Mysteries/Thrillers

[Carolinian]

I mix up Elizabeth George (Lyndley/Havers), Deborah Crombie (Kincaid/James), and sometimes P.D. James (Dalgleish/Miskin).

[octoberwitch]

I am crazy about the Brits.

P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Minette Walters and Val MacDermid for suspense.

Agatha Christie, Ann Purser, and Rebecca Tope for good village mysteries.

Morag Joss and Denise Mina for something slightly different.

[Deleted]

I just read a couple of novels by Mo Hayder (also British). The Treatment and The Devil of Nanking. The first was OK--the writing was excellent but I found the story only so-so, but The Devil of Nanking was simply amazing--beautifully written and horrifying. I highly recommend it.

I like Denise Mina too. I've only read the first two in the Paddy Meehan series (Field of Blood and The Dead Hour), but I love Paddy and I love Mina's description of Glasgow in the early 1980s. I'm glad to see she's got a third Paddy Meehan novel coming out.

And I'm very excited because I've just checked out the latest Marcia Muller from the library. I'm not crazy about her stand-alones, but I love Sharon McCone. The book's called The Ever-Running Man.

octoberwitch, have you read Morag Joss' Half-Broken Things? It's very good.

[Libelle]

I recently read two very interesting books that have to do with the thriller genre. The first was Thriller – Stories to Keep You Up All Night, a collection of short stories written by members of the International Thriller Writers Inc, edited by James Patterson. The stories vary widely in tone and quality, but they offer an interesting glimpse at the authors' different styles.

The second book was The Triumph of the Thriller – How Cops, Crooks, and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction by Patrick Anderson. In it, Anderson describes the history of the thriller genre through an overview of the 19th century pioneers like Poe and Conan Doyle, the 20th century classics, and then goes on to the current thriller authors, both established ones and newcomers, widely known ones and lesser known talents. He is not shy with his opinions, pointing out authors' weaknesses, faults, prejudices, and mistakes. And he has no problem being vocal in his criticism of highly successful writers like James Patterson, Tom Clancy, or Patricia Cornwell. I enjoyed the book and the insights it offered into the particular styles, strengths, and weaknesses of a good number of authors.

Both of the books are only scratching the surface in terms of the amount of thriller writers, both good and not so good, that are out there, but I found them to be useful as ways to learn about authors I don't know.

[Deleted]

I just read a mystery by Lisa Miscione. The plot was sort of improbable, but it had interesting characters, and I liked the writing.

[pathtaken]

I'm currently, thanks to someone on this forum, trying to read Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series.
They are pretty entertaining. The characters are well written and the description of Baltimore makes it easy to visualize. I just have to go searching the state's library system and have them sent to my local library to read them. Poor, sad, local library in this small town.

Anyways, can ya'll recommend any other writers/books similar to these?

[woodchipper]

I love Laura Lippman's books! Have you ever read Julie Smith's Skip Langdon or Talba Wallis books? If not, try the Skip Langdon ones first (Talba Wallis starts out as character in of the Skip books). I think they have a similar feel, especially in that the location (New Orleans in Smith's books) is such a defining presence in the books and the characters.

[groovethang]

woodchipper said:

I love Laura Lippman's books! Have you ever read Julie Smith's Skip Langdon or Talba Wallis books? If not, try the Skip Langdon ones first (Talba Wallis starts out as character in of the Skip books). I think they have a similar feel, especially in that the location (New Orleans in Smith's books) is such a defining presence in the books and the characters.

You just reminded me of how much I enjoyed the few Julie Smith books I read years and years ago. I couldn't remember which ones so I looked them up. I believe I read the Rebecca Schwartz series (she's an attorney in SF). I haven't read of the Skip Langdon and Talba Wallis ones so will have to give those a try.

I'm trying to find new mystery writers to read and came here to ask if anyone has read any of Lisa Scottline's books. Worth reading?

[woodchipper]

I'm trying to resurrect the thread because I need some new mystery books. I just finished re-reading all of Sue Grafton's books, just because I knew it would take a while. Anybody read a good one lately?

[Deleted]

I like Peter Robinson's books. They're set in Yorkshire and follow a DI Banks, who has some demons but is mostly a good guy. In a Dry Season is my favorite, especially good if you like WWII-era British history.