About Me

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Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

New to Me Authors (January to Mach of 2012)

Kerrie Smith has a new meme at Mysteries in Paradise which welcomes posts of the best new mystery authors read between January 1 and March 31, 2012. Some contributors are posting all their new to them authors while others focus on the best. You can reach the meme by clicking here.

I had 5 new to me mystery authors in the first 3 months of 2012. The authors and the books I read from them are:

1.) Ernest Mallo author of Needle in aHaystack;

2.) Gary Disher author of The Dragon Man;

3.) Joseph T. Klempner author of FelonyMurder;

4.) Randy Wayne White author of Sanibel Flats; and,

5.) L.R. Wright author of The Suspect.

My top 3 of the quintet in the order I would rank them are:

1.) L. R. Wright;

2.) Ernest Mallo; and,

3.) Gary Disher.

There are a trio of ironies with my list.

First, each of the books is not set in the present day. Needle in a Haystack is in Argentina of the 1970’s. Felony Murder, Sanibel Flats and The Dragon Man are all in the 1990’s. Lastly, The Suspect takes place in 1984.

Second, none of the authors is new to publishing in 2011 or 2012. All are authors first published some years to a generation ago.

Third, I have not yet posted a review of The Suspect. I decided to have the list reflect when I read books rather than when I posted reviews. I will be posting my review of The Suspect on Good Friday. It is a wonderful Canadian mystery. I am alittle discouraged with myself that I had not read any of Wright’s books until this year. After reading The Suspect and looking at her website I discovered she had been born in Saskatchewan and spent part of her youth in Saskatoon.

Click over to Mysteries in Paradise. You will find interesting lists of “new to ------ authors”.

8 comments:

  1. Which new (mystery) authors to read is a perpetual dilemma. I like to read virtually unknown
    authors (for me at least) every now and then. They are full of surprises.

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  2. Seems like good choices to me - at least the Mallo and the Disher. I read that Mallo book last year and have the second one lined up to read soon and I have always liked Garry Disher's writing. I don't think I have read any Wright though I have a vague recollection of something from some years ago - before I started keeping a record. Look forward to your review of her book.

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  3. Bill - I'm so glad you liked the Mallo. He's got such a lot of talent I think. And your reviews have made me very keen to write Sanibel Flats. I want to read The Suspect too as I've read very good things about it.

    It's interesting you see some patterns in what you've read, too. I should do that myself - look for patterns...

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  4. I am eagerly looking forward to your review of The Suspect. If you rate it higher than the books by Mallo and Disher, both of which I liked a lot, I think it should be a very good book indeed. How nice that a Canadian author should have topped your list this time.

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  5. Prashant: Thanks for the comment. I regret to say that I look less for new authors on my own than I did when I was younger. I am glad you continue to search unknown authors.

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  6. Bernadette: Thanks for the comment. I doubt I would have read Disher without reading the blogs of yourself and Kerrie.

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  7. Margot: Thanks for commenting. Because blogging causes me to reflect on my reading I find myself in reading patterns I had never planned.

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  8. Maxine: Thanks for the comment. It was a good bonus to have a Canadian author top the list of "New to Me Authors".

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