Crime / Mystery Books & Stories: Buy or Read Any Recently?

[MajorHoy]

I own the first three myself and also the fourth one (The Con Man). I almost certainly will pick up the next one iin the series n a month or two.

What I have is:

Cop Hater (1956)- own
The Mugger (1956)- own
The Pusher (1956) - ordered
Killer's Payoff (1958)- own
'til Death (1959)- own
King's Ransom (1959) - own
He Who Hesitates (1964)- own
Fuzz (1968) - own
Shotgun (1969) - own
Hail, Hail the Gang's All Here (1971)- own
Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (1973)- own
Bread (1974) - own

And there are several I've borrowed from area libraries in the past, but generally those tend to be the ones from the 1980s - 2000s these days.
(I guess when older ones wore out, libraries around here got rid of them without replacing them.)

[The Darknight Detective]

What I have is:

Cop Hater (1956)- own
The Mugger (1956)- own
The Pusher (1956) - ordered
Killer's Payoff (1958)- own
'til Death (1959)- own
King's Ransom (1959) - own
He Who Hesitates (1964)- own
Fuzz (1968) - own
Shotgun (1969) - own
Hail, Hail the Gang's All Here (1971)- own
Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (1973)- own
Bread (1974) - own

And there are several I've borrowed from area libraries in the past, but generally those tend to be the ones from the 1980s - 2000s these days.
(I guess when older ones wore out, libraries around here got rid of them without replacing them.)

I have known about McBain since the '80s, but I only started reading him in the past couple of years. BTW, one of the first movies I ever saw at a theater (well, a drive-in) was The Fuzz. I wish I had been a little older to have appreciated Raquel Welch a little more back then.

[MajorHoy]

. . . and, for something completely different:

Murder Past Due by Miranda James
<A Cat in the Stacks Mystery>

I haven't read it yet myself, but I had offered to let my Mom read it. She liked it, so now I've gotten the next few books in the series from area libraries for her. (I believe she's now read the second and third, Classified as Murder and File M for Murder.)
While my Mom isn't really a mystery reader per se, I figured she might like to try it since she likes cats and my oldest sister is a librarian.

[Amacent]

I haven't read it yet myself, but I had offered to let my Mom read it. She liked it, so now I've gotten the next few books in the series from area libraries for her. (I believe she's now read the second and third, Classified as Murder and File M for Murder.)
While my Mom isn't really a mystery reader per se, I figured she might like to try it since she likes cats and my oldest sister is a librarian.

Read this a year ago for some strange reason and I do not regret it. An enjoyable and quick read with likable characters. Definitely a cozy novel.

The last crime / mystery novel I read was A Famine of Horses, the first in the Sir Robert Carey series by P.F. Chisholm. I really enjoyed that one and can't wait to pick up the second in the series sometimes soon. As someone who enjoys historical fiction and mysteries it was right up my alley.

[MajorHoy]

. . . The last crime / mystery novel I read was A Famine of Horses, the first in the Sir Robert Carey series by P.F. Chisholm. I really enjoyed that one and can't wait to pick up the second in the series sometimes soon. As someone who enjoys historical fiction and mysteries it was right up my alley.

In the past I was reading many of Anne Perry's Inspector Monk and the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt mysteries. Also read quite a few of Victorian / Edwardian Mysteries by "Robin Paige" (Bill and Susan Albert).

[MajorHoy]

This weekend (well, yesterday and today), Barnes & Noble is offering $5.00 off when you order two books on-line (minimum total of $15.00), so I just ordered:


The Con Man
and

Killer's Choice, both by Ed McBain <87th Precinct series>.

Also, when I actually went to a Barnes & Noble store, I bought a copy of:

The World of Raymond Chandler In His Own Words

[MajorHoy]

Just put in an order through Barnes & Noble for

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

(Used a 20% off coupon I got in the mail.)

[MajorHoy]

Just put in an order through Barnes & Noble for

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

(Used a 20% off coupon I got in the mail.)

And today at my local Barnes & Noble I ordered

The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett

(Used a 20% off coupon available this weekend for in-store purchases.)

[DrNewGod]

You should try Kerry Greenwood's Miss Fisher Mysteries.

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[MajorHoy]

You should try Kerry Greenwood's Miss Fisher Mysteries.

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Also a PBS series, wasn't it?

[Amacent]

@MajorHoy

Yup! The TV series made me a fan and now I'm working through the novels. Currently on book #3. Miss Fisher and her associates are quite an entertaining posse. I believe the TV series has concluded but last I heard they successfully received funding for a film with the TV original cast. I'm always up for more Miss Fisher so I hope it works out.

[The Darknight Detective]

@MajorHoy

Yup! The TV series made me a fan and now I'm working through the novels. Currently on book #3. Miss Fisher and her associates are quite an entertaining posse. I believe the TV series has concluded but last I heard they successfully received funding for a film with the TV original cast. I'm always up for more Miss Fisher so I hope it works out.

I'm a fan, also. Started watching the TV show a few years ago (Essie Davis is sex on wheels, IMO) and was hooked immediately. I have also started reading the novels and will continue to do so in the future.

[MajorHoy]

I noticed this in the library recently so I thought I'd give it a try after I finished reading Hammett's Red Harvest:

The Hammett Hex by Victoria Abbott
(Fifth in the Book Collector Mystery Series)

So far, it seems like too extreme a change from reading a Hammett novel itself and a wee bit too "cozy" and cutesy. Not exactly what l expected, but at the moment (middle of Chapter 5) I'm determined to try to plod on through until the end.

What also troubles me is that the book offers actual recipes at the very end.
There's one for "Chocolate Chip Meringue Kisses" where one of the listed ingredients is

¾ - 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

but I'll be damned if I can find how/when you're suppose to use the bloody chocolate chips in making these!
Do you leave the chips whole, or smash them a few times so the pieces are smaller, or do you maybe melt them? Do you add the chocolate in to the mixture before you place the meringues on the baking sheet; or do you add the chips to the meringues on the baking sheet before baking them in the oven, or do you add the chocolate chips to the meringues right after they come out of the oven so they only melt a little?
Or do just maybe eat the chocolate chips while the meringues are baking in the oven?

[DrNewGod]

Also a PBS series, wasn't it?

It was/is. Like a lot of what PBS does, curated from another TV market, specifically in this case, Australian. I encountered the TV series first on Netflix (one of those "because you like Agatha Christie" recommendations), and it motivated me to try the books. While I liked the first couple of seasons, the TV adaptations paled in comparison to the novels.

[MajorHoy]

I did eventually finish reading

The Hammett Hex by Victoria Abbott
(Fifth in the Book Collector Mystery Series)

And it did get a little bit entertaining/amusing as it slowly progressed, but I'm not in a hurry to try any more "cozy" mysteries at present.
(A tad too silly for what I want these days.)