March Pick of the Month

 

Another month in the books (😉) and it's time to see what I've read and which mystery stands out among the crowd. I'm delighted to see that I'm keeping up the reading pace--even though things have picked up considerably at work. I managed another 23 books in March and all 23 had a mystery flair. As long as I keep marching along at this rate, I'll be planting a flag on Mount Olympus on Mars (in my Mount TBR challenge) before the year is out. The quality this month was better than February--the lowest rating is three stars. But I'm still looking for that elusive five-star rating for a new-to-me book. Strong Poison by Sayers and The Devil in Music by Kate Ross are our only five-star winners this month and I've read that Sayers so many times I could probably recite portions in my sleep. She has also won the coveted P.O.M. Award in the past, as has Ross (in January). But before we hand out the shiny prize, let's take a look at the stats.

Total Books Read: 23
Total Pages: 5,504
Average Rating: 3.74 stars  
Top Rating: 5 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 22%

Percentage by Male Authors: 74%

Percentage by both Female & Male Authors: 4%
Percentage by US Authors: 83%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  0%
Percentage Mystery: 100%

Percentage Fiction: 100%
Percentage written 2000+: 26%
Percentage of Rereads: 43%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% {It's easy to have every book count for a challenge when you sign up for as many as I do.}    
Number of Challenges fulfilled so far: 10 (32%)

Mysteries Read

Clue by Paul Allor (3 stars)

The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot by Robert Arthur (4 stars)

The Mystery of the Talking Skull by Robert Arthur (3 stars)

Calamity at Harwood by George Bellairs (4 stars)

Death Treads Softly by George Bellairs (4 stars)

Home by Nightfall by Charles Finch (3 stars)

The Inheritance by Charles Finch (3.5 stars)

The Laws of Murder by Charles Finch (3 stars)

Death of an Angel by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

Inspector's Holiday by Richard Lockridge (3.5 stars)

Murder for Art's Sake by Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

Murder Roundabout by Richard Lockridge (3.5 stars)

A Plate of Red Herrings by Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

With Option to Die by Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

The Castle Island Case by F. Van Wyck Mason (3 stars)

The Man in the Moonlight by Helen McCloy (4 stars)

The Ghost Finders by Adam McOmber (4.5 stars)

The Cat Saw Murder by D. B. Olsen [Dolores Hitchens] (3.5 stars)

The Devil in Music by Kate Ross (5 stars)

Whom the Gods Love by Kate Ross (4 stars)

Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (5 stars)

Clue: Candlestick by Dash Shaw (3 stars)

The Corpse with the Grimy Glove by R. A. J. Walling (3.5 stars)

When we take out our five star winners (Sayers and Ross), we are left with one book which garnered a four and a half star rating. Adam McOmber's The Ghost Finders is (as I noted in my review) a wonderfully gothic, horrifically fun and mysterious adventure. He creates a nifty puzzle behind the gaslit world full of supernatural creatures and humans with extraordinary powers. The three main characters are vividly drawn with interesting backstories that are at once disparate, yet also fitting together so perfectly to provide friendship and kinship among these three wildly different individuals. The separate histories weave together to create the fabric necessary for the final scenes. It was interesting to watch these three work their way through various layers of loyalty and betrayal to discover what is necessary to save themselves...and perhaps all reality.  Definitely worth of the P.O.M. Award for March.