Crime Fiction Recommendations

[poohbear_nc]

Just noticed that Ruth Dudley Edwards' rollicking Robert Amiss series is now available for Kindle. This series also stars the irrepressible Baroness Jack Troutbeck. This is "tongue firmly in cheek" British mystery writing that lampoons class, gender, government, academia - you name it. You'll either love it or hate it.

[lestatar]

Am sure he's been mentioned, but Michael Connolly is one of my fave fiction crime/police procedural authors.

[benham]

Harry Bosch more then Mickey Haller.

[lestatar]

^ oh, Very true!

[SensualPoet]

In 1988, the very first Malice Domestic award for Best First Novel was given to Elizabeth George in her first Inspector Lumley series, A Great Deliverance. Those who know her work know George is hardly a writer of "cozy mysteries" but certainly the Agatha Award for Best Novel that inaugural year -- Carolyn G Hart's Something Wicked, the 3rd in her “Death On Demand” series fits the bill. Most, but not all, of the First Novel prizes since have been genuinely cozy: that definitely applies to GM Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer, the well-deserved winner from 2008. Since then, two more novels in this series, starring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary, have been unleashed.

And what a delightful cozy this is! Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk has made a fortune over the years spinning out best-sellers starring Mrs Rampling who, Miss Marple like, finds dead bodies everywhere she goes, delighting her fans with the working out of the murder puzzle. Briefly married to Cloe Beauclerk-Fisk, she bore Sir Adrian three sons and a daughter (now all one side or the other of 40) -- the ruthless Ruthven (married to the even more ruthless Lillian), playboy and serial entrepreneur failure George (and his current model-perfect squeeze Natasha), failed actor Albert (and his constant companions gin, vodka, rum and their closest friends) and Sarah, a rather large woman with a knack for writing new age cookbooks.

On a moment’s notice, the clan is summoned to the baronial hall at Christmas time to celebrate the coming marriage of Sir Adrian to Violet Winthrop, a woman with a dark past and (not an anonymous 20-something as the children expected) but a woman of a certain age ... near Sir Adrian's age in fact. Now mix in Jeffrey Spencer, Sir Adrian's youthful American secretary and the only one who can decipher the celebrated author's handwriting for transcription, an elderly Italian cook and long time semi-confidant of Sir Adrian, her somewhat no good son Paulo who acts as butler, and a gardener, Watters, so elderly infirm he might need to be repotted himself.

You know what happens next: after a raucous, dramatic family dinner, and a revelation or two plus a possible re-writing of the patriarch’s will … one or more of these eccentrics snuffs it. It’s a cold, wintry night and the police are called in -- DCI St Just and his side-kick Sergeant Fear -- to sort through the clues and inquire of all in house ... for the undisturbed snow in the grounds proves the murder was an inside job. Past is prologue in this tale, and most folks are not who they seem to be; apart from the charming gnarly puzzle, the author has a wicked sense of humour, creating word portraits that left me chuckling loudly (a rarity I assure you). And whodunit? Fair clues, fair game, and still more surprises! This was time well spent and I shall definitely seek out more.

Available at Kindle and Kobo for around $10; the Kindle is currently on sale as part of the $2 Amazon Sunshine Sale.

[DMB]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Just noticed that Ruth Dudley Edwards' rollicking Robert Amiss series is now available for Kindle. This series also stars the irrepressible Baroness Jack Troutbeck. This is "tongue firmly in cheek" British mystery writing that lampoons class, gender, government, academia - you name it. You'll either love it or hate it.

Yes. I already have them. But when I last looked they weren't all available. They are uproariously funny. She is from Ireland, not Britain, although most of her stories are set in Britain. She is also a distinguished non-fiction writer.

[DMB]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

In 1988, the very first Malice Domestic award for Best First Novel was given to Elizabeth George in her first Inspector Lumley series, A Great Deliverance. Those who know her work know George is hardly a writer of "cozy mysteries" but certainly the Agatha Award for Best Novel that inaugural year -- Carolyn G Hart's Something Wicked, the 3rd in her “Death On Demand” series fits the bill. Most, but not all, of the First Novel prizes since have been genuinely cozy: that definitely applies to GM Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer, the well-deserved winner from 2008. Since then, two more novels in this series, starring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary, have been unleashed.

And what a delightful cozy this is! Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk has made a fortune over the years spinning out best-sellers starring Mrs Rampling who, Miss Marple like, finds dead bodies everywhere she goes, delighting her fans with the working out of the murder puzzle. Briefly married to Cloe Beauclerk-Fisk, she bore Sir Adrian three sons and a daughter (now all one side or the other of 40) -- the ruthless Ruthven (married to the even more ruthless Lillian), playboy and serial entrepreneur failure George (and his current model-perfect squeeze Natasha), failed actor Albert (and his constant companions gin, vodka, rum and their closest friends) and Sarah, a rather large woman with a knack for writing new age cookbooks.

On a moment’s notice, the clan is summoned to the baronial hall at Christmas time to celebrate the coming marriage of Sir Adrian to Violet Winthrop, a woman with a dark past and (not an anonymous 20-something as the children expected) but a woman of a certain age ... near Sir Adrian's age in fact. Now mix in Jeffrey Spencer, Sir Adrian's youthful American secretary and the only one who can decipher the celebrated author's handwriting for transcription, an elderly Italian cook and long time semi-confidant of Sir Adrian, her somewhat no good son Paulo who acts as butler, and a gardener, Watters, so elderly infirm he might need to be repotted himself.

You know what happens next: after a raucous, dramatic family dinner, and a revelation or two plus a possible re-writing of the patriarch’s will … one or more of these eccentrics snuffs it. It’s a cold, wintry night and the police are called in -- DCI St Just and his side-kick Sergeant Fear -- to sort through the clues and inquire of all in house ... for the undisturbed snow in the grounds proves the murder was an inside job. Past is prologue in this tale, and most folks are not who they seem to be; apart from the charming gnarly puzzle, the author has a wicked sense of humour, creating word portraits that left me chuckling loudly (a rarity I assure you). And whodunit? Fair clues, fair game, and still more surprises! This was time well spent and I shall definitely seek out more.

Available at Kindle and Kobo for around $10; the Kindle is currently on sale as part of the $2 Amazon Sunshine Sale.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just ordered Death of a Cozy Writer from amazon.co.uk, where it is unfortunately £8.08.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by DMB

Thanks for the recommendation. I just ordered Death of a Cozy Writer from amazon.co.uk, where it is unfortunately £8.08.

Currently on sale at Amazon US for $0.99. At that price? Can't go far wrong. Bought and downloaded.

[SensualPoet]

This mad cap murder mystery and court room drama is another star turn for Arthur Ramsgate Beauchamp, a "retired" Vancouver criminal attorney who can't seem to stay retired or away from dead bodies. William Deverell's Kill All the Judges is the third novel in the series. There's a somewhat lengthy set-up which is chaotic as some chapters are seen through the eyes of someone having an emotional breakdown but the pay-off is gold as the story unfolds.

Cud Brown, a foul mouthed ex-steel worker turned ribald poet, lives on Garibaldi Island, Arthur's chosen retirement home. Cud's got a problem: he's been charged with the murder of a judge, His Honour Whynet-Moir, who disappeared over the balcony of his fabulous estate home. Cud was there but drunk enough that he doesn't remember a thing ... other than getting up to mischief with the late judge's trophy wife, Florenza. With the whole island urging Arthur to take the case, he demures, and plonks the case in the lap of Brian Pomeroy. But Pomeroy's got a problem, too: he's stewing over a divorce, getting deeper into substance abuse and, while he happens to be writing a novel, he's also going just a little bit nuts.

Should Arthur pick up the slack when Pomeroy disappears? Arthur's got a problem too: his wife Margaret has just been nominated as the Green Party candidate in a by-election and Arthur is expected to pull his weight to get her elected. He can hardly do that and take the case as well. But takes the case he does and, with an maleable prosecutor, Abigail Hitchens, a judge with an agenda who doesn't like Arthur and likes his sidekick, Wentworth Chance, even less, the story unfolds with sly humour and pacing which draws the reader deeply into the tale.

Strongly recommended.

Available at Kindle and Kobo for around $7.

[benham]

Oh, that sounds good.

[sufue]

I have to put in a quick advertisement (say it with a British accent...) for the four mysteries by Sarah Caudwell, featuring that incomparable Oxford don, Hilary Tamar.

Only two of the four are available so far as e-books: The Sirens Sang of Murder, and The Sibyl in Her Grave. I check every couple of weeks, hoping with all my fingers and toes crossed to see one or both of the others available as e-books also.

This is probably the only mystery series which I read and re-read and re-read, and still can't read with anyone else around because I literally laugh out loud, even on my umpteenth reading.

To me they have a similar feel as PG Wodehouse (for the humour), or maybe a bit of similar feel to the Ruth Dudley Edwards series mentioned earlier in this thread. This sample captures for me the essence of the series pretty well. It's Hilary narrating near the beginning of the first book in the series, Thus Was Adonis Murdered:

On my first day in London I made an early start. Reaching the Public Record Office not much after ten, I soon secured the papers needed for my research and settled in my place. I became, as is the way of the scholar, so deeply absorbed as to lose all consciousness of my surroundings or of the passage of time. When at last I came to myself, it was almost eleven and I was quite exhausted: I knew I could not prudently continue without refreshment.

Caudwell also keeps readers on their toes with lots of classical allusions, as you might guess from the titles, which are all based on various mythological characters and places (Sirens, Hades, Sibyl, Adonis). This quote is from The Shortest Way to Hades, when a couple of the characters are visiting the Akheron, a river thought in classical days to have its source in Hades:

The crew read to me, as we were rowed along between banks of willow trees, from Book XI of the Odyssey, which describes the voyage of Odysseus into the Underworld. With a following wind and some rather vague sailing directions from Circe, it seems to have taken him only twenty-four hours; but one of his men still managed to arrive before him, having fallen when drunk from the roof of Circe's palace and so found a much shorter way to Hades.

It's very definitely a love-it-or-hate-it series.

Anyway, Caudwell is (or was - sadly, she's now deceased) the only mystery writer whom I truly and simply idolize. If you like that sort of British humour, you can give two of them a try as e-books now. Both of the e-book titles are widely available at all the big e-book stores, and at many of the smaller e-book stores too.

[NightBird]

William Deverell - Kill All The Judges

Sounds good but unfortunately not available in the US.

[NightBird]

Only two of the four are available so far as e-books: The Sirens Sang of Murder, and The Sibyl in Her Grave. I check every couple of weeks, hoping with all my fingers and toes crossed to see one or both of the others available as e-books also.

Ooo those sound good. From the excerpts, definitely my type of humor.

Random House at $6.99 and $7.99, but these are going on my wishlist.

[poohbear_nc]

I have to put in a quick advertisement (say it with a British accent...) for the four mysteries by Sarah Caudwell, featuring that incomparable Oxford don, Hilary Tamar.

I also adore this series - the writing is SO donnish - you can just hear your favorite Masterpiece Theater actor speaking the dialogue.

On a side note, this series is also notable in that Caudwell never explicitly identifies Hilary Tamar's gender. See if you can find any place in the story where Tamar is referred to as him/her .... or where there is any gender-specific reference to clothes, etc.

[sufue]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

IOn a side note, this series is also notable in that Caudwell never explicitly identifies Hilary Tamar's gender. See if you can find any place in the story where Tamar is referred to as him/her .... or where there is any gender-specific reference to clothes, etc.

Nope, never specified. I love the ambiguity, and just picture Hilary as a sort of androgynous don of the type that many of us have probably had as a teacher or professor at some time or other. But, this is what drove my best friend to hate the series. She couldn't get over not knowing Hilary's gender, and it just ruined it for her - thus leading to my previous comment that you either love the series or hate it.

Sadly, the first one, Thus Was Adonis Murdered, is not available in e-book yet, and although this isn't totally a series that you MUST read in order, I do think that Adonis does the best job of introducing the characters. Sigh - hopefully someday!