Top 100 Mystery Novels Haul

While I "dedicated" August to tackling some of the books featured in the Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time list, it is now September and probably time to move on. Part of me wants to push forward in September with the list. And part of me has been craving for something far removed from mystery novels altogether (my Mercedes Lackey fantasy books seem to be calling me from afar). 

Whatever I decide to do, I remain vigilant in collecting some of the future reads presented on this list–throughout the month of August. So, here are some of the books I found throughout the month in preparation for my next excursion in tackling the Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time list. And I must reiterate how HARD it is to find many of these books, short of ordering them online. However, these books I found at various thrift stores, used bookstores, friends of the library sales, and so forth. So, per the picture, the books I managed to acquire are…

CHOP IT UP: From Doon with Death by Ruth Rendell

A shy and introverted housewife named Margaret Parsons has disappeared. One day she walked out of her Kingsmarkham, Sussex home–never to return. Her distraught husbands waste zero time seeking help from a neighboring detective. And alongside this detective comes his partner, Chief Inspector Wexford. Then Margaret’s body turns up, murdered by strangulation and abandoned near local farmland.

Who in the world could have committed such a crime? Was it personal? Was it random? Was there something dark in Margaret’s past catching up with her in the now? How could something so horrible happen to this quiet housewife? One who indulges herself in gardening and caring for her husband? Or could it be the husband who is responsible?

Regardless, Inspector Wexford looks closer into Margaret’s past. Trusting this will bring answers to her murder. And it does as a collection of rare books inscribed by an unknown lover points to the culprit.