~Mysteries I'm Reading~

Here's a list of the mysteries I'm working on right now:

Morality for Beautiful Girls, by Alexander McCall Smith The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books are quite nice. Their peaceful atmosphere is fun. I'm reading this one slowly.

The Right Attitude to Rain, by Alexander McCall Smith An Isabel Dalhousie novel -- almost not a mystery at all. There's a lot of philosophizing and thoughtfulness about humanity in these books.

Death of a Dreamer, by M.C. Beaton (A Hamish Macbeth mystery) He now has, as well as his dog, a wonderful, tame half-wildcat named Sonsie.

Too Many Women, by Rex Stout. Archie pretends to be an employee at a corporation to investigate whether a man was murdered, and if not, why people are saying he was.

The Bigger They Come, by A. A. Fair (actually Erle Stanley Gardner) The first Donald Lam and Bertha Cool mystery. I've heard these books billed as being like Nero Wolfe and Archie mysteries, with Bertha Cool (a rotund lady) as the Wolfe-like character. I had to try one, after that. So far it looks good. So far Bertha seems just as persnicketty as Wolfe, but a lot less scary. I don't know, I guess I find a fat woman who (possibly) despises men a lot less unnerving than a fat man who (seeminly) despises women. Less of an insult against myself, somehow.

The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey. This is supposed to be one of the best mysteries ever written, about a guy in the hospital investigating whether Richard III really did kill the little princes in the towers. I'm having trouble getting into it, though.



I've been reading a lot of Rex Stout books lately, so some of these others have been on the back boiler a bit. The last eight books I read were all by Rex Stout, and all starred Archie and Wolfe. Possibly I go through seasons where I either want to read nothing but these books, or can't stand the sight of them. I'm not certain why that may be.

Anyway, this is my last Rex Stout book until I get back to the library. Unless I tap into my reserves. But I think I should go slow for a bit on them. I'm starting to get irritated with Archie, and when this happens it usually means I need a leetle break.

And by getting annoyed, I mean "thinking he's a manslut," or whatever the polite word for that is. Can he ever *not* chase anything in a skirt?

Yep, little break. :)