I Love a Good Mystery

Current Reads

I'm currently in the middle of reading two books that are due out this summer. 

THE FOLLOWER, by Jason Starr, is a suspense novel that deals with a young woman's search for love in New York City.  If you are familiar with Jason's earlier work, you know it's going to be a dark journey.

In Thomas Perry's latest book, SILENCE, we meet Jack Till, a P.I. who helped a woman disappear years ago, and Sylvie & Paul, the killers hired to find that same woman and make her disappear permanently.

Full reviews to come soon.

Recent Reads

I am so far behind in both my reading and posting, but wanted to mention  a few recent reads that impressed me. 

THE DEAD HOUR by Denis Mina is the second book in the Paddy Meehan series (after FIELD OF BLOOD), and I thought it was even better than the first (and that's saying a lot).   Great characters, and the story manages to both be interesting and raise some thought-provoking ethical issues.

Robert Crais' THE WATCHMAN is a nice return to Pike and Elvis Cole (in a smaller role than in previous books). It still wasn't quite as good as some of the earlier Pike/Cole novels, but I enjoyed it more than recent books by the author.   That being said, an 'okay' Crais book is still better than much of what's out there.

THE BLONDE by one of my favourite authors, Duane Swierczynski, is truly fantastic. It's fast-paced, funny, dark, and wonderfully weird and unique.  No cookie cutter aspects here.  It's a great installment in what I'm sure will end up being an impressive body of work.  I only wish he'd write faster! 

Congrats Donna!

Donna Moore won the Lefty award for her fantastic novel, Go to Helena Handbasket.  Her acceptance speech was short and, not surprisingly, funny.

 

LCC Photos

Finally organized my photos and added them to the site!

LCC 2007

I'm finally back home after taking a little time to visit family after attending LCC in Seattle.  This convention, for a number of reasons, was more of a vacation with friends than a fan/author convention.  That's not a complaint (I had a blast!)...just an observation.

There were lots of rumours swirling around, and one had to do with the lack of authors in attendance.  Apparently there were issues with getting on panels and with the treatment in general.   I didn't attend many panels, but I understand that there were un-published authors on some panels.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I guess that if they're billed as fans I can understand, but un-published authors lumped in with published authors?  I find that a bit misleading.  Why not simply have a panel specifically for un-published authors?

One outstanding panel was The Liars Panel, moderated by Alex Brett and featuring Hakan Nesser, SJ Rozan, Meg Chittenden and Barry Eisler.  It was absolutely hilarious, and quite unique.   Big kudos to Alex for her job as moderator...she was fantastic.

The Dealer's Room wasn't impressive.  There weren't that many book sellers, and the selection was lacking.  I made up for that by visiting Seattle Mystery Bookshop and buying as many books as I could squeeze into my suitcase!

The host hotel was great, as was the banquet (included in registration price - nice!).  What really made this a great experience was the people attending.  It was great to re-connect with old friends and meet lots of new people (especially the gang from 4MA, the best online discussion group devoted to mysteries/crime fiction).

Left Coast Crime

I'm heading off to Left Coast Crime tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to discovering new authors, re-connecting with friends and meeting new people.   I'm going to try to post updates and pictures while there, but as it goes with most conventions, down time is at a minimum.

I haven't packed yet, still need to clean the house and shop for a few last minute things, and my plane leaves in 17 hours.  Oh ya...procrastination is alive and well in my house! :)

Good Books, Good Company

I'm going through a particularly rough time in my life right now, and I'm once again reminded at how glad I am that I'm a reader.  There's a lot about my life that's up in the air, and to say that I'm stressed would be an understatement.  Nevertheless, I still manage some time everyday to read, and that gives me a much needed break from worrying about my problems.  Of course, given the types of books I like to read, I end up reading about someone else's troubles, but that seems to work for me. ;)

I'll post full reviews later, but for now let me just say that Peter Robinson's PIECE OF MY HEART and Simon Kernick's RELENTLESS are terrific, compelling reads.   Next up is DYING LIGHT by Stuart MacBride.

Sunday Morning Rant

I recently picked up a book by a new (to fiction) Canadian author, and after reading about 70 pages, I got curious about the author's history.  I went online, searched on the author's name and found information about her on a literary agent's site.  I started to read, and before I knew it, the entire plot (with resolution) was explained!  I stopped reading as soon as I figured out that the summary included spoilers, but by then it was too late.

So here's a tip for literary agents: If you want to do your mystery-writing client a favour, don't give out the entire plot of a novel on a public website. Sheesh!

Read Smarter?

I've never actually listened to an audio book, but after seeing this commercial from HarperCollins, I may have to reconsider next time I'm walking around NYC. ;)

The commercial actually reminds me of a time when I was much younger and riding my bike home from school. My adolescent brain figured that I could safely bike and read at the same time (look Ma, no hands!).  It actually worked for a little while...until I ran into a parked car. Ouch.

BUSTed Again

From the good news department...I just heard that Ken Bruen and Jason Starr are planning to write a sequel to their recently released novel, BUST.