May is proving to be a busy reading month for me. For whatever reason I seem to be reading slower (or fewer books in any case) than last year. I have a certain number of 'obligation' reads that I am working on, but I also seem to be reading lots of mysteries and thrillers. They border on comfort reads for me as whenever I am especially stressed out I like to turn to them to as they often tend to be filled action and heart- (or gut-) wrenching scenes--someone else's life is filled with worse problems than my own, sort of situation. I like getting wrapped up in a story so much that the pages are turned fast and furiously as I read in fear and fascination about a hero or heroine who you wonder if they'll even survive the end of the story.
So a little rundown on things.
Mignon Eberhart's The Mystery of Hunting's Lodge is very much a cozy mystery. In this case the murder, though it was originally passed off as an accident, occurred five years earlier. The daughter of the victim, who was not much more than a girl really when the crime happened, has called together the guests who were all present at this lonely hunting lodge on that fateful night. There are a couple of new additions. A detective, posing as a friend of the family, and a young nurse taking care of an invalid aunt. Sarah Keate is the narrator and perhaps the real star of the show as she helps detective Lance O'Leary piece together the movements of everyone in the party to figure out who is the murderer. This is very traditional, along the lines of Agatha Christie.
I've finished Michael Robotham's The Night Ferry and will be writing about it later in the week, so won't say much here about it. It was most definitely an edge of your seat, can't wait to get to the end sort of story. I'll be reading more of his work, and had it not been necessary to turn to a few other books this month, I would already be reading something else by him.
Next up is Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel, which I read years ago, but have forgotten all but the basic premise. DdM always tells a cracking good story in my opinion, so this is a pleasure to read again. Yet another case of older woman, younger man and a death. The story is told by Philip Ashley whose uncle was married to a beautiful and sophisticated woman unknown to the family and then died in mysterious circumstances. Did Rachel have something to do with his death?
I've been a great fan of Elizabeth George from the very beginning of her Inspector Lynley series, and while her later books have gotten somewhat complicated and she has taken her characters in varied and not always happy directions I'm quite enjoying Careless in Red. I had put off reading it for some time after hearing bad reviews of it, but I'm glad I picked it up in the end. Her stories tend to have large casts of characters, and I'm not sure if this is one of the criticisms of her books, but at least this time around I like the puzzle aspect of things. You get different perspectives of the crime and of the victim and have to try and figure out who had the best motive for murder. I've got her new book sitting by my bed waiting as well.
Let's see, just a cursory mention of a few others. I've been working on Petra Hammesfahr's The Lie for a while now, and it's a good psychological thriller--a story of two women who could pass for twins. The book begins with the discovery of a murdered woman, which woman is it? I can't quite decide on what library book to read, but it's been a toss up of mysteries--James Thompson's Snow Angels or Irene Fleming's The Edge of Ruin. The first is a contemporary detective story set in Finland and the latter a historical mystery set in 1909 New York about the very new moving picture industry. Last but not least is Karin Alvtegen's Shadow is another suspenseful thriller with several seemingly different storylines that will tie together at the end--am curious just how.
I usually only read one mystery at a time, so I guess I am especially stressed out at the moment. The thing is, while this might seem like a lot of books...you should see how many are on my TBR pile. I sometimes feel that if I don't step things up a bit, I'll never make even a dent in them. Besides, it's just so easy to be seduced by a good book.