A long time ago, John Grisham came to the bookstore where I was working to sign copies of his second book from a major publisher, The Pelican Brief. His first, The Firm, had been an enormous hit, and there was every indication that the second would sell in mass quantities as well. No movies had …
Category: Mystery
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/06/28/lock-in-by-john-scalzi-2/
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Feb 07 2015
The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
The main reason I enjoyed this book is the impressive way in which Peter Swanson sucked me into Lily Kintner’s psyche. I was originally repulsed by her philosophy of ending lives (and still am, tbh) but as the book progressed, I desperately wanted her to get away with all the marbles. Conversely, her murderous spree …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/02/07/the-kind-worth-killing-by-peter-swanson/
Jan 28 2015
Vlast and Cool and Dangerously Sympathetic
I’m about a quarter of the way through Truth and Fear (concurrent with more Discworld, The Iliad – to see whether it captures me the way The Odyssey did, and in a modern translation since I bounced right off of Chapman’s, and probably some other things that rise to the surface of the to-be-read piles), …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/28/vlast-and-cool-and-dangerously-sympathetic/
Jan 19 2015
Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins
Sometimes it’s nice to be squarely in the middle of the target audience. Although I am not sure whether anyone would have said ex ante that the audience for a police procedural set in an alternate history Russia with fantasy and science fiction elements was much more than just me. But Peter Higgins went and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/19/wolfhound-century-by-peter-higgins/
Jan 02 2015
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
One of the biggest issues with a SF/F series is in the area of character development and growth. While mysteries require no change to the characters themselves, a series has the difficult balancing act of maintaining accessibility for first time readers, while simultaneously rewarding fans with meaningful growth and character development. One of the tipping …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/02/cold-days-by-jim-butcher/
Dec 26 2014
Bad Machinery Vol I: The Case Of The Team Spirit by John Allison
For Christmas, Jay bought me a physical copy of Bad Machinery’s first two volumes and ZOMG, I didn’t even know how much I wanted these till I had them! Oni Press has done an amazing job of translating the web comic to an oversized, glossy paperback that is luxe to the touch and weighty in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/12/26/bad-machinery-vol-i-the-case-of-the-team-spirit-by-john-allison/
Dec 24 2014
Dark Prayer by Natasha Mostert
So few books deserve the title “literary mystery.” Often, that phrase is given to books where ponderous writing and a quasi-mystical theme are draped over a poorly constructed plot, as if the fact that the book itself is so unenjoyable is some testament to how smart the reader must be to not only finish but …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/12/24/dark-prayer-by-natasha-mostert/
Nov 30 2014
Skin Deep (Simeon Grist #3) by Timothy Hallinan
Was actually pleasantly surprised by this! Picked it up for free way back when I started using the Kindle app and never got around to reading it, so didn’t really expect much when I cracked it open. The beginning didn’t really do anything to dispel doubt (especially since this book was written as the first …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/11/30/skin-deep-simeon-grist-3-by-timothy-hallinan/
Apr 08 2005
As Trains Go By
The New Republic has published a long review of three novels by Georges Simenon. The thesis is that they are “are superb and polished works of art masquerading as pulp fiction.” Simenon wrote more than 400 novels, under his own name and various pseudonyms. One of them, The Man Who Watched Trains Go By, was …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2005/04/08/as-trains-go-by/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire