Other Stuff Archives - Mostly Mysteries

The Los Angeles Times has just published its list of the 33 best LA crime movies, ranked

I’m not much of a movie aficionado – I barely watch at home, much less actually go to a movie theater. But a bunch of the films on the Los Angeles Times‘ just-published list, The 33 Best LA Crime Movies, Ranked, are adaptations of books I’ve read and liked. And several more are based on […]

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The Economist has a nice article about Agatha Christie out today

Leave a Comment / Other Stuff / By Sue

This week, The Economist has a nice – and short – article about Agatha Christie and her long-lived popularity. I’m obviously fond of Christie’s books, most of which have weathered the test of time pretty well. (There are a few exceptions, and many of them do read like historical mysteries now…) And most of them

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Mrs Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen – a review

2 Comments / Other Stuff / By Sue

A thoroughly enjoyable historical novel… I have long been a fan of Rhys Bowen’s mysteries, especially her Evan Evans and Lady Georgie series. But I’ve never tried any of her non-series books, which appear from their blurbs to be historical novels, rather than mysteries. So I was thrilled to be offered a review copy of

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Frederick Forsyth passed away 9 June 2025

1 Comment / Other Stuff / By Sue

Frederick Forsyth, Diamond Dagger winner and author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, and many more, passed away on June 9. The Economist and The New York Times both have nice obituaries. And although he tried to retire in 2016, he ended up writing another book, The Fox,

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One free book from Amazon for World Book Day

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In past years (see here and here), Amazon has made ten Kindle books from around the world free in honor of World Book Day. This year, however, they are giving you a choice of only ONE of the ten books on offer. BOO! HISS! And it’s a little tricky to get the free book too.

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Coming up on the holiday season

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Hey everyone! It’s coming up on the holiday season! How many of you have time off between Christmas and New Years? I do, and in addition to doing some upkeep to the blog, I’ve got a long list of books to read. How about you? Do you have projects for the break? Or just seeing

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About Mostly Mysteries

Whether you are a non-stop reader looking for your next series to binge-read, or someone without much spare time, wanting to make sure the next book you read is great, I hope my reviews will help you out. I hate reading reviews that just say “five stars” or “I loved the book, it was great”, and I’m sure you do too. So you won’t find any of those here! Instead, I take the time to read and think about a book, and then write a review that (1) doesn’t just parrot the blurb, (2) talks about what I liked and didn’t like, and (3) has some additional info to help you decide if the book might be right for you.

I’ve been a huge fan of mysteries since my earliest days of reading, cutting my teeth on Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew, and quickly moving on to Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. From there, I bounced around a bit, trying some thrillers, like Alistair MacLean, and some romantic suspense, mainly Mary Stewart. And then I started branching out. I discovered historical mysteries, and British mysteries (Sarah Caudwell is my idol), and cozy mysteries, and police procedurals, and mysteries set in foreign climes, and noir, and…well, you get the idea! Just about the only mysteries I’ve never quite gotten into are psychological thrillers.

This blog reflects my own personal tastes, so, as you might guess, you’ll mostly find reviews of mysteries here. But, over the decades, I’ve also picked up some other reading habits. I read a fair amount of history, especially books about the Great Game rivalry between Britain and Russia. I’ve gone through all the Asterix comics (a big thank-you to my middle-school French teacher), and I even read a bunch of them out loud to my son when he was young. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read and re-read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and those books have led me into a little bit of fantasy and science fiction as well. Oh yeah, and recently, I’ve been reading some social and political science books too. So check out the Science Fiction/Fantasy, Nonfiction, Romance and Other Stuff tabs up in the menu as well!

Finally I’d love to hear from you too, so please make use of the comments sections available for most of my posts, or use the contact form, down at the bottom of the page.

Reviewing and Rating Info

I rate books on a scale from 1 to 5 stars, with occasional half-stars when a full star just won’t do.

Many of the books I review are provided to me by the publisher or author as a reading copy – in other words, at no cost to me. In other cases, usually for older books, I’m reviewing books I borrowed from the library or bought myself. My rating and review do not depend on whether I was provided a free reading copy. However if I did receive a free reading copy, I will disclose this in the review.

I do not post reviews of every book I read – not even close. It takes a lot of time and effort to craft a good review, and so I tend to be biased towards reviewing books that I enjoy or that excite me. As a result, you’ll find mostly 4- and 5-star reviews on my blog. Also, I do not post 1- or 2-star reviews on my blog unless the author or publisher asks me to.