Little Pixie
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Posts posted by Little Pixie
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#40. The Man Who Watched Women by Michael Hjorth & Hans Rosenfeldt
Amazon: As a heatwave blazes in Stockholm, a series of women are found brutally murdered and the Criminal Investigation Department is getting nowhere. The murders bear all the hallmarks of Edward Hinde, the serial killer jailed by psychological profiler Sebastian Bergman fifteen years earlier.
Sebastian desperately needs some order in his chaotic life. [Omitted a few spoilers]
Thoughts: I recently read the first book in this series, Dark Secrets. What I liked most about that book was how we were introduced to the Criminal Investigation Department people and how we got to learn about their personal lives, too. The actual case wasn't that fascinating in my opinion, but the writing was decent enough and after finishing the novel, I kept going back to the CID people, wondering what happened to them afterwards. So I had to then borrow the sequel so I could read more about them.
The sequel was darn good
The best thriller I've read in a while. The case was really, really interesting, and this time it got more personal. Some of the main characters that we didn't get to learn in the previous novel that well were more prominent, in that we got to know more of them in this novel, and it tickled my fancy! I'm really getting attached to this lot and I've already started reading the third novel in the series. And what's more, I just learned that they've made a TV series of the book(s) or at least the characters! Just when I was beginning to think that these novels would make great TV...
The series is called Sebastian Bergman, and this is from Amazon: Accomplished screenwriters and producers Hjorth and Rosenfeldt stormed the bestseller lists with the publication of SEBASTIAN BERGMAN in their native Sweden in 2010. Rosenfeldt is the creator of the hit BBC4 series THE BRIDGE, and both authors contributed to the screenplay for the original Swedish series of WALLANDER.5/5
Thanks for the heads-up ; I`ve seen the two Sebastian Bergman TV movies and had no idea they were adapted from books, so I`ll take a looksie at those.
Sorry to see that you have to move house ; fingers crossed you find somewhere lovely.
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Yes, they are pretty hot
. Hopefully it will cool down a bit soon, for all the animals. I heard thunder yesterday but I don't think it rained (at least, not that I heard, before I fell asleep, it might have rained after I fell asleep).It`s around 24C now and we`ve got more warnings of rain overnight; fingers crossed that Holland cools down soon.
I downloaded a couple of books : Bruno, Chief of Police - Martin Walker ( UK 99p atm, US $1.56 ) - I`ve seen good things about this series, set in a small town in SW France.
Also, A Murder of Quality - John Le Carre ( free atm in the UK ) - I`ve already read it, and I think it`s my favourite Le Carre - but it`s nice to get a digital copy.
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Have finished a Louise Penney, a Chief Inspector Gamache novel, The Long Way Home. She has finally ended the horrible conflict between a couple of the main characters in this book...thankfully. I'd resolved not to read anymore of the series because of that long running "thing", but a kindle sale is a powerful incentive.
Although a bit drawn out, it was satisfying. I guess I'd rate it 3/5, maybe 3.5/5 at best.
I`ve got that one, and the previous one, still to read - glad they`ve finally done with `that thing`.
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Those graphs look great, Gaia ; I particularly like the male/female protagonists and the genre ones.
Congrats on getting so many books from the library, too.
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It's 28 °C in the house here too! Outside it's warmer, they predict 36 °C today, and 41 °C in one of the next few days (I forgot if it was tomorrow or Saturday). Poor cat
.Oof, how awful for all your animals.
It`s now down to 21C but it`s 85% humidity, so it really doesn`t feel much better. Hopefully the predicted thunderstorms will help tonight.
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28C ( 82 F) here. The cat has her own oscillating fan now, it`s so hot for the poor girl.
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I'm doing a report on Howl by Allen Ginsberg for school, so all I hear is it to Beat generation vibes lol Go on and read it that way, it totally works
Do you have to do that finger-clicky thing whilst reading it ?!
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I haven't read any of Kerry Reichs books before, the reason I picked it up was that there was a 3 for 1 euro deal and they kind of won't let you leave without you picking a third book
,You can find some good books that way; I think it makes you step out of your comfort zone.
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I had no idea there was a book of it! Unfortunately I'm not allowed to use the British Kindle shop, but I've added the book to my wishlist. Thanks so much for mentioning this, I love the TV series
!Is it just the Amazon.com site that you can use ?
I`ve got S1&2 on DVD, and I`ve seen the other seasons on TV - I really like the show, too.
I don`t know if you`ve seen the author`s Twitter with the behind the scenes pics ? It says he`s working on the second book - hurray ! -
I`m in ! Shall be rereading the first two Deborah Harkness Discovery of Witches books and then the third, final one.
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#108 Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death - Jo Dereske
Helma Zukas gets a phone call from her artist friend Ruth, who`s found a body in her garden. She rushes over there to carefully examine the body, before they call the police. Ruth becomes a suspect, so Helma is off detecting again. The murder happened during the build-up to the annual Snow-to-Surf ( skiing, crosscountry, cycling, canoeing, etc ) race, and Helma is drawn into participating in the 18 mile canoe section, putting herself at risk in the process. A nice read, with a disconcerting ending which I didn`t see coming.
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Enjoy your books ! That Jane Eyre hardback does look good.
BTW, I had no idea that Kathy Reichs` daughter was also an author ; have you read any of Kerry Reichs` other books or will this be the first one ?
I found a fun interview here . I especially liked this bit...
As you were growing up how did you feel about your mom being a writer?
Kerry: When I was growing up my mother was a college professor who occasionally brought home human remains and left them in the garage or office. It was definitely hard to coax friends to sleep over!
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I loved Carol Shield`s Larry`s Party; I thought it was beautifully crafted ( especially the bits about his tweed coat ).
I`ve not heard of Dorothy Richardson, and I`m now intrigued - off to look for the first in the Pilgrimage series - thanks for the heads-up !
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#102 Top O`the Mourning - Maddy Hunter
Great fun, even better than the first book in the series, Alpine for You. Emily, her Nana and other Ohio seniors , take a trip to Ireland . Staying in a haunted castle and with bodies turning up yet again, Emily has to solve a murder and contend with the arrival on the Tour of her boyfriend Etienne and her ex-husband Jack ( now called Jackie, after gender reassignment surgery ). It`s the sort of book that`s so funny, your nose makes unladylike snorty noises.
#102 Painted Ladies - Robert B Parker
One of the last Spenser books in the series as written by the late, lamented Robert B Parker, before another author took over the series.
Spenser - Boston PI - takes on the job of bodyguard to an unlikable Arts Professor, who`s tasked with exchanging a ransom for a painting. At the handover, all seems to go well ... until the painting explodes and kills the Professor. Spenser investigtaes, with much wise-cracking along the way. Sure, it`s formulaic, but it`s a really good formula.
#104 Pasta Imperfect - Maddy Hunter
The third of the Passport to Peril series and a bit of a disappointment. More characters are introduced so that one of them can be bumped off, and most of them aren`t drawn as vividly as Emily, Nana and other seniors from the first two books. There`s a good beginning and good ending, but a lot of it seems rather flat, even though it`s still readable enough and funny enough.
#105 Prince of Fire - Daniel Silva
The fifth of the Gabriel Allon series. Retired Mossad agent Gabriel is back in Venice working as an art restorer, when a bomb explodes in the Israeli Embassy in Rome. Tracking down the bombers, the police find a safehouse with a dossier on Gabriel and his work for Mossad. Forced to return to Israel, he puts together a team to stop a second bombing. There`s a lot of historical background ( which I found interesting, but if you`re already aware of it, it would slow down the action ). It`s a bit like a heist film, with the final 1/3 of the book an out-and-out thrill ride.
#106 Miss Zukas and the Island Murders - Jo Dereske
Miss Helma Zukas receives oddly threatening letters at the Library, reminding her that she promised to organise a 20th year reunion for her High School. Helma and Ruth sort out the reunion, basing it in a small island outside Washington State. Someone gets bumped off, and then the fog rolls in, bringing with it a powercut...
It`s delightfully atmospheric, plus Helma is forced to adopt an injured cat, Boy Cat Zukas.
#107 Death of a Tall Man - Frances and Richard Lockridge
Published in 1949. A New York oculist is murdered, in a variation on a locked room mystery.
Pam North, shopping in Manhattan, notices her friend Lt. Weigand`s police car rush past her and tells her taxi driver to follow. She phones her husband Jerry, telling him to turn up to the murder scene, too, and then we`re off on another North adventure, also starring Martini, the cat ( who has some sweet scenes all to herself and some amusing bits from her point-of-view ).
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Books read : 94 TBR 795 New Books Bought : 125 Total Cost : £ 353.89
Books Ordered :
Miss Zukas and the Raven`s dance - Jo Dereske £2.81
Out of Circulation - Jo Dereske £2.81
Never nosh a matzo ball - Sharon Kahn £2.81
Miss Zukas and the Island Murders - Jo Dereske £2.81
Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death - Jo Dereske £2.81
Untidy Murder - Frances and Richard Lockridge £7.03
Killing the Goose - Frances and Richard Lockridge £9.96 I`d ordered this one before, but they sent the wrong book ( a psychology book, which they told me to keep and gave me a refund, too - I finally managed to find another copy which didn`t cost £20+
)Once the last two books arrive, I`ll have the full set of Mr and Mrs North mysteries ( 26 books ). Hurray !
While I don`t count Kindle books as ` real` books, I did download the Immortal Collection recently, when it was down to 99p. I read the excerpt and was intrigued by it.
And more books -
Living with a Wild God - Barbara Ehrenreich
The Ladies Auxiliary - Tova mirvis
Pilgrimage Vol.1 - Dorothy Richardson
Marjorie Morningstar - Herman Wouk £11.71 altogther.
Books read : 107 TBR 793 New Books Bought : 129 Total Cost : £ 365.60
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I don`t know if you`d like these, Steve. The Kill Artist is the first of the Gabriel Allon series ( they`re big on research into Middle Eastern issues ).
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I'd like to seconf Little Pixie's suggestion of Desmond Bagley. Running Blind was one of the best of his that I have read - also The Tightrope men & Landslide are pretty good too.
I haven`t read those other two ; shall see if they`re hiding on a bookshelf somewhere.
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ETA: Ohhh, I am so tempted by this
Have you read Dan Brown`s Deception Point ?
Ooh, that Mayday books looks fun.
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I was looking for some funny mysteries recently and ended up googling ` authors like Donna Andrews ` and `books like Alpine for You` - and got some good results. I don`t know if you`d already tried that with your authors ?
For instance, ` authors like Patrick Lee ` gets you some GoodReads and Librarything lists.
Oh, and I found if I searched on my Kindle Fire, which uses Bing, I got a different set of results which threw up some goodies.
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Rats, I went and bought The Ipcress File cos it was going cheap and I liked the Harry Palmer films
Running Blind looks interesting - it's going on the wishlist. Re the Quiller books, the first one doesn't seem to be available on Kindle, which is a pain.
Thanks for the suggestions, Sarah
I went and saw The Ipcress File in the cinema a few years ago when they did a new print of it for some anniversary - even better on a big screen, and I`d seen it a bunch of times already. The Harry Palmer character is good fun. Do get the trilogies at some point - read them in order, that`s a must - since thinking about them yesterday, I`m thinking of a re-read myself.
I don`t think the Quiller books really need to be read in order, but the Quiller Memorandum is a good`un and was made into a film with George Segal.
Running Blind was made by the Beeb into a TV film in the late 70`s - it made such an impression on me, that I searched for years for the book ( with a vague` this happened in it and I don`t know the title` search criteria ).
Has anyone here read any of Nelson DeMille's books?
I`ve read a couple of them - The General`s Daughter and Up Country - both excellent - and I have the first three in his John Corey series ( got them through The Book People, super cheaply ) . Erm, they`re not the sort of thing you`d want your maiden aunt to read, but he tells a cracking story with stand-out characters.
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If you`re thinking of Len Deighton, try his trilogies ( 9 books in all, the first in the series is Berlin Match ) - I think they`re the best spy thrillers I`ve read - believable hero and some jaw-dropping twists along the way - there`s one you really won`t see coming.....
There`s also Desmond Bagley - Running Blind - a 70`s thriller set in Iceland - a bit dated but a fun read.
Oh, and Adam Hall`s Quiller books - great fun.
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Those new ones look a bit Dune-ish, rather than Little House on the Nebula.
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Other than the one you just finished, I read one of the two books included in Murder in Amsterdam, namely Dekok and the Sunday Strangler (scroll down for the review that mentions this), which I thought was very good. I read one of the two Dutch titles in the list (oddly enough priced at £999), the other Dutch title I plan to read in a few weeks. There have been over 70 Baantjer books published and it seems they only translated the earlier ones. I have read books 1, 2, 7, 35, 48, 65, 69, 72 and 47 (but that last one was many years ago, my parents' copy) (and of course all the De Waal & Baantjer books). I'm just buying the Baantjer books when I find them for cheap, so I'm reading them all over the place. It doesn't matter hugely though if one reads them out of order. Sorry I couldn't be of more help
. I really liked DeKok and the Sunday Stranger, but if that one doesn't appeal to you, I'd say pick one which synopsis sounds interesting.Thanks Gaia
; good to know it doesn`t matter if I don`t read them in order.
10th Anniversary Bookmarks
in General Book Discussions
Posted
Aw, they`re so sweet !