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.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

New to Me Authors for April to June of 2015

For the second quarter of 2015 I read books by 6 authors new to me. The number is about my average. I am always a little surprised when the number of new authors per quarter varies little as I have no planned reading program to read a certain number of new authors.

The books and authors are:

     1.) No Known Grave by Maureen Jennings; 

     2.) Killing Pilgrim  by Alen Mattich;
 
     3.) Swedes' Ferry by Allan Safarik;
 
     4.) None So Blind by Barbara Fradkin;
 
     5.) Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman; and,
 
     6.) Signature Kill by David Levien

The only unique stat from the sextet is that 5 of the authors are Canadian. David Levien is not a Canadian author.

Out of the 6 books I choose Swedes' Ferry as my favourite for the quarter. It is not the best book. Killing Pilgrim is a better book but I am not required to pick the "best".

Swedes' Ferry has an unusual combination of genres in that it is both a Western and a mystery. Better yet it is partially set in what is now Saskatchewan. Back in 1894 when the book takes place the area was part of the Assiniboia Territory. It also has an ending that is not conventional.

The new author meme is hosted by Kerry Smith at her terrific blog, Mysteries in Paradise. Drop over to see the choices of other bloggers.

2 comments:

  1. You do have some interesting choices there, Bill. And it's interesting how a book doesn't necessarily have to be the best book to be one's top choice. I think all sorts of factors go into it when we choose books we like. I also think it's interesting how we develop patterns in our reading without even being aware of it.

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    1. Margot: Thanks for the comment. This unrealized pattern has made me wonder how many more there are in my life.

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