2011 250 Book challenge Penny's picks.

January, 2011

# 1. Sisters on the Case edited by Sara Paretsky. Short stories featuring women detectives/investigators solve crimes.

# 2. Sword of Shame by The Medieval Murders. A beautifully crafter sword took its first life durning the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The "Sword of Shame'' follows the sword through its history as a weapon and its history of ill fortune and disgrace for those who use it.

# 3. Past Reason Hated by Peter Robinson. Just prior to Christmas Caroline Hartley, local business woman and amateur actor, is brutally murdered by someone she admitted to her home.

# 4. Wednesday's Child by Peter Robinson. Two people claiming to be social workers abduct seven year old Gemma. What role does her mother's boy friend play? Does it tie in to a recent robbery? Why Gemma?

# 5. Blood at the Root by Peter Robinson. What first appears to be death by mugging turns into a racial motivated crime. Alan and Sandy have marital problems which leads to a separation and Alan gets suspended by the Chief Constable. It is also titled Dead Right.

# 6. A Play of Piety by Margaret Frazer. The sixth title in the Joliffe series has him working at a hospital where Basset is being treated. Rose is working in the kitchen and the three others helping with the harvest. A very disagreeable woman, Mistress Thorncoffyn, is upsetting the smooth running of the hospital and when it appears she is being poisoned it is not a great surprise.

# 7. Dragon's Lair by Sharon Kay Penman. Richard the Lionheart has been imprisoned in Germany on his way back to England after a crusade. Dowager Queen Eleanor is working to raise the ransom demanded for his release. Part of the Welsh portion of the ransom has been hijacked. It is the job of Justin de Quincy to find it.

# 8. Treasure Hunt by John Lescroart. A big time charity organizer and fundraiser is found murdered. Is he dead because he is being investigated for misuse of funds or is it a castoff lover gaining revenge?

February, 2011, I am moving and this cutting into my reading time.

Good luck with that! I hope it all goes well so you can get back to the stacks soon.

# 9. Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith. A fax asking "Where is Red Square?" is the basis for this novel which ranges from Moscow to Munich, Berlin and back to Moscow. It is an interesting time in Soviet history, the wall went down in late 1989 and now in 1991 citizens are holding rallies in front of the government buildings in Moscow. Regardless this book really dragged for me and I probably wouldn't have finished it but I am moving and a helper packed all my books, so I had to go back to this.

# 10. Beautiful Lie the Dead by Barbara Fradkin. A missing bride-to-be, an affair from thirty years past, anxious parents and adopted children all come together in Fradkin's newest Michael Green.

# 11. Gallows View by Peter Robinson. A peeping Tom, housebreakers, a rape and one murdered old lady. Banks thought that moving to Eastvale from London would mean a quieter life, but that soesn't seem to be the case.

# 12. Not Dead Enough by Peter James. Brian Bishop claimed to be asleep in London when his wife was murdered in Brighton. If he was who did it? A twist unraveled at the end of the book provides the answer.

# 13. 10lb Penalty by Dick Francis. In practice, a 10-lb penalty is the maximum extra weight a winning thoroughbread is normally set to carry in a horse race. Ben Juliard discovers a 10-lb penalty can be a killer when he finds himself the target of his politician father's enemies.

I am now in my new apartment but the unpacking has a while to go before it is completed and the books are in order and the art is on the walls. I am way behind where I was last year at this time, 13 against 32. I am reading my 'comfort' books, e.g., Dick Francis.

I am behind too but I figure I have 10 months to catch up so no worries. Good luck with the rest of the move. I find sometimes 'move day' pales in comparison to 'unpack week/month/year'.

March, 2011

# 14. Cold Is the Grave by Peter Robinson Banks is asked by Chief Constable Riddle to find his 16 year old daughter who has run off to London. A computer business folds it tent and slips away in the night resulting in two murders. It is Banks' task to find out how these cases become one.

# 15. Aftermath by Peter Robinson. Young teenage girls are disappearing leaving no clue for the police to follow. Add to this women abused by their spouses, children by their parents and adult relatives and Banks is faced with a complex puzzle.

I hurt my knee and hobble among my boxed belongs trying to direct others where to put what. At this time last year I was at #46 and I ended the year with 191. It doesn't look promising for this year.

# 16. Spadework Stories of the Nameless Detective by Bill Pronzini Enjoy the weird and the wonderful look at the world though the eyes of the Nameless detective. The stories are a snapshot of Nameless' career as a private investigator and his outlook on life.

# 17. SideTracked by Henning Mankell opens with a young woman setting herself on fire in a field of rape. Men are being savagely murdered with an axe and scalped. What connects the men, one to another, is the young woman connected? As Wallender works his way through the investigation he has the feeling that he is not moving in the right direction, but is being side-tracked.

# 18. Firewall by Henning Mankell. What appears to be a violent, one off, murder by two teenager girls and a death by natural causes leads Wallander and his people into one of their most complicated case.

April, 2011

# 19. A Trail of Ink by Mel Starr. This is an Early Reviewers book. Please see my review at www.librarything.com/work/10059221/reviews

# 20. The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi. A fascinating glimpse of the life of George VI behind the public eye as well as the first developments in speech therapy and all that it meant to the person inflicted.

# 21. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith.Mma Ramotswe has difficulty accepting the demise of her little white van. This theme of loss follows through the cases she deals with, the losing football club, the potential loss of Mma Makutsi's fiance to Violet Sephotho her enemy since secretarial school.

# 22. A Vigil of Spies by Candace Robb. The Archbishop of York, John Thoresby, is dying and Owen Archer,Thoresby's master of the guard wants to make his master's last days as peaceful as possible. But people have come to watch and wait, hatch plots to gain ground for his successor, uncover old secrets and murder when necessary.

# 23. The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith. The search for a tour guide left a bequest by an American tourist leads the detectives to the north of Botswana, the Okavango Delta. In Gabarone Mma Makutsi's finace has been 'kidnapped' by his aunt.

# 24. The Dance of Death by Kate Sedley. Roger the Chapman is desperate to go home to Plymouth and his family upon his return to London from Scotland. However Timothy Plummer, spymaster to the King has a task he must undertake in Paris before he will release him from his services

# 25. Rat Race by Dick Francis. There's no shortage of suspects when Matt Shore and his four race going, air taxi passengers narrowly avoid death when the plane blows up. It's up to Matt to determine who wants whom dead and why.

# 26. Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Restaurant owner, Max Moreton, gets into hot water when guests at a gala race course dinner become very ill with food poisoning. This is closely followed by a bombing at the next event he caters. Who arranged the bombing and why do they want to kill Max?

# 27. Silks by Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Geoffrey Mason, barrister cum amateur jockey, is defending a fellow jockey of a murder charge. He is also being threatened by a former client to ensure that the jockey is found guilty. Like other Dick Francis books the focus is less on horses and racing and more on the murder and in this case the law

#28. Murder in Hell's Kitchen by Lee Harris. Detective Jane Bauer, NYPD, has been moved from a very high profile investigation to a new unit set up to look at cold cases. Arlen Quill was murdered four years ago in the lobby of his apartment building and it was decided that it was a push through. But the new investigators find a complete turnover of tenants and more deaths in the building. Why?

# 29. Murder in Alphabet City by Lee Harris. Pressure is put on the unit to reopen the investigation in an 8 year old suicide by starvation. This leads to a second questionable suicide of a social worker, who links back to the first case as she was his case worker.

# 30. Murder in Greenwich Village by Lee Harris. Ten years earlier an undercover cop was murdered and no trace of his killer was found. He was investigating stole weapons and where they went.

# 31/32. Break In and Bolt by Dick Francis. In Break In Kit's twin sister is married to the son of Maynard Allardeck, who maintains a feud against the Fieldings, and their stables are the target of a smear campaign.

In Bolt a princess is blackmailed, and Kit's feud with Maynard Allardeck has once again intensified.

# 33. Under Orders by Dick Francis. Sid Halley is drawn into investigation of three deaths, race fixing and internet gambling… and he gets married.

# 34. Decider by Dick Francis.Architect/contractor Lee Morris and five of his six sons get sucked into the intra-family warfare concerning a race course. Navigating the turbulent family waters is complicated by the fact that he is connected by marriage to the combatants. One of them is willing to kill to close the race course to sell the land to a developer.

# 35. Even Money by Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Ned Talbot has some problems. His wife suffers from bipolar disorder and has been hospitalize for the past five months. A man appears claiming to be his father, but Ned had grown up being told his parents died in a car crash when he was a baby, then this man is murdered within an hour of their meeting. And just to make life interesting a large bookmaker is out to buy Ned's company regardless of the fact it is not for sale.

# 36. To the Hilt by Dick Francis. Artist, Alexander Kinlock leads a quiet life in Scotland until he returns home one day to find a group of thugs waiting for him asking 'Where is it?

# 37. Reflex by Dick Francis. A jockey turns to photography as a career and becomes embroiled in the aftermath of the strange death of a racetrack photographer.

# 38. Bullet Work by Steve O'Brien. I received this through Earlier Reviewers, you can read my review at www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=pmarshall

June, 2011

# 39. Banker by Dick Francis. Merchant banker, Tim Ekaterin, invest in a prime stallion. This brings him into contact with Calder Jackson who claims he can cure horses by laying his hands on them.

# 40. Bonecrack by Dick Francis. When a ruthless crime lord decides he wants his son Alessandro to ride on the Derby winner, the best way to achieve such an end is to kidnap Neil Griffon, who is temporarily in charge of his father's stables & threaten him with the destruction of the stables unless his son is given the ride.

# 41. Straight by Dick Francis. Jockey Derek Franklin's brother Greville, dies in a senseless accident. Derek inherits his business, gemstones, gadgets, enemies, horses and even his mistress.

# 42. Final Last Words by Quintin Jardine. Some one is killing off the top crime writers of Edinburgh, using killing methods from their own books to do them in. Sir James Proud announced his immediate retirement from the Chief Constable's position and his successor is named. Is it Skinner?
I reread this because I have his next title on order.

# 43. Hot Money by Dick Francis. A millionaire's estranged, fifth wife is murdered and someone is trying to kill him. He turns to his son, Ian Pembroke, by one of his previous wives for help. In the process Malcolm becomes a racing fan and horse owner. An interesting take on children of a wealth man who feel that what he spends is taking away from them.

# 44. The Danger by Dick Francis. Finding kidnappers is the company's business. A girl jockey disappears, followed by the young child of a Derby winner, and the senior steward of the Jockey Club.

# 45. High Stakes by Dick Francis. A crooked trainer in cahoots with a bookie are out to take a toy inventor, Steven Scott, for all he is worth.

# 46. Proof by Dick Francis. An unexplained accident during a Sunday morning party at a racing stable leads the wine merchant into solving the mystery of the stolen whisky.

# 47. A Rush of Blood by Quintin Jardine. The Lithuanians have moved into Edinburgh and the massage parlour business. Too many deaths are made to look like suicides.

# 48. Death of a Lesser Man by Thomas Rendell Curran. A man taking a late night walk in Bannerman Park, St. John's, Newfoundland is murdered. Inspector Eric Stride examines the man's life, in particular his W.W. 1 service, in seeking a solution.

#49. The Katyn Order by Douglas W. Jacobson. A 2011 Early Reviewers book, you can find the review at www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=pmarshall

# 50. Smokescreen by Dick Francis. An actor goes to South Africa to solve a racing mystery for a friend and the result is villainy and intrigue more deadly than any of his films.

# 51. 212 by Alafair Burke. Attacking people through the internet, high class prostitution and the access to secrets and blackmail possibilities that both entail creates a complex murder investigation for NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher and her partner.

# 52.The Inheritance by Simon Tolkien. Steven Cade is arrested and tried for the murder of his father. He says he is innocent and that the murder is related to events the his father was involved in in 1944 in France.

# 53. A Necessary End by Peter Robinson. An anti-nuclear demonstration becomes a riot and when it is over the body of a policeman, stabbed to death, is left. Banks and "Dirty Dick" Burgess, sent up from London, have to solve the case.

# 54. Wild Horses by Dick Francis. While making a film about racing in Newmarket, the director, Thomas Lyon, finds himself facing a dilemma of whether to reveal the truth about a 26 year-old murder which he learned from a deathbed confession of an old friend.

# 55. For Kicks by Dick Francis. An Australian, Daniel Roke, goes undercover as a stable hand to solve a racehorse doping scandal.

Welcome back! I have never read a Dick Francis book but my father-in-law swears by them so I should probably give them a go. I do like Peter Robinson and have a few unread ones kicking around. I am focused on reading stuff that fits into the 11/11/11 challenge but that should be completed shortly so I will then be free to widen my choices again.

# 56. The Fatal Touch by Conor Fitzgerald. A 2011 Early Reviewers book. The review can be found at http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=pmarshall

# 57. Flying Finish by Dick Francis. A young aristocrat, Henry Grey throws up a respectable job to join a firm which transports race horses all over the world. When men start making one way trips he wonders what happened to them.

# 58. Shattered by Dick Francis. When a jockey dies following a fall in a steeplechase, he accidentally embroils his friend Gerry Logan, an artisan glassblower, in a perilous search for a stolen videotape. …. Glass shatters. Logan doesn’t – but it’s a close thing.

#59. The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters. A young man is chased into the church just in time to claim sanctuary from the mob. He is accused of killing a goldsmith and stealing from him. But is it as straight forward as it seems? Brother Cadfael will examine the case and follow its trails.

# 60. The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters. Hundreds of pilgrims, at least four con men, a barefoot pilgrim with a cross making his way to Ireland, a small family hoping for a miracle that will mend a leg gather in Shrewsbury to celebrate Saint Winifred. An added tension is the civil war caused by Stephen and Maud's claim to the English throne.

# 61. Grievous Angel by Quintin Jardine. This novel starts by revealing some of Skinner's past history to his wife Aileen and ends up as a review of a 15 year old case involving one family. It is interesting because it shows how Skinner starts to put his team together, Andy Martin, Mario McGuire, Maggie Rose and Allison Higgins. It also fills in some of his life as a single parent with Alex.

# 62. Body Work by Sara Paretsky. The actions of an artist allowing people to paint on her body, the sister of a woman who died in Iraq, a PTSS vetern and a company that has major contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense come together in a Chicago night club. V.I. tries to put the pieces in place.

# 63. Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs. A body found north of Montreal is the beginning of a very confusing case for Brennan. According to the files the finger prints of the corpse died 40 years ago not two days ago and belong to another body that was buried in North Carolina in 1968. As the un/identified bodies pile up the connecting factor is the Vietnam War. But who is who? The technical descriptions provide too much det

# 64. Trial Run by Dick Francis. A retired jockey is sent to Moscow on a delicate investigation involving royalty and the Moscow Olympics.

# 65. The Forfeit by Dick Francis. Racing correspondent for a newspaper dedicated to exposing scandals in the noisiest way becomes involved in exposing a racing fraud while dealing with the problems of his marriage to a woman housebound by polio.

# 66. Nerve by Dick Francis. A young jockey is struggling to make his name but it looks as though he has lost his nerve - or has he?

# 67. In the Frame by Dick Francis.
Charles Todd, portrait artist of horses becomes involved in solving the murder of his cousin's wife and the theft of all their belongings. Todd discovers links between this cousin's theft and another that happened in southern England. This leads him to Australia.

# 68. Orchestrated Murder by Rick Blechta. Reviewed for Early Reviewers. see librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=pmarshall

# 69. The Fall Guy by Barbara Fradkin. Handyman Cedric O'Toole constructed a deck for a wealthy client. Unfortunately the client's wife leans on the railing and falls to her death. Was it a case of shoddy workmanship or was the deck sabotaged to cause the death?

# 70. Boarderline by Nevada Barr. A relaxing raft trip on the Rio Grande is anything but for Anna Pigeon and her husband Paul. The river is rising and moving much faster than expected which results in the raft overturning. A barely alive pregnant woman's is found among the rocks and their guide is shot when she climbs the canyon wall to use the telephone to call for help.

# 71. Blood Red by Quintin Jardine. Primavera Blackstone and her young son, Tom, have settled happily in a small Spanish coastal town. A powerful politician is found dead not long after a meeting with Blackstone. To evade the law she leaves the village and works to solve the murder case.

I am coming out of a 10-12 year depressive period and I am feeling so much better. Maybe this will help my numbers. I registered with the province's Shut in Book Service and will receive, monthly, boxes of books by mail. Such a small step but it took years to make it.

That program sounds like a great idea! And then you have your on-line friends to chat with about what you have read.

# 72. Coming Back by Marcia Muller. McCone is back at work following rehab for a bullet wound to the head. She is received with mixed feelings from her staff, ranging from she should still be off and in rehab, to let's give her a chance and see how she handles it (we will, of course, follow her to make sure she doesn't blow it). And she has her own self doubts as she becomes involved in a case of a missing friend with a link to a rogue intelligence agencies. Can I handle this case or will I need to turn it over to others to complete?

# 73. Mrs. Kennedy The Missing History of the Kennedy Years by Barbara Leamimg. See review at www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=pmarshall

# 74. A Brace of Skeet by Gerald Hammond. Deborah Calder is temporally in charge of the local gun club due to the murder of the club steward.

# 75. Let Us Prey by Gerald Hammond. Solicitor Ralph Enterkin narrates this tale of a dead keeper, poisoned birds of prey and an illegal scheme of trafficikng in wild birds.

# 76. Unnatural Justice by Quintin Jardine. Oz's father is being blackmailed and Oz must deal with the this plus bombs in his wife's office.

# 77. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith. Mma Ramotswe is hired to investigate the killing of cattle. She is puzzled by Charlie and the accusation that he fathered twins, and in the background is the planning for Mma Makusti's wedding and the ghostly white van.

# 78. The White Masai by Corinne Hofmann. See review at http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=pmarshall

# 79. The Maltese Manuscript by Joanne Dobson. Someone is stealing books from academic libraries. How does this tie into a conference on murder mysteries at Professor Karen Pelletier's college?

# 80. City of Whispers by Marcia Muller. McCone's half brother Darcy Blackhawk is missing in the dark side of San Francisco. Not Muller's best.

# 81. One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Clare Fergusson returns to Millers Kills following her deployment to Iraq. She is bowed and battered as she takes back her life as the Rev. Clare and tries to put Iraq behind her.

# 82. Gamble by Felix Francis. A financial adviser is shot while watching a race at Aintree. The investigation connects him and his firm to an EU investment in Bulgaria. But that doesn't explain why he was shot or why attempts are being made on his business partner's life.

# 83. Crossfire by Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Tom Forsyth returns to his mother's training stable following an injury sustained while serving in Afghanistan to discovery she is being blackmailed, forced to prevent her horses from winning and owing over one million pounds in back taxes.