I love a mystery... but I am a demanding lover. The mystery novel must be almost as well-written as a real novel (I say almost, I am not irrational) It must be an intellectual puzzle, but with fully human characters, who know there’s someone out there smarter than they are…they must have flaws, and they must want to right wrongs for those who need help. Is this too much to ask?
I enjoy novels with lawyers / I like stories involving musicians and art forgers, but I am addicted to the lonely detective, ferreting out the truth, protecting the innocent from further harm and getting bruised in the process. The protagonist can be British, Swedish or American. They can be American writing about Russians. This seems to be popular and works well. See list of my favorites below. Favorites: Reginald Hild: Death Comes For The Fat man, Laura Lippman, The Sugar House, Sara Paretsky, Bitter Medicine ,P.D. James, Innocent Blood, Liza Cody, Dupe, Peter Dickinson: King and Joker, Ross MacDonald: Find a Victim,Jill McGown, Scene of Crime, Ian Rankin, Rebus, Stuart M. Kaminsky Blood and Rubies (a Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov novel) Henning Mankell: The Return Of The Dancing Master. There are books out there that purport to be mystery novels with a cat as a central character. Cats play a large part in the plot. Perhaps too much. Perhaps too much of what I love about mysteries is abandoned when one includes cats…. cats tend to expand to take up available space. I will make it my mission, as long as I can bear it, to read mysteries with cat characters and report on them in this blog.. Right now, like a good detective, I’m tracking down a story called “The White Death” in a mystery anthology called “Beastly Tales.” But I may stop my quest abruptly. Like a cat, I’m easily distracted.
3 comments:
Nicole, I love this (and thanks for the mention). The last paragraph made me laugh out loud!
Greetings, Nicole!
On behalf of myself and my mother (who was a true Sylvia) I'd like to thank you for your comic strip! My mother dearly loved it, as do I.
Re. your mystery blog post...have you ever read any of Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books, or The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler? If not, I HIGHLY recommend them!
Tabitha, my edgy black Burmese,insists that I convey her furry well-wishes for much prosperity, health, and love for you in 2009. To which I say, ditto from me. :)
Sheena, Edgycat of the Moment, and Magical Mystery Puss and I love mysteries, too. At the moment, we just finished the newest Nevada Barr book, Borderline, and though there weren't any cats in this novel, Barr's lead character Anna Pigeon does not hide her love for these creatures whom she calls "beautiful, lazy, and deadly."
Sheena and Magic especially like to be thought about as deadly so they were suitably pleased. Anna Pigeon also mentions that using cat litter is far more civilized than pooping in a diaper (a baby is part of the plot, unusual for Barr).
If you think you would like a cranky, plus-40 law enforcement ranger who is gutsy and a lover of nature, if rather suspicious of humanity supposedly being at the top of creation, you will like Anna Pigeon mysteries. Anna has two cats, Piedmont, who is orange and getting older, and Hecate, a tuxedo kitten she rescued in Colorado. The cats never solve mysteries but they soothe the heroine at times, especially the thought of them waiting for her to come home.
Track of the Cat was Barr's first mystery wherein she cleared the name of a cougar who was thought to be a murder suspect. Barr's Anna Pigeon is always on the side of animals. Pigeon says she will never litter or hurt an animal but she believes there are plenty of people who could stand to be killed.
Linda (Sheena's primate)
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