Recommended Murder/Mystery Novels

Henning Mankell

A Swede, whose crime fictions are extremely well written and can make
you an Mankell addict in no time.
His main character, Kurt Wallander (Police Inspector), is part of every
book, Mankell has written.

http://www.henningmankell.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henning_Mankell

Calamity Jane--

Thanks. I've ordered the first Wallender from Amazon, second hand.

bookmarking for next trip to the library

Which one did you order, Noddy?

CJ--

Faceless Killers. I noted with interest that it was published in 2003 and yet the second-hand value is still $1.50 for the paperback edition.

Butrflynet--

Since I've started my second-hand book sprees, I've noticed that some libraries no longer keep all the books in a mysteries series, but sell them off.

This annoys me. I like to discover an author and then have free, convenient access to every book that author wrote.

I'm a Henning Mankell fan too.

I don't mind the odd situation with blood oozing from a cardboard box, but I really don't like sensationalist writing, with a flashing pulse of apparently exciting gore every, say, 15 pages.

I'll be back with a list sometime later.

One of my favorite series was by the swedish writers Per Wahloo and Maj Sjovall. Their ten (well, I think it was ten) books would start out with some horribleness, but tended not to pulse throughout the book with that.

I like the Soho Crime series, but others might not like many or any of the books. The Soho books tend, however much they may vary otherwise, to be quite well written. Last one of theirs I read was Thirty Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill - with the protagonist one of the last doctors left in Laos after the communist takeover.

You can tell my mystery/crime reading is in large part a way for me to travel.

Let's see, I recently liked A Small Death in Lisbon, by Robert Wilson.

I liked a crime procedural set in Istanbul by a woman writer. I forget both the title and author, but I leant it to Diane. She also liked it. If she still has it, I'll report back with the name, etc.

There's a series set in Sicily - I suspect people might enjoy them - by Andrea Camilleri and a series set in Venice (Italy) and the area around it, by Donna Leon. A series with a protagonist by the name of Aurelio Zen, -- I forget the author's name right this minute, Michael something, I think.

Oh, I could go on and on...



Riverte, forget the title - fascinating, back on that later.

Murder in the Marais, by Cara Black, another Soho book.


Death of a Nationalist, Rebecca Pawel... also Soho.

That's an excellent choice, Noddy. You're going to love this book.

Nuts, there was a crime novel written by a fairly young german man of turkish descent, set in Germany... I really enjoyed it, but almost immediately forgot the title and author and haven't run across it since - that was probably five years ago.

I found that to be true of the local branch library near me, but then I discovered the website of the county library. There I have access to all the books in the entire library system and can put in requests to have them delivered to my local branch library and held for me. It only takes three or four days for the books to arrive. If I time it right, the books arrive at the same time as I am returning others.

I'm having a lot of fun with that, been choosing authors and going back several decades and reading all their books at once. It is an interesting way to get to know an author's writing style and gimmicks they use.

The problem I have with it is the condition of the older books. Sacramento's Central Library has flooded several times through the years and the book bindings have taken a beating from the moisture. I end up putting rubber bands around many books with notes requesting they be repaired because the pages are coming loose from the binding.


See if your county's library is on the internet and offers a similar book sharing service.

Ah, I meant Arturo Perez-Reverte; the book I read and liked was Seville Communion.
A2k amazon link

There are some good German crime fiction authors, but I am not sure
if their books are also translated into English.

One is Frank Schaetzing.
Oh I just see, one of his great books is translated into English
"Death and Devil" Murders and mayhem in Medieval Germany. The
setting is set in Cologne in the year 1260.

We can only pray.

Thanks, CJane, she says, ignoring Gus...

Wait until Zorro is pinning you down unter that swamp hole of yours.

I fear not Zorro.

Osso--

Interesting list.

I thoroughly recommend www.stopyou'rekillingme. com as a crutch for the overflowing mind. You can search by character or author--or location or profession.

Soho Press: http://www.sohopress.com/links.html.

The Soho Press site has a multitude of fascinating links to other sites.

Butrflynet--

My local library situation is complicated right now. Until last spring I had access to InterLibrary Loan--which was wonderful.

Unfortunately because of Mr. Noddy's health we can no longer make the drive. I'm training the little local library, but they are limited in both paid staff and volunteers.

Gus--

Were you holed up in a library? Or an abattoir? Or just the familiar swamp?

I like the authors:

Jan Willem Van der Wettering - dutch - Police dept - Gupstra and I forget his name

Martha Grimes - American woman writing in UK settings - Richard Jury, Melrose Plant, etc.

Anne Perry - writes in Regency era - two series - Thomas and Charlotte Pitt / Monk and Hester whatstername - both are quite different and yet similar

I also like Jane Haddam, Tony Hillerman (SW Hopi/Navajo characters)m Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin), and Artur0 Rivera Perez


Comedic mysteries I like:

MC Beaton - writes two series - 1) scottish plod Hamish MacBeth, and 2) retired ad exec Agatha Raisin

Heron Crane (also known as Heron Carvic) - Miss Seeton series

Elizabeth Peters writing on Amelia Peabody and her family - late 19th, early 20th century archaeologists in Egypt

Light-hearted:

Ellis Peters writing about a 12th century monk, Brother Cadfael, in England (she also writes other series)

Dorothy Gilman does the Mrs. Pollifax series

and there are so many, many more... I've been reading mysteries for over 30 years and love so many of them, whether they be serious or tongue-in-cheek. I forget many of the authors at the moment as all my stuff is in boxes.