BW10: Mystery March

Aquamarine Dragon by Molly Harrison

Bye bye February and hello Mystery March. We are ready to embrace Spring (or Autumn depending on which hemisphere you are in) in all its glory, dive into Aquamarine Dreams and by mystified by suspenseful and enthralling international crime fiction. Yes, we are leaving South America behind and heading to the Nordic Region.


The birthstone of the month is Aquamarine.  You may choose to spell out the word, reading one book per letter or read a book with the name or the colors of the stone in the title.  You may decide to find a book set in the time period where the birthstone was discovered or surrounding the myth and lore or set in countries where the birthstone is currently found. 

Aquamarine is Latin for seawater.  Aqua for water and marine for of the sea. Which may lead you to a sea worthy book and is the green blue to blue color of the mineral Beryl.  Perhaps a book written by an author named Beryl?  The  gemstone is mainly mined in Brazil, but also in Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia. Historically, Roman fisherman believed the stone provided them with abundant fish.  Egyptians and Sumerians believed the stone was a symbol of happiness and everlasting youth.    Sailors carved the stone into amulets representing Neptune and believed it protected them while at sea.  In the 1300's, it was thought to be an antidote to poison. 

Courtesy of Hansjom - wikipedia

Our armchair travels are taking us north to the Nordic Region of the world which includes Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden as well as the Faroe and Aland Islands.  We will be exploring as well as delving into books written by authors from the region.  Whether you are into crime fiction or noir, you have a number of authors to chose from rather than just one author flavor of the month.   For everything you always wanted to know about Scandinavian crime fiction as well as movies, vikings and travel,  check out Scandinavian Books.  Narrow it  down a bit to the most popular, rising stars, or the women. If crime fiction isn't your thing, check out books set in or about Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark,  Finland,  and Greenland. 

As you can see, there are plenty of rabbit trails to follow this month.  Happy exploring! 

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Please link to your specific  post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading.   Every week I will put up Mr. Linky which will close at the end of each book week.  No matter what book you are reading or reviewing at the time, whether it be # 1 or # 5 or so on, link to the current week's post.