Crime Fiction Recommendations - Page 9

JoelArnold · 10-20-2010, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moe The Cat

James Ellroy. His "L. A. Quartet" is good, although only the first volume, The Black Dahlia, is available as an ebook.

The Black Dahlia is one of my favorites.

SensualPoet · 10-21-2010, 09:24 PM

I really can't recommend Louise Penny's 2004 debut novel Still Life, the first of six Chief Inspector Armand Gamache tales, set in the village of Three Pines, Quebec, more highly. It has taken me a while to get around to this series; the Canadian e-book rights are spotty despite the author having been celebrated in Canada and internationally -- she is the only author ever to win three Agatha awards in a row for Best Novel. Alas, Still Life remains out of reach of her fellow Canadian readers as an e-book due to (stupid) e-rights issues. All of Ms Penny's novels are available in Canada in paper; most are available at public libraries as audio books; none are available as e-books. Now .. THERE's a mystery!

Jean Neal, a 70s-something local artist, is found dead in a pile of autumn leaves at Three Pines, Quebec steps from her home, in the midst of hunting season. She's been killed by an arrow. Accident? or murder? When Montreal-based Chief Inspector Armand Gamache investigates (beginning with: "where the heck is Three Pines, anyway?"), he uncovers an artist neighbourhood of painters, poets and crafters, snuggled next to the gay couple running the local b&b/antique shop and shady relatives in for the killing, metaphorically, one hopes. Toss in Children's Aid, and a deep seated fear of snakes, and you have a really cracker jack tale of murder and love lost over six decades.

Penny's prose is easy, thoughtful, intelligent and psychological. She really gets inside her characters, like Simenon does in his Inspector Maigret tales, but with (much) less emotional detachment; yet the story bubbles along like best of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe; and the unexpected humour conjures Howard Engel's Benny Cooperman, or, allowing for the generation gap, Raymond Chandler. But please don't think her style, her stories, her compassion for the characters is in any way derivative: Three Pines will ring true on multiple levels even if you have no idea what real maple syrup tastes like.

It's available (outside of Canada) for $2.99 at Amazon and Sony; others can try to find the St Martin's / Headline paperback for five times that price; it's mainly out of print in Canada ... Kobo's major investor, Chapter's Indigo offers it at almost $90 through their 3rd party second hand store. It's also free on the darknet. It may be available as a paperback at your local library. It's not, in Toronto: 48 copies exist in the system, and 86 people have formally asked for access. This, for a six year old novel. Yet e-book rights are withheld from Canadians ... for a $2.99 US e-book.

However you acquire an opportunity to read it ... read it. It's a five star gem.

NightBird · 10-23-2010, 08:54 PM

Lately I have become interested in the Soho Crime books. They are from all over the world, so a little different in terms of locales and cultures.

http://www.sohocrime.com/frontlist.php

They are available at Amazon, B&N and Sony but not at Fictionwise or Kobo yet. A little pricey - running in the $9.99 to $11.99 range - but sometimes have cheapies or freebies.

SidneyW · 10-23-2010, 08:59 PM

I like Lawrence Block a lot. Joseph Finder is a great suspense writer, and his books are kind of atypical. Company Man is a great one.

SeaBookGuy · 10-23-2010, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

My latest read was The Saltmarsh Murders by Gladys Mitchell, an author -- incredibly -- I did not know before. Mitchell began her mystery writing career in 1929 and is pretty much a contemporary of Agatha Christie. Her heroine ... through 66 novels! ... is Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, or "Mrs Bradley" as she is referred to in this early outing, first published in 1932.

Random House Vintage has reissued a half dozen of the (mostly) early titles. This one bears the tagline: "A quick-witted, clever mystery from the Golden Age of crime writing" and that sums it up nicely. It is quaint in some ways, but also unexpectedly funny in other places. There are vicars, and pubs, and secret passages ... and murder. Like a number of Christie novels, this one has a fairly long lead in of facts and characters before the story really starts to take off. So prepare yourself for a leisurely entrée into the world of Saltmarsh, as narrated by the young deacon, Noel Wells, and the surprising characters that inhabit this town.

Available at kobo, amazon and possibly your local library (which is where I found a copy!).

Mrs. Bradley was played on television by none other than Diana Rigg!

SensualPoet · 10-25-2010, 10:03 PM

Thanks, Nightbird ... it's good to see Soho Crime as e-books at Amazon, et al. As you note ... premium prices but at least available!

Some Lawrence Block books may be available at your local ebook public library for sampling; they are here in Toronto.

Yes, SeaBookGuy, I have read that Diana Rigg played Mrs Bradley. Alas, I missed those. I'd be interested to see a couple ... the reviews weren't terribly exciting, alas ... again. With 66 novels to choose from, it could be a retirement gift to Ms Rigg!

NightBird · 10-26-2010, 03:25 AM

YW! I actually ended up buying a bunch of them in paper from Better World Books - they had a big sale this summer for $2.50 each. No way I'm going to pay as much as they want for the ebooks.

Forgot to say before - I have that Louise Penny book but haven't started it yet. Thanks for your detailed review - it sounds interesting.

Diane Stanley · 10-26-2010, 07:46 AM

I love James Patterson for fiction and Ann Rule for true crime. I wish there were more true crime avaliable for the Kobo.

L.J. Sellers · 10-27-2010, 10:27 AM

Ann Rule is terrific! I need to get caught up on her books.

Two new crime/thriller writers I've discovered: The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson and Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti. Both great first novels.

L.J.
The Sex Club, $.99!

Steve Anderson · 10-28-2010, 08:38 PM

For me, James Lee Burke. This guy's proof that some of the best writers -- period -- are writing in the crime/mystery genre.

SensualPoet · 11-01-2010, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightBird

Lately I have become interested in the Soho Crime books. They are from all over the world, so a little different in terms of locales and cultures.

http://www.sohocrime.com/frontlist.php

They are available at Amazon, B&N and Sony but not at Fictionwise or Kobo yet. A little pricey - running in the $9.99 to $11.99 range - but sometimes have cheapies or freebies.

Henry Chang's Jack Yu series set in New York's Chinatown is now three titles strong -- all on Soho Crime. You can still sample the first complete book in the series, Chinatown Beat, for free at Amazon for the Kindle.

SensualPoet · 11-01-2010, 10:04 PM

At times a bit slow moving, Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder is the second of three titles in what turned out to be a delightful conjuring of 1890s London and Wilde's circle. It's chock full of Wildeisms and whimsy as the murder mystery is unravelled, thread-by-thread. The series is narrated in the first person by Robert Sherard -- Wilde's actual first biographer. And Brandreth himself is a Wilde scholar who lavishes much detail that is either true or credible invention as a grounding filigree to the tales; it's often hard to tell, in fact, which are the facts and which artistic license.

The story opens with Wilde holding a regular dinner meeting of The Socrates Club in a local hotel. Guests include Conan Doyle, Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie), Bram Stoker, Walter Sickert and other notables of the period. There are 14 at dinner and Wilde asks everyone to write anonymously the name of someone he'd like to see murdered. The slips of paper are gathered and Wilde reads them out. The game is to guess whose victim belongs to whom. Unfortunately, the next day, the first name on the list dies and one member of the gathering was on the scene. Coincidence? or murder? The tale unfolds, murder by murder, with Wilde playing Sherlock Holmes to Sherard's Watson. Were will it end? Oscar himself is on the list, as is his dear wife Constance.

I admit it took some pages before I was hooked ... but then I was thoroughly hooked. It's a breezy read and certainly left me keen on exploring more in the series; nine books in all are planned.

You can find the series as e-books, for about $10 each at Amazon and Kobobooks.

NightBird · 11-02-2010, 04:49 PM

I did get the freebie Chinatown Beat but haven't read it yet.

Great synopsis/review. I think you got me hooked on the Oscar Wilde series, too. Those will have to go on my wishlist until the prices come down. lol

qprfan99 · 11-02-2010, 06:32 PM

Hi guys

I'm a huge fan of this genre. No preferences as to nationalities or era or PI v. Cop.

Favourites
American
Michael Connelly - Not just Harry Bosch
Robert Crais - Great easy reads
Robert B Parker - The Spenser series - the easiest reaads out there & funny with it.
Jeffery Deaver
James Ellroy - a bit harder to read.
Elmore Leonards - great fun
Lee Child (though a Brit) - Reacher series - very very easy reads
James Patterson - love Alex Cross
The 2 Kellermans - can't choose between them
Harlan Coben - Myron Bolitar
James Lee Burke - possibly the best writer of them all?
Lawrence Block & his superb Scudder series
John Lescroart - Dismas Hardy a lawyer is his main character
Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski

British
Ian Rankin - His Rebus series was superb
Peter Robinson - Insp Banks
Elizabeth George - the Lynley series but I found the quality varied.
PD James - Dalgleish series - a great writer
Ruth Rendell - Wexford - great books, didn't like the TV series at all
(also try the Barbara Vine books, a pen-name she uses - for darker stories)
Donna Leon's Brunetti series set in Venice - really loved these.
Ellis Peters - Cadfael series - wonderful
Dick Francis - great fun & a very easy read - also very informative about a lot of different things not just horse racing

Scandinavian
Henning Mankell - I love Kurt Wallander
Stieg Larsson - the fashionable Millenium series

I've also just finished a couple of books by Brian Eisler - his hero is a Japanese/American hit-man. Great read

Some historical ones
Laura Joh Rowland's books about her Samurai detective Sano Ichiro
John Maddox Roberts - SPQR series set in Ancient Rome
Robert Van Gulik - Judge Dee set in Ancient China - written a long time ago but recommended

Finally some very highly recommended Australian writers
Arthur Upfield's indigenous detective Boney
Peter Corris - especially the Cliff Hardy series - these are as good as anything in the world & a very easy read
Gary Disher & his criminal hero Wyatt
Jon Creasy & his hero Scobie Malone
Peter Temple
Barry Maitland - though his combatants are based in England.

All these I've read recently & most of their books.

The masters - Cain, Thompson, Chandler, Hammett etc - I haven't read for a while but remember as being great.

All of these are highly recommended. Loads of others I've really liked but just don't make it on to this list - Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs etc etc

Some I just haven't read enough of their books but have enjoyed what I have - Mark Billigham, Robert Wilson, Hiassen, Hillerman

And then of course there are all the others that I've forgotten - a regular event at my age

Long-winded I know but I'll guarantee you won't go wrong with any of these.

Be lucky
Larry

Steve Anderson · 11-04-2010, 07:50 PM

I'm going to throw out a couple that don't always get mentioned but I think are great: Patricia Highsmith, and George Pelecanos.

Check them out if you haven't already.

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10-21-2010, 09:24 PM	#122
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	I really can't recommend Louise Penny's 2004 debut novel Still Life, the first of six Chief Inspector Armand Gamache tales, set in the village of Three Pines, Quebec, more highly. It has taken me a while to get around to this series; the Canadian e-book rights are spotty despite the author having been celebrated in Canada and internationally -- she is the only author ever to win three Agatha awards in a row for Best Novel. Alas, Still Life remains out of reach of her fellow Canadian readers as an e-book due to (stupid) e-rights issues. All of Ms Penny's novels are available in Canada in paper; most are available at public libraries as audio books; none are available as e-books. Now .. THERE's a mystery! Jean Neal, a 70s-something local artist, is found dead in a pile of autumn leaves at Three Pines, Quebec steps from her home, in the midst of hunting season. She's been killed by an arrow. Accident? or murder? When Montreal-based Chief Inspector Armand Gamache investigates (beginning with: "where the heck is Three Pines, anyway?"), he uncovers an artist neighbourhood of painters, poets and crafters, snuggled next to the gay couple running the local b&b/antique shop and shady relatives in for the killing, metaphorically, one hopes. Toss in Children's Aid, and a deep seated fear of snakes, and you have a really cracker jack tale of murder and love lost over six decades. Penny's prose is easy, thoughtful, intelligent and psychological. She really gets inside her characters, like Simenon does in his Inspector Maigret tales, but with (much) less emotional detachment; yet the story bubbles along like best of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe; and the unexpected humour conjures Howard Engel's Benny Cooperman, or, allowing for the generation gap, Raymond Chandler. But please don't think her style, her stories, her compassion for the characters is in any way derivative: Three Pines will ring true on multiple levels even if you have no idea what real maple syrup tastes like. It's available (outside of Canada) for $2.99 at Amazon and Sony; others can try to find the St Martin's / Headline paperback for five times that price; it's mainly out of print in Canada ... Kobo's major investor, Chapter's Indigo offers it at almost $90 through their 3rd party second hand store. It's also free on the darknet. It may be available as a paperback at your local library. It's not, in Toronto: 48 copies exist in the system, and 86 people have formally asked for access. This, for a six year old novel. Yet e-book rights are withheld from Canadians ... for a $2.99 US e-book. However you acquire an opportunity to read it ... read it. It's a five star gem.

10-23-2010, 08:54 PM	#123
NightBird Wizard Posts: 2,364 Karma: 3724797 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: California Device: KPW, KF, KF HD, iPod Touch	Lately I have become interested in the Soho Crime books. They are from all over the world, so a little different in terms of locales and cultures. http://www.sohocrime.com/frontlist.php They are available at Amazon, B&N and Sony but not at Fictionwise or Kobo yet. A little pricey - running in the $9.99 to $11.99 range - but sometimes have cheapies or freebies.

10-23-2010, 08:59 PM	#124
SidneyW Zealot Posts: 117 Karma: 852542 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Texas Device: Kindle	I like Lawrence Block a lot. Joseph Finder is a great suspense writer, and his books are kind of atypical. Company Man is a great one.

10-25-2010, 10:03 PM	#126
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Thanks, Nightbird ... it's good to see Soho Crime as e-books at Amazon, et al. As you note ... premium prices but at least available! Some Lawrence Block books may be available at your local ebook public library for sampling; they are here in Toronto. Yes, SeaBookGuy, I have read that Diana Rigg played Mrs Bradley. Alas, I missed those. I'd be interested to see a couple ... the reviews weren't terribly exciting, alas ... again. With 66 novels to choose from, it could be a retirement gift to Ms Rigg!

10-26-2010, 03:25 AM	#127
NightBird Wizard Posts: 2,364 Karma: 3724797 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: California Device: KPW, KF, KF HD, iPod Touch	YW! I actually ended up buying a bunch of them in paper from Better World Books - they had a big sale this summer for $2.50 each. No way I'm going to pay as much as they want for the ebooks. Forgot to say before - I have that Louise Penny book but haven't started it yet. Thanks for your detailed review - it sounds interesting.

10-26-2010, 07:46 AM	#128
Diane Stanley Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ontario Canada Device: Kobo	I love James Patterson for fiction and Ann Rule for true crime. I wish there were more true crime avaliable for the Kobo.

10-27-2010, 10:27 AM	#129
L.J. Sellers Novelist Posts: 287 Karma: 387979 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Eugene, Oregon Device: Kindle	Ann Rule is terrific! I need to get caught up on her books. Two new crime/thriller writers I've discovered: The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson and Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti. Both great first novels. L.J. The Sex Club, $.99!

10-28-2010, 08:38 PM	#130
Steve Anderson Addict Posts: 226 Karma: 260821 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Portland, Oregon USA Device: iPhone, laptop, more	For me, James Lee Burke. This guy's proof that some of the best writers -- period -- are writing in the crime/mystery genre.

11-01-2010, 10:04 PM	#132
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	At times a bit slow moving, Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder is the second of three titles in what turned out to be a delightful conjuring of 1890s London and Wilde's circle. It's chock full of Wildeisms and whimsy as the murder mystery is unravelled, thread-by-thread. The series is narrated in the first person by Robert Sherard -- Wilde's actual first biographer. And Brandreth himself is a Wilde scholar who lavishes much detail that is either true or credible invention as a grounding filigree to the tales; it's often hard to tell, in fact, which are the facts and which artistic license. The story opens with Wilde holding a regular dinner meeting of The Socrates Club in a local hotel. Guests include Conan Doyle, Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie), Bram Stoker, Walter Sickert and other notables of the period. There are 14 at dinner and Wilde asks everyone to write anonymously the name of someone he'd like to see murdered. The slips of paper are gathered and Wilde reads them out. The game is to guess whose victim belongs to whom. Unfortunately, the next day, the first name on the list dies and one member of the gathering was on the scene. Coincidence? or murder? The tale unfolds, murder by murder, with Wilde playing Sherlock Holmes to Sherard's Watson. Were will it end? Oscar himself is on the list, as is his dear wife Constance. I admit it took some pages before I was hooked ... but then I was thoroughly hooked. It's a breezy read and certainly left me keen on exploring more in the series; nine books in all are planned. You can find the series as e-books, for about $10 each at Amazon and Kobobooks.

11-02-2010, 04:49 PM	#133
NightBird Wizard Posts: 2,364 Karma: 3724797 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: California Device: KPW, KF, KF HD, iPod Touch	I did get the freebie Chinatown Beat but haven't read it yet. Great synopsis/review. I think you got me hooked on the Oscar Wilde series, too. Those will have to go on my wishlist until the prices come down. lol

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11-02-2010, 06:32 PM	#134
qprfan99 Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 392 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: kindle	Hi guys I'm a huge fan of this genre. No preferences as to nationalities or era or PI v. Cop. Favourites American Michael Connelly - Not just Harry Bosch Robert Crais - Great easy reads Robert B Parker - The Spenser series - the easiest reaads out there & funny with it. Jeffery Deaver James Ellroy - a bit harder to read. Elmore Leonards - great fun Lee Child (though a Brit) - Reacher series - very very easy reads James Patterson - love Alex Cross The 2 Kellermans - can't choose between them Harlan Coben - Myron Bolitar James Lee Burke - possibly the best writer of them all? Lawrence Block & his superb Scudder series John Lescroart - Dismas Hardy a lawyer is his main character Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski British Ian Rankin - His Rebus series was superb Peter Robinson - Insp Banks Elizabeth George - the Lynley series but I found the quality varied. PD James - Dalgleish series - a great writer Ruth Rendell - Wexford - great books, didn't like the TV series at all (also try the Barbara Vine books, a pen-name she uses - for darker stories) Donna Leon's Brunetti series set in Venice - really loved these. Ellis Peters - Cadfael series - wonderful Dick Francis - great fun & a very easy read - also very informative about a lot of different things not just horse racing Scandinavian Henning Mankell - I love Kurt Wallander Stieg Larsson - the fashionable Millenium series I've also just finished a couple of books by Brian Eisler - his hero is a Japanese/American hit-man. Great read Some historical ones Laura Joh Rowland's books about her Samurai detective Sano Ichiro John Maddox Roberts - SPQR series set in Ancient Rome Robert Van Gulik - Judge Dee set in Ancient China - written a long time ago but recommended Finally some very highly recommended Australian writers Arthur Upfield's indigenous detective Boney Peter Corris - especially the Cliff Hardy series - these are as good as anything in the world & a very easy read Gary Disher & his criminal hero Wyatt Jon Creasy & his hero Scobie Malone Peter Temple Barry Maitland - though his combatants are based in England. All these I've read recently & most of their books. The masters - Cain, Thompson, Chandler, Hammett etc - I haven't read for a while but remember as being great. All of these are highly recommended. Loads of others I've really liked but just don't make it on to this list - Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs etc etc Some I just haven't read enough of their books but have enjoyed what I have - Mark Billigham, Robert Wilson, Hiassen, Hillerman And then of course there are all the others that I've forgotten - a regular event at my age Long-winded I know but I'll guarantee you won't go wrong with any of these. Be lucky Larry

11-04-2010, 07:50 PM	#135
Steve Anderson Addict Posts: 226 Karma: 260821 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Portland, Oregon USA Device: iPhone, laptop, more	I'm going to throw out a couple that don't always get mentioned but I think are great: Patricia Highsmith, and George Pelecanos. Check them out if you haven't already.