Reading List 2021

 Louise Penny - All the Devils Are Here                My rating: 5/5

Ann Cleeves - The Darkest Evening      (her latest "Vera" mystery)    My rating 5/5

Elly Griffiths - The Lantern Men    My rating  3.5/5  (This may have been a higher rating if I had read more of her other books, which I might do. I feel like perhaps I needed to know the characters better)

Deborah Crombie - Garden of Lamentations    My rating 3.5/5  (This is a Duncan Kincaid, Gemma James mystery and I haven't read one of these in quite a while. I found it hard to keep track of all the characters.)

Janet Evanovich - Fortune and Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven  4/5  (A quick, fun read. I've read all twenty-six leading up to this one.  If you are looking for a series that has humour and a mystery, this won't disappoint. If you are looking for thought-provoking literature, look elsewhere.)

Sarah Ward - In Bitter Chill  4/5  (First time reading this author - crime fiction - liked it so much, I ordered the next one from the library)

Jonathan Kellerman - Serpentine  (3/5) This is the latest Alex Delaware novel. I am tiring of Kellerman's overly wordy style, and his need to keep repeating how he describes characters.

Jann Arden - If I Knew Then (4/5) I'm not a big listener of Jann Arden's music, but I have seen her on various shows (Rick Mercer, for example) and I thoroughly enjoy her personality. This is a reflection on her life and how she is embracing her inner Crone now. I really liked it - funny with some good (relatable, for me) serious stuff underlying it all.

Richard Osman - The Thursday Murder Club  (4/5) I enjoyed this first novel from the author. I can see it turning into a series of books. It can sometimes be a bit confusing in the beginning as it dances around various characters (residents of seniors' apartments), but it's fun, well-crafted, and a relatively quick read.

Elly Griffiths - Postscript Murders  (3.5/5) Good, enjoyed it, has detective Harbinder Kaur in it.

Elly Griffiths - Stranger Diaries  (3.5 / 5)  Same as above. 

Kelley Armstrong - A Stranger in Town  (2.5/5)  I had to force myself to keep reading this one. It is not my usual style (murder mystery), but instead set in some secret community with a group of people gone wild. There were many characters and twists and turns but I won't be reading another one of her books.

Caroline Graham -A Place of Safety  (4/5)   You can't go wrong with a good old Inspector Barnaby "Midsomer Murder" book. I'm not much of a tea drinker, but it always makes me feel like I should be. 

Elly Griffiths - The Crossing Place  (4/5)  I've decided to start back at the beginning of the Ruth Galloway mysteries and try to read them in order.

Elly Griffiths - The Janus Stone (3.5/5) This is the second in the series. Good, but not quite as good as the first.

Elly Griffiths - The House at Sea's End (4/5) I'm still on my quest to read this in order - most I haven't read at all yet. All Ruth Galloway mysteries.

Harry Bingham - The Dead House  (4/5)  This is a new author for me. I'm not even sure how I came to hear about him, but I'm glad I did. This is a series featuring DC Fiona Griffiths. I now want to read more.

Elly Griffiths - The Outcast Dead  (4/5) I am still waiting on two others in the proper order of this series, so this one shouldn't follow "The House at Sea's End" but I read it regardless. 

Elly Griffiths - The Ghost Fields (4/5) Again, this follows "The Outcast Dead", but there were two others that should have come before.

Elly Griffiths -  A Room Full of Bones  (4/5)

Elly Griffiths - A Dying Fall (4/5) 

Harry Bingham - Love Story, With Murders  (4/5) I am really enjoying this new author. Quirky main character. Good murder mystery with secondary mystery as well.

Elly Griffiths - The Woman in Blue (4/5)

Elly Griffiths - The Chalk Pit  (4/5)

Harry Bingham - The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths (4.5/5) This was intriguing, sometimes uncomfortable, suspenseful..

Elly Griffiths - The Dark Angel (4/5)

Louise Penny - The Madness of Crowds (5/5) Had this ordered through the library, waiting for it to be available. Very thought provoking, a little different than her usual.

Deborah Crombie - A Bitter Feast  (3/5) I've read previous books in this series, but I plodded through this one.

Julia Spencer-Fleming - Through the Evil Days  (3.5/5) This is a new author for me. There were too many characters to keep track of in this book, so after a while I just gave up and kept reading. Don't know if I'll check out another one of her books.

Richard Osman - The Man Who Died Twice (5/5) This is the follow up to "The Thursday Murder Club" and I adored it!!! Funny and a murder mystery, too. I cannot wait until he writes another one!

Ann Cleeves - The Heron's Cry (5/5) This author usually can't go wrong. This is the second in her new series. 

Harry Bingham - This Thing of Darkness  (5/5)  This is the fourth (?) book I've read by this author, following the cases and life of his main character, Fiona Griffiths. It was very, very good. Main character is not typical, set in Wales, mostly. It takes place in present day.

Patricia Cornwell - Autopsy  (2.5/5) Shame on you, Patricia Cornwell. This is probably the worst of her Kay Scarpetta books I've ever read. It's like she had to get something published that included some pandemic and then she threw in an ending that happened in the last few pages and had very little bearing on the rest of the book. I was incredibly disappointed at the end.