Wrapping up RIP 14 - Peril the 1st it is!

I spent a happy October reading mysteries as part of the annual Readers Imbibing Peril (RIP) reading challenge, and with six books read I easily accomplished the highest pinnacle, Peril the 1st (a four-book mark).

Here's what I read:

• A Siege of Bitterns, by Steve Burrows - birder murder series #1 - absolutely wonderful, Canadian detective in England, a birder, of course, and a good mystery, and a pun or at least a double meaning, which gratifies my love of the nuances of language.

• Brat Farrar, by Josephine Tey - at under 250 pages, I am counting this as my novella for the Back to the Classics challenge. About 3/4 of the way in, I had the feeling that I had read this book already, but I don't recall when or where or how...Enjoyed it immensely;

• The Key to Rebecca, by Ken Follett - 3 solid stars - I think I like Follett's historical fiction more than his bread-and-butter spy thrillers, but this kept my interest almost until the end, and then it seemed a bit...silly?

• In the Woods, by Tana French - riveting, Irish archaeology, Dublin, an exceptionally interesting double mystery, ambiguous ending, lots to like here, eager to read the second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series, and then watch the new TV series, airing in November, I think.

• Picnic at Hanging Rock, by Joan Lindsay - excellent, review here.

• Black Spirits and  White: A Book of Ghost Stories, by Ralph Adams Cram - reading this with the GoodReads True Book Talk group; written in late 19th century, fairly conventional ghost stories, but good, well-written and atmospheric.

I started Nathaniel Hawthorn'es Twice Told Tales, but found it unreadable - relentlessly grim and dull.

Reading mysteries in October is a tradition I have grown to love. 

Happy Halloween everyone!