Reading Wednesday
Oct. 11th, 2023 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starsprayADid a reading Wednesday entry in July and then forgot about it until *checks calendar* October! So that's fun. Not gonna list all the books because that'd be insane, but the highlights:
Murder Under Her Skin, by Stephen Spotswood - the second in the series about the lady detectives in 1940s NYC. This one takes them to rural Virginia where the traveling circus that Will used to work for is stopped, because their amazing tattooed lady was shot and Will's mentor, a knife-throwing Russian, has been arrested for it. It was good! The mystery was good and the characters were neat. Will definitely continue with the series eventually.
A Newlywed's Guide to Fortune and Murder by Dianne Freeman - This series continues to delight, now featuring scheming old ladies and greedy relatives. Was slightly disappointed that the subplot about museum artifacts was less important than originally anticipated
A Tempest At Sea by Sherry Thomas - The latest Lady Sherlock book, also quite fun. Locked room murder mystery on a ship! And also kind of a little bit of espionage? Though it's revealed kind of part and parcel just what part in the events of said murder Charlotte & Co actually had and what they know ahead of time, and at times that felt a little clunky. I do understand what Thomas was trying to do, but it's the sort of thing that works better in like, a Leverage episode rather than a novel. This also is one of those books in a middle of the series that's doing slightly less of its own thing and more to set up coming plot points, but at the same time it didn't feel like too much of a weakness.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree - This is set in a very D&D-esque environment but it's about an orc who's retired from the adventuring life to set up a coffee shop in a town where no one even knows what coffee is (except the local gnome population). It's got a nice little found family thing going on, and very low stakes. I liked it! It's very cozy.
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland - I also really enjoyed this one. Surly bodyguard falls for prince against his will, there's intrigue and theft and counterfeiting in a society where some people can tell what kind of metal a thing is just by touching it. That last bit was what got me to pick up the book in the first place, but it plays a disappointingly small role all things considered. I almost put it down when it looked like there was going to be a love triangle, but was glad I didn't.
The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves - I really like this Two Rivers series; this was a fun mystery and the twists were very good, but I still kind of want to smack the one junior detective upside the head once or twice.
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman - The Thursday Murder Club is probably one of my favorite series at the moment. This one got unexpectedly poignant, but was still a really fun time. Love to see Joyce stepping up and taking charge, too.
I also reread Macbeth and Persuasion in there, and also finally read Farmer Giles of Ham, which was fun, and of course I read Smith of Wootton-Major probably twice over the summer, for fic purposes.
Murder Under Her Skin, by Stephen Spotswood - the second in the series about the lady detectives in 1940s NYC. This one takes them to rural Virginia where the traveling circus that Will used to work for is stopped, because their amazing tattooed lady was shot and Will's mentor, a knife-throwing Russian, has been arrested for it. It was good! The mystery was good and the characters were neat. Will definitely continue with the series eventually.
A Newlywed's Guide to Fortune and Murder by Dianne Freeman - This series continues to delight, now featuring scheming old ladies and greedy relatives. Was slightly disappointed that the subplot about museum artifacts was less important than originally anticipated
A Tempest At Sea by Sherry Thomas - The latest Lady Sherlock book, also quite fun. Locked room murder mystery on a ship! And also kind of a little bit of espionage? Though it's revealed kind of part and parcel just what part in the events of said murder Charlotte & Co actually had and what they know ahead of time, and at times that felt a little clunky. I do understand what Thomas was trying to do, but it's the sort of thing that works better in like, a Leverage episode rather than a novel. This also is one of those books in a middle of the series that's doing slightly less of its own thing and more to set up coming plot points, but at the same time it didn't feel like too much of a weakness.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree - This is set in a very D&D-esque environment but it's about an orc who's retired from the adventuring life to set up a coffee shop in a town where no one even knows what coffee is (except the local gnome population). It's got a nice little found family thing going on, and very low stakes. I liked it! It's very cozy.
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland - I also really enjoyed this one. Surly bodyguard falls for prince against his will, there's intrigue and theft and counterfeiting in a society where some people can tell what kind of metal a thing is just by touching it. That last bit was what got me to pick up the book in the first place, but it plays a disappointingly small role all things considered. I almost put it down when it looked like there was going to be a love triangle, but was glad I didn't.
The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves - I really like this Two Rivers series; this was a fun mystery and the twists were very good, but I still kind of want to smack the one junior detective upside the head once or twice.
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman - The Thursday Murder Club is probably one of my favorite series at the moment. This one got unexpectedly poignant, but was still a really fun time. Love to see Joyce stepping up and taking charge, too.
I also reread Macbeth and Persuasion in there, and also finally read Farmer Giles of Ham, which was fun, and of course I read Smith of Wootton-Major probably twice over the summer, for fic purposes.
