I've been on a mystery-reading kick lately, and I've been plowing through the Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais as well as the Inspector Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd. (It helps that they're available for the Kindle from my library, which keeps me from spending $7.99-$13 on a book that I'll read in a day, but this is perhaps slowly crippling the economy, for which I feel incredibly guilty. Bygones.) I was thinking I should write up a little list of my favorite mystery authors, because I love lists and I love books, and I enjoy forcing my opinions on others. Here's what I came up with off the top of my head:
1. Elizabeth George (Inspector Lynley series)
2. Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone)
3. Charles Todd (Inspector Ian Rutledge)
4. Robert Crais (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike)
5. Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum)
And then I thought, wait! That list is not just my top five -- it's my only five. Do I read any other mystery authors? How could I forget Kate Atkinson? I love her Jackson Brodie series. And Tana French's creepy but compelling Dublin Murder Squad series! Love those. And what about Lisa Lutz's hilarious Spellman mysteries? And then I thought: This is why I don't do lists of books. Unless it's books that I had to read in high school that I hate and have scarred me for life, in which case that list goes:
1. Moby Dick
2. An American Tragedy
3. The Scarlet Letter
3 comments:
I guess my list of favorite mystery authors would begin and end with Kinky Friedman. I've read four or five of his mysteries plus several books in other genres.
As for the "scarred me for life" list, I'll second The Scarlet Letter and add Great Expectations. I've never read Moby-Dick (or An American Tragedy), but I recently saw a book telling me why I should.
Don't listen to anyone telling you to read Moby Dick. They're just trying to spread the misery around. The best parts of the book are the first line ("Call me Ishmael") and the part that Khan says to Kirk before trying to kill him in Wrath of Khan. The rest is just awful.
a) this post is awesome
b) you might like the Dennis Lehane Kenzie & Gennaro series (Gone Baby Gone was based on one of the books in that series)
c) also the PJ Tracy books about the monkeewrench game.
:)
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