This month, I read a lot of murder mysterious or perhaps I should say historical murder mysteries. I don't quite like contemporary murder mysteries much but maybe that will change if I read more of those. Here are the books I read in August.
(The Case of the Lazy Lover, The Case of the Lonely Heiress, and The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom)
What's it about: law, lawyers, murder, deaths, investigations
I like these three books well enough and they were kind of fun cases but I don't think they make me want to read more however short they are. I like Perry Mason and his secretary Miss Della Street (why is she always being referred to as Della Street, not Della or Miss Street but always Della Street?) but not enough to continue the series and there are many books.
What's it about: murders, slums, high society, corruption, poverty, policemen, midwives
So far, I have read 13 of 27 books. (I'm not showing all the covers). Each book is self-contained with a different mystery but if you care about the two main characters (Frank Malloy and Sarah Brandt)'s relationships and those around them, then I suggest reading them in order.
I like how changes to that period, such as inventions like the motorcars, progress along with the characters and the time period. I enjoy having knowledge of future inventions and events and reading how these people in that time period are adjusting to them.
The mysteries are good but I enjoy the characters more - they are a cheerful bunch. The characters, mainly, Malloy and Sarah (Sarah rarely calls him Frank), are ones readers enjoy knowing. It's not too much focus on Malloy and Sarah romance even though I had a feeling even in the beginning, they would end up together but you can feel their joy working together to solve cases. Gino and Maeve are also good characters. In a way, these books a bit tame and kind of cozy if you take out the crimes.
Overall, I liked and enjoyed this series a lot but it would have been nice to be able to read all the books but my library don't have them and half of them are in audiobook format which I don't read. Maybe if I get an urge to complete the series, I might purchase the books I didn't get to read.
03 - The Wintringham Mystery (aka Cicely Disappears) by Anthony Berkeley
What's it about: rich people, servants, maybe a murder, maybe a romance
Quit at: 17%
So what if Agatha Christine couldn't even solve this mystery? The main characters are too boring and it just seemed like I'm reading a lot of dull things that I just don't care about. I didn't get to anywhere toward the death of one of the characters. I was too bored to continue.
Have you read any good books this August? I hope September will be good to you.
I read an outstanding book this month -- "The Silence of the Girls" by Pat Barker. It is her retelling of "The Iliad" from the point of view of the Trojan women who were enslaved by the victorious Greeks. It is the first book in a trilogy exploring this subject.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by the number of books you've read! I think you can also get paid from blogging, if you put up ads or if you sell something from here, e.g. writing fairy tales (you write excellently) and turning them into an e-book.... In any case, nice post!!
ReplyDeleteBut the book that Debra read also seems extremely interesting,
I'll look to see if it's available in Greece!!