Thursday, March 26, 2009

mysteries

When I was younger, I used to love to read mysteries. My favourites were Agatha Christie and Lillene Jackson Braun (she wrote a series of books called "The Cat Who...."). And when I was really younger, I read a lot of Nancy Drew and The Three Investigators.

The first two authors wrote more cerebral mysteries, which is not to say they intellectually challenging to read, but that the main characters solved mysteries by their powers of deduction. I don't think I would be one for a CSI type mystery - I like reading about the detective who can solve crimes from an armchair. Somehow I find that more engaging, even if it is arguably less exciting.

However - I haven't read mysteries in years. I don't know why. It has something to do with the fact that overall I read less than when I was a teenager and also that I don't go to the library anymore. I used to go to the library for my mysteries - I don't know think I've ever bought a mystery. I also wouldn't know where to start finding a mystery. Last summer I read some Sherlock Holmes and I really enjoyed that. I would love to get involved in a good mystery again - lately I've been reading a lot of non-fiction, which is fine, but doesn't draw me in the same way.

Sometime this spring I will really have to make my way to the library, get a library card, and become reacquainted with an old genre: the mystery.

7 comments:

  1. I used to read those cat ones too. I can't remember the cat's names though... One was named Miu Miu or something like that, though I know that's not it because that's a brand name. I read mysteries that are so scary that I sometimes have to leave the last few pages for a couple of weeks because I can't stand to know the terrifying ending. I have also been known to get SO scared from them that I won't be able to move from the room in which I read the book and will have to wait until someone else gets home in order to continue with my regular life. (I'm talking hours). That's why I don't read them when I'm home alone anymore.

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  2. I never would have remembered the cat's name by myself, but yes, I think it was Koko(?) and yum yum. And the man's name was Qwillerman.

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  3. Koko sounds familiar...but so does Miu Miu. But maybe because they are shoes? I've always liked the Patricia Cornwell mysteries...though they are probably a little more CSI like than they are Sherlock Holmes like. (the main character is a forensic pathologist)

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  4. is Qwillerman a real name? i suppose it could be. but it makes my own name sounds less obscure.

    but i have no idea about these mystery books and the cats' names. i have never been a big mystery fan myself.

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  5. Could it have been Quilleran? I don't remember the "m" in it. But it has been many years since I've read them. I was referring to the Patricia Cornwell novels when I said I got so scared I stayed in the same spot for hours. They are scary ok?!?

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  6. Heather, I am laughing out loud at that memory. I remember coming home to that.

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