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December 2011/January 2012

Of Special Interest

I always enjoy writing the December/January newsletter because it gives me a chance to look back on the mysteries I’ve most read during the year and decide which ones I want to recommend as the year’s best. I always look for two things that seem contradictory: mysteries that are fresh and exciting, taking the genre in new directions, and mysteries that are brilliant examples of the best that the genre has to offer. What I am trying to do with this year’s selections is pair books that I’ve enjoyed according to the two criteria, so that you can decide what kind of mystery you’re looking for—or perhaps, like me, you will decide to try both. I hope you like these as much as I have.

As you will have realized, I really enjoy mysteries set during World War II, and two this year demonstrate what the historical thriller can achieve in using the past to force us to reflect upon the present. Ben Pastor’s Lumen (14.95) is written from the point of view of a Wehrmacht officer on the Eastern Front who is working in the CID. His characterization defies the stereotypes of Germans and the mystery is well-plotted. Rebecca Cantrell in A Game of Lies (STM, 24.99) presents a German journalist who becomes a spy against the Nazis not so much out of political conviction as out of a deeply personal desire to help those at the mercy of the brutal regime.

Police procedurals can be very cozy or very gritty. The best writer of the cozy, character-driven police procedural is surely Louise Penny. In Trick of the Light (STM, 25.99) she presents Inspector Gamache as an all-too-human, fallible man trying to find the truth and mete out justice, and I found myself surprised at the outcome. In his debut novel Red on Red (RH, 26.00), Edward Conlon also presents police characters who are flawed, and his experience with the NYPD brings a realism and depth to this novel that is not often a part of the genre.

Reed Farrel Coleman’s Hurt Machine (15.95) featuring New York PI Moe Prager is in the tradition of the Hammett/Chandler PI illuminating shadows along the mean streets, but he provides a depth of character for Moe and a compassion for the flawed people he encounters that gives his series a satisfying richness along with great plotting. Kate Atkinson takes the PI novel and turns it into a literary achievement. In the case of Started Early, Took my Dog (LB, 14.99), PI Jackson Brodie’s search for the birth parents of a New Zealand woman, as well as his rescue of the dog, is part of a larger book about the nature of family relationships.

Cozy mysteries can be the most satisfying of all mysteries because they affirm civil relationships between people in society and provide a promise of justice for transgressions. G.M. Malliet’s Wicked Autumn (STM, 23.99) is a wonderful example that the cozy genre is alive and well. DC Brod’s series featuring reporter Robyn Guthrie—Getting Sassy and Getting Lucky (both Trus, 14.95)—show that the humorous cozy can be well-plotted as well as a funny look at human foibles. Louise Welsh’s Naming the Bones (F&M, 14.95) is an example of a brilliant marriage between the crime novel and the academic novel.

A good thriller can be one of the joys of reading—one can suspend disbelief and enjoy the adventure and suspense. Sebastian Rotella’s Triple Crossing (LB, 24.99) provides all the action one could ask for combined with a deep knowledge of the causes and implications of the drug wars on our southern borders. Rick Gavin’s debut thriller Ranchero (STM, 24.99) demonstrates that the comic thriller is as satisfying as ever in the right hands.

October/November 2011

Of Special Interest

If the list of paperback reprints looks smaller than usual--that’s because it is. As the publishers are moving to digital catalogues, they are running into glitches that make it difficult for me to get the information I need for the newsletter. I will be ordering new mass markets, so if there’s something you think should be releasing in October or November and you don’t see it, just give me a call.

I have been reading some fantastic books lately, and some I want to recommend for special notice:

Sebastian Rotella’s Triple Crossing (LB, 24.99) is a terrific debut novel featuring a US Border Patrol agent and a Mexican police detective who join forces to take down the leader of a drug cartel. This is a suspenseful, action-packed read that is at the same time wonderfully thoughtful.

If you didn’t figure out that I loved G.M. Malliet’s Wicked Autumn (STM, 24.99), I’ll say it again with more emphasis: for a witty, cleverly plotted mystery, READ THIS BOOK.

Paul Grossman’s The Sleepwalkers (STM, 14.99) is a wonderful debut set in Berlin as the Nazis take over, with a decorated WWI hero, now a homicide detective, who must solve a murder while coping with anti-Jewish discrimination.

Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective by Leslie Thomas (F&M, 14.95) is a comic British mystery that is completely enjoyable.

August/September 2011

Daniel is no longer with Clues, but please welcome Charlyn Newman who will be helping out.

I’ve been reading a batch of really good books, so I’d like to recommend some outstanding ones:

Think of a Number by John Verdon (BDD, 7.99) is a twistily-plotted police procedural with great characterization.

The Return of Captain John Emmett by El;izabeth Speller (HMH, 26.00) is a detective story set right after WWI with an interesting protagonist and an authentic period feel.

Old City Hall by Robert Rotenberg (STM, 16.00) is a Canadian police procedural combined with a legal thriller--excellent.

An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy (STM, 14.99) is a Canadian thriller with a clever protagonist, plenty of violence, and surprisingly happy ending.

As usual there are lots more, but I’ve run out of room. Call or come in and I’ll be glad to tell you about others.

Stay out of the heat and read lots of mysteries.

Chris and the too-hot hound

December 2010/January 2011

I always love this issue of the newsletter because it gives me a chance to look back over the books I have particularly enjoyed during the year. So here are my favorites for 2010:

Cozy: Naomi Hirahara’s mysteries featuring Mas Arai, a Japanese gardener in Los Angeles are very appealing and provide an insight into a culture most people don’t know at all. There are three in paperback and one hardcover, Blood Hina.

Historical: A Small Death in the Great Glen by A.D. Scott is a debut novel set in a small Scottish village in the 1950s. Good plotting, great sense of time and place.

Thriller: Thomas Perry gets better and better and Strip may be his best with clever plotting and great characters.

International: Deon Meyer’s Thirteen Hours is a nail biter that takes place in Cape Town, with the police trying to find a missing American tourist before the bad guys do.

Best Surprise First Novel: Front Page Teaser by Rosemary Herbert is a well-plotted cozy featuring a Boston newspaperwoman with an ending that will come as a shock even though it is well prepared.

Something Different: David Corbett’s Do They Know I’m Running is a powerful look at the problems of immigration in this country and a suspenseful read.

Historical: The Information Officer by Mark Mills is both an historical mystery and an espionage thriller set on the island of Malta. Great sense of place and time.

Police Procedural: Louise Penny is a good mystery writer who is approaching greatness with Bury Your Dead, the richness of the characters and the setting along with the meticulous plotting are superb. Read her!

International (but cozy): Tarquin Hall’s series featuring Vish Puri, a private investigator in Delhi who specializes in screening prospective marriage partners, but who branches out when a respected public litigator is accused of murdering a maidservant in The Case of the Missing Servant. If you are looking for a funny cozy with an exotic locale, look no further.

I don’t know what category to place Thomas Cook’s Last Talk with Lola Faye, but it is one of the best mystery novels I’ve ever read, with the mystery unfolding during an evening of drinks by the narrator and the woman he holds responsible for his father’s death.

Offbeat: Jesse Kellerman captures all of the angst and paranoia of graduate school in The Executor, which is sort of an academic novel with a crime.

Funny: Patrick F. McManus has written `a slew of humor books, but beginning with The Blight Way, he has turned his hand to comic crime in a series featuring Sheriff Bo Tully of Blight County, Idaho. This is a good-natured series with quirky characters that will make you feel happily entertained.

I feel that I could go on and on about the books that I’ve loved this year, but I’ve run out of room. Just know that the mystery genre gets richer every year, so while your favorites may not write fast enough to suit you, new mysteries that will enchant you are coming along all the time. Happy reading!