I can’t Find who started the Friday Five book blog meme. It seems to crop up in many different style such as “Five for Friday”, “Five on Friday” , “FridayFive Challenge”. I also can’t find a topic list like you would have for the Six on Sunday meme. Therefore I am just doing my own thing and setting my own topics just so I can chat books with you.
Its the time of year where I find myself reaching more and more for books about detectives, murder mysteries and spooky goings on. I Love snuggling up with a good mystery or thriller as the nights get darker and the weather gets colder. But not all Crimes are solved by Dashing Detectives, like my favourite Detective Constable Peter Grant from The Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovich, or the Cunning Private Detective Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie) putting his little grey cells to work. Some times it is the observant old lady, the intrepid adventure or the down right curious that solves the crime, helping the police figure out the killer. So This week’s topic is:
My Top Five Meddlesome Minxes
The non professional investigators that get the job done.
Ms Marple
Various books – Ms Marple Series
Agatha Christie
I have several reviews as part of my Agatha Christie Project
My Review of The Murder at the Vicarage (Ms Marple Book 1)
Ms Marple has to be the OG Meddlesome minx! She is a real sleuth that runs rings around the police, solving all manor of crimes with logic, reason and great observation of human nature all while attending to her knitting. I love her as a character. She is sassy and sweet. She has a great presence on the page even in mysteries where she only shows up to solve the whole thing and then returns to her cottage. I have been loving reading her stories.
Scott King
Six Stories Series
Matt Wesolowski
My Reivews:
Six Stories (Book1)
Hydra (Book2)
Changeling (Book 3)
Beast (Book 4)
Scott King is the narration character in the Six Stories series. He is a investigative “True Crime” podcast host where the cases he investigates always have something a little uncanny about them. Despite not being the focus of the novels he is a great character laying out all the different layers and dimensions to the mystery and leading the reader through all the ins and outs of the cases he is investigating. He is written in such a way that makes him feel like a really genuine and real podcast host where you know a little but not a lot about them as a person but understand the ‘personality’ they are portraying. I genuinely really enjoy these books.
Stevie Bell
Truly Devious Series
Maureen Johnson
My Reviews:
Truly Devious
Box in the Woods
Stevie Bell sets out to solve the mystery of her elite school’s founder as a school project and ends up developing into a formidable amateur sleuth destined for a life fighting crime. She has a great love of detective fiction often applying the techniques from those books as well as true crime podcasts to solve the mysteries in from of her. The books are really fun reads and have such an awesome classic mystery feel.
Pippa Fitz-Amobi
A Good Girls Guide to Murder Series
Holly Jackson
I have recently just read (currently reading) this series and will have my review up shortly but they are some of the best YA Mystery Thrillers I have read.
Pip is another School Project Detective come true crime podcast investigator that just really shines of the page. She has such believable investigative skills for her teen years, Facebook stalking , cat fishing and all the other devious methods to shed light on her investigation. There was some real moments of danger where she went to far and some awful consequences for that and I really liked that about her story.
Irene ‘Winters’
Invisible Library Series
Genevieve Cogman
Some of My reviews:
The Dark Archive (book 7)
The Secret Chapter (book 6)
The Mortal Word (book 5)
Irene is spy and book thief for the Invisible Library, turned Investigator when her job highlights some strange goings on in the worlds of the Fae. Again lots of nods to classic detectives, in this case one character being very close to Sherlock Holmes (which is openly acknowledged). I love how this series plays with literary and movie tropes. We get many through out the 7 book series and they don’t fail to delight. I have got my hands on an eARC of book 8 and I can’t wait to see where Irene’s investigations take her next!
So those are my five Meddling Minxes! Are there any you think I have missed? Who are a few of your favourite amateur sleuths?
I would love to chat all things bookish with you! You can comment down below or find me on Twitter or Goodreads!
Happy Reading!
Fi's Bibliofiles 