New Finds and New DNFs – Mystery

I’ve been on a mystery kick lately, and I tried some new-to-me authors this time around.

Winners for me were Chelsea Cain (Heartsick) and Joanne Dobson (Quieter than Sleep and its sequels) and Barbara Hamilton, who is actually Barbara Hambly, one of my favorite writers (The Ninth Daughter). Alas, there are only two of the Abigail Adams mysteries – the second one is on its way to me now.

Losers were varied. Mystery series often have a theme of some kind. I tried one with a detective who was also involved in the music scene. I didn’t get more than three pages in because I reacted badly to the author’s style, which to me was very crude and basic. Also, there was nothing in those first pages to make me interested in the lead character, even though usually I love musician characters.

I also tried the first in a series of well-known historical mysteries. I was liking the historical detail in that one for several pages, but slowly the first-person narration turned me off. It wasn’t that the book was bad. I just didn’t take to that character, and since the series revolves around the narrator, well. Scratch that one.

Finally, I tried an author who was reportedly similar to Chelsea Cain, but just couldn’t get into it, possibly because there were too many point of view characters in the sample I read. I tend to like, at most, two pov characters in mysteries. I might try this author again later on.

My hunt for new mystery series continues.