Angieville

Not long ago Jen Robinson posted about her top 12 Favorite Mystery Series . The list included the mystery series she keeps going back to, picking up each new installment, and enjoying the arc of the series as a whole. In her words, These are series that haven't petered out for me--I'm just as interested to read the 10th book in hardcover (if available) as I was to read the second. They are automatic selections for me. I loved this post as it gave me a few new recommendations I'd never heard of before (Jacqueline Winspear 's Maisie Dobbs series for starters) as well as made me think about which series would make my list. As I suspected, Jen and I share a couple favorites. I've been a mystery reader since my Nancy Drew days and I've been thinking about my list and I think I've whittled it down to the cream of the crop for me. There are so many series that are classic or already completed, but I kept this list to ones that are still in progress. My top 7 favo...

First off, apologies to Angie and her Ville for the delay in this post. My brain went dead following two weeks on the road, and the various attempts at writing something produced words so dull, they put me to sleep. Of course, pretty much anything put me to sleep, after an average of 5 ½ hours of sleep a night for 12 nights… One of the things I love most about an author tour is having a chance to meet the people who read my books. In a normal job, a person gets feedback as she goes along, conversations with customers and colleagues, but my job is to sit in a quiet room for ten or eleven months and tap my fingertips down onto buttons. Little opportunity for ongoing feedback there. On a book tour, it’s all about the feedback, particularly since my events consist of about ten minutes of me talking, two minutes of reading from the book, and 48 minutes of Q&A. It’s true, as my daughter pointed out, that I don’t actually answer the questions, but I do use them as springboards to tal...

I love the title of this the 9th Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novel. In name and spirit, The Language of Bees brings things back to the beginning once more. Back to the Downs, back to the hives, back to a 15-year-old Mary Russell stumbling over a retired detective tending his bees in peace, thus setting into motion the unlikely formation of a most formidable and engaging partnership. What an adventure it's been, and how fascinating to follow these two dominant personalities meet and clash and meet again, picking their way ever so rationally toward a kind of home. In this installment, Russell and Holmes indeed come home to Sussex after months and months abroad--tired, anxious, and, in Russell's case, tangled up in self-doubt and disillusionment. They walk through the door to find Holmes' beloved bees have inexplicably fled their hive and a stranger waiting for them. A stranger who is not a stranger after all. They met surrealist painter Damian Adler once before. Now he soli...

Phew, I'm back. Vegas was hot and windy, but the wedding we attended was lovely. Lots of yummy, yummy Thai food at the reception and many good people to visit with. A much-needed getaway. I just wanted to put up a reminder that Laurie R. King , author of the most wonderful if-you-haven't-read-them-yet-you-must Mary Russell series , will be guest blogging here on Wednesday. Laurie is promoting her latest and greatest Mary Russell-- The Language of Bees . You're in for a treat so don't miss it! I've also got several good reviews on their way up this week. Look out for my review of Fragile Eternity (much to say on that one), Dead and Gone (Sookie rules), and of course The Language of Bees .

Attention all Mary Russell fans. This spring marks the 15th anniversary of The Beekeeper's Apprentice , Laurie R. King 's first novel in her wonderful mystery series featuring Sherlock Holmes and the unflappable Mary Russell. It also marks the 150th birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. To celebrate those two events, as well as the publication of The Language of Bees --the 9th book in the series, Ms. King is putting on Fifteen Weeks of Bees . The festivities will be grand and will include, among other things, a blog tour, contests, free downloads, and more!  A dear friend of mine (Hey, CK!) introduced me to this series several years ago while we were both faithful members of Readerville and the YARG (may it rest in peace). I fell in love right away and have enjoyed not only each subsequent installment but passing them on to other appreciative readers. If you like literary mysteries and haven't dipped into this series, now would be a great time. And if you have, spread the wo...