Mostly Mysteries

First three Bernie Gunther/Berlin Noir books by Philip Kerr on sale – US and UK

An omnibus of the first three Berlin Noir books by Philip Kerr is on sale for $1.99/£0.99 in the US/UK respectively. This series features Bernie Gunther as a German PI in Nazi Germany (and later), and several of the books in the series have been nominated for various awards. I’ve read and liked many of […]

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Murder Fantastical by Patricia Moyes

Price Drops / By Sue

Murder Fantastical is the seventh in the Henry and Emmy Tibbett series by Patricia Moyes. It’s on sale right now at Kindle US for $1.99. This series is one of my top ten or fifteen favorite series, and this is one of my favorite books in the series, mostly because I enjoy the Manciple family.

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Review of The Art of Violence by SJ Rozan

1 Comment / Contemporary Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

Some things to think about while also solving a mystery… SJ Rozan tackles two difficult topics in her most recent Lydia Chin/Bill Smith entry, The Art of Violence. The first, as might be guessed from the book’s title, is the nature of art – or maybe the nature of Art, **with** the capital letter. And

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Review of A Long Night in Paris by Dov Alfon

2 Comments / Contemporary Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

Much more than a traditional thriller…. Thrillers are often not my thing, so I’m still not quite sure why I picked up A Long Night in Paris and started reading it, ahead of all the other books in my “to be read” pile. But I’m glad I did. I think I was originally pulled in

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Review of The Fatal Flying Affair by TE Kinsey

2 Comments / Historical Mysteries and Thrillers / By Sue

I loved this early aviation mystery…. I’ve been noticing the books in the Lady Hardcastle series, by TE Kinsey, for quite a while, both because I like historical mysteries, and because I like the covers. Sorry – I do know I’m not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but – there it is,

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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.