The Tenant

 For our travel month with the Mystery Book Club, we read mysteries set in Scandinavia. We had an especially hot summer here and we thought the setting might cool us off.

I read The Tenant by Katrine Engberg. It is book one in the Korner and Werner series.

About:  When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist—and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.

But Esther’s role in this twisted scenario is not quite as clear as it first seems. Is she the culprit—or just another victim, trapped in a twisted game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women’s pasts to discover the identity of the brutal puppet-master pulling the strings in this electrifying literary thriller."

I really liked this book. It was definitely a fast pace thriller. The relationship between the two detectives, Jeppe Korner and Anette Werrner is interesting. There is some tension that makes it "interesting." Very clever plot with the crime following a book that a group of three are writing together like a writing club online. Lots of potential quirky characters that will keep you guessing.

A couple of the other members of the MCB read this book and liked it also. One person read book four, The Harbor. While she really enjoyed the book, she went back and read book one and recommends that you read this series in order. The Tenant gives you background information on Korner and Werner that is good to know.

There are five books in this series.

You can read about the author and the other books here:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Katrine-Engberg/158550112

Murder at the Mena Mena House

 I did read books this summer and will share a few. 

For our July Mystery Book Club meeting we read:

Murder at the Mena House (A Jane Wunderly Mystery #1) by Erica Ruth Neubauer

About: "Well-heeled travelers from around the world flock to the Mena House Hotel--an exotic gem in the heart of Cairo where cocktails flow, adventure dispels the aftershocks of World War I, and deadly dangers wait in the shadows . . .

Egypt, 1926. Fiercely independent American Jane Wunderly has made up her mind: she won't be swept off her feet on a trip abroad. Despite her Aunt Millie's best efforts at meddling with her love life, the young widow would rather gaze at the Great Pyramids of Giza than into the eyes of a dashing stranger. Yet Jane's plans to remain cool and indifferent become ancient history in the company of Mr. Redvers, a roguish banker she can't quite figure out . . .

While the Mena House has its share of charming guests, Anna Stainton isn't one of them. The beautiful socialite makes it clear that she won't share the spotlight with anyone--especially Jane. But Jane soon becomes the center of attention when she's the one standing over her unintentional rival's dead body.

Now, with her innocence at stake in a foreign country, Jane must determine who can be trusted, and who had motive to commit a brutal murder. Between Aunt Millie's unusual new acquaintances, a smarmy playboy with an off-putting smile, and the enigmatic Mr. Redvers, someone has too many secrets. Can Jane excavate the horrible truth before her future falls to ruin in Cairo . . . and the body count rises like the desert heat?"

This was a good book that reminded me of an Agatha Christie story such as Death on the Nile. The setting was interesting with descriptions of the pyramids, the upscale hotel that is the setting and what it must have been like to live in a desert in a time without air conditioning!. Good mystery. The mysterious Mr. Redvers. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Everyone in the book club liked this book and several went on to read additional books in the series. 

There are three more books in the series: 

Murder at Wedgefield Manor

Danger on the Atlantic

Intrigue in Istanbul 

https://www.ericaruthneubauer.com/

Next time: The Tenant

Big line up at PBS Masterpiece Mystery 10/16/22!

 This weekend PBS Masterpiece Mystery has THREE series starting. All in one night!

1. Scarlett and the Duke: 10/16/22 7 p.m. central  Season 2

About: The sister of a missing woman hires Eliza to find her – the only problem is that the case was already investigated and closed by the police department, leading to new tensions between Eliza and the Duke.

There will be six episodes running through 11/20/22

2. Magpie Murders: 10/16/22 8 p.m. central - based on the book of the same name by Anthony Horowitz.

About: A beguiling murder mystery, Magpie Murders revolves around the character Susan Ryeland, an editor who is given an unfinished manuscript of author Alan Conway’s latest novel, but has little idea just how much it will change her life.

There will be six episodes running through 11/20/22 also.

3. Annika: 10/16/22 9 p.m. 

About: Annika assembles her team to solve murders in the waters around Glasgow. Their first case looks a lot like a whale hunt gone wrong.

Also six episodes through 11/20/22.

Get your DVRs running!

Did you watch Guilt earlier this season? I really liked Season 1, but  in all honesty, I had trouble with Season 2. The accents were really heavy and maybe because of that, I found the plot confusing. But I kept at it because I really like the actors. Max Bonner returned as Max. Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes) from Downtown Abbey, Sara Vickers (Joan) from Endeavor and Stuart Bowman (Aubrey Gray) Grantchester were in it. You can watch it on PBS Passport.

Van der Valk just finished up this past weekend. It is also available to watch on PBS Passport. I enjoyed that second season also.

 FYI there is a Facebook group for Masterpiece Mystery. It was interesting to see the comments about Guilt which were the same as mine. :)

Great line up on PBS Masterpiece!

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/

Happy Fall: The Sanitorium and The Thursday Murder Club

 

I am back after a long hiatus. It was a busy, long hot, unmotivating summer with the extreme heat we had. It really sapped my energy and ambition but the weather is tolerable now and hoping to get back to more bookish things.

I will just start with catching up with the last two months of the  Mystery Book Club selections and PBS.

The MBC met this week. We have been back in person since January and doing pretty good. We seemed to have lost a few members through the pandemic event but holding strong at around 10 attending each time but about 15 total. Even added a few new people this summer.

For October, we read: 

The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner #1) by Sarah Pearse

About: 

You won't want to leave...until you can't.

"Half hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in..."

So, what did the MBC members think. Some really like it. The story kept your attention, it was a thriller and kept you guessing. Some did not like it. They felt there were too many characters and that Elin, the detective, wasn't that bright. But I felt that it was a first book in a series and the back story has to be set. Elin had some personal things she was dealing with. The ending has a great hook into the second book - The Retreat. Those that liked it want to read the second book. A couple of people that didn't like it, said they may read the second book, after hearing the dicussion. :)

For September we read:

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (Book 1 of 4)

About: "In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?"

Everyone in the MBC liked this book a lot. Several want to go live in the same retirement center (Cooper's Chase) with Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim. :) The four friends meet every Thursday in the Jigsaw Room under a name other than The Thursday Murder Club - or they wouldn't get the ok to meet. They discuss unsolved murders like Aurora Teagarden and gang. 

But when a murder takes place at Cooper's Chase, they take on the case inserting themselves in the middle of it. They invite the investigators on the case to tea to discuss it. Lots of discussions about cake and does everyone like it and what about tea, or some wine. Elizabeth takes Joyce out investigating on her own. Joyce documents all their investigating in her journal and is enjoying it thoroughly. They meet some unsavory characters and have an old fashioned sit in at the gate when a developer wants to dig up the cemetery and expand the property. 

A really good murder mystery with quirky characters and humor. 

There are four books in the series, three that are out.

Book 2: The Man Who Died Twice: I have listened to this and it has some very funny parts. The four friends are mixed up with MI5, the mafia and diamonds. We learn more about the character's pasts.

Book 3: The Bullet That Missed

Book 4: TBA

I would recommend both of these series. The Sanitorium is a suspenseful thriller then lighten up a bit with The Thursday Murder Club.

Enjoy!

PBS and Summer Break

 Happy Summer. We are already in the 100's and no relief in site for this week. Way too early.

PBS Masterpiece Mystery has a great lineup starting June 19.

Endeavor 6/19/22 Season 8, Season 9 will be the last in the series

Granchester 7/10/22

Guilt 8/28

Van der Valk 9/25

Miss Scarlet and The Duke 10/16 7 p.m. CST

Magpie Murders 10/16 8 p.m. CST

Annika 10/16 (Nicola Walker from Unforgotten plays Annika) 9 p.m. CST

Looks like Hallmark is a victim of The Great Resignation. Several of their actors moved to a different network, so time will tell what that brings. From what I can see, they are showing repeats of the mystery movies right now. 

My summer reading goals are to get back to some of my old favorites and books I have acquired and not gotten to. 

I am going to take a summer break and will see if cooler weather brings more ambition and creativity.

Stay cool!

The Match by Harlan Coben

 The Match is the second Wilde book by Harlan Coben. The first book was The Boy From the Woods.

About: 

'At the age of somewhere between 35 and 45 - he didn't know exactly how old he was - Wilde found his father ...'

Wilde has grown up knowing nothing of his family, and even less about his own identity . All he knows is that, as a young child, he was found living a feral existence in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey.

He became known simply as Wilde, the boy from the woods.

Now Wilde has had a hit on the DNA website he has been researching. A 100% match. His father. They meet up, and Wilde soon realises that his father doesn't even know he had a son and is as mystified as Wilde is by his existence.

Undaunted, Wilde continues his research for his family on DNA websites where he becomes caught up in a community of online doxxers, a secret group committed to exposing anonymous trolls.

Then one by one these doxxers start to die, and it soon becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting this secret community - and that his next victim might be Wilde himself ..."

We read Boy From the Woods a few years ago in our Mystery Book Club. We really liked it and the cliffhanger was that Wilde sent his DNA in to a testing website to see if he could find out anything from his past; who were is parents, where is he from, are there any living relatives out there. 

Enter book two. Wilde has a match and a message from the match. By the time he decides he will respond to the inquiry, the "match" has deleted their info. Wilde calls on his resources to hack in and find out who the match was and travels to meet (surprise) the match. That of course doesn't go perfectly, so he slips away without anymore contact.

More develops with the match and matches, crossing over to a disappearance of a reality star that he may be related to, which then leads to some weird bad people (the doxxers) on the internet etc. etc.

Wilde calls on Hester, his lawyer friend and her romantic interest, Oren, for help and support along the way. I really like Hester. She is a smart, wise cracking but soft older woman from New York. She is pretty awesome.

Wilde also explores his own romantic interest in Laila, the wife of his deceased best friend and Hester's son. Laila was also in book one. 

There is some explanation between the characters about how DNA matches work and it is confusing. I have been to some genealogy webinars where it is explained and it can be pretty convoluted. But don't let that frustrate you. 

The ending is pretty good and does leave room for another book but I read there are no plans for book three at this time.

Harlan Coben is my new favorite author I think. I also like the series they have made from his books that are on Netflix. 

Check them out.

What makes a novel a mystery?

Hi all,

I started this post awhile back and didn't post it. 

I was thinking about our Mystery Book Club meeting where we read novels by Brad Thor in the Scot Harvath series. One person said several times, she didn't consider these books mysteries. I am a person that can usually find a mystery in most books I read and to me, that makes it a mystery. But I decided I wanted to see what "they" say makes a mystery novel. 

I came across this article with a nice list of what makes a mystery published by Master Class. They offer classes in writing. If you want to read the full article it is here:

 https://www.masterclass.com/articles/essential-elements-of-a-mystery-story#10-elements-of-a-mystery-story

Here is their list of what makes a mystery compared to some of Lions of Lucerne.

1. A strong hook: Uh, the president of the U.S.A. gets kidnapped by gunmen - pretty good hook

2. An atmospheric setting: Set in Switzerland, starts of with a big cloak and dagger scene - check

3. A crime: kidnapping the President of the United States - check

4. A sleuth: Scott Harvath - check

5. A vilain: several involved in the plot to kidnap the President, his daughter and people are shooting at Scot Harvath

6. Narrative Momentum: Yep. Scot constantly being shot at, hit over the head etc.

7. A trail of clues: check

8. Red herrings: plenty of those

9. Foreshadowing: that don't do that feeling

10. A satisfying ending: Yes! Leaves enough questions to make you want to read the next.

I started listening to The Last House on the Street today. It was recommended by a friend and presented as "a really good book." Once I started it, I said to myself, "This sure seems like a suspense, thriller, historical mystery." I looked at a couple of websites to see what categories it is in and one site said historical drama only, then historical and finally also saw "mystery".

Just proving to myself what I thought all along - a mystery novel can come in several shapes and sizes.