Donna's Mystery Page

What I am reading right now...

I am in the middle of Lilian Jackson Braun's
'The Cat Who Sang For The Birds' It's okay
so far. Not bad. Not great.
I have a few more books lined up to read:

Sugar and Spite - G.A. McKevett

Sew Deadly - Jean Hager

Murder, She Meowed - Rita Mae Brown
& Sneaky Pie Brown

Now, I have a beef with that last one, or at
least with the author of the last one. Many years ago
I read a writing book by Rita Mae Brown, who is the
author of a book you may recognize,
The Rubyfruit Jungle. Now, there was a lot of
advice in that writing book that didn't make sense to me.
I remember she basically said anyone who wants
to write should learn Latin first.

Now to me, while I understand the basic principle she
is espousing (Latin as the basis of English) it seemed
akin to becoming a doctor to learn how to draw people,
one approach, if a rather tortuous one.
But my biggest beef was that she implied - no, darn it,
I think she outright said it - that murder mystery
writing was not really writing. And then she goes
and writes a murder mystery series. Can you spell
'Selling Out Your Beliefs???'

So what if what really drives me is that she writes
them well, and they are really successful?
I'm looking forward to Murder, She Meowed.

Anyway...

There are few authors who make
me laugh out loud, but Joan Hess does!
Especially her 'Maggody' series.

First, though is the Claire Malloy book of hers that I read.

This woman has never written a bad book, but I can't at this
point remember too much about A Conventional Corpse,
so it can't have been that great. But on the other hand, even Joan
Hess's worst books are loads better than some other author's best,
so it is worth a read, at any rate.

Now, to the juicier one.

Murder@maggody.com is good. Gigglicious. A good mystery
and a good laugh. Can't say better than that, can I?
Visit with the inimitible Brother Verber, Hizzoner, Mrs. Jim Bob,
Ruby Bee and Estelle, and the rest. If you're
looking for deep, these will not satisfy the way Sara Paretsky
will, but it's like you can't eat nutritious all the time, and chocolate
on occasion won't kill you; that is what these are, the bon-bons
of the mystery world. So open up a box o' chocolates,
cause like Forrest Gump said...

And finally...

I just finished this Mary Daheim Bed & Breakfast mystery,
Wed & Buried, and I must agree with an Amazon.com
reader - and I don't say that all that often - who
commented that it is not very good. I found it tough going.
But I am going on to another, Creeps Suzette, just on the
off chance that it is an abberration. I have read a few of hers
and generally enjoy them, but just found this one morose and sad
and confused. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say
that perhaps the writer was going through a tough time, but had
a deadline and an obligation to fill. I'll let you know how
Creeps Suzette goes.

'Peeper' graphic

If you are interested in writing mysteries, I have found a great
writing book by a stellar mystery writer that you might be
interested in. Pick up You Can Write A Mystery by Gillian
Roberts. It is available from the Writer's Digest Book Club and
probably book stores too, and it is well worth it.

She truly makes you believe that you can do it, and not
only that, gives you the blueprint. It is worth the price of the
book alone to get her 'Fifteen Commandments'. Anyway, off
I go to write a mystery, after I get finished the romances
I have to write, and the proposal I want to get done, and...

You get the picture.

See you soon!

'Til then, keep enjoying those mysteries!

E-mail me your thoughts or comments!

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