In the first quarter of 2013, I read ten books by authors I had never read before. That is a lot of new authors. Twice as many as in the last quarter. So, even if I am not getting through series that I have started, I have read some new authors that have been in my TBR pile a long time.
This is my list of books by new (to me) authors:
- Publish or Perish by Margot Kinberg
- The Smoke by Tony Broadbent
- The Case of the Angry Actress by E. V. Cunningham
- Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
- Amuse Bouche by Anthony Bidulka
- Detective by Parnell Hall
- The Loyal Servant by Eva Hudson
- Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt
- Deadly Appearances by Gail Bowen
- A Stone of the Heart by John Brady
All of the books on this list were well-written and entertaining. I plan to read more books in each of the series.
Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt was a serial killer novel with too much graphic violence for my tastes. However, the characterization was so strong in that book, and the plotting and setting are so vivid, that I have to try the next in the series.
Margot Kinberg's Publish or Perish is an entertaining mystery that combines elements of amateur detective, police procedural and takes place in an academic setting. What more can you ask for?
It is hard to believe that it took me so long to read the first book in Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series, Devil in a Blue Dress, which was published in 1990. It
has an interesting setting:... 1948, post WWII, a black neighborhood in
Los Angeles, California. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is a black man who
moves to Los Angeles, California from Houston, Texas to look for a
better life after serving in the military during World War II.
There were two books in this group that did not fit in my usual guidelines. Both were light, humorous private detective stories. Detective by Parnell Hall is set in New York City. Amuse Bouche by Anthony Bidulka is set in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Normally I shy away from humor in mysteries, but I am discovering that it really depends on the writer, and both of these writers won me over.
A Stone of the Heart by John Brady is another winner. I am really into police procedurals at the moment. This one is set in Dublin, Ireland during the 1980's. I know very little about Ireland or Northern Ireland during this time and I want to know more.
10 comments:
TracyK: I am glad you had a good quarter year of new authors. I am curious if you have a "best" of the quarter.
I enjoyed so many of the books and they were so different, I could not pick a best of the quarter. Either I am lucky in my picks or getting better at knowing what I will like... I find something enjoyable in most mysteries I read nowadays.
Some great authors there Tracy, including the wonderful Margot!
Oh, Tracy you've made my day/week/month/year... Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm very glad you enjoyed the novel. Oh, and thanks, Sarah, for your kind words too. *serious blush*
Agreed, Sarah. It has been a great year so far for reading.
Margot, you are welcome. Looking forward to reading the next one soon.
I haven't read any of those yet, but I think a couple are on my list.
Carol, All are worth reading. I am finally getting some new authors in my TBR stacks read. At least half of them I had owned for years.
Tracy, not too much commonality with you I'm afraid, I've read the Mosley and a few others in the series years ago, probably time for a re-visit, plus Blunt is on TBR.
I'll check the reviews on the others and see if anything grabs me.
Col, I am sure you will enjoy the Blunt book when you read it. I am eager to read more Mosley. So many books and I keep finding more.
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