An unforgiving reader

I am an unforgiving reader. Sometimes, all it takes is a small mistake, like a spelling mistake, and it throws me off so much, I stop reading a book. Obviously, it has to be a new author/new book. If I have invested more time and effort in the author/reader relationship, I can, at times, forgive small mistakes. There are some authors I will forgive a great deal — Robert Crais comes to mind. Not that I can think of a mistake he has made. But, if one were there, I would forgive and keep going. From the moment I read The Monkey’s Raincoat, his very first Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel, I was hooked. Then, I found out Crais used to write for TV, and wrote for some of my favorite shows from the 1980s, like Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, M.E., and Baretta. But, I digress.

Let me digress further. One of my favorite Victorian cozy mystery series is Mrs. Jeffries and The Inspector by Emily Brightwell. I don’t understand the little sticker they’ve been putting on the cover of them — “If you like Downton Abbey, you’ll love Mrs. Jeffries!” I have never seen a complete episode of Downton Abbey, and, frankly, you’d have to pay me to do so, but the books give me warm fuzzies galore.

Or rather gave me warm fuzzies — right until the last one I finished. It was called “Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders”. First of all, there was only one murder, so that was upsetting. I kept waiting for the second body to drop, but in the end, I was totally cheated. Second of all, (and this is on me) I can’t often manage to read or listen to them in order. So, I…