So what are you currently reading?

[Laura Root]

Yes, a bit of a naff and unoriginal question, but why not?

I'm a quarter of the way through Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone, set in Haiti, a country I know very little about. PI Max Mingus, recently out of jail after an 8 year sentence for manslaughter, is undertaking a lucrative but risky investigation in Haiti, to track down the kidnappers of his employer's son.

I'm enjoying it so far, definitely seems to be one for the fans of the hardboiled thus far though.

[Maxine]

I liked Jim Kelly's first book (yes, I think the Water Clock) very much. I did not think the second was as good, but someone (Susan Balee, maybe?) urged me to read the third, so I will, one of these days.

[Bill Peschel]

It's interesting how little overlap there is. A few classics, a lot of current books, some arcs. A pretty wide variety.

Me, I'm reading John Banville's thriller "Christine Falls." It's a beautifully written book, tense, and I'm dreading going into it further.

Just read (and was disappointed by) "The Wayward Muse" about William Morris, his wife and her lover. Shows the limits of adapting historical figures to fiction.

[Maxine]

Ah ha! Tried to write a post here last night but the site kept crashing -- or rather my computer did. I was reading then, but as it was short, have now finished, Driftnet by Lin Anderson. It came highly recommended but as I read so many blogs I can't remember on which. It was billed on the cover as a rival to Rebus, on the basis of it being set in Scotland, but I did not see many other similarities. It is, as I mentioned, short, so very quick to read. However, it was a bit flat, and characters kept going out and coming in again for no reason that I could see. The continuity was a bit choppy. The main character and her colleagues worked in a path lab but they did not seem to be very clued up scientifically. Again, the policeman seemed a potentially interesting character but appeared in fleetingly small scenes. The outcome was not very convincing. I think the book and author have potential that isn't yet realised fully. Promising, would be the word I'd use to sum it up, if I were given only one word.

[Sunnie Gill]

Currently reading.
DEATH OF DALZIEL - Reginald Hill.
Hill's latest Dalziel and Pascoe offering in which The Fat Man is lying in a coma after a bomb blast. I'm being strong and not cheating to see if he lives despite an overwhelming urge to find out if this is in fact the last of Andy.

The other book I"m reading is DIAMOND DOVE by Adrian Hyland - Australian crime fiction. This one told through the eyes of a young woman who happens to be aboriginal. Loving every page so far.

What I'm finding refreshing about this book is that the voice seems realistic and the author isn't bashing me about the head with a sledgehammer trying to make a political point. The plight of aborigines is there but the author makes little comment and is all the more powerful for that lack of commentary .

[Anne Brooke]

I'm reading "The Bullet Trick" by Louise Welsh - it rocks! Utterly gripping and I
can't bear to put the darn thing down.

==:O

A
xxx

[Oguz]

Currently reading "My Name is Red" by Orhan Pamuk. This is a historical mystery novel, and is the selected title of this month, for my site's reading group. (That's a mystery site in my language only, sorry)
After that, i'll read Shane's "Blown Away". The Turkish title "Kanlı Oyunlar" means "Bloody Games", though...

[Joy Calderwood]

My current read is CINCO DE MAYO: WHAT IS EVERYBODY CELEBRATING? This is for review, but I have so little reading time I can't wait till I finish it to blow its horn. In the 1860s France invaded Mexico and attempted to put Archduke Maximilian of the Hapsburg family on the throne. I've read about this before from the European point of view -- this one is from the Mexican. It follows many threads in a manner that reminds me somewhat of Collins & LaPierre's popular histories.

The author's starting point is that May 5 is not Mexican Independence Day, it's the anniversary of a battle in which the Mexicans resoundingly defeated the French. It was near the beginning of the invasion, but it had such psychological significance that it is still celebrated (and growing) 140 years later.

Through his wife's Mexican family, author Donald W. Miles gained access to restricted sources of information and used it well. The style is pacey, flowing, and dramatic. Highly recommended to history buffs, no matter what your favorite nation or time is.

[Clair Lamb]

Too many things (naming no names) are flunking my 50-page test lately, but I loved Laura Lippman's WHAT THE DEAD KNOW. Just finished the advance of John Connolly's THE UNQUIET, which is excellent, and will finish THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD, by Kevin Brockmeier, sometime today. Has anyone read that? The first 100 pages were magical, but it's fallen apart badly in the final third -- I am crossing my fingers that he figures out a way to end it without it feeling miserably anticlimactic.

[Joy Calderwood]

Carry-around book: THE ROAD TO A HANGING, western about an ex-slave pursued by a corrupt sheriff. The book is listed as being for children. No way should children be exposed to this wall-to-wall cheating, lying, back-stabbing and bigotry. This is a review book, not a personal choice.

Ebook: THE TSARINA'S GRANDDAUGHTER, a romance partly set in English Society during the Napoleonic Wars, but definitely darker than the Regency Romance genre. It's an interesting story, exploring subjects I rarely run across in fiction, but the author uses too many words she doesn't know the meaning of. I hope the editor hasn't worked on it yet.

[Gumshoe Carl]

I just finished The Watchman by Bob Crais and Stealing the Dragon by Tim Maleeny.

Now I am about 1/3 of the way through Sean Chercover's Big City, Bad Blood--so far so good.

GC

[Joy Calderwood]

Cross-posting from my book blog:

JULIAN by Gore Vidal
Imagine the horror of newly Christian Rome, immersed in its internecine battles. Its new emperor, their most reliable and victorious general Julian, decides to enforce -- gasp -- religious tolerance! Julian's goal is the resurrection of the old gods, driven underground by the establishment of Christianity. I have a long fondness for the Rebel Emperor. His life lends itself perfectly to Gore Vidal's entertaining satire and his crotchety, self-absorbed, idealistic, and utterly human characters. This magnificent read stays magnificent for any number of rereads.