I think that I have mentioned that I am a huge fan of Charlotte MacLeod‘s Peter (and Helen) Shandy mystery series and her Sarah Kelling (and Max Bittersohn) mystery series. I have read (and enjoyed!) almost all of the books in both of these series, but I must admit that I am putting off reading the remaining few that I haven’t read. I have always hated finishing a good cozy mystery series, so I am simply saving the rest of the novels. I know this sounds rather silly….. Why don’t I simply read the remaining novels and "enjoy the moment" now?
Well, I think that the reason I like to "save books" that I own (for future reading enjoyment) probably comes from the times when I read books for my mystery reading groups that I didn’t particularly enjoy. That is one of the main reasons I no longer belong to a mystery reading group. I found that a lot of time I had to work at finishing a novel. And then, I was always a little hesitant about stating how much I disliked the novel that someone else had nominated for us to read. (Let’s face it…. we should love our novels, not feel like we HAVE to finish them!)
But, I am losing the point that I was going to make about Charlotte MacLeod vs. Alisa Craig….
I have only read one of the Inspector Madoc Rhys books that Craig/MacLeod wrote….. Murder Goes Mumming. I remember enjoying it a lot, but at the time, I was reading so many other authors (for my mystery reading groups) that I sort of put the Craig books on the back burner to the MacLeod books. Well, I finally decided that I want to resume my Craig pursuit, so I have started reading the first in the series…. A Pint of Murder. I am such an advocate of reading book series in the correct chronological order that I am ashamed to admit that I read the second book (Murder Goes Mumming) of the series first!
I will have to write a blog once I get farther in the book, and see if Craig’s books stand up to MacLeod’s! Yes, I know that the author is (was) the same person, but her two MacLeod series set the standard pretty high. My verdict later……………………
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