Since I've finished the mystery I've been working on for a while now, I'm ready to choose a new one (the Yrsa Sigurdardottir novel doesn't count as it's my current library book). I was all set to start Barbara Clevery's The Last Kashmiri Rose, but once I started looking through my shelves and bins I started grabbing a few others to consider as well (my stack of choices should be shorter, but you should see what I put back!). The Cleverly is set in India in the 1920s. The exotic setting is very appealing at the moment.
Then I thought I might want something with a theater setting, which also has the added benefit of being a good cozy mystery, and pulled out Ngaio Marsh's Enter a Murderer. I've only read one of her books, the first Inspector Alleyn mystery and I'm ready to continue on with the series.
Or I could go with an actual Josephine Tey mystery, The Franchise Affair, since I've just finished a book about a fictional Josephine Tey. I've also read that Sarah Waters was inspired by this novel when she was working on The Little Stranger, which I loved when I read it recently.
Agatha Christie is an author whose work I've read far too little of, and you can't get much cozier than her mysteries. I pulled out her first, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which features Hercule Poirot. I've also wanted to read Death on the Nile, also with an exotic setting.
I've been meaning to get back to Inspector Maigret and chose one of George Simenon's first novels, Lock 14. The nice thing about Simenon's work is that it seems to be entirely engrossing and a fast read as well (usually less than 200 pages).
Or I could go with a much longer mystery and read susan Hill's The Various Haunts of Men. Tara has written good things about the Simon Serrailler mysteries, so I've kept this close to the top of the pile.
And I want to read more P.D. James, so next up is A Mind to Murder. I really like Adam Dalglish and wonder if anymore of his personality will come to light.
Just one more. Edmund Crispin came as a recommendation when I was looking for classic mystery titles/authors. The Moving Toy Shop sounds intriguing--a man sumbles upon the body of a woman in a toyshop, but when he returns with the police there is no body and the toyshop has turned into a grocery store!
I really do need to read more mysteries. How to choose which to pick up next?! I guess it's time to go through my pile and see which one grabs me--I love this part of choosing a new book (though often I end up starting more than just one...).