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DMcCunney · 01-02-2011, 01:27 PM

I'll add a few more I don't think have been mentioned thus far.

I like offbeat police procedurals in exotic settings.

One is the Tromp Kramer and Mickey Zondi books by James McLure. Kramer is Lt. Tromp Kramer of the Trekkersburg Murder and Robbery Squad in Trekkersburg, SA, and Zondi is Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi, Kramer's partner. Aside from being good police procedurals, they are ironic commentary on the Apartheid policies of older South Africa, as the motivations for the crimes tend to be rooted in Apartheid. In one book, for instance, the critical factor is that a character is "passing for white", and has a Negro ancestor. If this were to become public, the character would be reclassified from White to Coloured, with catastrophic results for the character.

Another is the Yellowthread Street mysteries by William Marshall, set in the fictitious Hong Bay district of Hong Kong. Detective Chief Inspector Harry Pfieffer and his crew at the Yellowthread Street police station must cope with a variety of unusual situations. In _Sci-Fi_, for example, promoters are holding an SF and comics convention, so the Yellowthread Street cops must cope with costumed loonies along with the normal variety. And the promoters have set up a giant inflated Godzilla doll as a promotional device. Unfortunately, its broken loose from its moorings and is drifting toward mainland China. Everyone is very concerned about how the Communist government will react to the violation of their airspace. Morrison is capable of going from slapstick comedy to stark terror in the space of a page.

For something a bit different, there are the Lord Darcy stories by the late Randall Garrett. These sit on the border between science fiction and fantasy. They are set in an alternate history in which King Richard the Lion Hearted settled down after being wounded in the Crusades to become a very good King indeed, founding a Plantagent dynasty that still exists. Magic has been developed instead of science. Darcy is Chief Criminal Investigator for his Grace, the Duke of Rouen, who investigates with his partner, Master Forensic Sorcerer Sean O'Lochlain, who uses magic to unearth clues Darcy will use to solve the case.

The Lord Darcy tales are available in ebook format from Baen's Webscriptions programs. I don't know offhand about the others.
______
Dennis

01-02-2011, 01:27 PM	#128
DMcCunney New York Editor Posts: 6,384 Karma: 16540415 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7	I'll add a few more I don't think have been mentioned thus far. I like offbeat police procedurals in exotic settings. One is the Tromp Kramer and Mickey Zondi books by James McLure. Kramer is Lt. Tromp Kramer of the Trekkersburg Murder and Robbery Squad in Trekkersburg, SA, and Zondi is Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi, Kramer's partner. Aside from being good police procedurals, they are ironic commentary on the Apartheid policies of older South Africa, as the motivations for the crimes tend to be rooted in Apartheid. In one book, for instance, the critical factor is that a character is "passing for white", and has a Negro ancestor. If this were to become public, the character would be reclassified from White to Coloured, with catastrophic results for the character. Another is the Yellowthread Street mysteries by William Marshall, set in the fictitious Hong Bay district of Hong Kong. Detective Chief Inspector Harry Pfieffer and his crew at the Yellowthread Street police station must cope with a variety of unusual situations. In _Sci-Fi_, for example, promoters are holding an SF and comics convention, so the Yellowthread Street cops must cope with costumed loonies along with the normal variety. And the promoters have set up a giant inflated Godzilla doll as a promotional device. Unfortunately, its broken loose from its moorings and is drifting toward mainland China. Everyone is very concerned about how the Communist government will react to the violation of their airspace. Morrison is capable of going from slapstick comedy to stark terror in the space of a page. For something a bit different, there are the Lord Darcy stories by the late Randall Garrett. These sit on the border between science fiction and fantasy. They are set in an alternate history in which King Richard the Lion Hearted settled down after being wounded in the Crusades to become a very good King indeed, founding a Plantagent dynasty that still exists. Magic has been developed instead of science. Darcy is Chief Criminal Investigator for his Grace, the Duke of Rouen, who investigates with his partner, Master Forensic Sorcerer Sean O'Lochlain, who uses magic to unearth clues Darcy will use to solve the case. The Lord Darcy tales are available in ebook format from Baen's Webscriptions programs. I don't know offhand about the others. ______ Dennis Last edited by DMcCunney; 01-02-2011 at 05:50 PM. Reason: s/Morrison/Marshall/ Helps if I get the author's name right...