skip to main content

Reader's Paradise

Does anyone here enjoy Julia Spencer-Fleming?

14 years ago

I decided to buy the first of the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne novels because it was a cheap Kindle mystery. I enjoyed the first book so much I have read all but the 7th, which I have ordered. (If Kindle format is too expensive I buy cheap, used paperbacks.) I can't wait for the next book to arrive. I don't know if the author will add another book to the series but I would try anything she wrote because she can really spin a yarn. Her plots are not very realistic but the light reading is very enjoyable for me.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

carolyn_ky
14 years ago
I love that series and hope she continues it. She has won the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, Dilys, Barry, Nero Wolfe, and Gumshoe Awards, and is an Edgar and Romantic Times RC Award finalist; so we are not alone!
mudlady_gw
Original Author
14 years ago
In a way, I wish she would end the series and start a new one. I find most series become sort of cookie cutter after a while. How many times can a character have such extraordinary adventures? I would like a new protagonist and fresh situations. I think that's what makes Jodi Picoult so well received. All of Spencer-Fleming's books have a serious moral issue and she could continue doing that with a new venue and characters. I stopped following Evanovich because I got tired of the stupidity and bumbling of Stephanie Plum. I was really amused in I Shall not Want when Clare muses that, "Her parishioners would start calling her the Reverend Stephanie Plum." I actually burst out laughing, underlined that sentence, and wrote "Priceless!" in the margin.

I have given up following the Scarpetta and Temperance Brennan storylines. I really donÃ¢ÂÂt know why I still read Sue Grafton except perhaps because I know that only five letters of the alphabet are left. I believe Spencer-Fleming has the talent and ability to start a new series, or write single novels that would be well received and fresh. IÃ¢ÂÂll have to see how I feel about the series after I read One was a Soldier. Maybe the book will be in todayÃ¢ÂÂs mail.
Related Discussions
Does anyone here have a blog?
Q
Comments (20)
I knew I should have clicked on this thread yesterday! lol Jaybird, I was the one that led Corey here. I felt bad for the way she was treated - then banned. Hers is one blog (besides AM) I check on every single day. If you haven't read in awhile, go back a few weeks and read about their motorcycle trip. JaneF had asked to use my kitchen in KWL. Several months later, she asked if I was interested in writing a shopping post once a week. It's fun, but sometimes takes longer than it should to write. I tend to find an item, then get interested in something else.....then something else, etc etc. lol funcolors, I am following you on Twitter. Look forward to checking out everyone's blogs!
...See More
From Julie and Julia to Food Network...
Q
Comments (5)
LOL, Claire, definitely do NOT eat half grown chickens. I've never stepped on one but I have raised chickens from eggs to stew pot, including the cleaning of pens, the eventually slaughter, plucking and cleaning, then cooking. Yeah, I probably AM crazy. I'll never forget the smell of wet feathers. Of course I've also cleaned and plucked ducks, geese, pheasants, quail and one wild turkey. My brother used to hunt.... Which is why I can also field dress a deer, or skin and clean a rabbit, squirrel, porcupine, etc. Eventually I got smart and invoked the "you kill it, you clean it" rule. I think it was the snapping turtle that finally caused me to snap. (grin) Get it? Snap? Oh never mind..... I really liked the article and especially the diet. "If you want to eat it, cook it yourself". I like that, but I do not believe that we are unable to cook or that baking a cake from a mix is "from scratch", no matter what Mr. Balzer says. I did have to smile about the Chicken Kiev and minute rice, it was so much something my Grandmother would have done. She liked Julia but she had a BIG thing for "The Galloping Gourmet". LOL I loved the book "My Life in France" too. I read it on the plane on the way home from California, it was a gift from from forum members, along with a cookie cookbook that Makayla has appropriated. MY granddaughter will certainly know how to bake cookies, her own bread, how to can tomatoes and how much work it is to get that Chicken Kiev onto her plate next to the rice. Annie
...See More
Pleased with my new Julia Child Rose
Q
Comments (17)
I'd say the rose closest to Julia that I grow are my two floribunda Love Song roses, both hybridized by Carruth. They don't bloom quite as much as Julia, but are still young. One is just a year and the other is two years. They also have a beautiful rounded growth growth habit in my garden. One caution is that Love Song is a little tender and I would winter protect her in your climate. I even winter Love Song here. Diane Love Song
...See More
Pruning 'Julia Child' Rose
Q
Comments (19)
Phew! thanks to all the great input and the video - I felt more equipped to go for it and I got all but one rose all done. And I'm happy with them. I cut back the Julia, just a little more. Took off a few more thin canes and side canes. Took some branching ends off to a straight line, but basically left it about the same height, maybe a few inches shorter. I went back and looked at Beverly, which had good growth on it but some of the canes I had left were thin, so I took those back and shortened what was left a little. PJPaul really was awful and I had to cut most of it down to the ground and left about 3 stronger canes about 6 inches high. Savannah - had some strong growth on some canes, so I cut those by half and anything that didn't look right I took back to the ground. So, we'll see. I'm trying to find no spray roses. Julia Child has been great for me for years so these three are my next experiment to see how they work out.
...See More
J C
14 years ago
I haven't read her books but I have seen her twice - once at my local library's 'literary lunch' and once at a book fair. She is witty, self-deprecating, and thoroughly likeable. I haven't read any of her work because that genre isn't my cup of tea, but her books are very, very popular here. She lives relatively close, having married a Maine native. I haven't seen her income taxes (and it is certainly none of my business) but she comes across as a regular middle-class working mom. Writing is her full-time work and is necessary to pay the bills as well as something she loves to do. I think these continuing series have a lot to do with the publishing house and less with the author's desire to keep the character going. It seems that as long as a series is selling well, the publisher pushes heavily for more of the same.

Related Stories

DESIGNER SHOWCASES San Francisco Decorator Showcase: Happy Days Are Here Again

By Mary Jo Bowling

Creative ideas, bold colors and inventive materials abound under one (very large) roof

LIFE Houzz Call: Show Us the House You Grew Up In

By Becky Harris

Share a photo and story about your childhood home. Does it influence your design tastes today?

DENS AND LIBRARIES How to Care for Your Home Library

By Laura Gaskill

Increase your enjoyment of books with these ideas for storing, stacking and displaying them

PETS Houzz Call: Show Us Your Summer-Loving Dog!

By Mitchell Parker

Share a photo of your pooch kicking back in the backyard, helping you in the workshop or enjoying your favorite summer getaway

HOUZZ TOURS My Houzz: A Cabin of Curiosities in Los Angeles

By Mad Mod Home

A sheep's head here, a beaded fringe there and layers of exotic prints and art everywhere work wonderfully in a personal "Shangri-La"

SHOWERS Turn Your Shower Niche Into a Design Star

By Becky Harris

Clear glass surrounds have raised the design bar for details such as shampoo and soap shelves. Here are 4 standouts

HOUZZ TOURS My Houzz: Creative Thrifting Beautifies a Texas Bungalow

By Sarah Greenman

Secondhand finds and a designer’s gift for reinvention turn a historic-district house into a quirkily elegant family home

INDUSTRIAL STYLE My Houzz: From Raw Space to Hip Home in a Converted Utah Garage

Creative repurposing with an industrial edge defines the first home of an engaged couple in Salt Lake City

KITCHEN COUNTERTOPS 10 Top Backsplashes to Pair With Soapstone Countertops

By Becky Harris

Simplify your decision-making process by checking out how these styles work with soapstone

HOUZZ TV FAVORITES Houzz TV: A New England Farmhouse Explodes With Color

By Rikki Snyder

Creativity and color burst from every corner in this unique 18th-century Massachusetts home for an artist and her family

Sponsored

More Discussions

April and the never-ending game

82

The first sentence of the book you're reading.........

17

It’s May! What are you reading?

95

The Game for June

116

Dog days of August .....what book did you choose ?

72