Books I've Read
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Stawberry Sunday
John Marshall Tanner is recovering from the last book (which I haven't read yet), then gets to investigate a murder in the strawberry farms of the Salinas valley. Pretty good, didn't expect who-done-it. Thirteenth book in series.
Read:
3/2001
The Ditto List
Divorce lawyer D.T. Jones handles a variety of divorce cases.
QUOTE:
Deep down, he recognized that he had never enjoyed sex quite as much as he had in the days when copping a feel in the drive-in was the highest achievement of his art... (pg. 70)Read:
5/2001
Rosy Cole's Worst Ever Best Yet Tour Of New York City
Things don't go as planned when Rosy's cousin comes to visit her in the Big Apple. A fun little story.
Read:
11/2003
Less
A guy goes on a trip around the world to avoid going to his former lover's marriage ceremony. Humorous, and I wept at the end of the book.
Quote:
"Mr. Peleu, you've packed everything; now what are we going to wear?" -- page 193.Read:
4/2019
Resurrecting Langston Blue
Bail bondsman (and reluctant bounty hunter) CJ Hunter wants to know who almost killed him, and also is ferreting out the details of who is trying to kill Langston Blue. It seems to all be tied in to Langston's time in Vietnam.
Not a bad story, I might have to read some more of the books in this series. This seems to be the first one, according to his website.
Quote:
Jimmy Moc and parked the van in the midst of the acreage in order to replace its timing chain, radiator, and right headlight. -- (pg. 376)The timing chain? It got damaged after he ran into a tree (among other things!)?? And did he bring water for the new radiator? In the "midst of the acreage" doesn't sound like the place to do these kind of repairs.
Read:
8/2014
Little Princes
Guy goes to Nepal for a couple month as a volunteer at an "orphanage", ends up dedicating himself to saving and reuniting them with their families. Very nicely written, I enjoyed reading it very much.
Read:
9/2013
Adrift
A very moving story about a group of teens adrift on the Atlantic ocean in a small boat.
Read:
10/2015
Biting The Moon
A teen with amnesia searching for her past with her new friend Mary Dark Hope, a character from another Richard Jury book. Unsatisfying.
Read:
9/2000
Dust
Well, it's not a pub, it's a nightclub. This was a pretty good read, but rather unsatisfying as we do not find out who-done-it, neither now, nor on the raft. I have some questions:
1. What happened to the chop? (pg. 140)
2. Was the finding of the gun mentioned before? (pg. 319)
3. Didn't the autopsy show that Billy did not eat anything? (pg. 320)
But, really, I enjoyed the book.
Words I Had To Look Up:::
past another line of oasthouses. (pg. 83) -- Building containing a kiln for drying hops.
in medias res (pg. 211) -- A Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning, establishing setting, character, and conflict via flashback and expository conversations relating the pertinent past.from Wikipedia.
City of Benares (pg. 225) -- Seventy-seven children died in the sinking.
Quote:
Everyone in the bloody world smoked except him, chain-smoked, even. He wouldn't be surprised to see Mungo light up. (pg. 254) Mungo is a dog.
Read:
7/2010
Help The Poor Struggler
Richard Jury, #6. Jury has to help find the murderer of several children. Good story!
Quote:
"Come on, Wiggins. One drink of Freddie's cider and you'll never be sick a day in your life. You'll be paralytic." -- Page 141 Read:
2/2024
Hotel Paradise
Emma Graham #1. Emma is twelve and lives at the hotel where her mother is cook, and possibly co-owner, or previous owner, a lot is not made clear. It is an interesting story, and very nicely written. It moves along very slowly, however, and some readers take issue with that. It is sort of a murder mystery. A very literary crime story, some have said.
Quote:
I am not Catholic or of any particular creed, but I cross myself whenever I think of those buckwheat cakes.Read:
3/2024
Jerusalem Inn
Richard Jury, #5. Jury meets an interesting woman, but she dies pretty quickly. Lots of snow! Plant goes skiing!
Quote:
"She was shot in the back with a .041, smallbore shotgun..." -- A what? Page 249 Quote:
"What? Why the hell would there be a silencer for a rifle lying about?" -- This. Plus, I thought she was shot with a shotgun. Page 278 Read:
2/2024
Rainbow's End
Each of her books is the name of a pub.
Read:
7/1998
Stargazzy
Superintendent Jury investigates a murdered woman in a flower bed and a woman who says she was NOT on the bus. Good story.
Read:
9/1999
The Anodyne Necklace
Richard Jury, #3. I'm still not sure what an anodyne is, but I enjoyed reading the story.
Read:
2/2024
The Black Cat
Jury investigates the murder of a librarian/escort woman. There is more about woman's shoes than I really want to know. Three black cats and the dog Mungo make a humorous interlude.
Smoke Quote:
For the one millionth time, Jry would have given an ear for a cigarette. He could really understand van Gogh if the man had quit smoking.-- Pg. 109
Read:
4/2011Read again:
8/2013
The Case Has Altered
Richard Jury investigates two murders in the fen country of England.
QUOTE:
"Thinking" was apparently a rather novel act for Julie, and an intensely physical one. She folded her arms and scratched her elbows, squinting up at the ceiling; she drew her mouth back revealing teeth as small as a child's, then pursed the mouth, repeating this process several times. She might have been indulging in some of Fiona's facial exercises. Her neck seemed to strain upward as if there were a rarefied air up there necessary for cerebral activity. Jury had to give her this: that unlike most people, Julie took thinking dammed seriously.--Page 183.Read:
8/1999Read:
3/2024
The Deer Leap
Richard Jury, #7. Jury goes to some small village (as always?) to check out the death of an old woman using a pay phone during a rain storm.
Quote:
..."except for the .412 shotgun butted against her shoulder"... -- I've heard of a 410, but not .412 Quote:
Carrie...had already taken on a whippet and a poodle... The Alsatian was having a nap...The poodle was doing the same. -- I thought an Alsatian was a German Shepherd? Quote:
...she was groping in the bag and brought out an apple. "Would you like this for your lunch?"
"Thank you," said Jury gravely... It was the first bribe he'd ever taken. Quote:
Her dressing gown was definitely the sweeping sort, blue brocade and ivory insets and a long train. -- I thought that said "insects"... Quote:
... loaded the .412 again... -- There's that .412 again!!Read:
2/2024
The Dirty Duck
Richard Jury, #4. In Stratford, the Shakespeare place, of number of people are murdered, and even one kidnapped, before Jury figures out who did it.
Quote:
"Hideously," said Melrose... -- Page 89 Quote:
"Hideously." [said Melrose] -- Page 93 Quote:
"Hideous," said Melrose... -- Page 96 Read:
2/2024
The Grave Maurice
Ricard Jury, #19. Jury apparently got shot in the previous book, he is in the hospital here at the start. He is asked to investigate, unofficially, the disappearance of a fifteen year old year.
Quote:
It was rather restful watching Diane's mind at work. One never had to venture far and there were a lot of lay-bys along the way.Quote:
...languor's home, ennui's back garden, apathy's arbor.Read:
2/2024
20 books displayed
[Gailey - Gardner] [Garrigue - Gladwell] [Gladwell - Gormley] [Gould - Grann] [Grant - Greenleaf] [Greenleaf - Grimes] [Grimes - Grogan] [Gruwell - Gutman]