Kevin's Watch

That sounds like something I might really enjoy. I will have to keep an eye out for it.

I seem to be reading this thread in general.

Started today on Dean Koontz's "Mr. Murder"
(Haven't read this in quite a while and forgot most of it.)

THE DREADFUL HOLLOW by Nicholas Blake, a favorite mystery writer of mine, now sadly deceased.

I've been reading Blue Latitudes by Horowitz. It gives a wonderfully detailed account of Cook's Pacific voyages.

MURDER IN THE FORUM by Rosemary Rowe (aka Rosemary Aitken). 187 AD, Roman Britain. The main character is a freedman who makes mosaic pavings and helps his patron by solving mysteries.

Damn, this thread's stuck on the previous page again.

(EDIT: Working again. )

--A

I had planned to go back and forth between Rosemary Rowe's series (above) and Nicholas Blake's classic Nigel Strangways series. But I caught Blake when he was having an off day (THE DREADFUL HOLLOW -- I knew who the killer was before we had even met any of the suspects -- even before the murder had happened).

I liked MURDER IN THE FORUM so much that I just went right on with the series. Read THE CHARIOTS OF CALYX (such an interesting cast of characters) and I'm now halfway through THE LEGATUS MYSTERY. I also have THE GHOSTS OF GLEVUM, and I hear ENEMIES OF THE EMPIRE comes out in paperback in October. I'll have to check in with my local Murder By the Book then because they import from Britain.

Right, finally remembered to check The Name of the Rose

Serious spoiler for DL and whoever else wanted to know, but couldn't remember or be bothered checking:

Spoiler

They both survive. The "apprentice" wonders where the monk is while the monastery burns, but it turns out he was just rescuing their belongings from the dorm before it burned. They leave together.

--A

Avatar wrote:Right, finally remembered to check The Name of the Rose

Serious spoiler for DL and whoever else wanted to know, but couldn't remember or be bothered checking:

Spoiler

They both survive. The "apprentice" wonders where the monk is while the monastery burns, but it turns out he was just rescuing their belongings from the dorm before it burned. They leave together.

--A

Thanks. I can sleep better now.

Pausing in my Romano-British mystery series to read Joan Wolf's new romance TO THE CASTLE. She is one of the best psychologists in the romance genre.

About to start Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. Picked it and Skin Tight up recently, to add to my collection.

(Say, Cail, didn't you recommend it to me?)

--A

I'm half way through 'East of Eden' by Steinbeck. Wonderful novel, quite easy to read and immensely enjoyable. Its a frontier family saga, and a retelling of the story of Genesis from the Bible

The best Steinbeck I've read so far, better than Of Mice and Men, and better than Grapes of Wrath.

Finished J.D. Robb's SURVIVOR IN DEATH. Eek! I would say it's hard to put down, except I read it on the computer. I have three others of hers, so will look forward to enjoying them.

Now back to the beginning of the Roman-Britain mystery series, rereading THE GERMANICUS MOSAIC. (Tempting title, imo.) I plan to review GHOSTS OF GLEVUM, and I want to be able to comment on the full evolution of the series. I think she has lost interest in solving mysteries, and has focused her energy on putting her hero in more of a bind than in the previous book.

Reading The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin, excellent study of the Aboriginal tradition of, well, Songlines obviously.

--A

I am reading the fifith book in Patrick O'Brian's series of novels set in the British Navy in the Napoleanic era, Desolation Island. Captain Aubrey is about to embark on a mission where he will be taking a shipload of prisoners down to Autrailia, including a beautiful American lady spy. While there he has to investigate Captain Bly, made governor Down Under after the mutiny on his ship, the HMS Bounty.

THE DARK SIDE OF PARADISE by Connie Crow. An auditor comes to Hawaii to hunt for a missing six million dollars. Romantic suspense. I haven't started the first page yet, or read anything else by this author, so I couldn't guess how it is.

Probably due to Menolly's influence, I'm reading The Gift Of Asher Lev, sequel to the already much mentioned My Name Is Asher Lev.

As always, Chaim Potok's style is excellent. Poignant, solid, just all-round excellent really.

--A

Backtracking: By Foot, Canoe, and Subaru Along the Lewis and Clark Trail, by Benjamin Long (a coworker's son-in-law). Never really had much interest in Lewis and Clark, but the sheer number of biological knowledge they added to Western science of the time makes them worth a second look. And the bear stories are pretty creepy, too.

Forbidden Colours by Yukio Mishima