Hi Walter!
We have an international movie station here that we see some Mankell mysteries, plus some German ones. The main character is Max and his partner is Freddy....I have forgotten the name of this German series, maybe you know? Georges Simenon too...but I find his stories much better read than in a movie form.
I love Henning Mankell...he is the best mystery writer I have come across in a long time!
Kellerman fan myself..wife more than husband though after reading both.
Hillerman fan as well....only a few of his left to read...comment on the PBS...well, I was excited to see it being on, its wasnt as terrible as it could have been, wasnt what I would have liked to have seen either though but, such is books put to film in most cases.
Right now..Hoag..Dark Horse, not bad, easy light reading to blow through but, I know her style so well that Im half way and wondering when the heroine will sleep with the guy shes always fighting with, which LO and behold..my gosh..its a cop. Like I said, light read but, good anyway.
Just discovered this thread. Hi, all.
The only Mankel I've read so far is The Dogs of Riga. Ran across it by accident and was taken by the title, as I was born in Riga. I was quite pleasantly surprised by Mankel's fine style and will look for more of his books. (The Dogs of Riga, btw, has been translated not only into English but Latvian as well. Figures.)
I was less than pleased with the PBS adaptation of Hellerman's Ghostwalkers, quinn 1. They took too many liberties with the original plot, right from the begining. Granted, seeing a guy's hand pinned to the side of his car by a thrown knife (or was it an arrow?) is at attention-grabber. But it's not in the book and it's needless sensationalism. In fact, the way the book starts, with the attempt on Chee's life, is a lot more exciting and suspensful than the changes that PBS made.
I admit....being a fan...Chee's life was just not done justice, as for the rest, well such is Hollywood.
Hey - me again (after quite a while) just getting caught up. I have to add James Patterson and Lee Childs to the list. I have read most of each! Childs is great!
Babsamatela - I loved Ms Smillas Feeling for Snow too - very unusual and beautifully written.
I have recently read The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, set in Botswana - another unusual story, gentle but really enjoyable.
Dick Francis (ex jockey) writes good adventure/detective stories, easy reads with a horse racing background. The brave hero normally gets beaten to a pulp at some point by the baddies but battles on regardless! He chooses a different aspect of racing each time and the insight into different worlds is interesting - one is a jockey, another a banker, another a painter who paints the race horses, another a glass sculptor making a trophy, another the helicopter pilot ferrying the jockeys from racecourse to racecourse etc etc etc
I've just read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
Brilliant!
A 15 year old autistic boy (Aspergers) decides to turn detective to solve the murder of a neighbours dog and the book is written from his viewpoint.
It is a lovely funny, sad book and the thought processes are brilliantly written .
The jacket describes how he knows a lot about maths and very little about human beings, he likes lists, patterns and the truth and hates yellow, brown and being touched.
