--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1Y00000 Date: 01/25/98 From: MICHAEL LABRECK Time: 11:04pm \/To: JENNIE TURNER (Read 0 times) Subj: Dark Tower IV Jennie: JT> hi guys. I just finished wizards and glass and i hate to tell ya but JT> if your anything like me you'll be biting at the bit for more now. and JT> 5years. heheh i read the 3rd book about 7 years ago, and had to JT> wait....urghhhh. we better not have that long again, or we could JT> always shanghi Mr. KING,lol I, myself haven't read the series yet -- but I probably will want more after reading it; since I've read KING'S work before and think that he's one helluva writer -- weird, but good! -={Michael}=- --- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR] * Origin: A Bit Of Light In Your Night 860/290-8578 10p-8a Only (1:142/578) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1Y00001 Date: 01/27/98 From: JEANE MOORE Time: 08:31pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Lie Down With Dogs For several months now I have been touting LIE DOWN WITH DOGS by Jan Gleiter. (In fact I gave away four copies for Christmas.) It is a witty, humorous, intelligent, and well-written story about two adults who are really adults (and also witty, humorous, and intelligent), a child who is really a child, and a large dog (really a dog). I liked these characters immediately, a lot, and really cared about what happened to them all, and I was sorry when the book ended because I wanted to spend more time with them. One thing the author accomplishes is a solution to what I think of as the heroine problem. When women in mystery novels started to become something other than (a) whimpering victims or (b) ladies of a certain age wearing tweeds of a certain age or (c) Nora Charles, it seemed that most authors didn't know what to do with them. Either they became so shrill and confrontational that it made my throat hurt just to read about them, or they were men. Jan Gleiter's Lisa is fresh, sharp, smart, resourceful, competent, and feminine; she is not defensive, no doormat symptoms, nor is she offensive - she has nothing to prove, no agenda except to take care of herself and the child in her charge. The hero, Cooper, is also smart (very smart) and competent; he has emotions without being emotional and he has vulnerabilities without being weak. The child is Luke and he is everything a likeable three-year-old should be. He has no bratty tendencies and he's bright and secure - he's been well-raised and well-cared-for - and he has just the right amount of self-doubt and reticence to be lovable. The dog is Sirius. When I get a dog ... The story is believable and not over-complex, but it will probably keep you guessing. (It did me, but they all do. Any mystery I guess the answer to I consider an inferior bit of plotting. I actively resist guessing and I hate when I involuntarily figure it out.) This one had a nice little twist at the end. And a nice ending after that, in a way that maybe you don't entirely expect, but seems entirely right. I looked in the library catalog to find any other books by Jan Gleiter, and I found about 30 of them - all biographies for children of famous historical personages. I'm hoping she'll do more for us adults. She's definitely one I'll put on my buy-in-hardcover list (a short but select list of authors who deserve those big royalties). jeane.moore@wizinfo.com ... Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war! ___ X Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR] X --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Allegedly from WizInfo CBCS Minneapolis 612.721.8859 (1:282/2022) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1Y00002 Date: 01/28/98 From: SUSAN BULLA Time: 07:17pm \/To: JEANE MOORE (Read 0 times) Subj: Lie down with dogs JM> For several months now I have been touting LIE DOWN WITH DOGS by Jan Gleiter. Thanks for sharing this new aithor with me! * JABBER v1.2 * A clear conscience is merely the result of bad memory. --- InterEcho 1.19 * Origin: The Oasis BBS: (817) 613-9002 (1:130/716) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1Z00000 Date: 01/27/98 From: MICHAEL LABRECK Time: 09:48pm \/To: JAN MURPHY (Read 0 times) Subj: what's on topic and what's not Jan: JM> Hi, Michael -- Hi, Jan -- Just wanted to say that I've read your message, and your point was well made. From now on, I will make an effort to stay on topic. BTW - The reason why I picked up the echo is to see if there are any Agatha Christie readers out there; which I did ask, but there aren't many.... Maybe I'll just have to start reading some of the books that people have already mentioned.... -={Michael}=- --- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR] * Origin: A Bit Of Light In Your Night 860/290-8578 10p-8a Only (1:142/578) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1^00000 Date: 01/30/98 From: FRED RUNK Time: 08:34pm \/To: STEVEN HORN (Read 0 times) Subj: A Certain Justice -=>While in the White Hart, Steven Horn explained to All that<=- SH> I just finished P.D. James's A Certain Justice and SH> thoroughly enjoyed it. This lady does know her stuff! That's one I'm looking forward to reading. I always enjoy her work. FINISHED: Steven Saylor. ARMS OF NEMESIS FINISHED: Elizabeth George. IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ENEMY. CR: Gardner Dozois, ed. YEAR'S GREATEST SCIENCE FICTION, 14th ed. 416/746 CR: Stephen King. Dark Tower IV: WIZARD AND GLASS, 191/668 CR: Steven Saylor. CATALINA'S RIDDLE, 156/463 Email: fredr@gci-net.com ... "God is dead": Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead": God. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: DPSystem:4285 OS2-WARPED 520-290-8418 USR V.e+ (1:300/105) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F2100000 Date: 01/30/98 From: JAN MURPHY Time: 07:57am \/To: MICHAEL LABRECK (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: what's on topic and what's not > BTW - The reason why I picked up the echo is to see if there > are any > Agatha Christie readers out there; which I did ask, but > there aren't > many.... Yes, you did ask. Trouble is, you aren't going to find any new readers if they show up and you are talking about V C Andrews and Stephen King instead. ;-) I have read some Christie, but I didn't really care for her books because they were too dry for my taste. That makes it a little difficult for me to say "If you like Christie, try X". But if you want to branch out, there are a lot of fine authors out there. What about Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh, or Margery Allingham, or the contemporary mysteries (i.e. not the Brother Cadfaels) from Ellis Peters? Remind us again which of Christie's books you like the best, and why, and maybe someone will find something that resonates with that. Thanks again for your co-operation. --- Opus-CBCS 1.73a * Origin: Sci-Fido II, World's Oldest SF BBS, Berkeley, CA (1:161/84.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F2100001 Date: 01/31/98 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 02:05pm \/To: JAN MURPHY (Read 0 times) Subj: Connelly -=> Quoting Jan Murphy to Suzze Tiernan <=- > Now to get back to what we are reading, and using the word > "fabulous" > again, I am in the middle of Michael Connelly's new book > "Blood Work". > It won't be out till some time next month, but it is worth > waiting for. JM> JM> Tell me more about Connelly, could you please? We carry his work at JM> my store, but I haven't read any yet. Are the books all related, JM> should they be read in order, etc.? Where's the best place to start? Michael Connelly has a series, Harry Bosch (named after one of my favorite artists) is the main character, a rouge cop in LA. There are 5 books in the series; and yes I would read them in order, although I am sure you don't have to. In fact our reading group read the third one, "Concrete Blonde". He also has 2 stand alone books, the first was "The Poet", an excellent book about a killer who leaves notes with excerpts from Poe. I highly recommend it. And of course, Blood Work (which will be out on Feb. 4). ... suzze@concentric.net --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.21 * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F2100002 Date: 01/31/98 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 02:10pm \/To: JAN MURPHY (Read 0 times) Subj: Hammett -=> Quoting Jan Murphy to Suzze Tiernan <=- > I just finished "The Thin Man" by Dashiell Hammett. Not > sure if it was > my type of book, although it has superbly written dialogue, > it is almost > entirely dialogue!! I didn't feel like I really knew anything > about the > characters, except maybe that Nick and Nora drank constantly!!! JM> JM> Nick and Nora can be a little hard to take sometimes. Many people JM> would say that Hammett had started to lose it as a writer at this JM> point (sometimes "write what you know" isn't the best plan.) You mean about drinking? JM> I would recommend the classics from earlier in his writing career, JM> e.g. "The Maltese Falcon", if you haven't already read them. (You'll JM> quickly discover that although Bogie is wonderful in the John Huston JM> film, the physical description of Spade is not quite the same.) JM> I've also heard good things about "The Continental Op". Haven't read any of his other books, I am curious about whether he always writes in that mostly dialouge style. ... suzze@concentric.net --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.21 * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F2100003 Date: 01/31/98 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 02:11pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Books I've been reading Recently finished a paperback original by a first-time author, Anne Grant. It is titled "Multiple Listing", and is about a killer who is using the keys from the lock boxes on houses for sale to kill women. I liked it a lot, although the graphic violence against the women in a few sections written from the killer's eye, were a bit much. According to the author (whom I wrote about it) she had a hard time selling the book, but when she added those scenes it sold right away. Go figure. Am 80% finished with a book called "Exile Way" by Ann Woodward. It is a mystery set in Ancient Japan. Someone doesn't want the current Emperor to stay in power, and people disappear and strange things are happening. I think I am going to like it. The author is going to be in Ann Arbor next month and I plan on going to meet her. Next, I plan on reading an ARC of "Shame" by Alan Russell, one of my favorite authors. If you haven't read him, try "The Hotel Detective". ... suzze@concentric.net --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.21 * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F2100004 Date: 01/31/98 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 02:20pm \/To: JAN MURPHY (Read 0 times) Subj: what's on topic and what's not -=> Quoting Jan Murphy to Michael Labreck <=- JM> After all, if you aren't interested in mystery books, why did you pick JM> up the echo in the first place? My original comment was not to say that we should be able to talk about ANYTHING since the traffic was so low, but that authors such as Stephen King and V C Andrews are "close enough" to mystery to be included. As manager of a mystery bookstore, I know what we sell, and both those authors are popular. I think many mystery readers cross over to horror, and also into intrigue and suspense. Would we not be able to talk about Tom Clancy or John Sandford? I assume those authors would fit the bill. I think 95% of the time we are completely on track here, just hated to discourage posting that was "so close". I'm glad to see an active moderator here, and surely appreciate your concern! ... suzze@concentric.net --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.21 * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278)