Well, my favorite reading matter is British detective mysteries. One that I am reading now is an older series, by Colin Dexter. It is the Inspector Morse series that is also a BBC program, frequently shown on PBS and other channels.
One appeal factor for me in this mystery sub-genre is the setting (the UK - I have a 'thing' for British detectives and Scotland Yard, in particular). Also, I like the well developed characters - the 2 main protagonists are Inspectore Morse (a good detective, yet flawed) and Sergeant Lewis, usually assisting him with the investigations. The books have lots of dialog - that helps to move the story along fairly quickly. I've read all of Martha Grimes' series based on British pubs, w/Inspector Richard Jury. Their appeal factors are similar.
Another type of novel I have enjoyed over the years is family sagas - lots of family members, well-described characters, and usually covering generations of the family. Lately, I particularly seek out sagas of families from other cultures. I've enjoyed many from countries in Asia & Southeast Asia. I want to learn about the cultures of different peoples. Right now, my focus has been on novels of India, usually written by Indian authors. One of these I quite enjoyed was The Toss of a Lemon, published in 2008, and authored by Padma Viswanathan. It is the story of one woman, Sivakami, and her family, living in a Brahmin household during turbulent times. The characters were so deeply and well described -I felt I knew them.
Now it's time to discover what some of my co-workers enjoy reading.
Cindy, I'm thrilled to discover your blog! British detective stories are my faves, too! I can't think who to recommend that you might not have read yet, but I'll give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteReginald Hill: the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The first goes back to 1970: A Clubbable Woman, and the last was 2008; Hill regrettably died in 2011, I think it was. The series is set in Yorkshire, and our heroes are Chief Inspector Andy Dalziel ("fat Andy") and his sgt. Peter Pascoe. Andy is rude, crude, vulgar, and brilliant in crime solving. Peter is young, educated, sometimes disgusted by Andy, and a perfect foil for Andy. The plots change and grow as the series (and Hill) grows, incorporating some unique literary devices to tell his tales. The stories are setting and character rich, and they are very literate...Hill has quite an impressive vocabulary and writing style. Try it...you'll like it!
A second recommendation is the Alan Bradley series starring the 11 year old protagonist Flavia de Luce. In the first, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, we meet the precocious chemist Flavia, daughter of a missing and presumed dead adventurer mother and a stamp-collecting father. Flavia lives with her two mean sisters, her father, and her father's old friend, now the gardener, at the family's decaying mansion, Buckshaw. Flavia's wing of the house includes a chemistry lab, where she mixes up poisons and potions to use against her sisters. In this first book, Flavia sets out to clear her father, who winds up accused of the murder of a red-headed stranger found in the family garden. Set in the 1950's, the story is a delightful throwback to the stories of some of the earlier great crime masters/mistresses of British mystery writing. A real treat to read. Again, if you haven't tried Bradley's books, I highly recommend them.
Happy reading!
I think you would like Louise Penny. She writes the Inspector Gamache series, starting with Still Life (best to read in order.) The setting is Canada, near Quebec, so there is French and English culture, but the books read like a British whodunit. The small town of Three Pines is an unlikely place for murder, but a beloved resident is found dead, killed by, of all things, an arrow to the heart. Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete du Quebec, Homicide, is called in to investigate. The characters are well developed and the pacing is fast enough to keep you interested, but slow enough to immerse you into the lives of the people in this beautiful town.
ReplyDeleteHey Hon! I am excited to recommend this book to you called The Sandalwood Tree, by Elle Newmark, because you like reading about India, and this one is about family and a little romance, and a mystery as well. It's the dual story of a troubled marriage after WWII and a scandalous love affair during the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. The scenes in India are so full of description that you can almost smell the curry. More historical chick lit than romance, but you will really love the detective angle. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHey - thanks, hon! (we like that Baltimore 'hon' thing) Google it if you don't know what it is! I am going to check that book out right now!First,though, I have to finish the God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Can you believe I never read that? More later!
DeleteAnother great Indian saga is A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. It's a good summer read (because it might take you all summer to read it). It is my sister's all- time favorite book, and fun fact - Vikram Seth was a neighbor of our old Collection Development cohort Mala when she lived in India!
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