October - The month of Mystery

Our theme for October is going to be MYSTERY. There are plenty of wonderful historical mysteries out there. I'm sure we are all reading at least one historical mystery series too. Or if you prefer non-fiction, try an historical true crime story.



There are a couple of lists that can help us out here
Historical Crime
Best Historical Crime

Books I could recommend
Gods of Gotham by Lindsay Faye
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourne
The Asylum by John Harwood
What Angels Fear by C S Harris

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all choose. I have a weak spot for a good mystery, so no doubt my wishlist will be growing in October.

I'd recommend The Alienist by Caleb Carr. My favorite in the field.

Great theme, Ro. I have a plethora of books to fit this theme but I would really like to read The Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth, set in WW II England. If I can fit in another one during October then I will read The Treasure of the Golden Cheetah by Suzanne Arruda, which is set in British East Africa during the 1920's.

At the moment, planning to read:

What Remains of Heaven - C.S. Harris next up for me in the series
To Kingdom Come - Will Thomas - ditto

I think I'll read Jane and the Canterbury Tale, which is next up for me in Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries.

I'm going to do The Mystery of Edwin Drood and follow it up with Dan Simmons's Drood: A Novel.

>^6 I just finished The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl, all about the last days Dickens lived and folks trying to find a supposedly hidden copy of the ending of Drood. Very interesting.

I'm thinking of The Prime Minister's Secret Agent by Susan Ella MacNeal, the 4th book in the Maggie Hope series.

And maybe Silesian Station by David Downing.

Is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco considered a mystery? It's been in my TBR stack for some time and this might be a good chance to get to it.

Absolutely. I've reread it rather recently, though, so I'm not going to use it for October. (Another Eco book I might do, though, after I'm done my Drood reading, is Foucault's Pendulum, which I think should qualify as a mystery but also as "history" because of its involvement with the Knights Templar.)

I just finished my first historical mystery for the month. Treasure of the Golden Cheetah by Suzanne Arruda is the 5th book in her series about Jade del Cameron and is set in the British colony of Kenya during the 1920's.

Thanks for the link, Jean. Great to get caught up here especially as I have shelves full of historical mysteries. What to chose, what to chose? Do I go for something classic like The Black Dahlia, The Thin Man or a Detective Club Murder or a Charles Finch, Maisie Dobbs or her Royal Spyness?

Dark and violent, What Remains of Heaven, twists and turns through a double mystery--one set in 19th Century England and the other in the 18th Century. The search for answers in the two murders leads to additional murders and an unexpected revelation in the life of St Cyr.

I ended up reading an ARC of one of the books on this year's Booker shortlist, His Bloody Project.

>14 cfk: Seconded. I read what Remains of Heaven for this challenge too.

I have read the 4th Maggie Hope mystery, The Prime Minister's Secret Agent by Susan Ella MacNeal. It was pretty good.

St Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters.

This was my first Brother Cadfael book. I have come up with six different ways to pronounce 'Cadfael'; I hope one of them is close.

I read Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin, a historical mystery set in 12th century England, which revolves around King Arthur's bones. Also - Slash and Burn by Colin Cotterill, a fictional mystery about a downed helicopter pilot in 1970s Laos.

>14 cfk: >16 majkia: The St. Cyr mysteries are great. Which reminds me that I should get back to them.

I read And Only to Deceive. It was an interesting mystery and captured the actual attitudes of a Victorian newly widowed young woman pretty well, I thought. This was the beginning of a series which I will likely continue.

I finished Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Treated myself to the book and the 1941 film version starring Humphrey Bogart. I always appreciate books with memorable characters and this one definitely fits the bill. I also want to mention here that the movie sticks closely to the book, something else I truly appreciate.

>21 cbfiske:, I like it when the movie stays true to the book too.