This post is related to Kerrie’s meme at Mysteries in Paradise.
For me, March was a relatively busy reading month dominated by my quest to read the CWA’s top 100 crime novels. Helped by my birthday haul I covered 5 of the list:
- Michael Gilbert’s legal mystery Smallbone Deceased
- Graham Greene’s ‘book of the film’ The Third Man
- Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novel Nine Coaches Waiting
- Julian Symons’ psychological The Colour of Murder
- Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct procedural Sadie When She Died
Off-topic for this blog, I read The Holy Thief by William Ryan and am halfway through Camilla Lackberg’s The Stranger for Euro Crime. I won’t comment on those here.
The fact that the quality control has already been done makes it very hard to choose a stand-out title, but I am going to plump for Smallbone Deceased, as a) it’s a charming and well-written book, b) it is by a new author to me, and c) it’s very much a mystery novel in the classic sense.
Sounds good – I hope you enjoy the Lackberg that you are reading. I am yet to read ‘The Holy Thief’. Would you recommend it?
I’m finding Lackberg likeable but not brilliant. The story is fine but there is a LOT about the characters’ home lives (however there was a discussion about that recently and it might be that I was primed to look out for this). The Holy Thief is a winner though. Interesting setting, believable characters, and not overloaded with research.
I think I liked that Lackberg, assuming it is the one whose title mysteriously changed between pb and hb. Haven’t read The Holy Thief so look fwd to your review. Smallbone Deceased is a good choice.
It is; it was The Gallows Bird. A nicer title in my opinion.
Thanks for the tip. Will check out Smallbone. I confess to a fondness for Mary Stewart in high school which led me to one of my faves, Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca.