Saturday, May 11, 2019

From the F Shelf...

Author:  Nicci French
Title:  Blue Monday



I was scanning the F shelf at my library looking for my next Alphabet read among the Folletts and the Faulkners, but nothing really grabbed my attention until I spotted the row of Nicci French mysteries. These are books I've been aware of for years, but never read...until now. And it turned out to be another moment of library serendipity.

Blue Monday is the first book about psychotherapist Frieda Klein--an imperfect and complex character who likes to walk the streets of London alone at night, who refuses to buy a cell phone because she doesn't want people to be able to get in touch with her every hour of the day, and who doesn't like opening up to others. I liked getting to know her. And the mystery? It's a good one. It revolves around one of her clients, a missing child, and a disturbing coincidence.
"Friday," she said. ... Alan Dekker had dreamed of a son with red hair. Red-haired Matthew Faraday had vanished. Eerie, but meaningless ... She couldn't help pondering it, though.
Despite some reservations, Frieda finds herself getting involved in the police investigation, working with Detective Chief Inspector Malcolm Karlsson (who I also liked). As Frieda delves deeper into the mystery, she runs into some unexpected twists. (Though I saw a few of them coming.)

All in all, I'm glad Blue Monday was sitting on the F shelf when I was at the library, and that I finally gave this series a try. I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Happy Reading!

30 comments:

  1. Hi Lark, a great idea alphabet reads which can lead you to an author you would never have read otherwise. The Nicci French series sounds interesting and set in London a city I've never visited but love reading about.

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    1. I like reading books set in London, too. :)

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  2. Lark, I love this series. One of my very favorites and I've read all the books. There are 8 of them. Have a good time with it. It's highly recommended by me.

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    1. Thanks, Kay! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series. :)

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  3. This does sound like a great series. It's always nice to happen upon a book and it turns out to be a good one.

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    1. It's one of my favorite things about the library: being able to take a chance on an unknown author and sometimes luck into a literary treasure. :)

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  4. I really enjoyed this series although I missed some along the way.

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    1. It's hard to keep up with some series, isn't it? :D

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  5. I've been reading my selection for Z for the Alphabet challenge this weekend! Naturally there are zombies...

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  6. Perfect that you can start with the first one in the series! I have read some of French books but I either read one of these out of order or from her other standalones. I want to check this series out though!

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    1. I thought this first book was a good one. :)

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  7. I continue to be amazed that there is so much good stuff out there that I will never get to. I am a sucker for book review magazines like The New York Times Book Review, Bookmarks, and the New York Book Review, and I've always got half a dozen or more books on hold at the library. Then they all come at once and there goes another month of my precious reading time, while my TBR pile grows higher and higher with stuff i acquire in the meantime. It's a nice problem, but a bit frustrating.

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    1. I have the same frustration. Too many books I want to read; too little time to ever hope to read them all. It's a juggling act working in the books from my TBR pile with the new books that just came out. And I'm addicted to the library, so then I have a lot of those, too. :)

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  8. I like Frieda too from your description! I'd heard of this author before (it is a husband and wife writing team- interesting), but never picked up the books. :D

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    1. Frieda is definitely an interesting...and eccentric character. But that's why I liked her.

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  9. I've not read a Nicci French book for a long time. And I'm so bad at keeping up with series books but this one looks like a winner. :)

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    1. :D I'm bad at keeping up with some series, too.

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  10. Sounds like this was a good one to pick up. Glad you were able to enjoy it so much.

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    1. It's always nice when a new author or new series turns out to be a good one.

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  11. This sounds interesting. I've never read Nicci French - I'll have to check out overdrive.

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    1. There are a lot of French books to choose from. I really want to read Thursday's Child next, even though it's not the next book in the series.

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  12. Fun trying to find a book by browsing the "F" aisle. I've never heard of this author, but I do love mysteries. A quirky female lead sounds fun. I don't think I could go without a cell phone, lol! Great review, Lark! :)

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    1. Thanks, Rachel! The E shelf is my next foray. I hope there's some good books on it. :)

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  13. This sounds like a good mystery, and I like the idea of a psychotherapist as a protagonist.

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  14. I've seen this author's books, but I've never tried her either. Sounds like I might have to give her a go! Glad this one was a winner for you.

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    1. I'm glad I gave her a try. She's one I'll definitely read again.

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  15. Frieda Klein sounds like a great a peculiar character)

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    1. She is. Which makes her kind of fun to read about. :)

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