What We're Reading

LUCY BURDETTE: I feel like I am still reading slowly, and my TBR pile is not going down. But perhaps that is because I keep adding to it? Anyway, here are some of the books I’ve read since we last had this discussion. I just finished reading Ragnar Jonasson's new book, Reykjavík, written with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdottir. I am completely fascinated by this duo of authors, not the least, because Katrin has a masters degree in Icelandic literature, including a dissertation on the subject of the crime fiction of Arnaldur Indridason. I love his books, so how could I resist this one? Reykjavik has great pacing, plus a fascinating old case, and I love the setting of Iceland. It made me want to travel there immediately.

Before that, I read Ann Cleeves’ new book, The Raging Storm. This is the second third Detective Matthew Venn book, and he is growing on me. She is such a master at creating a crime story that reflects the cold and claustrophobic setting, this time a small town called Greystone in Devon. She also does an amazing job creating and filling out secondary characters. Now I am eagerly awaiting the next Vera book.

I also very much enjoyed Spencer Quinn’s (a.k.a., Peter Abrahams) new book, Mrs. Plansky‘s Revenge. Mrs. Plansky, a retired 70 something in Florida falls victim to a scam that cleans out her savings. She rises to the occasion in the most charming and wildly believable way. If you enjoy Richard Osman's books (or even Miss Gloria from the Key West mysteries), Mrs. Plansky is for you. Also on the cozier side of the spectrum, I finished Alicia Bessette’s Murder on Mustang Beach. The writing is lovely, the Outer Banks of North Carolina is a wonderful setting, and she writes appealing characters living in a small town.

Last night I started Barbara O'Neal's The Starfish Sisters. She's such an amazing writer--I can hardly wait to get back to it. How about you Reds, what are you reading?

HALLIE EPHRON: I just finished reading an advance copy of Lori Rader-Day’s THE DEATH OF US. It’s a heartwarming/heartbreaking mother/son story. Gorgeously written. Reminded me of the way Megan Abbott brings the complicated teenage daughter/father relationship to the page… only Lori does it with mother/teenage son. The cover blurb from Ann Cleeves nails it: “So sharp, and tight and clear. And real.” It’ll be out in October.

Now I’m into Geraldine Brooks: HORSE. Historical fiction about an enslaved groom and a record-setting horse, set during the Civil War. Incandescent prose. Great storytelling. I’ll truly never look at a painting of a racehorse in the same way again.

A horse of a different color, I’m listening to: BECOMING DUCHESS GOLDBLATT. By Anonymous! It’s the hilarious and deeply moving the story of a woman who creates a Twitter alterego for herself (Duchess Goldbaltt: an 81-year old purveyor of wisdom) based on a portrait in a Frans Hals painting. It’s funny and surreal and breathtaking. I’m listening to the audio book in which Lyle Lovett narrates his own part. Thanks to my friend Patty Jo for recommending it.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I just finished Allen Eskens’ SAVING EMMA, a brilliant and thoughtful literary legal thriller–highly recommended. And whoa–Lisa Jewell’s None of This is True and Shari Lapena’s Everyone Here is Lying–such different books, amazing, but two absolutely breathtakingly wonderful authors.

Oh, have you read The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Pattii Callahan Henry? Drop everything, seriously, and get it.

On my pile, and cannot wait, Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAlllister, and Happiness Falls by Angie Kim! I have no doubt they will both be fabulous.

And back to TV? The oh so talented Alexis Gordon’s Gethsemane Brown mysteries are on Hallmark Mystery now! And they are SO perfect. YAY!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Representing science fiction here with two amazing and quite different novels that both have animals as main characters: John Scalzi’s STARTER VILLAIN and Paul McAuley’s BEYOND THE BURN LINE. The former is an homage/satire/updated twist of the Blofeld type of baddie, complete with volcano lair and fluffy cat; the latter… really, it’s best to go in not knowing much.

In our own genre, I absolutely loved Nina Simon’s MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT (and now I want to write a book where the Maine Millennial and I solve a mystery!) THE BONES OF THE STORY by Carol Goodman is a fantastic locked-room mystery set in her signature gothic-academic setting. I love Carol’s writing so much; her work perfectly balances literary and crime fiction.

Non-fiction read: THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST, by Jeff Goodell, a climate journalist who also write THE WATER WILL COME. If you like having the crap scared out of you, read these terrific books and start planning your escape route. I suggest Michigan.

JENN McKINLAY: Julia, I’ve heard amazing things about Simon’s MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT - adding it to my TBR!

I have been on a reading bender and it’s been glorious! As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m heading into a new genre (sort of) that’s a grown up Harry Potter meets Agatha Christie with some Edgar Allan Poe thrown in because why not? So my reading is joyfully all over the place.

Right now, I’m reading an epic fantasy THE KINGS OF THE WYLD by Nicholas Eames (middle-aged mercenaries on a rescue mission, it’s a blast). I’m also reading a romcom ARC by Nic DiDimizio called NEARLYWED (two gay men, who hit some relationship obstacles as they gear up for their wedding - poignant and hilarious). Nic’s writing is just so fun! And because it’s the season of all things scary (which I love), I just read T. Kingfisher’s A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES (which our Hank rightly endorsed) and up next is Kingfisher’s THE TWISTED ONES. Oh, and I just finished THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden. I figured out the twist early on, but it was still excellent.

RHYS BOWEN: Julia, I can absolutely recommend writing a book with your daughter. Clare and I have so much joy writing together! I haven’t read much recently as I’ve been traveling and working on edits,but I did read The Marsh King’s Daughter that I picked up at Bouchercon–brilliant but darker than I usually read. I also dipped back to several old favorites, including a couple of Mary Stewarts. I wish there were more like her being written today. A recent favorite is THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA by Patti Callahan Henry. I love her work!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I want Jenn's list! The fantasy and the gay wedding book sound fabulous. I feel like a slacker compared to some of you. I know I mentioned it before Bouchercon, but I absolutely adored Allison Montclair's latest, THE LADY FROM BURMA. Since B'con I've read Jacqueline Winspear's THE WHITE LADY–so good. Also James Benn's latest Billy Boyle, PROUD SORROWS. I'm behind in the series but really enjoyed this regardless. Now I've just started the latest Richard Osman, THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE. And this week is a bonanza, with G.M. Malliet's new Max Tudor, THE WASHING AWAY OF WRONGS, the new Robert Galbraith Cormoran Strike novel, THE RUNNING GRAVE (at almost 1000 pages, that may take me a day or two…,) AND a book I have been looking forward to for ages, S.J. Bennett's 3rd Her Majesty the Queen Investigates novel, MURDER MOST ROYAL. If you've missed the first two books in this absolutely delightful series, I highly recommend them!

What are you reading Reds?

What We're Reading

LUCY BURDETTE: I don’t usually read hard boiled mysteries and detective fiction, but I have read all of Michael Connolly‘s Harry Bosch books and most of his others. I just finished DARK SACRED NIGHT, which alternates points of view between Harry Bosch and Connolly’s newer character, Renee Ballard. Harry Bosch may be growing gray and gimpy, but he hasn’t lost his powerful drive to avenge the underdogs who need him most. Ballard is a perfect foil – damaged, misunderstood, and loaded with heart. Connolly also does a stellar job of exploring the tensions women face when they call a man on his behavior in a man’s world. I enjoyed the book very much. The only thing that really bothered me was that the characters work the night shift and never sleep!

I absolutely LOVED the novel from Laura Lee Smith called THE ICE HOUSE, which won the Florida Book Award for fiction last year. Though the book is on the long side, my interest never flagged--I only dreaded the moment where I'd turn the last page. The author has a gift for breathing life into her characters, both the main narrators (a middle-aged married couple) and the less central quirky but endearing characters. She also did a marvelous job of bringing two very different settings to life--Jacksonville FL and Glasgow, Scotland. The plot was rich with twists--an estranged son, a brain tumor, a failing family business, middle-aged regrets--that never felt forced. Though the writing was lovely, it never drew attention to itself. Loved it!

And two other quick notes so I don’t hog the stage: I wait eagerly for each new release from Elinor Lipman. GOOD RIDDANCE was a fine addition, charming, funny, and heart-warming. Ditto for Barbara Ross’s Maine Clambake mysteries. I love visiting the Maine town she’s created and her cast of quirky characters, all present in her latest installment, STEAMED OPEN. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Right now I have three categories of recent reads: upcoming, already out, and beloved rereads. For the first, I recently finished Joseph Souza's PRAY FOR THE GIRL, coming out this May, which was the sort of dark and dirty small town with secrets mystery I love. Joe's written a genuinely unique and cool heroine; I've asked him to come to JRW when the book is out and talk about it.

Current reads: I'm working my way through the CRAZY RICH ASIANS trilogy. If you have fond memories of the sex and shopping soap operas of the seventies and eighties - novels like SCANDAL (Judith Krantz), LACE (Shirley Conran) and DECEPTIONS (Judith Michael) you will love Kevin Kwan's books. There's humor, there's emotion, there are eye-popping luxuries lovingly detailed. Great escapism,

Beloved re-reads: I'm enjoying Lois McMaster Bujold's World of Chalion series for the umpteenth time. As in her science fiction, Bujold centers women (often older, fully mature women!) and unconventional, not-traditionally-masculine men in her stories. Chalion, an alternate version of 15th century Spain where demons and gods interfere with human lives, is a refreshing change from the eighteen hundred fantasies based on the British Isles and Scandinavia. 

JENN McKINLAY: I can't tell you. No, seriously, I can't. I'm finishing up my reading for the RITA (romance writer's award) and I can't disclose the titles. Bummer, I know. Not gonna lie, some were a slog, some were meh, and a few were delightful so a mixed bag, for sure. In addition to those titles that shall not be named, I've been listening to Jen Sincero's audio book You Are a Bad Ass. Highly recommend! It's fast, funny, and super motivating! 

RHYS BOWEN: Very little reading going on at the moment as I focus on finishing the first draft of my Queen Victoria novel. Maybe 30 pages to go! I've tread a couple of Agatha Christie comfort reads: Funerals Are Fatal and Peril At End House. I did read Jenn's next book,Word to the Wise, which I loved. And I am about to read Kate Quinn's The Huntress because it sounded so fabulous when I was on a panel with her.  Once that first draft is done there will be binge and catch up reading!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yes--I just read for the Edgar best first, and that took a lot of time! SO pleased with the choices, though. And frustrating that I can't discuss! But books I can happily and delightedly recommend The brilliant Sophie Hannah's brilliant :-) THE NEXT TO DIE--complex and beautifully structured and surprising and so quirkily funny. And actually even inspirational. She's a whiz at incredible dialogue--I mean, astonishing. I know I am being inarticulate, but it's wonderful.  I'm also reading her new Poirot, which is going to be great.  And the incredibly fabulous Carol Goodman, I am now in a total binge, reading THE OTHER MOTHER  and THE WIDOWS HOUSE (one book upstairs and one book down)  and then I am going to read every single word she's ever written or will write.  

And in non-fiction, the riveting RED NOTICE by Bill Browder about the rise of the Russian oligarchs. Amazing. Terrifying.  And oh, Katy Tur's UNBELIEVABLE, about when she covered the 2016 presidential campaign. MUST READ, reds! (Also amazing and terrifying...)

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I just finished our Jenn McKinlay's upcoming WORD TO THE WISE which was such a treat! Great setting, wonderful characters! After that, the new Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novel, THE STONE CIRCLE. I'm such a fan that I ordered it from the UK--couldn't wait until it comes out in the US in May--and it was as good as expected. I love these characters so much, they are so human and real. Now I'm reading the new Peter Robinson Alan Banks novel, CARELESS LOVE, so enjoying Banks and Annie and the team and the Yorkshire moors. Up next on the nightstand, THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN by Stephanie Barron. And on my Kindle, Michelle Obama's book and THE ALICE NETWORK. I could go on and on but instead I'm going to look up THE ICE HOUSE:-)

HALLIE EPHRON: I've been reading books by two Icelandic noir authors -- Yrsa SigurdardÓttir and Ragnar Jonasson, boning up for meeting them and interviewing them about their writing for an event at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in Newton next week. We were in Iceland last year so there's something wonderfully familiar, reading their books. Familiar setting, fantastic prose and storytelling, and sooooo dark. Must be something in the water up there. I also just finished WORD TO THE WISE and my word to wise readers is you're in for a treat! My TBR pile is teetering.

LUCY: I really wish I could be at that panel, Hallie! Even though I say I don't prefer dark books, for some reason I love the Icelandic writers. Okay Reds, what are you reading? What should we not miss?