Welcome to Litsy!

#bookreport
June 9-15

I was mostly home this past week so I read, read, read. My upcoming we will be different as I am visiting my sister & brother-in-law in NH. Hiking, blueberry picking, etc.
I‘m staying on track with buddy reads Jewish Philosophy,Messy Lives,A Room, Wolf Hall #deadphilosopherssociety #sundsybuddyread #pemberlittens #bookedintime
Started the Murder of ProfessorSchlick,The Night Gate
On the Virginia Woolf chapter in A Life🔽

Read:
approximately 1/3 of Wolf #Bookedintime
1st section of Messy Lives #sundaybuddyread
73 pg left of Nuns #nunlit
59 pg. of A Life #ninewomenwritersbeginagain
Ch.11 Broken #audio #coldcase #policeprocedural
Cp 7 A Room #pemberlittens

Another trip to the part of Scotland I love. I like her Karen Pirie books best. This did not disappoint.

I read a couple of books over the weekend and this was another in the very enjoyable Karen pirie series about Edinburgh historic case unit. Karen is a great character who is both tough and vulnerable. Here a body is discovered preserved in peat bog with connections to 1996 but also ww2. A twisty investigation ensues, my only criticism was a too neatly tied up ending. Still a good easy read.

Good. Wasn‘t sure at first because near the beginning some things jarred, e.g. a character called Alice ‘harrumphed‘ twice in the space of a page, so I thought perhaps the author‘s so popular she was getting complacent and the editor didn‘t want to challenge it. But turns out they were isolated incidents and otherwise it was really good. Some ace one-liners, great structure, plot and characters.

I really enjoyed this police mystery. Great cast of characters and the novel kept a good pace. I look forward to checking out more in this series.

Another excellent Karen Pirie book. She is my favourite of Val McDermid's series characters. I would recommend her if you like cold cases, mysteries set in Edinburgh, and solid police procedurals. Definitely less creepy than the Hill and Jordan series!

"Karen was a firm subscriber to the East Coast view that it always rained in Glasgow. She couldn't understand why a local dialect that had about forty words for being intoxicated didn't have the same number for types and conditions of rain."

We visited Edinburgh in September 2018 and the statement about "hapless knots of tourists [blocking] its pavements" is ?true ?

My great-grandfather's family came from Portpatrick, so I am always tickled to see it in fiction (even when characters don't like it, as is the case here).

I bailed on The Mermaids Singing years ago, but I still clicked the read now button on NetGalley for this one. I‘m so glad I did. I love DCI Karen Pirie and her colleague, Jason. I was impressed that even though I haven‘t read the first books of the series, I never felt lost and there was never a big info dump either. There are multiple mysteries and the solutions are believable and well paced. I‘ll definitely read more of this series. 4 1/2 ⭐️

Another satisfying outing with DCI Karen Pirie and nicely set up for number 6, just have to track down the 3 I haven‘t read.

Karen Pirie was such good company yesterday, I‘ve invited her back to the sewing room today

I love Val McDermid‘s books, but IMHO, this is not one of her best. Started slow, but picked up in the last third. I do have to admit that Karen Pirie is not one of my favorite characters. I am, however, a fan of Indian Motorcycles which figure large in the plot.

More early pressie exchanges... A member of my family actually bought me a Book!!!! 😂😂😂 Always wanted to read her but never have.... Guessing this is a later one in an ongoing series though??

Val McDermid is on top form@with this latest novel featuring DCI Karen Pirie. Read my Goodreads review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39086134-broken-ground #book #books #valmcdermid #brokenground #currentlyreading #bookstagram #crimefiction #firstedition #scottishnoir