Reading in Reykjavík

It may well surprise some to discover that until last month I had not read a single book by this illustrious mystery author, whose name is often mentioned in the same sentence as those of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, but it is really not surprising when you consider that Marsh's books seem to be mostly out of print (which makes me wonder: if she is as good as Christie and Sayers, why are her books not in print? Perhaps they are between printing cycles?). It is to be hoped that they will be re-issued as the ones I read are quite entertaining and certainly better than some of the modern mysteries I have been reading lately. The author review is based on the first five books in the series. It will be interesting to see if my opinions change with further reading. I will only review the books briefly and rate them. I will discuss the things they have in common in the author review. Series detective: Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn of the Scotland Yard. In four of th...

Year published: 1980 Genre: Non-fiction, travel Setting & time: Alaska, USA, late 1970s McGinniss wanted to experience Alaska in all it's guises and seasons and went to live there for a year. The outcome was this report, often funny, sometimes sad or poignant, about a land and society during a period of rapid change. He takes a look at the problems facing the native communities, many of which were caused by the social-upheaval brought on by the arrival of the white man, and also at pioneers, oilmen, opportunists, politicians, scholars and ordinary people, all of them trying to make a living in the harsh environment of the USA's biggest state. McGinniss does his best to avoid criticising the less savoury aspects of what he saw by trying to describe without judging, but one can not avoid noticing the subtle sarcasm that creeps into his prose whenever he mentions the oil pipeline, oilmen or oil-supporters and oil-supporting politicians, so his stance on that subject is rath...

Series: The Blackbird sisters Series detective: Nora Blackbird, aided by her sisters Libby and Emma and Michael Abruzzo whom she is sort of dating but afraid to commit to Type of investigator: Amateurs Setting & time: Philadelphia, PA, USA; modern timeless Type of mystery: Murder Title: How to Murder a Millionaire No. in series: 1 Year of publication: 2002 Story: When her parents flee the country and leave her with the family farm that has a 2 million dollar tax debt on it, recently widowed Nora Blackbird needs to find a job to pay the bills. A former debutante and society wife, all she really knows how to do is plan parties and be a hostess. This turns out to be the perfect background when she is hired as a society reporter by an old friend of the family who happens to own a newspaper. But then Nora finds him dead and it turns out he was murdered. The police ask for her help, as she knows everyone involved and knows how Philly high-society works. She becomes deeply involv...

I finished 13 books in August, and added three new authors to my challenge (I am writing the last review). I managed to finish 4 books I had started some time ago and then stopped reading. Reviewed: Laura Childs: Shades of Earl Grey Deborah Crombie: A Share in Death Unreviewed: Leslie Carroll: Miss Match Lorrain D'Essen: Kangaroos in the Kitchen Barry Paris: Audrey Hepburn J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Georges Simenon: Maigret and the Toy Village Paul Theroux, ed.: The Best American Travel Writing 2001 Reviews coming up: Ngaio Marsh: A Man lay dead , Enter a murderer , The Nursing Home Murder , Death in Ecstacy Nancy Martin: How to Murder a Millionnaire (I'm reading the second book in this series and will review them together)

Title: Shades of Earl Grey Series detective: Theodosia ‘Theo’ Browning No. in series: 3 Year of publication: 2003 Type of mystery: Theft, possible manslaughter Type of investigator: Amateur Setting & time: Charleston, SC, USA; modern timeless Story: When a number of valuable antiques are stolen and a young groom is tragically killed in a possibly theft-related incident, Theodosia seems to be the only one who thinks there might be a cat burglar specialising in antiques at work in Charleston. Some speculation and a little investigation reveals three possible suspects, and she and her sidekick, Drayton, plan a trap to capture the thief. SPOILER WARNING: Review: I love cozy mysteries and I had expectations of this book, but unfortunately it fell a long way from those expectations. It’s cozy all right, but the plotting is weak and the sleuthing consists mostly of conjecture and asking a friendly police officer some questions. Additionally, the sleuth commits what to me amount...