Category Archives: Mysteries/Crime

The Infinite Blacktop

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Teresa

There are three cases in Sarah Gran’s third Claire Dewitt novel, each taking place at a different point in Claire’s life, but the mystery is really about Claire herself and how she is supposed to carry on in the face … Continue reading →

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The Blunderer

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Teresa

Walter Stackhouse is an attorney in an unhappy marriage to a woman named Clara. The two seem to bring out the worst in each other. They’ve discussed divorce but seem mired in their misery, unable or unwilling to get out … Continue reading →

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Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Teresa

When I read the first of the Claire DeWitt mysteries by Sara Gran last fall, I had mixed feelings, partly because I found the world of the book and Claire’s methods so strange and the mystery not particularly satisfying. But … Continue reading →

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Castle Shade

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Teresa

It continues to amaze me that Laurie King has managed to continue the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series for so long with such a consistently high quality. Maybe not every book has been spectacular, but there’s not a dud in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 3 Comments

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Teresa

What a peculiar crime novel this is! I liked it, mostly because it kept me guessing, but a lot of my guessing was about the world of the novel, not so much the mystery. Claire DeWitt is a renowned detective … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysteries/Crime | 2 Comments

One by One

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Teresa

I’m always on the lookout for mystery writers whose books are as consistently absorbing and well-written as Ruth Rendell’s, but mostly I don’t have much luck finding them. Ruth Ware had been on my radar for a while as someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 6 Comments

Long Bright River

Posted on May 22, 2021 by Teresa

This book by Liz Moore offers exactly what I want in a crime novel. It’s thoughtful about crime and policing, it offers complicated characters, it’s well-paced and suspenseful, it takes some pleasing twists and turns, and it is generally a … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 4 Comments

Missing, Presumed

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Teresa

I do love a really good, meaty crime novel, but there’s so much crime fiction that just doesn’t work for me. I think I want it all to have the perverse darkness of Ruth Rendell or Tana French or the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 4 Comments

August Reading in Review

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Teresa

It is amazing how much reading I can get done when there are no movies or live theatre to go to and no restaurants for safe dining out with friends or really anywhere much to go. It was even too … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 12 Comments

July in Review

Posted on August 1, 2020 by Teresa

July brought a few baby steps toward normalcy. I started using my library’s no-contact curbside service, which works really well. And my church started having outdoor services last week, with masks, social distancing, and reservations required. (The reservations are to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime, Nonfiction | 4 Comments