tuxedo cat

I am a fan of Ms. George. and am heartened by by number of others who like her books. Many years ago, I used read another forum in which some (NOT all) UK posters were very dismissive of her, some rudely so. I was very surpised to find out she was not English. That only made her books so much more interesting to me. I read many UK authors, and from time to time would have to ask members of the former forum to explain an UK colloquialism when there wasn't enough context for me to figure it out. There was always someone to help out their American cousin.

I'm from Wake County, NC. Margaret Maron has a lenghtly set of books with Deborah Knott as her protagonist. The books are set in fictional "Colleton County", which is really next door to me, Johnston County. Ms. Maron chose Colleton County as the name because John Colleton was the only Lord Proprietor of NC not to have a county named after him in NC. Knott's father is a wealthy former bootlegger, whose real name you would instantly recognize if you were from this area. Ms Maron has take some liberties with geography when her books required it, but most of the area is still very recognizable.

Mark Billingham sort of reminds me of John Connolly. I could be in the minority in that opinion.

One you might want to check out is Monster of Florence, by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. The murders are almost a side light to the indictment of thecoul Italian justice system. The machinations of the Prosecutor give truth to the saying Truth is Stranger than fiction. I do not have the imagination to make up some of the preposterous theories he came up with.

I read a lot of true crime books (especially about serial killers) because killing for recreation is the most bizarre concept I have ever encountered. I don't remember the book title, but one was about Dennis Nielsen. He was asked about how he dismembered the bodies without making a real mess of his living quarters. He very matter of factly walked the police through the process. It was something along the lines of "You just go into the kitchen and slit open four large garbage bags and tape the pieces together. Put the body in the center of the bags and dismember it. Afterwards, just fold up the bags and you have no blood to clean up." He dispassionately discussed this like you or I would unclogging a drain. (Ironically, that is how he was caught.) The human mind is capable of sublimely beautiful creations like poetry and music, and also the utter depravity that drives a person to kill for pleasure. I would like to add one book to you to those of you who like true crime. It is KIller, the biography of Carl Panzram. I won't go into details if anyone wants to read it, but I will say there are people who think they are bad, and then there are people like Panzram who are Bad.

I really like Connelly. At one of his book signings, someone asked why he wrote police procedurals instead using a a P.I. as his central character. He replied that he was a crime beat reporter for a California paper for 10 years and he never covered a crime solved by a P.I. The crimes he reported were solved by cops collecting forensic evidence, and wearing out a lot shoe leather running down tips and interviewing (possible) witnesses. I also liked Bosch being portrayed as a flawed individual. I guess that is why I liked the Rebus series by Ian Rankin so much.

I sometimes feel guilty when I've read several mysteries in a row, and read some non-fiction to assuage the guilt.

Sadly, living in the middle of nowhere means no book auctions. I have bought a books at a good price from the internet auction behemoth.

Since some of the books I really like don't get printed in the US, I have bought a ton of books from Chris Adam Smith. Locally, I buy from Quail Ridge Books, and the Regulator.

If one of the local independent book stores is having a book signing, I buy from them. To get earlier issues of an author's work, I use the internet.

His books fall into the comedic fantasy genre. The last couple I read were stinkers, but his early book are hilarious. If you need a laugh, try Practical Demonkeeping, or Bloodsucking Fiends (subtitled) A Love Story.

Lasagna

Who - Summertime Blues originally done by Eddie Cochrane Cream - Crossroads Origin disputed, but generally credited to Robert Johnson I have brain lock right now, but can remember some dreadful covers I wish I could forget.

Drain S. T. H.- Horror Wrestling Drain S. T. H - Freaks of Nature

It is pretty far afield from what I normally listen to but.... Patty Loveless - You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive From my youth... Allman Brothers (cover) - Trouble No More Very depressing subject...... L7 - Can I Run

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson By choice

Sleater Kinney

Open Season - C. J. Bpx

Indus - indianapolis - Indira Ghandi - In Cold Blood

It's Not You - L7

Chinquapin (USA)

Welcome Anna, With your varied reading tastes, I look forward to your postings.

"Karin Slaughter is great, isn't she? If you haven't tried Jeffery Deaver yet, I'd recommend his Lincoln Rhyme -series, starting with The Bone Collector :)" Ms. Slaughter is not only an excellent writer, she is a really nice person. When our library reopens, I'll give Mr. Deaver a try. I am not familiar with his works. To the others who welcomed me, I thank you very much. I have found readers to be a nice group of people.

Reading has been a big part of my life since the early days. I grew up in the middle of no where, without close neighbors. During daylight, I roamed the woods observing nature. At night, books were my companions. I loved everthing from Mark Twain to Herman Melville. Since my father was a WWII vet, I read a lot of military history, particularly about the Pacific Theatre in which he served. In high school, one of my English instructors gave me a list of 100 books every on should read. I respected him enough to read all of them, thus gaining a entry to some of the classics. I only had to take one unit of English in college, and the professor succeeded in beating any self esteem out of me with things like "You have good ideas, too bad you can't express them." Over the last few years, I seem to have become addicted to mystery writers. Karin Slaughter, Michael Connelly, and Margaret Maron are some of my favorite US authors. When I read The Breakers by Minette Walters, I got hooked on UK authors. She is one of my favorites, along with Peter Robinson, Colin Dexter and others. Most of the time the language differences (especially slang) had enough context for me to figure out the meaning. If not, there was a forum,I could post to asking for help. This was not really significant until I started reading Ian rankin, Denise Mina, Stephen Booth, Manda Scott and the many other Scottish writers. If the author was someone I really liked, I bought the UK editions. Back then the exchange rate of dollar-to-pound was such that I could order the true first editions instead of the American editions. I've made an effort to read other foreign authors, and have learned a lot in the process. When I got a book signed by Qiu Xiaolong, he included an inscription in Chinese. When I asked a co-worker to translate it for me she couldn't. She was my age, and the author was much younger. She couldn't read the simplified alphabet. I found it very sad that her native language had changed to the point she could no longer read it. Sorry to run on, I just got carried away. I look forward to reading the thoughts of other posters, and will add something if I have anything germane to say.

Most of the series I enjoyed the most have been mentioned, but here are a couple of others. Thora Gudmundsdottir series by Yrsa Sigurdardottir Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell Inspector Shan series by Eliot Pattison Inspector Chen series by Qiu Xiaolong