Looking for a good book (or two, or three)

[pbray]

As seen elsewhere in the blogosphere, it's "Buy a Book, Save the World" time, and I need your help.

Since my TBR stack is taller than I am, I thought I'd buy a book for my sister, whose TBR stack is considerably smaller. She's primarily a mystery reader, and is always looking for new authors.

So who's read a good mystery lately that you'd like to recommend? Her favorite author is Michael Connelly, if that gives you any clues, and she prefers to steer away from horror (a la Dean Koontz.)

Comments

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

I can think of a few:

Stuart Kaminsky, particularly the Inspector Rostnikov books.
(Set in Russia, but a more believable Russia than most American writers manage)

Alexander McCall Smith, the Number One Ladies Detective Agency
(Botswana!)

Tony Hillerman if she hasn't read him all already.

I would particularly recommend the Smith. He was born in Rhodesia before it was Zimbabwe, and his family had to leave when all non-Shona owned properties were seized and so many people were exiled for *not* being Shona. The family moved to Botswana. He lives in Scotland now, and even though he's white (yes, I've seen a picture) you really, really get a feeling of Africa from the books.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check them out.

And proving great minds think alike, I gave her the first Alexander McCall Smith book for Christmas last year.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Indeed :-).

Well, there are now nine of them, I think...

[controuble.livejournal.com]

If she hasn't tried the "...in Death" series by J.D. Robb (a Nora Roberts pen-name), she might like those. I do. They take place in New York in 2059 (ooooh, future/fantasy/sf).
Since she's your sister, you will want to only buy 2 or 3 of the 20 or so out there - make her buy the rest.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

And she likes long series, so that's a great idea.

[madkestrel.livejournal.com]

She might like Gwen Hunter (http://www.gwenhunter.com/)'s mysteries.

And if there's a chance she might like historical mysteries, I'm crazy about Lindsey Davis (http://www.lindseydavis.co.uk/publications.htm)' Falco books. They're set in Vespasian's Rome, and I love them.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks! She goes through phases of reading historicals, so the Falco books may be an interesting change of pace.

[guinwhyte.livejournal.com]

Seconding Hillerman and Kaminsky, and adding William Bernhardt (http://williambernhardt.com/), Margaret Coel (http://www.margaretcoel.com/) and Pari Noskin Taichert (http://www.parinoskintaichert.com/). (The last one there might not be so much up your sister's alley -- she writes about an amateur sleuth who is a PR professional working for small towns/cities in New Mexico. Quirky, and a personal favorite.)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll check these out!

[shana.livejournal.com]

My current favorites are Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mysteries.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

See, this is why LJ is the best. I hadn't heard of these books, but they look intriguing.

[katatomic.livejournal.com]

I very heartily recommend detective fiction author Sean Chercover. If she likes Connelly, she'll find some points of the style similar.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

That looks right up her alley, thanks!

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Alas, Michael Connelly gives me no clues at all. But I'd like to put in a plug for my favourite Canadian (sort of) mystery writer, Peter Robinson (who writes Alan Banks). I recently read his Friend of the Devil, which I really liked, and he's got a new book out now called All the Colours of Darkness (http://www.inspectorbanks.com/books/all-the-colours-of-darkness/) that sounds v. good too.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

And it's a lovely long series, which is something that she looks for. (She devours books the way I used to, before writing sucked up all my free time.)

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

It is that.

Now, does she prefer mysteries set in the UK, or mysteries set in the US? (IME, a lot of people veer strongly in one direction or the other -- I'm a UK type, myself.) If the former, I assume she's been through Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, P.D. James, Minette Walters, and Ian Rankin, who are all mega-famous, but perhaps not Deborah Crombie, who is less famous but extremely good.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

She was on a UK kick when she was younger, but is now US centric.

While I'm on a UK streak myself, and am currently reading Dorothy Sayers.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Ah, Lord Peter ...

And if you like Lord Peter, you'll also like Mr Campion (Margery Allingham). And probably Roderick Alleyn (Ngaio Marsh).

Not to get off topic or anything...

[janlewis.livejournal.com]

If she likes historical mysteries, I would recommend Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave and Silent in the Sanctuary. They are victorian mysteries.

If she is open to reading mysteries in a fantasy setting, Tamara Siler Jones' Ghosts in the Snow, Threads of Malice, and Valley of the Soul are fabulous.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Tammy's mysteries are indeed amazing, and I'll check out Deanna Raybourn's.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I second the recommendation for Phryne Fisher (although I'm not certain that someone who likes Michael Connelly would necessarily like Kerry Greenwood). The Fisher mysteries are set in the Jazz age in Australia, and feature a heroine who has touches of Modesty Blaise, but with a title, money, and a fabulous wardrobe -- and a past.

Other good mystery authors:
* Linda Barnes: Carlotta Carlyle understands the seamy side of Boston, but doesn't lose faith in her friends, her adopted daughter, or her ability to improve things for at least a few people. Consistently exciting and well-written, and raises interesting issues. My favourites are The Big Dig, Steel Guitar, and the latest, Lie down with the devil.

* Julia Spencer-Fleming has an interesting series set in upstate New York, whose protagonists are a female Anglican priest (and ex-Army pilot) and the local Chief of Police, who fall in love with each other against their better judgment. Start with In The Bleak Midwinter. This series still grabbed me when I was feeling tired of mysteries. (It won all sorts of awards.)

* Margaret Maron: has written a long series of mysteries featuring Judge Deborah Knott (and her very extended and not always respectable family), which are good mysteries and simply fun to read. They're set in Maron's native North Carolina and give a wonderful feel for that state's history and background. Preferably start with Bootlegger's Daughter (the first in the series, which was a multiple-award-winner), but any of them can be read out of order. The latest one, Death's Half-Acre, has some particularly interesting comments on the intersection of sprawl and the farming community.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recs, I'll go check these out.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

I've enjoyed both of Deanna Rayburn's mysteries in the last year: great characters and real page-turners, plus great atmosphere. Peter Robinson's books are always reliably well-written and worth reading.

Another historical mystery possibility is Jason Goodwin's two mysteries set in turn-of-the-century Istanbul, near the end of the Ottoman Empire: The Janissary Tree and The Snake Stone. I thought they were excellent, both for their historical detail and how that became essential to solving very-non-obvious mysteries. (I'm currently reading _A Time for Tea_ by Goodwin, which is a history of tea and really fascinating.)

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

Connolly is, I believe, rather in the line of police procedural. Following that line, I would also recommended the JD Robb books - they are light police procedural (she is a NYPD detective, set in the near future), with a mix of romance (hi, there Nora Roberts, but oddly, I hate Nora Roberts writing as well, Nora Roberts.)

She might also enjoy the Jesse Stone series by Robert Parker (the author of Spenser For Hire series), if she enjoys the Brooding Man genre of police procedurals.

Dennis Lehane's books are a big hit for police procedural fans, although I have to confess I have never read them, and Ed McBain is sort of the founder of the genre.

(Also, if you have your Broome County Public library Card, you can also use it search the Novelist database for all sorts of fiction recommendations. Its sort of fun!)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I think she's read Lehane, but I'll definitely check out Robert Parker's Jesse Stone series. I liked his Spenser series back in the day, but had lost track of what he was doing now.

And yes I have a BCPL card, somewhere, which I must dig up.

[otterb.livejournal.com]

If she likes amusing mysteries, she might like Donna Andrews's bird series. Murder with Peacocks is the first.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll keep my eye out for those.

[califmole.livejournal.com]

She may want to try Robert Crais or Stephen J. Cannell--both procedural style, and since both authors are also screenwriters its no surprise that both have set their series in LA.

Or there's Anne Perry's atmospheric WWI era books, starting with No Graves As Yet.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think she's read Crais, but not sure about Cannell.