I need book recommendations (mysteries).

[crispini]

I find classic British mysteries inexpressibly soothing -- Tey, Marsh, Christie, Sayers. And I guess American of the same vintage - Rex Stout. I'm also pretty fond of Janet Evanovich, and Sue Grafton's pretty good. I guess I like a mystery that's not too dark -- for example, I've read Patricia Cornwell but she's a bit on the grim side. I'm not into the serial killer thing.

Anyone want to point me towards some new authors? I'm not going to make it through the election without some of my favorite escapist "food"!

Thanks!

[suninvited]

1. A couple of years ago

I read a very unique series of books by Alexander McCall Smith.

The first one was called "The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency". There was a series of them, maybe seven or so. They are rather light reading, funny and uplifting books. They are about a rather heavyset black woman in Botswana who opens a detective agency. If you like a light mystery that is written very well, you might want to check these out.

[ceile]

10. They were made into a BBC series

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_No._1_Ladies'_Detective_Agency_(TV_series)

Not sure if they have plans to show them in the states though. Maybe BBC America?

[suninvited]

15. I would love to see them if they ever do show them in the states

the books were very entertaining !

[MrCoffee]

11. MrsCoffee adores Alexander McCall Smith's books.

She'd give them a :thumbsup:

[Midlodemocrat]

14. I thought you dumped that old biddy.

:hide:

[yellowdogintexas]

40. ohh those are really good. I love them, and want to read his other series

also.

The BBC series will probably pop up on "Mystery" next season. They just filmed it this year I think.

I love Precious!

[Rambis]

2. Inspector Rebus series Ian Rankin

Ken Bruen Inspector Brant series and Jack Taylor series
John Harvey Inspector Resnick series
Bartholomew Gill Chief Inspector Peter McGarr series

[Erva]

27. Thanks for these

I looked them up and ordered a few.

[XemaSab]

3. Nevada Barr

Her books are about a female ranger for the National Park Service, and each book takes place in a different park.

So far she's done Lassen, Yosemite, Natchez Trace, the Statue of Liberty, the Dry Tortugas, Lechonguilla (sp?), Guadalupe Mountains, Isle Royale, Mesa Verde, Cumberland Island, Glacier, and Rocky Mountain. And I feel like I'm forgetting one. :P

You can read them in order or not. Good popcorn reading.

[Zoigal]

38. Just finished Barr's latest, "Winter Study". Great read. z

Recently discovered S J Rozen. Definitely worth checking out. I'm on a waiting list for her latest. z

[Rhiannon12866]

44. I've read all her books, too, I think. Are you forgetting Lake Superior?

The one that freaked me out was the one where she went deep underground in caves. Made me claustrophobic ...:hi:

[XemaSab]

46. I thought "A Superior Death"

was at Isle Royale? :shrug:

I liked "Firestorm." :D

[Enthusiast]

49. +1 on Nevada Barr nt

[Rhiannon12866]

59. You're right. I tend to forget the names of the places, if I'm not familiar with them.

I liked "Firestorm" too. I'm not sure which one is my favorite. It's been awhile and I used to read an awful lot of books.:-)

What about the one at The Statue of Liberty? I need to be able to see your original post, LOL. :shrug:

If you like Nevada Barr, you might also like Sue Henry's books. She writes about a female sled-dog racer who solves mysteries, also a lot about the outdoors, but it just dawned on me that these books are set in Alaska...:hide:

http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Sue+Henry

[Sequoia]

4. I'm reading a mystery right now.

I found it at the library and only picked it up to read because it had a cover of the Biltmore Estate (Asheville, NC). I grew up there and it just makes me feel good/sad to read about the places I'd been to like the beautiful Pisgah National Forest and Blueridge Parkway.




Another quite good but rather distrubing book:




I will have to look up those British authors. Somehow the Brits know how to craft good mystries. Check out the Japanese mystrey writers too, I've read some really good ones. I normally avoid these sort of books because continuing sagas are not my style.

[Bullwinkle925]

5. P.D. James was an author that my husband enjoyed . . .

Minette Walters is an author that one of my friends has recommended in the past and she also enjoys British mysteries.

I don't think that Margaret Atwood could be considered primarily as a mystery author, but her writing is superb. I gobble up everything by her.

Hope these responses help turn you towards something enjoyable.

[democracyindanger]

6. Couple that are twists on the genre

The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. Murder mystery set in an alternate history where Alaska was made the Jewish homeland after WWII.

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. Protagonist is a detective with Tourette's Syndrome.

[SmokingJacket]

7. You might enjoy Henning Mankell, a Swedish author

They have a similar feel to the British mysteries.

Have fun!!

[ceile]

8. PD James is good

And Caleb Carr

[spinbaby]

9. Have you read Tamar Myers?

Amish mysteries with a wicked humorous twist.

[panzerfaust]

12. Donna Leone & Magdalen Nabb

Donna has a long series set in Venice (where she has lived for many years) following Commissario Guido Brunetti's investigations. Her novels are very evocative of Veniza and Italiano culture - worth it for that alone: but the plots are very well crafted as well.

Magdalen Nabb, who recently died, has a series on Marshal Guarnaccia of Florence. These are not quite as atmospheric as Leone's, and some of the stories are very difficult to read because of the realistically brutal and graphic details of the crimes. Like Leone, Nabb was a long time expat in Italy.

Both of these writers will help you to understand Italy today, are interesting enough to read more than once, and will widen your world as well as entertain.

From how you describe what you are after in mysteries, I think that you would find Donna Leone perfecto, and Magdalen Nabb perhaps a bit too gritty.

[tigereye]

20. second for Donna Leon!

I love her, Reginald Hill and Tony HIllerman - those are my top three.

[dynasaw]

22. A "Third" for Donna Leon

Wonderful inside view of Venetian life--the side not usually seen by tourists.

Andrea Camilleri is another marvelous Italian mystery write whose central character is Inspector Montalbano,
a fractious Sicilian detective. Like Leon, the writing is often very funny and the stories filled with interesting twists.

Camilleri's mysteries featuring Inspector Montalbono include:
Inspector Montalbano
The Shape of Water - 2002 (La forma dell’acqua - 1994)
The Terracotta Dog - 2002 (Il cane di terracotta - 1996)
The Snack Thief - 2003 (Il ladro di merendine - 1996)
The Voice of the Violin - 2003 (La voce del violino - 1997)
Excursion to Tindari - 2005 (La gita a Tindari - 2000)
The Scent of the Night - 2005 (L’odore della notte - 2001)
Rounding the Mark - 2006 (Il giro di boa - 2003)
The Patience of the Spider - 2007 (La pazienza del ragno - 2004)
The Paper Moon - 2008 (La Luna di Carta - 2005)
August Heat - 2009 (La Vampa d'Agosto - 2006)

[tigereye]

28. aren't those Camilleri's great?

I've read about 4 - wonderful. I wish I read Italian - I bet they are even funnier in the original.

[speedoo]

13. Not new, but great: Elmore Leonard.

He's the best, IMO. I would be shocked if you don't like him.

[yellowdogintexas]

41. Elmore is GOOD also Carl Hiassen !!! nt

[Enthusiast]

50. +1 on Carl Hiassen. nt

[SydneyBristow]

16. Shameless plug here!

One of my good friends recently wrote a mystery novel (Murder Mystery set in Botswana, Africa) called "A Carrion Death" by Michael Stanley. So here's my confession: I haven't read it yet, I don't know anything about murder mysteries, and I have little connection the southern regions of Africa, but it has been getting good reviews, and the publisher, HarperCollins, has asked for at least two more books! So it must be half-way decent right? Anywho, they have a website ( http://www.detectivekubu.com/ ) , and the book is on Amazon, as well as in some local bookstores (especially in the midwest).

Cheers!
Syd:toast:

[Crabby Appleton]

17. Try Laura Lippman

The Sugar House, Charm City, etc

[bikebloke]

18. The Road Home by Rose Tremain

Not exactly a mystery, but it's one of the better reads I've come across in a long time.

It's about an east European widower who migrates to London for work, since the saw mill in his village closed.

[tigereye]

19. Reginald Hill - stellar - my true favorite, great characters and killer wit

also there are some about a woman who runs a cleaning service - blanking on the name -great British working class sleuth



Martha Grimes mysteries are always fun and Elizabeth George books are great too, if a little darker.





I'm a mystery junkie, so I'm glad to be of help...



oh and a new find, books by Angelo Camillieri about his cynical Sicilian sleuth, recently translated from the Italian and available here in the States - a more snarky Inspector Brunetti...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

53. I love Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series

Some of you may remember the TV series on A&E, back when the channel was actually arts and entertainment. Well, the TV series was great, and Dalziel was a memorable gruff-and-crude-character-with-a-heart-of-gold, but in the books, he's even funnier in the books.

Speaking of cleaning women, there's a brief series by Barbara Neely about an African-American cleaning woman who solves mysteries because her white employers treat her as invisible. The first book has the memorable title Blanche on the Lam.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. Linda Barnes for another current writer.

Dianne Day's "Fremont Jones" series is a good one too -- the stories are set in early 20th century San Francisco.

Lawrence Block's "Bernie Rhodenbarr" series is fun. His "Matthew Scudder" books are dark.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

23. Georgette Heyer

who I think is better known for her romance novels set in the early 1800's (I'm guessing the period because romance isn't my thing) has written some good mysteries.
I think I've read them all but only currently have 3 in my library (the rest went for lib book sales):
The Unfinished Clue, Duplicate Death and Detection Unlimited.

[RetroLounge]

24. Can't add any more suggestions to these already good ones

but I can help you get the books :D

http://www.xenithbooksellers.com

:hi:

RL

[crispini]

25. Wow! Thanks everybody!

Just had a chance to check back on this thread -- lots of good ideas here! Should have known DU would come through, haha.

[mokawanis]

26. Try Loren Estleman

He was a crime reporter in Detroit before becoming an author. He wrote a bunch of award-winning westerns and a handful of award-winning mysteries with a detective names Amos Walker as main character. Really good stuff, I've read them all several times over the years.

[LiberalEsto]

29. M.C. Beaton

She's got two wonderful series. One is about Hamish MacBeth, a Scottish policeman in a remote highland village. The other features Agatha Raisin, a retired public relations executive in the English Costwolds. Both are witty and at times extremely funny.

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. KEITH FUCKING SNYDER!!!!! 'NUFF SAID.

Read his stuff. Love it. Embrace it. Worship it. Then thank me with the entirety of your soul for pushing you in the direction of occasionally hilarious and yet also brilliantly well written, highly literate, beautiful mystery prose that at times exceeds the genre.

[jeff30997]

32. I went on the site of the public library where I live to check if they had his books...

But unfortunately they have nothing written by Keith Fucking Snyder.Is he an underground writer?

Lol.Thanks for the suggestion,I'll give it a try.:)

[CBHagman]

31. Louis Bayard's "Mr. Timothy."

Do you like novels with a Victorian setting? Mr. Timothy makes a great read; I was hooked after the first few pages. I wouldn't call it soothing, but it is a mystery with heart: The protagonist is the grown-up Timothy Cratchit (Yes, Tiny Tim from "A Christmas Carol"), only there's nothing about spirits in this. No, it's about life in Victorian London, including the seamier side. Definitely a page-turner.

And if you have patience with rather dense prose and a story that unfolds very gradually, check out Michael Cox's The Meaning of Night, another Victorian tale, a pretty dark one. And then be sure to get the sequel, The Glass of Time, with a very different tone (and a new narrator).

[WinkyDink]

33. Jonathan Gash's "Lovejoy" series.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. Which is out on DVD in the States now!

Starring Ian McShane of Deadwood, only about 20 years younger. :7

I couldn't get into the books, but I loved the TV series.

[FloridaJudy]

34. A taste for the exotic

My favorite is Elliot Pattison. He has a series of mysteries set in Tibet, featuring a disgraced Chinese detective who is released from a "re-education" camp to solve mysteries that baffle the authorities. Start with The Skull Mantra. You'll be hooked.

Also addictive is Colin Cotterill. His detective is a Loatian coroner who must find the murderers of the corpses who show up on his autopsy table. His assistants are a aging nurse and a man with Down Syndrome. The Coroner's Lunch is first in the series.

John Burdett's mysteries set in Thailand featuring detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep (I can't even begin to imagine how that is pronounced!) are also absorbing. Begin with Bankok 8.

Qiu Xiaolong's series featuring Inspector Chen Cao takes place in modern Shanghai. The detective would rather be a poet and an English translator. The Communist party has other ideas. It begins with Death of a Red Heroine

Lisa See's series featuring Beijing detective Liu Hulan are also probably worth a look. I just ordered Flower Net: A Red Princess Mystery from Amazon. I haven't started them yet, but if they're even half as good as her mainstream novels (Peony in Love and Snowflower and the Secret Fan) I won't be disappointed.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

37. I second the recommendation for Elliot Pattison

His Tibetan mysteries are fantastic, as are Colin Cotterill's Laotian mysteries. Couldn't get into Bangkok 8, though.

For those who like mysteries set in China, I recommend Christopher West's all-too-short series. I think the first one is Death on Black Dragon River.

Early in the 1990s, a author named Paul Mann wrote three mysteries set in India, featuring a half-Indian detective: The Season of the Monsoon, The Ganja Coast, and The Burning Ghats. I can find no further trace of him, but I really liked the books.

[FloridaJudy]

60. Bankok 8 *was* rather bizarre

But how many Buddhist detectives that are the dutiful sons of sex workers are there around? And a car full of metamphetamine crazed cobras has got to be one of the most innovative murder weapons in all of fiction.

No spoilers - this is all set out in the first chapter.

[tigereye]

54. cool! Mysteries I've never heard of! thanks.

you always have something interesting to say, Judy! Seems like I always enjoy and learn from your posts!

:hi:

[mulsh]

36. Brits- Cyril Hume and Edmund Crispin strike me as your type

as for Americans give Ross Macdonald or any of the other authors with that last name a try. The brits and Ross write pretty nice concise stories, not too much gore. Donald Westlake is also one of my favorite writers. I haven't been reading too many mysteries over the past couple of years so I'm not up on more recent authors.

[yellowdogintexas]

39. Midnight Louie Mysteries.. by Carole Nelson Douglas, who just happens to live in FW

Start with CatNap and work your way through..there are about 18 of them I think.
Fairly light, continuing and developing characters not as crazy as Evanovich but humorous enough and you will love Louie

also try Laura Joh Rowland's samurai mystery series. Those were great too. There are about 11 or 12 of those.

I may think of some more later

Hey, I have a job interview MOnday afternoon.

:toast: :toast: :hi: :hi: :hi:

[Flaxbee]

42. I also agree on Alexander McCall-Smith; I like his

storyline featuring Scottish philosopher Isabel Dalhousie. Good books.

Minette Walters started off quite interesting, but got really brutally graphic (animal abuse, etc.) - too much so for my taste. Proceed with care.

Kathy Reichs has some gore to it, but she hasn't gone off the deep end like Cornwall did. Reichs' character splits her time between Charlotte, NC and Montreal, Quebec. Interesting books, good characters.

Deborah Crombie has a decent series set in present-day London.

Margaret Maron has a nice series about a female judge set in North Carolina

Margaret Frazer has interesting books set in an Oxfordshire, 15th century nunnery.

Vicki Lane has an enjoyable series set in western NC about a woman who runs an herb farm near Asheville.

Anne George - may she rest in peace - wrote some of the funniest books, kind and full of wisdom, I have ever read. Very soothing. My sister read them while she was going thru chemo, and said they helped her relax. George's series is the "Southern Sisters" mysteries. The books are my friends.

I adore Sayers! Adore her!

You might also like Barbara Pym - try "Excellent Women". Not a mystery, but about life in London between the wars - quite wry and funny, told from a woman's perspective. The same sort of soothing writing, though. I know exactly what you mean. Pym wrote several other observant, funny books, but if you're interested, try "Excellent Women" first.

Donna Leon, as others have mentioned, is also quite good (Inspector Brunetti in Venice).

And finally, I just came across this book - haven't read it, but thought it looked interesting: Myth and Ritual in Women’s Detective Fiction. You can find more info on it here: http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-1311-9



edited for clarity.

[Rhiannon12866]

43. I used to read mysteries constantly, have dozens of favorites.

And I'm the same as you are, can't read anything too graphic. My personal favorite is Dick Francis, whose mysteries generally are set at British race tracks, since he was a professional jockey, rode for the Queen Mother. However, his later books feature a weather chaser, a glass blower, a wine merchant and an election, among others. He's a really good writer...:D

Do you like historical mysteries? I've also read a lot of those. My favorite is probably Anne Perry, who has two series, one about a police detective in late 19th-century London, whose wife helps him with his cases, and the other about a former British policeman who becomes a private detective after losing his memory in a carriage accident, set in the early 1800s, just after the Crimean War...

Also, Miriam Grace Monfredo is very good. Her series starts out during the suffrage movement in Seneca Falls, NY, then progresses to the early Civil War. She's very nice, as well, met her at a book signing where she spoke and took questions...:D

[annonymous]

45. Here are a few recommendations

Ed McBain--His 87th Presinct mysteries are classic police procedurals
Minnette Walters--British author who writes psychological thrillers. Might be a bit dark but they are excellent.
Walter Mosley--I like the Easy Rawlins books better than the Fearless Jones books. His books take place in Los Angeles prior to the 70's.

[Turbineguy]

47. Iain Pears, Michael Dibdin

Art history mysteries, Aurelio Zen, resp.

[tigereye]

55. crap, how did I forget about Ian Pears...

he hasn't had a new one for a while that I"ve seen.

:crazy:

[KayLaw]

48. Joshilyn Jackson

She is not really a mystery writer, but her books contain mysteries. The most recent one is a fabulous mystery: The Girl who Stopped Swimming. I think you'd like it.

[Enthusiast]

51. Don't forget John Sanford.

His last three have been particularly good.

[Enthusiast]

61. Sorry, that would be Sandford. nt

[bigwillq]

52. John Lutz

All the books of his I read were awesome. They're mostly forensic thrillers ala CSI. But he also goes into a lot about the psychological history of the killers.

The movie Single, White Female was based on one of his books. The book was sooo much better.

[VeggieTart]

56. Some books I like

Elaine Viets writes two dead-end mystery series, one featuring "Helen Hawthorne," a woman on the run from her philandering ex-husband who takes on a series of dead-end jobs in Fort Lauderdale; and Josie Marcus, a single mother who works as a mystery shopper in St. Louis. They're both darkly humorous.

I just read Charlaine Harris's "Dead Until Dark," which forms the basis for the new HBO series "True Blood." She's apparently written several books, and each book apparently will be a season. I definitely want to check out more books in the series.

Patricia Cornwell is a Republican, you know. But I stopped reading her books because nobody seemed to age except for Kay Scarpetta's niece Lucy.

[bluethruandthru]

57. Elizabeth George is great!

Also Sara Paretsky, Richard North Patterson, Dick Francis, Jonathan Kellerman, Lisa Scottoline, David Baldacci...

[BreweryYardRat]

58. A little different, but...

John Maddox Roberts does a GREAT series set in ancient Rome. It's called SPQR. (Short for Senate Populus Que Romanus) They're a bit hard to find, at least in my area -- check your local libraries and used bookstores before hitting your major chain bookstores.

Plus, they're mostly self-contained, so you can pick one up fairly easily. And they come with handy sequence numbers on the spine.