Mysteries/Thrillers

[biondetta]

OMG!!!!!111eleventytwo! You're only the second person I've come across who has heard of him. The other person is a minister somewhere in Africa. [/geeky fangirl]

[chiquita]

mrsbowling said:

OOOH, I'm totally geeked right now.
I just emailed one of my fave lite mystery writers, Denise Swanson, and she totally wrote me back. Like within the hour!

Ooohh! I'm so excited.
(She writes the hilarious Scumble River books.)

Her mother-in-law used to babysit me once in awhile when I was really young.

[Deleted]

Interview with Tess Gerritsen.

[Deleted]

I realize it's brain candy, I really do. My beef is that the characters don't seem to be developing that much. Like she's had the "Morelli or Ranger?" question going for far too many books. I realize that once she decides, the sexual tension is gone. That's why I think perhaps she needs to wrap up Stephanie and start writing about someone else.

I hear you. I have been pretty bored with the whole Ranger or Morelli issue for a while. I just think the other characters are so interesting I can't give them up. Shoot, she could ditch Steph entirely but leave Grandma, Lula, Sally Sweet, Vinnie and the others and I would be fine.

I will say that the Lean Mean 13 sounds like it will be pretty funny.

I'd love to read a Ranger spin-off series. I love the Plum series, and I'll probably keep reading them (each book only take a few hours, it's not exactly deep thought-provoking stuff). I just don't know why after so long at being a bounty hunter Stephanie's still such a fuck up. I know it's funny and the books are supposed to be light, but Stephanie's an idiot, yet things just fall into place for her and she's got two hot guys she has to decide between? Wow, I just looked way too deeply into that.

I just finished reading Lean Mean Thirteen. I enjoyed it! There was one glaring error that I am surprised made it past the editor (or Evanovich); Stephanie's mom is named Ellen Plum. In 13, Grandma Mazur calls her "Helen"! A big boo-boo.

As for the "Ranger or Morelli" thing, I'd totally pick Ranger. Stephanie gets into way too much trouble with really dangerous people and she really needs RangeMan at her back.

I went to a book signing for "Visions of Sugar Plums" and I wasn't too impressed with Janet. I asked her a Ranger question and she said "Oh. You're one of those people." I thought that was a bit rude, since us people pay a lot of money for every book she writes.

I wonder if she is going to write any more Plum stories. How much further can Stephanie go? Is she going to get any better at Bounty Hunting? Is outrageous shit going to stop happening to her? I really don't like her Alex Barnaby series (it reads like "Stephanie Plum's adventures in NASCAR). I would be on board for a RangeMan series, though. Ranger and his men are much more interesting to me.

[Deleted]

Inspector Lynley fans? I got started on that series because of Sgt. Havers, not the toff, but the latest book "What Came Before He Shot Her" broke my heart.

[Auroranorth]

I read them up A Traitor to Memory, but started getting frustrated with them a couple books back. I like Nkata and Havers, however, Lynley annoys me.

[Deleted]

Yeah, he gets on my wick, too. He's not in the latest novel.

[Deleted]

I haven't read "What Came Before He Shot Her" yet, although I've read the one before, so I know what the title refers to. I love Havers and the way her sad, dreary life and partial escape has been so beautifully drawn throughout the series, but Lynley is just insufferable to me. Wah, wah, so much guilt. So is the boooooring Deborah, with her endless whining (again, wah, wah, so much guilt). I almost couldn't finish the novel that was all about her and her California friends. I can't really figure out why Deborah is so badly drawn; at first I thought, "well, maybe E. George just doesn't do well with female characters", but, as I said, Havers is wonderful, and even Lady Helen eventually emerged as a full-fledged character in her own right, with her own fears and desires, and a refreshing lack of whining about her own shortcomings.

Maybe it's because (spoiler) I have a real problem with both Lynley and Deborah playing the martyr. Simon's (mostly) gotten over the fact that Lynley crippled him. He's even accepted that Deborah aborted Lynley's baby. He wants a baby because Deborah wants one, and he wants her to be happy, but he rightfully, IMO, doesn't really understand Deborah's self-flagellation about the abortion and her subsequent inability to conceive. Maybe Deborah and Lynley are made for each other after all. They could just wallow forever in what might have been, rather than trying to make the best of the considerable good that they have now. Or maybe not, for Lynley, given what happened at the end of "With No One as Witness"

[Auroranorth]

stardancer2001 said:

I went to a book signing for "Visions of Sugar Plums" and I wasn't too impressed with Janet. I asked her a Ranger question and she said "Oh. You're one of those people." I thought that was a bit rude, since us people pay a lot of money for every book she writes.

Oh, goody. The ego is taking over.

Fernbeau, ITA about Lynley and Deborah. They deserve each other. Simon and Helen should have dumped the two whiners and hooked up. And Deborah needs therapy.

[Deleted]

I think we may get our wish since obstacles to Tommy & Deborah Whiner getting together have been removed. Simon may be out on the cold pretty soon. I wonder if Sgt. Havers will be there for him?

I can't help comparing Lynley to Melrose Plant/Lord Ardry in Martha Grimes' Richard Jury novels. He's handling that whole aristo-don't-wannabe thing a whole lot better than Viscount My Way Or The Highway. Plus, Plant's interactions with his American aunt are hilarious. Great supporting cast in Long Piddleton (hee!), too.