What We’re Reading: January 2023
A look over our shoulders to see what the women behind Sleuths & Sidekicks read in December.
Positive Notes
Lida writes: Most of us will take the positive over the negative, any time. I’m willing to bet that if we pause to reflect over the past year, we’d find many more positives than negatives in 2022.
Picture a Mystery: Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon
Carol writes: Tough-guy PI Sam Spade prowled the many varied neighborhoods of San Francisco in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. The gritty mystery reflected the times—Prohibition and the rise of organized crime and gangster activity. The foggy city with its view of Alcatraz helped create a menacing atmosphere for the novel.
One Image, Two Story Ideas: Hiker in the Desert
Jen and Tina love writing prompts. This month’s photo of a man in the desert took Jen to a murder in a galactic space colony and Tina to a businessman who finds a severed hand in the desert.
S&S Book Club: Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Lida & Jen chat about Lida’s pick: Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Lida writes: This is another book I hadn’t read in a long while, and I thought it was high time to see how it held up. I’d say not too badly at all.
What We’re Reading: November 2022
A look over our shoulders to see what the women behind Sleuths & Sidekicks read in November
16 Mysteries for the Holidays
Jen, Tina, Carol, and Lida write: We love a great read around the holidays. This month we are delighted to share some of our favorite seasonal reads.
S&S Book Club: Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
Tina, Lida and Jen chat about Tina’s pick: S.A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland. Tina writes: I have been meaning to read Blacktop Wasteland since 2020 when it garnered so many awards. This month it finally made it to the top of my never-ending TBR pile. I dug in with enthusiasm.
Nine Great Audiobook Mysteries
Jen writes: I listen to a lot of audio books. Far from being a “less than” reading experience, books I’ve listened to stay with me in a way that physical books often don’t. Here are some of my favorites.
Memorable Characters
Carol writes: Two of my most memorable characters are Inspector Morse, the Oxford policeman in Colin Dexter’s novels, and Melrose Plant, Chief Inspector (later Superintendent) Richard Jury’s friend and partner-in-crime in the Martha Grimes’s mysteries named for pubs in the U.K.
What We’re Reading: October 2022
A look over our shoulders to see what the women behind Sleuths & Sidekicks read in October.
Picture a Mystery: Mary Stewart’s The Moonspinners
Carol writes: Nicola Ferris accidentally stumbles on murder and smuggling while on vacation in Greece in the atmospheric and suspenseful The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart. Some of you may have seen the movie of the same name, released in 1964, starring Hayley Mills. I still remember how much I loved it all these years later!
Behind the Scenes: The Mystery Writing Community
Carol writes: When I first started writing, I didn’t know any writers, much less any published authors. It was quite romantic, actually, imagining myself alone, writing up a storm in a snowy Paris attic...until I reached a point where I didn’t know what to do next. I had what I naively thought was my manuscript. Little did I know I had the first of what would ultimately be dozens of drafts.
S&S Book Club: Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity’s Death
Tina, Lida and Jen chat about Carol’s pick: Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity’s Death. Carol writes: With the first couple of chapter-one sentences, I was hooked. Aunt Dimity’s Death is absolutely delightful—beautifully written, fun, and imaginative—with characters that I enjoy spending time with.
One Image, Two Story Ideas: Woman on a Bicycle
Jen and Tina love writing prompts. This month’s photo of a woman on a bicycle took them to a widow who discovers her double lying in a hospital bed and a spinster bent on outwitting the world’s greatest detective.
What We’re Reading: September 2022
A look over our shoulders to see what the women behind Sleuths & Sidekicks read in September
In and Out of Order
Lida writes: There’s a phenomenon prevalent in the mystery genre that seems to outnumber all other genres: the popularity of book series. Hercule Poirot, Kinsey Millhone, Easy Rawlins and Stephanie Plum all set an example of characters who play starring roles in settings that spring to life in book series over and over again.
Girl Power
Carol writes: When I was growing up and wanted to read about a girl detective, I had a choice between Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. I chose Nancy Drew.
Picture a Mystery: Agatha Christie’s At Bertram’s Hotel
Carol writes: Agatha Christie’s favorite spot in the luxurious tea room at Brown’s Hotel in London was the inspiration for Bertram’s in the Miss Marple mystery At Bertram’s Hotel.
S&S Book Club: Tana French’s The Searcher
Lida and Jen discuss Tana French’s The Searcher. Jen writes: I’m in awe of Tana French. She writes about topics I often shy away from – families broken apart by drugs, disillusioned cops, and more than a few bodies of dead children – but I can’t stop reading her books. She takes me to dark places and out the other side to an impossibly hopeful conclusion.