Post by Mighty Jack on Dec 6, 2011 2:38:09 GMT -5
Who do you love, or loathe? What kind of mystery do you like? (Hard boiled, comforting cozies or classic sleuths?)
There are many I’ve read and enjoyed throughout the ages, but for brevity's sake I’ll focus on the modern era. Here are the authors (and their characters) that I’ve enjoyed the past 20 years or so.
Tony Hillerman
Navaho Tribal Police: Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. My boss at the bookstore met the late great Hillerman and said he was the least author-like author he’d ever met. A nice guy, but plain spoken, unassuming -- not slick in the least. Maybe that’s what made his novels so good. They weren’t trying to dazzle you, they just told a plain good-old fashioned story. The cultural details made his mysteries all the more interesting. There are 18 novels in his Navaho series, and while there was a weak one here and there, there were no out and out clunkers in the bunch. He still stands as my favorite mystery writer. There are also a couple of good PBS movies based on his books that are worth checking out.
Michael Connelly
LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller (among others). Michael has created quite a world, with character crossovers a plenty. I loved the hard assed, haunted, Bosch - a guy who’ll cross the line if it’ll get him his crook. “The Last Coyote” is my favorite from the author. I love the way Connelly writes but for some reason he doesn’t translate well in film. Something gets lost in translation. Only bummer, he's written in real time, which makes him 60 now and close to retiring in 3 years.
Lee Child
Jack Reacher - former Military policeman, current drifter. Reacher is an impossible figure, too savvy, too tough, usually ahead of the game. Better than anyone he goes against. But Child always writes up to the character (there is no Superman syndrome, where authors feel compelled to weaken the hero, bring him down to common levels). Lee still manages to give his character difficult challenges that make for thrilling reads.
There is talk of a film... with freaking Tom Cruise in the lead. Fans are upset because he's short and Reacher is a giant. But what's worse to me is he's too Hollywood clean - Reacher needs to be a man whose seen some wear and tear (for example, Daniel Craig. He's not tall, but he comes off raw and tough. I could accept Craig... still rather have a giant
)
John Sandford
The Prey Series with cop Lucas Davenport - the Virgil Flowers mysteries. Davenport is the jewel in Sandford’s crown. He started off a rather unlikable ladies man before he settled down. Lucas is intuitive, charismatic and will manipulate any situation to get what he needs and like Connelly’s Bosch, has no qualms about bringing a permanent end to a bad guy. “Winter’s Prey” was my favorite novel. John did slip-up in a few novels, things got silly as he tried (and failed) to inject lighthearted comedy into his books. I near gave up on him. Thankfully he quit the stupidity and got back to the tough crime stories. There was a made for TV "Prey" movie, saw a bit, but it wasn't cutting it for me.
Steve Hamilton
Alex McKnight. An ex-cop who operates cabins in a small Michigan town -- and a reluctant detective. Good cast of characters, lots of emotion, a wintery backdrop. Hamilton is a rock solid storyteller.
Kathy Reichs
Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Fascinating mysteries, very detailed, sometimes a bit too detailed and clinical. Regardless, she's one of my favorites. There's a hit TV show based on the character (Bones), but it's very different from the books.
Rich Riordan
Tres Navarre – Tres is a quirky guy and one of the funnier smart-ass PI’s I’ve ever read. Plus he has a cat named Robert Johnson. Lord do I miss this guy, wish Riordan would write more.
Earl Emerson
Detective Thomas Black and Fire chief Mac Fontana. Earl wasn’t the sharpest writer; there were clunky plot points from time to time. But he was soooo damn entertaining and humorous. Unfortunately he abandoned his primary characters and got dark and depressing. Tried a comeback with Black and wrote a complete turd. But I’ll always have those early books to revisit should I ever miss Emerson at his prime.
Jonathon King
P.I. Max Freeman solves crimes in the Everglades, which is different. I like exploring different locals and the people who live there. I wouldn’t put King among the upper crust (Child or Connelly) but he does spin a rousing yarn.
C.J. Box
Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden. Again, I like visiting different places. These are entertaining and have some interesting characters (I like his outlaw pal, Nate). The only thing I don’t like is that Joe takes a lot of unwarranted sh---. I feel sorry for the guy half the time.
Sue Grafton
The alphabet series with PI Kinsey Millhone. Overall enjoyable– with a few weak novels here and there. Not my favorite (sometimes her endings are too abrupt) but a good rainy day read. She likes food, people eat A LOT in her stories.
J.A. Jance
Homicide detective J.P. Beaumont. I never liked her other characters, but I did enjoy her stories about the cop in Seattle. The city settings were fun to spot (a few are now out of business). She has come back to her Seattle detective, but the series has kind of gotten soft.
Nevada Barr
Park ranger Anna Pigeon – good adventurous mysteries… can go a bit overboard on the dark and nasty – especially with her more recent offerings.
Julia Spencer Fleming
Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne. Not an upper-tier series, but enjoyable tales nonetheless.
Michael McGarrity
New Mexico law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney. I like these for the most part - though there was one (and I can’t remember the title) that stunk so bad I couldn’t finish it (which is a first among authors I like).
G.M. Ford
Leo Watterman mysteries were light, humorous. Frank Corso was darker, faster paced. I preferred Watterman.
Gave up on
Janet Evanovich, the Stephanie Plumb novels were fun at first but kept repeating themselves. I lost interest in the cookie cutter plots and structure after a while.
Patricia Cornwell went to hell in a hand basket after starting off strong.
Ones I can’t remember
There was a guy who primarily wrote sci-fi/fantasy stuff… who gave hard-boiled Detective’s a try. I think he did 3 novels, wonderful novels about a PI who had some kind of mob ties in his family. Sadly he ditched this character and went back to his regular fare.
A female author, female character, I believe she was Latin American. There were 2 books. Google searches come up empty.
There are many I’ve read and enjoyed throughout the ages, but for brevity's sake I’ll focus on the modern era. Here are the authors (and their characters) that I’ve enjoyed the past 20 years or so.
Tony Hillerman
Navaho Tribal Police: Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. My boss at the bookstore met the late great Hillerman and said he was the least author-like author he’d ever met. A nice guy, but plain spoken, unassuming -- not slick in the least. Maybe that’s what made his novels so good. They weren’t trying to dazzle you, they just told a plain good-old fashioned story. The cultural details made his mysteries all the more interesting. There are 18 novels in his Navaho series, and while there was a weak one here and there, there were no out and out clunkers in the bunch. He still stands as my favorite mystery writer. There are also a couple of good PBS movies based on his books that are worth checking out.
Michael Connelly
LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller (among others). Michael has created quite a world, with character crossovers a plenty. I loved the hard assed, haunted, Bosch - a guy who’ll cross the line if it’ll get him his crook. “The Last Coyote” is my favorite from the author. I love the way Connelly writes but for some reason he doesn’t translate well in film. Something gets lost in translation. Only bummer, he's written in real time, which makes him 60 now and close to retiring in 3 years.
Lee Child
Jack Reacher - former Military policeman, current drifter. Reacher is an impossible figure, too savvy, too tough, usually ahead of the game. Better than anyone he goes against. But Child always writes up to the character (there is no Superman syndrome, where authors feel compelled to weaken the hero, bring him down to common levels). Lee still manages to give his character difficult challenges that make for thrilling reads.
There is talk of a film... with freaking Tom Cruise in the lead. Fans are upset because he's short and Reacher is a giant. But what's worse to me is he's too Hollywood clean - Reacher needs to be a man whose seen some wear and tear (for example, Daniel Craig. He's not tall, but he comes off raw and tough. I could accept Craig... still rather have a giant
)John Sandford
The Prey Series with cop Lucas Davenport - the Virgil Flowers mysteries. Davenport is the jewel in Sandford’s crown. He started off a rather unlikable ladies man before he settled down. Lucas is intuitive, charismatic and will manipulate any situation to get what he needs and like Connelly’s Bosch, has no qualms about bringing a permanent end to a bad guy. “Winter’s Prey” was my favorite novel. John did slip-up in a few novels, things got silly as he tried (and failed) to inject lighthearted comedy into his books. I near gave up on him. Thankfully he quit the stupidity and got back to the tough crime stories. There was a made for TV "Prey" movie, saw a bit, but it wasn't cutting it for me.
Steve Hamilton
Alex McKnight. An ex-cop who operates cabins in a small Michigan town -- and a reluctant detective. Good cast of characters, lots of emotion, a wintery backdrop. Hamilton is a rock solid storyteller.
Kathy Reichs
Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Fascinating mysteries, very detailed, sometimes a bit too detailed and clinical. Regardless, she's one of my favorites. There's a hit TV show based on the character (Bones), but it's very different from the books.
Rich Riordan
Tres Navarre – Tres is a quirky guy and one of the funnier smart-ass PI’s I’ve ever read. Plus he has a cat named Robert Johnson. Lord do I miss this guy, wish Riordan would write more.
Earl Emerson
Detective Thomas Black and Fire chief Mac Fontana. Earl wasn’t the sharpest writer; there were clunky plot points from time to time. But he was soooo damn entertaining and humorous. Unfortunately he abandoned his primary characters and got dark and depressing. Tried a comeback with Black and wrote a complete turd. But I’ll always have those early books to revisit should I ever miss Emerson at his prime.
Jonathon King
P.I. Max Freeman solves crimes in the Everglades, which is different. I like exploring different locals and the people who live there. I wouldn’t put King among the upper crust (Child or Connelly) but he does spin a rousing yarn.
C.J. Box
Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden. Again, I like visiting different places. These are entertaining and have some interesting characters (I like his outlaw pal, Nate). The only thing I don’t like is that Joe takes a lot of unwarranted sh---. I feel sorry for the guy half the time.
Sue Grafton
The alphabet series with PI Kinsey Millhone. Overall enjoyable– with a few weak novels here and there. Not my favorite (sometimes her endings are too abrupt) but a good rainy day read. She likes food, people eat A LOT in her stories.
J.A. Jance
Homicide detective J.P. Beaumont. I never liked her other characters, but I did enjoy her stories about the cop in Seattle. The city settings were fun to spot (a few are now out of business). She has come back to her Seattle detective, but the series has kind of gotten soft.
Nevada Barr
Park ranger Anna Pigeon – good adventurous mysteries… can go a bit overboard on the dark and nasty – especially with her more recent offerings.
Julia Spencer Fleming
Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne. Not an upper-tier series, but enjoyable tales nonetheless.
Michael McGarrity
New Mexico law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney. I like these for the most part - though there was one (and I can’t remember the title) that stunk so bad I couldn’t finish it (which is a first among authors I like).
G.M. Ford
Leo Watterman mysteries were light, humorous. Frank Corso was darker, faster paced. I preferred Watterman.
Gave up on
Janet Evanovich, the Stephanie Plumb novels were fun at first but kept repeating themselves. I lost interest in the cookie cutter plots and structure after a while.
Patricia Cornwell went to hell in a hand basket after starting off strong.
Ones I can’t remember
There was a guy who primarily wrote sci-fi/fantasy stuff… who gave hard-boiled Detective’s a try. I think he did 3 novels, wonderful novels about a PI who had some kind of mob ties in his family. Sadly he ditched this character and went back to his regular fare.
A female author, female character, I believe she was Latin American. There were 2 books. Google searches come up empty.