Duet
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Bing.... Reality.
Posts: 129
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Post by Duet on Oct 5, 2005 13:51:59 GMT -5
I am a total murder mystery fan although I must admit that I have not read the classics in any real way.
However I am a fanatic fan of Agatha Christy, Martha Grimes, Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, The Kellermans, and Ann Perry, as well as many others.....Anyone out there with similar intrests? I particularly would like an up date on Thomas Pitt. Financial restraints leave me at the mercy of second hand stores and it is not easy finding that one book...... any book missing from a series.
Thanks Duet
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Post by Sirenna on Oct 5, 2005 17:58:42 GMT -5
I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan - have been ever since I was a little girl and I religiously watch the BBC adaptations of her work. It's completely unrealistic plotting but always stays true to the essence of what makes a mystery so absorbing: great characters with a lot to hide and great writing. She could write the way a director directs - like a dance always leading you towards the climax but not without dancing you around it too.
I wouldn't classify Grisham as a murder mystery writer although I thought the first book he wrote (movie with Tom Cruise) was really well plotted but definately action adventure rather than murder mystery.
Have you read any Ruth Rendel? If so what did you think?
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Duet
Silver Shield Investigator
Bing.... Reality.
Posts: 129
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Post by Duet on Oct 6, 2005 15:17:13 GMT -5
I have read one or two.......I get lost into more of the single character novels, so reading Grisham is a bit of a divertion. I know he is not exactly "murder", but the legal twists and accumulation of bodies that each story manages to produce leave me loving him and Richard North Patterson enough to give them my blessing. I also wanted to include him so that disscussions would not end up limited to one set of authors or straight murder genre...I'm open to alot of fiction and I hope to discover new worlds that I've either foolishly passed on or have never heard about.
Currently I am trying to comprehend Hamlet...doing ok, I have 25 or so pages to go...But do I understand it in accordance to standered? That definately remains to be seen. But thankfully I have faith in my self......
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M
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The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist
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Post by M on Oct 7, 2005 1:11:01 GMT -5
I'm more into real crime, but I have read the Agatha Christie Collection, oh and Doyles works of course. John Grisham is alright, but they just can't seem to write them like they used to.
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Duet
Silver Shield Investigator
Bing.... Reality.
Posts: 129
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Post by Duet on Oct 7, 2005 18:26:29 GMT -5
Hats off to you on the Christie collection. So far I've made it half way...mabey. Every time I get a new one if I don't read it right away it ends up on my shelf. Problem is I have more than forty of her books and it gets confusing. Very hard to find the one or two I may not have read.
For trash lit I think Grisham is great....Two rainy days in a row, not including the daily grind and chores, his worlds are simple yet captivating enough to make up for the lack of sunshine. Just wish I had a new one........
I do have two Sayers that I've been sitting on for months but after reading the Wimsey book 'Murder Must Advertise' I've been very dissapointed with her work. She made Wimsey so hilarious and lovable that to end up so dry in the others has been a put off to me. Anyone else find this to be there experience or the opposite?
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M
Rookie
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist
Posts: 24
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Post by M on Oct 17, 2005 4:02:51 GMT -5
I've gotten sick of murder mysteries forgeting certain bits or just not ending the way I'd like, I've worked out the only way it will ever end to my liking is if I wrote the darn thing myself. I may post it on line if I can't get it published.
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noc
Silver Shield Investigator
Posts: 127
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Post by noc on Nov 8, 2005 17:48:24 GMT -5
I don't like them too gruesome. One of my favorites is Sharyn McCrumb because it's set in the South and most of the short murder mysteries she writes are infused with her humor. I like PMS Outlaws, If I'd Killed Him when I met him (if only just to see the shocked looks when I pull it out at boring mandatory work sports outings), and Zombies of the Gene Pool. She has some mysteries set at Sci-Fi conventions and some of the stories have current stories told in conjunction with a story line from 100 years ago. It's light reading, but it can be fun. There is one where her main character is in a mental institution. That one is an interesting mystery but I found it depressing. Oh, I almost forgot, anyting with the elderly female character named Nora Bonesteele in it (ie She Walks These Hills) has some supernatural stuff in it. Pretty light and not scary.
I like Grisham (Broker isn't my favorite), Stuart Woods, Sara Paretsky, Anne River Siddons (I think Colony and The House Next Door have a thread of mystery but are not truly of the mystery genre), Sue Lawton (the alphabet writer, right?), Tom Clancy, Tony Hillerman, Patterson, etc. I have a huge collection of Ellery Queen, Agatha Christie, and Sherlock Holmes from my childhood. I don't do gory/scary well so I've read limited Stephen King, no Dean Koontz, no Anne Rice, etc. I really struggle with the gory parts even if it's well written.
I have to admit that I either enjoy Grisham as light reading or I'm bored. I liked most of the Rainmaker, but I don't think he did any research into the issues the love interest was dealing with and that irritated me.
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