Crime Fiction Recommendations

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I've just read the first two noir books by Megan Abbott: Die a Little and The Song Is You.

These were really enjoyable--all 1950s Hollywood sleaze and corruption and layers upon layers of deception. In Die a Little, a woman becomes obsessed with uncovering the secrets of her glamorous new sister-in-law. The Song Is You deals with the unsolved case of Jean Spangler, who disappeared in Hollywood in 1949.

Now I'm starting Abbott's next: Queenpin.

Originally Posted by Russeldm

Megan Abbott rocks. I was blown away by her books, truly. And QUEENPIN is spectactular. She makes me think - a lot - of a kind of feminist Ellroy, taking that 1930's sin and telling it from a perspective we don't often think about.

I am an incredible hardboiled crime geek, so Abbot was a big discovery for me. In recent years, I've been going off the beaten track to find authors, especially the ones who do the kind of American noir I love. Big reccomendation from me is Reed Farrel Coleman, whose Moe Prager books are simply spectacular. And Gary Phillips, who tells tales of the modern LA in a way that makes me think of the power of writers like Walter Mosley.

Russel
Author of The Good Son

I'm a hard-boiled crime fan too - thanks for the heads-up, I will go looking for her works right now.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Russeldm

I am an incredible hardboiled crime geek, so Abbot was a big discovery for me. In recent years, I've been going off the beaten track to find authors, especially the ones who do the kind of American noir I love. Big reccomendation from me is Reed Farrel Coleman, whose Moe Prager books are simply spectacular. And Gary Phillips, who tells tales of the modern LA in a way that makes me think of the power of writers like Walter Mosley.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll have to add these to my list.

[Steve Anderson]

Whoa, the Megan Abbot books sound great even though I'm not a huge Ellroy fan. Gonna add the first one now. Thanks, all.

[Catlady]

I finished Queenpin last night--wow. Megan Abbott just keeps getting better and better. Now I'm starting Bury Me Deep, which is the one that sounded most interesting to me in the first place (but I like to read books in the order written).

She's got a new book coming out in July: The End of Everything.

[Russeldm]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I finished Queenpin last night--wow. Megan Abbott just keeps getting better and better. Now I'm starting Bury Me Deep, which is the one that sounded most interesting to me in the first place (but I like to read books in the order written).

She's got a new book coming out in July: The End of Everything.

Queenpin originated as a short story which, if I remember correctly, appeared in the Abbott-edited A HELL OF A WOMAN anthology (well worth checking out - some cracking stories and authors in there). She is, in my opinion, a one of a kind author. Just brilliant.

Just thought of another you might well dig - the magnificent Christa Faust. Dunno if Money Shot's in e-format (her publishers were attempting to recreate the glory days of pulp fiction right down to the painted covers) but for modern noir with a unique and tough protagonist, Faust is spot on.

Oh dear, you really shouldn't get me started reccomending crime authors...

Russel
Nominated for the Shamus Award: The Good Son

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I've just read the first two noir books by Megan Abbott: Die a Little and The Song Is You.

These were really enjoyable...

Thanks to all for the Megan Abbott recommendations. I had never heard of her before. I've just ordered these two books for my sister for Easter.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Russeldm

Queenpin originated as a short story which, if I remember correctly, appeared in the Abbott-edited A HELL OF A WOMAN anthology (well worth checking out - some cracking stories and authors in there). She is, in my opinion, a one of a kind author. Just brilliant.

What I saw somewhere or other was that the original story was in an anthology called Damn Near Dead. Not available as an e-book, though.

I was also looking at the Hell of a Woman anthology, but again, no e-book.

(I'm trying really hard not to add any more paper books!)

Just thought of another you might well dig - the magnificent Christa Faust. Dunno if Money Shot's in e-format (her publishers were attempting to recreate the glory days of pulp fiction right down to the painted covers) but for modern noir with a unique and tough protagonist, Faust is spot on.

Oh dear, you really shouldn't get me started reccomending crime authors...

Thanks--I'll have a look at Faust. Recommendations are most welcome! What about Vicky Hendricks--any opinion on her stuff?

[Russeldm]

Originally Posted by Catlady

What I saw somewhere or other was that the original story was in an anthology called Damn Near Dead. Not available as an e-book, though.

I was also looking at the Hell of a Woman anthology, but again, no e-book.

(I'm trying really hard not to add any more paper books!)



Thanks--I'll have a look at Faust. Recommendations are most welcome! What about Vicky Hendricks--any opinion on her stuff?

Yeah, DAMN NEAR DEAD (can I quickly plug that I'm featured in the second volume?) and HELL OF A WOMAN probably aren't in e-format. I think you're right that its DND that the short featured in. Book boths are still worth it, though, even if unavailable in e. I don't know the reasons fully but I do know that sadly the publisher, David Thompson, passed away last year. We never really got to chat about e-books and how he felt about doing them but he was a hugely enthusiastic crime evangelist and really put together an incredible package with all the Busted Flush titles, bringing some very deserving authors back into print.

As to Vicki Hendricks - I've read her novel, CRUEL POETRY which is dangerously sensual and absolutely addictive. And her collection, FLORIDA GOTHIC STORIES, which is a mixed bag of genres running from straight crime to things that are more surreal in nature but which are all so beautifully written. She is one of those talents who should be more widely accepted In fact, I think the afterword is by Megan Abbott, who started this conversation in the first place! Anyway, Hendricks is someone who should be far better known than she is.

Russel
The good son by Russel D McLean

[Catlady]

Thanks for the additional info.

I took a look at the Christa Faust titles--I think they look too raunchy for me!

[DMB]

I've bought a Megan Abbott but have yet to download it. Thanks for the recommendation.

[denverman1]

for crime and thrillers a good one is James Patterson - I've read quite a lot of his books and have for the just loved them. You won't turn it down after a few chapters...


Try books like Tick Tock, Don't Blink, ....

[SensualPoet]

The summer of 2003 and was a very good time for mystery lovers because that was when Christopher Fowler, previously known for his horror tales, unleashed the first edition of his Bryant and May series, Full Dark House. The writing flows logically, at a fast pace and is mostly deliciously laid out. Much of the prose falls gracefully off one's silent tongue although a few bits of dialogue, particularly that of a key character who shows up late in the game, has a bit of a hollow ring. There's terrific wry humour and the interaction of the two principles absolutely spot on.

Arthur Bryant and John May are semi-retired detectives whose living legendary status has allowed them to continue working into their 80s. In the opening pages, Arthur Bryant is working late into the night at the Peculiar Crimes Unit office when a massive explosion rips through the second floor. As John May tries to piece together clues, he comes to believe the serial killer they tracked down in their very first case, as barely 20-somethings in Blitz plagued 1940 London has returned ... which is a very nice device to set most of the tale in the past. The main setting is London's Palace Theatre as a woebegone cast attempt to launch a racy version of Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld; and this allows for the introduction of a wonderful set of eccentric characters, international financial intrigue, and everyday coping in the midst of daily bombings. But could the killer in their first case be responsible for Arthur's demise?

Fowler has just announced on his blog that the series will reach ten parts in 2011 or 2012; I have tossed a couple more already onto my TBR pile.

Available as tasty bargains at Amazon and Kobo for under $6.

[SensualPoet]

In the early 1990s, Simon Shaw wrote a series of novels starring Philip Fletcher who, in the first title Murder Out of Tune, is a middle-aged, out of work actor who refuses to accept that his lack of success in the theatre has become a habit. During the opening tale, Fletcher is grouchy, petty, self-involved, self-pitying; he's envious of anyone who has success (including other actors, best friends and agents), and very good at self-sabotage. He is particularly miffed when a former friend, gay theatre star Gordon Fleming, gets all the roles (and wild acclaim) he believes he deserves. In a fit of rage, Fletcher accidentally kills him ... but realising he can't easily be caught, he allows Fleming's sometime boyfriend to take the fall. This starts Philip on a path of murdering his way to top -- a novel twist on the usual sexual route. Told from Philip's ever-changing perspective, the prose is witty and the twists and turns, right to the final pages, unexpected.

Unfortunately, Shaw's work is currently mainly out of print although you might find this title on the darknet or in paper in a second hand store.

* * * * *

Long before Brother Cadafael turned Ellis Peters into a household name in the English-speaking world, the author began a series featuring Inspector George Felse, who is responsible for the lives of Comerford, a mining town in north eastern England. The evocatively named Fallen into the Pit highlights the young men of the village, many recently returned from WWII, and their uneasy resettling into numbing village life ... with nasty, ungrateful ex-POW Helmut Schauffler in their midst. Published in 1951, this sometime dense tale reads much more as a character study than a mystery. The village characters, flawed and drawn in detail, is what keeps the reader's interest as the story itself barely inches along. Though partly police procedural, Felse's son, 13 y/o Dominic, is in truth the central character, actively sleuthing after discovering the body. This isn't a light and breezy read; but it does reward sticking with it.

The Felse series is in print in an expensive trade paper edition (as in abt $20 each) but may be available on the darknet or in paper in a second hand store.

* * * * *

Toronto writer Lyn Hamilton wrote eleven volumes starring Lara McLintoch, an antiques dealer in Toronto's toni Yorkville district who spends most of her time at exotic archeological sites looking for treasures to bring home to her shop ... and stumbling across murders in the process. The first in the series, from 1997, is The Xibalba Murders: it is set in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and more specifically the town of Merida. There is a good deal of license with historical fact, and the changes from the late 1990s to present day -- particularly the use of the Internet -- may be somewhat jarring to a present-day reader. Lara carries the full weight of the tale which careens between mystery, romance and Indiana Jones-like action. It's a pretty engaging read, on balance, although my interest flagged somewhat toward the end which then arrived with astonishing abruptness.

The series is published by Berkeley Prime Crime but since the author's pre-mature death in 2009, it is unclear if these will make it to e-book format; all titles are currently in paper at mass paper prices. More info here: http://www.lynhamiltonmysteries.com/

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by beespeckled

Louis Bayard he doesn't write series mysteries but fantastic stand alone historical thriller mysteries that make you feel that you are right there in that period. I loved the Pale Blue Eye that featured Edgar Allen Poe as a young West Point Cadet. Bayard's plots deliciously twist and turn, always ending with the unexpected, that makes me think about that ending for days afterward.

This is what I reading right now ... and it's every bit as good as you suggest. The tale is sauntering along and then, pow, Bayard hits you with an amazing description of of something or someone that just about takes one's breath away. Great writing! Thanks for the reco!

[poohbear_nc]

I just found a Kindle-ized Erle Stanley Gardner (actually an A.A. Fair) title - "Top of the Heap" published by Hard Case Crime. It's a Bertha Cool/Donald Lam title.

Gardner still (AFAIK) has not appeared in legal ebook editions - probably because the paperback versions of his books have been published by so many different publishers - untangling the contracts might be a nightmare.