "The divine retribution of Alex
North's The Angel Maker"
þ
The Bullet That
Missed
by Richard Osman
#3 in the
fabulous Tuesday Murder Club series, and another fun romp... now onto #4, The
Last Devil to Die.
þ
White Horse by Erika T. Wurth
This was a
real dark horse – new-to-me author, intriguing plot. And MAN WAS IT GOOD. I’ll be looking forward to more!
þ
Hokolua Road
by Elizabeth Hand
I started
this and began devouring it, loving its mysteriousness, and then got derailed
by some horrible events in my own life.
I’m looking forward to finishing it off soon!
The below
titles all fall under FAIL! Still on the
TBR pile. Arghh! But honestly, a much shorter list than I was
expecting to be left over. Ha!
--> Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
--> Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries ed by Martin
Edwards
--> Blood Sugar by Daniel Kraus
--> Standing by the Wall by Mick Herron
So
what books are on my Now-Reading and TBR mystery lists for 2024? I’ve already chewed through a few!
Michelle’s
“Now Reading” Stack 2024:
I
devoured several books in 2023 that don’t appear above, but will probably
appear in posts later on, so stay tuned for those. Right now I’m already in the middle of
several books, some which I started in 2023, others which I’m just diving into now:
Nemesis by Agatha Christie –
This is a real classic, and there is a 90% probability that I read it when I
was in my teens or twenties, but I always like to have at least one Christie
title ready-to-hand! This one in
particular focuses on Miss Marple, and her formidable powers of deduction and
drive for justice. Plus this Fontana
(UK) copy has yet another weirdly wonderful Tom Adams painting for its cover art.
Trouble
Is My Business
by Raymond Chandler – A collection of 5 stories which follow his private
investigators through another wild run of cases, full of twists and turns,
dames and cads. “It was very still in
the room for a little while. Eddies of
smoke drifted towards the skylight, filmy gray, pale in the afternoon sun. I heard the surf booming in the distance.” What can I say? I love Chandler’s prose, and his adept
depositing of readers in a definite place and moment. And he frequently surprises me. He is a master in a way few others are.
Thrice
the Brindled Cat Hath Mewed by Alan Bradley – This is #8 in the Flavia De Luce mystery
series, an example of my habit of picking up a book because of its title. Also because the series has been recommended
to me repeatedly! We’ll see if it grows
on me enough that I decide to start the series in earnest and backtrack to #1.
The
House Opposite
by J. Jefferson Farjeon – This is one of the lovely little Collins Crime Club (aka
“The Detective Story Club”) reprints of vintage mysteries. Delightful packaging, classic
stories/authors, and kind of like opening a time capsule into a world gone
by. I really enjoyed the salty old
vagrant who narrates a large part of this book.
Some might call his garrulous but no-nonsense description of events
cartoonish, but frankly it’s a bit of fresh air to me. This particular story sports a fair bit of
intrigue, shadowy figures engaged in malarkey, and an appreciation for a good
wedge of cheese. I’ve read other Farjeon
titles before, and they’re always fun and atmospheric!
A House of Ghosts by W.C. Ryan -- This was a super-fun romp! WWI era, a towering estate on a remote island in the Irish Sea, with secret passageways and mysterious murders, not to mention multiple seances.
Beneath
the Depths
by Bruce Robert Coffin – Coffin is a Maine author, so I knew I was going to
read him eventually! Then Sharon
recommended this series, and I’m enjoying it so far. If you’re looking for a police procedural
mystery set in Portland, Maine, look no further.
The
House Across the Lake
by Riley Sager – Like my previous experiences with Sager’s books, this is a
fun, rapid read, with ample chills and thrills.
Set on a pleasant lake and compulsively readable, this story is related
to the reader by yet another of Sager’s appealingly flawed, scarred characters. She takes us with her down the road of following
one’s voyeuristic tendencies just a little too far… perhaps?
The
Invited
by Jennifer McMahon – I’ve been hearing so much about this New England thriller
writer that I had to give her a go, and was torn between a few titles to start
with (The Winter People was another heavy contender). I picked up The Invited because it has
elements of local historical research (yes please!), set in a small town in
Vermont (check! Next best thing to Maine imho), and is rife with reminders that
even new buildings may have unexpected histories because of the land they are
built on. I’ve barely cracked into this
one, but it has definite Rick Hautala vibes so far.
The
Instruments of Darkness by John Connolly – I’ve never met a John Connolly book I
didn’t like, and this new Charlie Parker novel, so far, is no exception. I don’t know how he does it, but right from
the start, I am always in it to win it.
There is just something about Charlie Parker’s character and inner
dialogue that is like sitting down again with a really good friend you haven’t
seen for ages – and feeling like you’re both just picking up where you left off,
no matter how long it’s been. I’m
excited to get further into the meat of this story, and be ready to give you a full
review for its upcoming May 7th release (2024).
What’s
Charlie up to in this one? Well, things
have gone very wrong for Colleen Clark, a young mother in Portland, Maine. Her 5-year-old son has disappeared from his
bedroom, and days later his bloodstained blanket is found in the trunk of their
car. Charlie Parker gets called in by
her attorney, Moxie Castin, to find out what happened on that fateful
night.
The
unwinding of The Instruments of Darkness promises ominous twists and
turns aplenty, including “a husband too eager to accept his wife’s guilt, a
group of fascists arming for war, a disgraced psychic seeking redemption, and
an old, twisted house deep in the Maine woods, a house that should never have
been built. -- A house, and what dwells beneath.” More to come on this as May gets closer, I am
sure!
Michelle’s
“To Be Read” stack:
Well,
I will admit I have gotten a little carried away. And this stack doesn’t even include a bunch
of titles I’ve been eyeing but have resisted because… well, there are only so
many hours in the day and let’s not get more ridiculous than we already are,
here! Ha!!
Well,
let’s see the trouble we’re in for so far.
You’ll notice a bunch of these are British mysteries, which are rather a
weakness with me:
Wycliffe
and the Cycle of Death by W.J. Burley – A British series recommended to me, and
in my usual backwards style I’m starting with book #16 … because it begins with
a dead bookseller, of course!
The
Stranger Diaries
by Elly Griffiths – A standalone from the author of the wonderful Ruth Galloway
series, threaded through with themes of Gothic literature, mysterious notes
with book quotes on them, and … murder.
The
Leaphorn & Chee Series by Tony Hillerman – I read a handful of these decades
ago, and after happily rereading The Blessing Way a couple years ago, it’s
pretty clear to me that it’s time for re-read, and to catch up on all the
titles that came out after my original readthrough.
Ash
Dark As Night
by Gary Phillips – An upcoming title from Soho that looked interesting. Set in the 1960s, and featuring a protagonist
who works both as a street/crime photographer and private eye. His work, and his own turn as an unexpected
witness with proof, pits him against the LAPD in the era of the Watts riots.
(releasing in April 2024)
Murder
at La Villette
by Cara Black – Another author I’ve heard great things about, so I’m going to
jump in with the latest book in her Aimee Leduc private investigator series and
see how it treats me. Concussed and the
prime suspect in her ex-husband’s murder, Aimee dives into the Paris
underground to save herself. (releasing
in March 2024)
The
Murder of Mr. Ma
by John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan – A “swashbuckling series” set in 1920s London,
which opens as a killer is targeting Chinese immigrants. Shy academic Lao She teams up with Judge Dee
Ren Jie to solve an increasing pile of murders, each victim having been despatched
with a butterfly sword in the hometown of Sherlock Holmes himself. This will be my introduction to the genre of
gong’an crime fiction. (releasing in
April 2024)
The
White Priory Murders: A Mystery for Christmas by Carter Dickson (aka John Dickson
Carr) – This one I’ll probably save until next winter. Cantankerous amateur sleuth Sir Henry
Merrivale arrives at White Priory to solve the Christmas-time murder of a glamorous
Hollywood actress. Footprints in the
snow, a gaggle of star-seeking characters, and red herrings galore are promised.
The
Accidental Medium
by Tracy Whitwell – A washed-up TV actress picks up a job at a New Age shop and
discovers her mum has been hiding their family’s history of psychic mediumship
from her. As if that wasn’t enough,
murder is afoot.
Death
on the Isle by
M.H. Eccleston – An island, a regatta, and a local busybody found floating dead
in the harbor. Who better to solve the
case than the local art club? A cold
case of a sailing prodigy disappeared at sea, a grand seafront mansion, and a
dead billionaire’s nautical paintings lead our group down a winding seaside path.
Silence
for the Dead
by Simone St. James – A rerelease of an earlier work by one of my favorite cold
case/supernatural thriller authors! Post
WWI, a young nurse on the run from her past finds herself at a post in a
house-turned-hospital that is more than it seems, giving both Kitty Weekes and
her patients suspiciously similar nightmares.
The
Missing Corpse
by Jean-Luc Bannalec – I’m running out of titles in this series, so I’m portioning
them out slowly now. Commissaire Georges
Dupin seeks a killer in beautiful Brittany, France, amidst legends of fairies
and the devil, and also, where did that pesky corpse get to?
The
Old Fox Deceiv’d
by Martha Grimes – It seemed time to dip back into the Richard Jury series,
each of which is named after a British pub tied to the case. Jury is called from London to a tiny
Yorkshire fishing village to solve the mystery of a young fortune-seeking
woman, registered under a false name, who turns up dead… but may not have been
the intended victim after all.
Death
of Mr. Dooley
by John Ferguson – Another entry in the British Library Crime Classics series,
and [gasp!] with a murder set in a bookshop (and wandering through many other
London bookstores)!!! Originally
published in 1937.
A
Cotswold Casebook
by Rebecca Tope – I really enjoyed Tope’s “Lake District Mysteries”, and I’m
looking forward to trying this series, set in the mellow (but murderous?) lanes
of the Cotswold countryside. For a
change of pace, this volume is a collection of short stories, rather than a
novel.
The
Stranger Times
and This Charming Man by C.K. McDonnell – These two are set in the world
of The Stranger Times, “Manchester’s go-to newspaper for the unexplained
and inexplicable.” How much of what they’ve
been reporting is nonsense? What happens
when some of the wildest stories turn out to be real? Crime, murder, vampires, the fae… the plot
twists and turns, and it winds up all being on their beat!
Inspector
Imanishi Investigates
by Seicho Matsumoto – In 1960s Tokyo, a haiku-writing homicide detective finds
himself seeking the cause of a mysterious railyard death “from the hip hangouts
of avant-garde Tokyo to a spa in rural Honshu.”
And before he knows what’s happening, more bodies join the queue.
Grave
Expectations
by Alice Bell – A 30-something freelance medium arrives at The Cloisters, an
old countryhouse where she’s been hired to provide the guests with some
intriguing entertainment. A recent
murder cues our medium (plus her ghostly childhood friend) and two of the
guests to seek answers while avoiding the unknown murder in the winding halls
of the old dark house.
The
Thirty-One Doors
by Kate Hulme – I mean, how could I resist?
“A novel that has the deliciously febrile atmosphere of a silent film.” Set at Scarpside House, which “looms over the
village of Gothbury, and is famed for its eccentric layout, its isolation and
its legendary parties.” A house party of
formerly-lucky people, and accidents just waiting to happen… what could possibly
go wrong?
Beast
in the Shadows
by Edogawa Rampo – I’ve been wanting to read a novel by Rampo for a while
now. This one is short and sharp. A crime novelist and his new friend seek the
culprit behind creepy letters she has been receiving. But when they lead to another writer whose
mysterious works threaten to become real, the shadows surrounding them become
increasingly darker.
A
Trace of Poison
by Colleen Cambridge – Following my reading of two of Cambridge’s fun titles, I’m
embarking on a third, returning to Agatha Christie’s estate, where housekeeper
Phyllida Bright is about to get embroiled in another murder case.
You can read my post about Cambridge’s other
mystery books here:
“Old friends with a new twist - 2 excellent mysteries!”
So
that’s 2024, off with a bang, and the flipping of many pages. I hope your year ahead is filled with good
books. More updates as warranted!