First Reads of 2023

I'm not going to review EVERYTHING I read this year, but I wanted to touch on a few things that I have read in 2023 as it feels weirdly out of my comfort zone and yet, feels perfectly normal (though am not sure why). 

I am reading collections of short stories. I don't feel like I see a lot of these in bookshops or online unless there are linked to a Brand (whether that be a successful author or a character/series) or if it's indie collection or for charity. Maybe am not looking in the right places, so if you know of an awesome collection of short stories, shout them at me as I always like to discover new authors and styles. 

So, at the time of writing this, I have read three and about to start a fourth (after that, I think I will be diving into novels - I am eyeing The Postscript Murders by Effy Griffiths and An Autobiography by Agatha Christie. I won't affiliate link them to Bookshop.org till I have read them). And I thought it would be nice to pop in, say hi, write these up SUPER quick and be on my merry way.

The first collection was The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie (Buy from Bookshop.org [Affiliate]), which is my third outing with Miss Marple (I tried Murder At the Vicarage and At Bertram's Hotel - let's say these didn't work for me like I hoped), but this was an utter delight. Yes, some stories didn't work as well as other, but I had a blast. I think some of you guys were right: Marple works well in short stories and Poirot works best in novel. 

Not sure how to describe this collection. There are thirteen tales: the first six are in linked to the Tuesday Night Club (where each member give out a mystery and the other members have to solve it) while the second six tales take place over the dinner party (again, the six guests tell a mystery and the others have the guest the solution) and the last is a suspicious suicide that takes place shortly after the dinner party and Miss Marple asking for help as she knows that it wasn't suicide but murder, and yet she can't prove it... 

I really enjoyed myself with this collection. and I am thinking of trying Marple again (out of all my outings with Miss Marple - two with Agatha Christie and one collection of short stories, written by modern thriller writers [a mix bag in my opinon, but I do want another collection from modern crime/thriller writers, please] - this was my fave outing with her) and I am going to try a Marple novel this year. Am thinking either A Murder is Announced or Sleeping Murder (I will do a poll on one of my socials so keep eyes peeled for that). 

The second collection was The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D. James (Buy from Bookshop.org [Affiliate]). I've had this on my kindle for YEARS (as well as a few other of her novels), but now felt like the perfect time to read. I started just after Christmas and whizzed through this collection of 4 short stories/novellas. 

For those curious, these short stories were discovered after P.D. James death and each of the four have a Christmas/winter feel. Two short stories are P.D's detective, Adam Dalgliesh, and the other two (one being the title) are standalones. All of them dark, but the standalones really stand out - The Mistletoe Murder and The Very Commonplace Murder. The Dalgliesh short - The Boxdale Inheritage and Twelve Clues of Christmas - while nice to read, didn't feel as strong (Twelves Clues did feel the weakest out of the four, but this feels like to most tongue in cheek over Christmas murder mystery stories. Dalgliesh even says it himself). 

I am very intrigued to read more of the P.D James that are lurking on my Kindle TBR somwhere. I might try her other collection of short stories that were published after her death, Sleep No More... but we shall see on that. 

The final collection I read was Christmas Is Murder by Val McDermid (Buy from Bookshop.org [Affiliate]). In here, we have ten short stories, each taking place either at Christmas or during the winter months. One of these short stories follows her her characters, Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, and another follows some well known detectives (no spoilers). 

Am going to be honest. Out of the three collections, this is my less favourite. I read this super quick, but the stories were very hit and miss. Several stories I could have easily read as longer novellas or even novels, and others made me scratch my head and ask why it was written and one near the end of the collection (Four Calling Birds) had a scene in it that made me very uncomfortable and, because of that, made me dislike the story almost immediately. 

But, I want to try Val McDermid again. I liked her writing and I think, if I found the right series to read, I would adore it. But, like with most collection of short stories, some worked in the short form and others didn't. 

I haven't mentioned The Mistletoe Bride by Kate Moses yet (Buy from Bookshop.org [Affiliate]), but the cover is show above. That's because I haven't started it yet. I'm planning to after I finish writing this post. But, unlike the previous collections, this collection is more ghost story driven, rather than murder (and you guys know that, while I love a good crime novel, I am also a fan of fantasy so I am excited). 

I shall report back and, hopefully after that, I will return with a novel write-up or two...