June was the CWA National Crime Writing Month and the excellent Reginald Hill tribute site attracted posts from crime writers, reviewers, bloggers and friends of this great writer. I contributed a review of the excellent The Stranger House.
For crimepieces, there was a strong international flavour to my reading with not a single book set in the UK. There wasn’t a bad book amongst my selection, an improvement on May’s offerings and it has been difficult to choose a winner. I am going to go with Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason mainly because I had been looking forward to it and the anticipation did not spoil my read one bit.
The ten books I read in June for crimepieces were
1. The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
2. Death and the Olive Grove by Marco Vichi
3. The Bull of Mithros by Anne Zouroudi
4. Summertime Death by Mons Kallentoft
5. The Kiss of Death by PD Martin
6. The Black Path by Asa Larsson
7. Containment by Vanda Symon
8. The Bloody Meadow by William Ryan
9. Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason
10. The Silver Stain by Paul Johnston
As usual, Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise is collating the pick of the month’s reads.
Sarah Ward & Rhiannon Ward 
Sarah – Quite a good reading month! And I’m not surprised you chose Black Skies as your pick of the month. I think that’s a terrific series!
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Great set of books, Sarah. I’m not going to quarrel with your choice for book of the month in the slightest!
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Excellent choice Sarah
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Thanks all. I think praise for Black Skies is pretty much universal.
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It’s a very interesting list, of which I’ve read three: the Sjowall/Wahloo, Asa Larsson and Vanda Symon. I wouldn’t argue with your choice of Black Skies as the best, as Indridason is one of my favorite crime fiction authors.
However, reading another rave review is dangerous — to my credit card. Any glowing review of a book by Camilleri, Indridason and a few others really tests my will power. Lately, I’m losing the battle.
Since I purchased the two previous books by the esteemed Icelandic writer, I think a friend will get this one, since I share every book I purchase. We’ll see which one of us caves in first.
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I completely agree about the credit card problem Kathy. I have an ever growing list of books I want to buy, although some I am waiting until they come out in paperback or my library has them.
I have never tried Camilleri although I have heard so much about him. I must give one of his books a go sometime. Do you think I need to start at the beginning?
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Oh, Camilleri. I did not start at the beginning, but began with August Heat as it was nominated for a Dagger Award and I wanted to see what his writing was like. I was won over and then I went back to the first book. I’ve read all but three in the middle of the chronological list.
I don’t think one has to start at the beginning, but later on several books have a common thread so it would be helpful.
I think there are some Salvo Montalbano fans who would encourage new readers to start at the beginning of the series. I guess it’s a good idea as Montalbano is aging and goes through a lot of personal changes. He kind of goes off the rails about his relationships at a certain point, a bit disconcerting unless one knows how getting older is affecting him.
If you can, I guess I’d suggest you start at the beginning, but it isn’t crucial.
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Thanks Kathy – I will look out for the first one.
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