I'm the daughter of a mystery fan,
which has influenced me. Mom had quite a few of the mystery classics.
Here are some of my favorite mystery writers:
First a classic, Michael Innes.
I just love his books. You can tell that the author was a university
professor. The books are very cultural. They're also really good
mysteries. I have never read even one of his books that I didn't
like. Most of the books are set in England (or at least Britain).
The first of them take place in the 30's and the last of them were
written in the 80's, just before the author died, so I assume they
deal with the 80's too.
I love Reginald Hill's Dalziel and
Pascoe mysteries too. Excellently written. Dalziel (pronounced Dee-ell,
apparently) which means devil in Cornish, if I remember correctly,
is a loud mouthed disrespectful, big fat man who is brilliant at
solving puzzling murder cases. Pascoe is his assistant. My favorite
character though, is Wield, who is gay. He's a very nice guy without
being a wimp like Pascoe.
What about dog mysteries? Susan
Conant writes them. They're not quite as good as Michael Innes'
books, but if you like the dog fancy, you might want to read all
her books. Susan Conant's sleuth, Holly Winter, works freelance
for a dog magazine. She, like the author, lives in Massachusetts.
Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie
Brown also write pet-related mysteries. The series is called
the Mrs Murphy Mysteries. Mrs Murphy is Sneaky Pie Brown's alter
ego, a smart tabby. Her assistant, Tuck, is a pembroke welsh corgi.
I don't think my cats, or my dog will ever help me write a book.
They do know how to turn a computer off, that's about it. The stories
are set in the American South, Virginia.
I really love Janet Evanovich's
Stephanie Plum mysteries. They're hilarious. Whenever I'm depressed
(and that happens a lot), I need to read one of her books. New Jersey
seems to be a weird, but funny place, at least according to Janet
Evanovich. I just love her language. The style is very unique.
I love historic mysteries and I love
to study languages. That's why it's no surprise that I like the
French series about the dectective Nicolas Le Floch by Jean-François
Parot. It's set in the 18 century Ancien Régime - pre-revolutionary
France.
I'd like to introduce you to a new
Swedish mystery writer. Karin Alvtegen. She's related to
Astrid Lindgren, the famous Swedish children's story writer. Karin
writes thrillers. Her first book was called' D*e*b*t'/Skuld (my
translation) and she wrote it to get over the loss of her brother.
It's not quite as good as her next book, Missing /Saknad (my translation).
When they get translated into English you really should read at
least the second of her books. Who knows? They might be available
already. Unfortunately, I can't recommend her third book. I didn't
like it at all, though I guess it's just as well written as the
other two.
There are other really good Swedish
mystery writers. One of them is Thomas Kanger. Another is
Emma Vall (who is actually three women, using the same pen
name). Both (well, actually all four of them) are reporters. Though
I normally don't enjoy reading about politics, the books by these
writers are very interesting. It might be difficult to make a good
translation of these books, since the historic and political background
is so typically Swedish, but if they are translated, be sure to
check them out.
Both writers use a female main character.
Kanger's Elina Wiik is a young police officer, but Vall's Amanda
Rönn is a high school teacher who becomes a reporter. What
I don't like about Amanda Rönn is that though she's quite young,
she constantly falls for older men. That's not really my thing,
but might be explained by the fact that at least one of the women
behind the pen name is quite a bit older than her main character.
A mystery writer I've just discovered
is Åsa Nilsonne. She's really a psychiatrist and a
psychotherapist, but now she's writing mysteries too. The two books
I've read by her are called Smärtbäraren ("The Pain
Bearer/Carrier") and i det tysta ("In Silence").
The last one is part of a series of books about a cop called Monika
Pedersen. Åsa Nilsonne's books are very well written and well
put together, with all kinds of interesting facts.
Recently I've discovered another
Swedish mystery writer - Arne Dahl. He writes about a fictive
group of police officers in Stockholm - the A group, which investigates
crime with international connections. Since his books are about
a whole group of cops, there are several main characters to choose
between. My favorites are Arto - who is an former attorney from
Finland, and Jon who is gay and used to be harassed at the last
place he worked. The other team members don't appeal to me, but
the books are quite good, even though Arne Dahl tends to lose touch
with reality. Some books really take off into the unlikely.
Laura Trenter is a new mystery
writer. She writes for kids, but a grown up reader can probably
find something they like about her writing. If her name looks familiar,
it's because her parents wrote mysteries as well, though not particularly
for children. I liked Det Brinner ('There's a Fire') best, since
the main characters were a bit older than her other characters.
Also, I felt that the plot was a bit more complicated. I wish these
books had been available when I was a child.
Laura's parents called themselves
Trenter after a mystery classic, E C Bentley's Trent's Last Case.
Any serious mystery fan should read that book.
If you want to know more, check out
these links:
About
Michael Innes
One more about Michael Innes
Rita
Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
Janet
Evanovich
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