inspired by watching the Martin Beck mysteries from Sweden on MHz Worldview.

Purse book: Just finished "The Honourable Schoolboy" by John Le Carré. It's the book in between "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "Smiley's People," but unlike those two, it's never been filmed, and I think it would be unfilmable as a feature, since it takes place in about five different countries. It could possibly be a six-part miniseries like the Alec Guinness versionn of "Tinker, Tailor, Solder, Spy," but it would still be difficult.

I haven't decided yet what my next purse book will be.

His second book, ("Blood Island?&quot showed up as a free download for my Kindle a few months ago, so I tried it out. I really enjoyed the writing and the action, so I'm trying out his others in order. "Longboat Blues" was his first, and I've already downloaded the 3rd and 4th, as well.

These books take place on the gulf side of Florida, as well as down in the keys. Main character is Matt Royal.

Oath of Office, the new one by Michael Palmer
Listening to Hour of the Hunter, an early J.A. Jance, whom I've never read before.
Just finished listening to Plugged by Eoin Colfer. This is absolutely hilarious. I'm sure it would make a great read, but the audio version is a riot.
Long Gone by Alafair Burke. I have loved her other books, this one not so much so far. Maybe I just need to dive into it rather than read it in fits and starts.

Tried reading Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Couldn't get into it. Also, got about 50 pages into Flashback, but got bored. Then I took a look at the reviews on Amazon, and it turns out I wasn't the only one who gave up.

With that many titles, an old lady like me would have a hard time reading and keeping them straight...

I added Plugged to my library list....

Just started it this morning after recommendations read here. The first few pages have been good.

From the Amazon review:
When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.
Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

I am finding it a fast read, not very challenging, but intriguing.
The story is told from the POV of several of the characters, so the plot develops slowly.

It was a family Christmas gift (from Santa), and I was fourth in line to read it.

I'm just starting, but so far, so good.

Just started and am enjoying. It's the 3rd in a series about Dr. Siri Paiboun, a coroner, in Laos during the 70's.

You wouldn't believe the humor in a series about this sad time in this sad place. Dr. Siri is a shaman who sees ghosts who like to help him figure out who killed them. I'm grateful to petronius for his post about Thirty-Three Teeth where he mentioned Dr. Siri was a shaman (that was all I needed to get me to read the series because of my love for James Doss, who has a lady shaman in his series who also sees spirits of the dead, but in Colorado).

It takes palce after the Viet Nam war when communist Pathet Lao moved south into Laos bringing lots of problems for Laotians who supported the Americans. I'm glad that there are 5 more books in this series.

Lydia Leftcoast also recommends this Colin Cotterill. He is good-looking and has bedroom eyes (but I'm sure that's not why she recommends him), and I am about 40 years too old for him.

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/C_Authors/Cotterill_Colin.html

16th book of 2012

with sheer determination. Good book, but I wasn't....

The Dinosaur Hunter is Homer Hickam's newest novel, published in 2010 and released in trade paperback at the end of January 2012. It's set on a Montana cattle ranch, but isn't about cows, except for a few that were viciously killed. Unlike Hickam's other novels, this is his first murder mystery.
I didn't care for it. The writing is choppy and the attempts at humor didn't always work. It starts out benignly and actually educational, telling you about the different types of dinosaur bones and how they came to be buried in layers of rock. I LOVE Hickam's biographical novels (Rocket Boys et al) and some, but not all, of his historical novels. Like some of his historical novels, Dinosaur gets suddenly very violent towards the end, a completely different tone from the rest of the novel.

It's the 3rd and final book of her Earth's Children trilogy that began with Clan Of The Cave Bear.

I've never noticed a book deteriorate as quickly as this one did. It was tedious to finish. I was hoping it would get better but it didn't. I won't be reading his subsequent books.