The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Pages: 382

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book was such fun to read. Clever insights, short chapters, and a gentle writing style easily guide the reader through several murders. Set in a peaceful retirement village in England, this story unwinds slowly but steadily. We are introduced to the village and its residents by new comer, Joyce. She is excited to learn about the weekly Thursday Murder Club meetings, where three other residents of the village meet weekly to discuss unsolved crimes. Then a local builder is found dead in their village and they have the chance to solve a "live" case happening around them. The reader shares in the discoveries of different characters from chapter to chapter, sometimes reading Joyce's diary, sometimes with detective in charge of the case, other times with random people from the village. But the tidbits of knowledge go together to make a cohesive puzzle with just enough extra "clues" to keep the reader guessing. 

In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had to finish this book so that I could see how it ended. However, it is not one that I would readily recommend. The big "reveals" were disappointing. The setting was the strongest element of the story.

354 pages

Tuesday Club Murders (Miss Marple)

 Tuesday Club Murders (Miss Marple)
by Agatha Christie
Pages: 256
Rating: 5 out of 5

Collection of short stories featuring Miss Marple and a group of friends that meet on Tuesday evenings to discuss murder cases. The person sharing the story has to know the final outcome and the others compete to see who can get the closest to solving the murder. Fun, quick read. As always the calm, serene Miss Marple shows up her younger, more-learned friends with her observations of human behavior and motivations.

Wychwood

 Wychwood
by George Mann
Pages: 400
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book one in a new mystery series by my favorite author that no one else has ever heard of.

Ellie goes home to live with her mother while she works out what to do with her life after losing her job and her boyfriend and with him, her apartment. Sure she'll never find work as a journalist in her rural English village, she is shocked when a woman is killed near her mother's house in the woods that surrounds the village - the Wychwood.

George Mann creates fully fleshed out characters and atmosphere like no one else. Whether he is writing a Sherlock Holmes short-story, a steam-punk story or this mystery set in modern times he keeps you guessing until the very end.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

  A real treat. Mystery writer P.D. James loves the works of Jane Austin. Here she blends her skill as an author of mysteries with her love of Pride and Prejudice to craft a beautiful literary mystery. 

Set six years after Elizabeth and Darcy marry and are enjoying life at Pemberley, Darcy's magnificent estate, they are planning the annual ball in honor of Darcy's mother, Lady Anne. Close friends have arrived the night before to help with final preparations when Elizabeth's disgraced sister, Lydia arrives in an hysterical state announcing that she is sure her husband Wickham has just been murdered in the woods. As always Jane and Bingley are there to lend support while Darcy tries to shelter his sister Georgiana from any details. 

It will take all of Jane and Darcy's wit to find out what has really happened and rescue all the inhabitants of Pemberley from any ensuing scandal. 

Pages: 291

The Pierced Heart by Lynn Shepherd

The Pierced Heart by Lynn Shepherd

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula this literary mystery weaves all of the atmospheric creepiness of the original classic with the detail and writing style of an Victorian English novel. Charles Maddox is called in to investigate a potential donor for Oxford University before they accept this unknown Austrian lord's sizable donation. Arriving at Baron Von Reisenberg's home in the Viennese woods, Maddox expects a boring task of reviewing paperwork,  financial and family records, instead the dark brings mysterious noises and nightmares. This is the darkest of the Maddox mysteries, but this chilling tale of suspense, science and possible supernatural fiends will keep you reading.

Lynn Shepherd is also the author of the award winning The Solitary House, which is reminiscent of a Charles Dickens novel; A Fatal Likeness inspired by the lives of romantic writers Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron as well as my favorite so far, Murder at Mansfield Park.

238 Pages.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware is a modern twisty, psychological thriller.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Nora hasn't seen her best friend, Clare, since she fled their college town ten years earlier. Now, she's invited to a hen party (England's version of a bachelorette weekend) for Clare in a cabin in the woods. Nora debates about going and stirring up the past. She is happy being single and living in her tiny apartment in London while writing for a living and rarely seeing anyone. But another school friend living in London contacts her and they decide if they both go, it can't be that bad, right?

But secrets from the party members past are slowly revealed. It's not until the end of the book that all the story is revealed and the reader finds out who really did what, who said what and who survives the weekend.

Pages: 352