Nordic Noir in a small fishing village in northern Iceland. It is the 2nd book in a series of 6.

I am very much enjoying it.

"..and complex, Nightblind is an extraordinary thriller." It would be pretty creepy to be in a remote, small town with a killer on the loose.

By Mamta Chaudhry. She's been compared to W.G.Seibald, one of my favorite writers, so I thought I'd give it a chance.

"A gorgeously written and profoundly moving debut novel."

Sounds great.

Fun for those who like a little Sherlock Holmes in their life. Light stuff, but a pleasant diversion.

all things Sherlock. I never tire of the tales, no matter who is telling them.

"Prelude to a Certain Midnight" by Gerald Kersh. This is an odd one. It's about the aftremath of the rape & murder of an 11 year old child. But it's also full of humourous character sketches, and makes the reader privy to the thoughts of the murderer. I don't know what to make of it, and I can't even decide whether I like it or not.

"The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman. Didn't you read this one, Hermetic?

"Death at the Dolphin" by Ngaio Marsh, a Golden Age whodunit.

There's been a big covid outbreak at a local school. But so far (fingers crossed) this hasn't translated into people being hospitalised. Hopefully I'm getting my flu jab tomorrow, and my covid booster sometime before Christmas. The Astra-Zeneca scientists are saying that if we get through Winter we'll be done with it. Gosh I hope so.

I haven't read the second one yet but I really should. It sounds like fun: The Man Who Died Twice.

Your "Prelude" does sound like an odd one. Review says, "Fascinating example of life's perils by author Kersh, who reminds for every winner, there can be a ton of losers. First published 1947." Let me know how it turns out.

The little town next to mine has just had to shut down their school because so many students and teachers are sick. That's not very encouraging. Plus, morgues in my state have just run out of room for any more bodies. This is sounding like a very bad thriller, except we all know who the killer is.

I didn't much care for it but it put me in mind of Raymond Chandler so I went to Amazon and blew 99 cents on the complete works. Money well spent. I'd forgotten most of the plots. Chandler was both cynical and sentimental and he had a rather jaundiced view of women. They're often deadlier than the male. The drug pushing Dr. is a recurring trope Chandler felt pretty strongly about. This is LA in the 40's and 50's and shares the sensibilities of the time. The language reflects that. Highly recommended for fans of noir.

I'm currently reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. An artist attempts to deface a painting in the National Gallery in DC. He's committed to an institution but refuses to speak. His Dr. explores his obsession through the stories of 3 women; his wife, his lover and a woman who lived in Paris in the 1870s. I'm about 2/3 of the way through and I still haven't made up my mind as to whether I actually like the book.

Cheers, Hermetic

Stay safe

We've got to outlive the idiots.

Yeah, it's been many a year since I read any Chandler. Hope your current book gives you at least a little satisfaction. There really was an artist named Robert Oliver. Same guy?

I think I'll take a look at that space opera you mentioned up thread. Reality isn't getting it done for me at present.

Remember how the students studied the cadences and structure of the dialects spoken during the time period they were traveling to. Any show of being different could put the travelers in serious jeopardy. Seems time travel is quite a complicated procedure.

I loved how they used natural dyes and materials to make her clothing. There is a reason Connie Willis is so highly regarded as an author of sci fi. I love everything I've read of hers. I figured it was high time I read this one.

some more than others. Loved the Doomsday Book especially, plus Passage and Bellweather.

Of course I bought it on a 99 cent list at BookBub or Robin Reads (or one of several others) (edited to add: good thing I got it when it was offered; it is $9.99 on Kindle now)

Praised by Publishers Weekly as "slickly paced" and "overflowing with witty banter," The Black Parade (Book One), She Who Fights Monsters (Book Two), and The Holy Dark (Book Three) tell the tale of Seer Jordan Amador, her snarky partner and paramour Michael, and a siege of ghosts and murderous demons out to cause Hell on Earth.

Two years ago, Jordan accidentally shot and killed a Seer: a person who can see, hear, and talk to ghosts with unfinished business. Her crime came with a hefty price, too. She has two years to help a hundred souls cross over to the afterlife or her soul is bound for hell. Tough break. Her "supervisor" in this project is the Archangel Gabriel.

As the story progresses, we meet other Archangels, some demons and a few humans from Jordan's past. Among their adventures: defeating a False Angel, raising and destroying the Leviathan, trying to stop demons from burning down the Garden of Eden.

The author has created a vibrant world full of angels, demons, and human characters with very distinct and engaging personalities. I am really enjoying this series.

I love witty banter. Hope I can find this someday.

Thanks for sharing.

Just started a new Elizabeth Bear book - Machine - about a far future human civilization that has joined a galactic government. An ancient human generation ship has been discovered heading out of the galaxy at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. There’s no response to attempts to contact possible survivors, so a rescue mission has been sent to see if anyone can be saved and to preserve a unique human artifact/history. The woman in charge of the mission finds that things are very strange on board.
So it’s a mystery in space with aliens, advanced technology, fully conscious AIs, methane breathers and an odd, powerful android who is apparently in charge of the frozen colonists and won’t or can’t let anyone try to save them because "the Machine" won’t allow it. Interesting, so far.

I just reread the Murderbot series, just because. Am impatiently waiting for the next installment, too, that’s not due for many, many months.

Also started a new fantasy/romance series by T. Kingfisher (pen name for well-known children’s fantasy author Ursula Vernon). Light, easy, humorous, enjoyable reading. First book was Paladin’s Grace about a fantasy world where multiple gods have different organizations of people to carry out their edicts. The Rat is all about charity, law, medicine and sneaky diplomacy. The Saint of Steel was about fighting evil (of which there is plenty, including goblins, haunts, demon possessions, etc.) with berserker paladins, but the Saint died and left a bunch of severely broken and depressed paladins who go bonkers every once in a while. Each book is about one of the middle aged paladins finding a middle-aged partner while solving a problem crime. I’m on the second book, Paladin’s Strength, about one of the paladins being sent to solve a mystery/crime involving magic beheadings and reanimations and running into a nun whose whole sisterhood was kidnapped to be put into fighting pits…because they’re also werebears! Just got to the aftermath of the surprise of Clara going all bear when they’re attacked by brigands.

Thanks for sharing.

I often look at this thread for book ideas. Hermetic, I LOVED it! I bought it from Kindle, but my library has the following books in E-format.
Thank you!