International Mysteries: Winter Book Group in Berkeley

Each winter our Mystery Readers International NorCal bookgroup discusses International Mysteries ... mysteries set in other countries. Our group meets every Tuesday night and has done so for over 30 years. Obviously we've read a lot of books. Since few of us actually travel during the cold winter months, it's the perfect time to 'visit' new countries, new authors, new mysteries... or to rediscover them.

You're welcome to join us in Berkeley, CA or post comments about the books. If you would like to join us physically, let me know, and I'll send the address. We meet every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. I believe we're the oldest continuous mystery reading group in the Bay Area, and certainly the oldest that continues to meet every week!

About selection of the books: I try to choose books we haven't discussed before as a group, are readily available  in the library or through bookstores or online,  and that I think will make for a good discussion. That doesn't mean that I think everyone will like the books. That's what makes for exciting discussions. I also like to choose at least two books that are new or whose authors are new to most people in the group. If you think we're missing an important crime fiction novel, it might be because we've already read and discussed it. Nevertheless, feel free to post a comment. Some of the books on this list are written by residents of the countries in which the books are set, some are in translation, and some are written by people who live and write in a totally different place. Even if you can't join us, read along. It's a good list.

Be sure and check back on the reading list. Things often change at the first meeting!


Winter 2011 International Mysteries

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away

January 11   S.J. Rozan’s Shanghai Moon (China)

January 18   Adrian Hyland’s Moonlight Downs (Australia)

January 25   Zoe Ferraris’s City of Veils (Saudi Arabia)

February 1   Claudia Pineiro’s Thursday Night Widows (Argentina)

February 8   Deon Meyer’s Thirteen Hours (South Africa)

February 15 Jo Nesbo’s The Redbreast (Norway)

February 22 Fred Vargas’s The Chalk Circle Man (France)

March 1      Martin Limon's The Wandering Ghost (Korea)

March 8     Vanda Symon's Containment (New Zealand)

March 15    Donna Leon’s Friends in High Places (Italy)

Mystery Readers Journal has had several issues devoted to crime fiction in other countries. 2 issues of Mysteries set Italy, Mysteries set in France, Mysteries set in Scandinavia,  Mysteries set in Ireland, Murder in the Far East, Mysteries set in Africa, Murder Down Under and so many more.

Each issue contains a section entitled Author! Author! in which authors contribute essays about their writing and region. Most issues are available either as hardcopy of .pdf download. This year we'll be having two issues devoted to London crime fiction! That should be fun!

Odd True Crime Stories 2010

2010 is the Year that Was. Here are two odd stories of relevance to mystery readers and writers, proving that Truth is Stranger than Fiction.

MAN, SHOT IN HEAD, NOTICES FIVE YEARS LATER

A Polish man living in Germany went about his business for about five years without noticing he had been shot in the head because he was drunk when it happened. Doctors found a .22 caliber bullet in the back of his head after the 35-year-old went to have what he thought was a cyst removed.
Presented with the 5.6mm projectile, the man recalled he had received a blow to the head around midnight at a New Year's party "in 2004 or 2005," but had forgotten about it because he had been "very drunk," a police spokesman said. "He told us he remembered having a sore head, but that he wasn't really one for going to the doctor," the spokesman said.

The wound later healed around the bullet and it was not until the man decided to have the lump examined due to recurring pains that the discovery was made.

Police said they were not treating the incident as suspicious as the bullet might have got lodged in the man's head when a reveler fired a gun in celebration. "It may have been a shot fired up in the air which entered his head on the way down," the spokesman said.
 LINK

THIEF WEARS 'GHILLIE' CAMOUFLAGE MOSS SUIT TO STEAL FROM A MUSEUM

Deputies investigating a possible break-in at an Oregon rock museum were surprised when they stumbled upon a man concealed on the ground by a moss-like camouflage outfit. The hidden suspect cried out when a search dog bit him before daylight hours Thursday in a wooded area outside the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals.

Police identified the man, dubbed "Moss Man" as 36-year-old Gregory Liascos of Portland, and arrested him on burglary and criminal mischief charges.

Sheriff's officials say nothing was stolen from the museum, a popular tourist attraction just west of Portland that is home to gemstones, minerals, fossils and meteorites. But they allege Liascos had secretly cut a hole in one of the building's walls days earlier and was trying to get in.

A caretaker noticed the large hole in a bathroom wall earlier in the week. Detectives were notified and installed security devices at the museum, which went off early Thursday.  Deputies who responded searched the grounds, finding a bike and a backpack.

"The K9 tracked to a wooded area and was very interested in a particular piece of ground about a half a mile away from the building," Thompson said in a release. "The dog then bit the ground that in turn cried out in pain."

The officer then realized there was a man hiding at his feet, dressed in a "ghillie" suit, Thompson said. A ghillie suit is a head-to-toe camouflage outfit used by military snipers to blend in with vegetation.
 LINK

Sounds like he had rocks in his head!

Found these stories on Oddee.com

Cartoon of the Day: The eBook

 Hilary Price: Rhymes with Orange

Cartoon of the Day: Butler's Ball

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Library Wall Bed

Library Wall Bed

Bookcases hide the bed and are mounted on high quality, heavy duty overhead tracks and rollers. The bookcases  roll to the side to reveal the bed. With the Library Bed, the sliding cases also function as bookcases.

These bookcases can handle 125 pounds each. Not sure that would hold enough of my own books, but certainly will hold several plus the iPad. Other features include built-in nightstands, a sloping headboard and lighting.

The main drawback to this set-up is that you need the two side cabinets (so that the bookcases have somewhere to roll when opened) and as a result, you need a fairly large clean wall space. This bed and cabinet do not require floor mounting.

Price: Now here's the rub: $10,000 - $12, 265  (mattress included!)

Hat Tip: Ron Charles

New Year's Mysteries: A List

Time again for another holiday list: New Year Mysteries! 2011 is almost upon us, and I wish you a safe, healthy and  prosperous New Year. May mystery and mayhem only happen in crime fiction.

Here's a list of Crime Fiction Set at the New Year. As always, let me know if I've missed any titles.

Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past
Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry
Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
Lee Child, ed: Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions
Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men
Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming
Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
Loren D. Estleman: Stress
Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard
Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
J.A. Jance: Name Withheld
Rufus King: Holiday Homicide
Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Ed McBain: Lullaby
Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News
Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: Body Wore Brocade
David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming
Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow
Patricia Wentworth: Clock Strikes Twelve
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Check out my Chocolate Blog: Dying for Chocolate later this week for Chocolate Party Hats (ice cream cones) or last year's Champagne Truffles to make. Rather buy some? Here's a link to a Variety of Champagne Truffles.

Photo: Duke Magazine. Human numbers!