Great Crime Authors!

One of the best crime fiction writers out there right now is Jo Nesbo. Many critics have compared him to Stieg Larsson, but I think Nesbo is in a league of his own. His books are set in Oslo, Norway and follow Detective Harry Hole. When he was rising to fame, not many of his books had be translated into English so the first book I read was Redbreast (#3 in the series now). The series is up to eleven books now. I think they are all good but the one that really sucks you into the world of Harry Hole is Redbreast. 








If you are in the mood for an Irish setting, then Tana French is the author for you. She writes crime fiction that revolves around the Dublin Murder Squad and each book follows a different detective. There are six books in the series and she writes one about every two years. Start with In the Woods.







Another great but overlooked author is Tania Carver. She is the pseudonym of husband and wife team Martyn and Linda Waites. These crime novels are set in England and follow Detective Inspector Philip Brennan and psychologist Marina Esposito as they solve serial murders. This eight book series is not for the faint hearted because of graphic murder scenes, but they are fantastic at showing the points of view of both the killer and the police. You should read this series in order and start with The Surrogate. 




And finally, try crime novelist J.T. Ellison. She has two well-known series: Taylor Jackson is an Nashville detective introduced in All the Pretty Girls. The second series stars Tennessee medical examiner Samantha Owens, beginning with A Deeper Darkness. Read Jackson's story first because Owens first appears in the this series and you learn her back story.




So, consider reading one of these great crime series...you won't be disappointed.

Naomi Novak’s Temeraire series

Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series

The historical ‘what if?’  has long been one of the more fascinating questions : Victor Milan look at what if dinosaurs were still around in the 14th century, Marie Brennan looks at what if dragons were a part of nature, Eric Flint looks at what if a 21^st century West Virginia mining town was dropped it into 1632 Germany. These types of fiction let the writer mix their imaginations with (hopefully) well researched fact.

Naomi Novik looks at the Napoleonic wars if dragons were not only used, but were intelligent, speaking creatures. We follow Captain William Laurence of the HMS Reliant as he is forced from the Navy due to circumstances. While capturing a French frigate, he finds himself bound for life to Temeraire, an exceptionally intelligent dragon, and thus committed to a lifetime service in the Aviator’s Corps. The story follows the intrepid duo through battles, politicking, storms, revolts, and plague all throughout the world as they try to thwart the forces of Napoleon.

Naturally, this is primarily an adventure series, but it is obvious that Novik's imagination is only equaled by her research into the time period. Little details really bring the world together and provide and excellent backdrop for the story. Also, while it would be easy to simply write a long string of battles with dragons, the Temeraire series also brings in politics, cultural differences, class differences, philosophy, and many other fascinating elements that serve to add depth to both the characters and the story. 

The audio versions of the Temeraire series are read by Simon Vance and are most excellent to listen to during the day. Vance does an admirable job giving life to so many characters from so many different countries.

I would highly recommend both the audio and the print version for anyone that is a fan of ‘what ifs’, dragons, Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, and Horatio Hornblower.

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale Of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is generally considered a grand, eloquent authority on the English language. While many other English dictionaries have been produced, the OED still stands with monolithic sureness and for good reason. The first edition was started in 1879 and not finished until 1927. It used twelve volumes to define 414,825 words and 1,827,306 illustrative quotes from literature to demonstrate both the origin and meaning of the words. In all, the hand-set type spanned 178 miles and used 227,779,589 letters and numbers (this does not include the myriad punctuation marks). In fact, the illustrative quotes, pulled from text all the way back to Anglo-Saxon England, are what set the OED apart and made it such a Brobdingnagian task for these quotes had to be found, compiled, and organized before the definition of the word could even be contemplated.

Professor Murray

This is where the story begins. Professor James Murray, a philologist and schoolmaster was tapped in 1879 by the Philological Society and the Oxford University Press to be the editor of the OED. His role largely consisted of overseeing the organizing, compiling, and processing of the thousands of small slips of paper that contained the illustrative quotes collected by volunteer readers throughout England and America. These slips were instrumental, but replying on volunteers proved to be problematic. Thankfully, Murray and his team noticed that one reader seemed to especially skilled and helpful. When asked, Dr. W.C. Minor, quickly and happily provided quotes from and impressive range of texts to assist Murray with troublesome words. Over time, Murray came to rely on Minor, but still knew little about him and had yet to meat him, despite an address so close to London, just and hour by train. The reason for this mystery is that Dr. Minor, an American Army surgeon, was actually living in an asylum for having committed murder. This book it the tales that lead these two together and to contribute so heavily to the OED.

Dr. Minor

Winchester’s style is impressive, some parts of the story read with a taste for the dramatic, others are the straight-forward, ease of good journalism. Each shift in style perfectly suits the change in the story and it is very easy to forget the intense effort it would have taken to research these men (to get a good sense of this, read the acknowledgements). This is a fascinating look at two men, their bond over their work, and their role in the creation of the OED and I would highly recommend picking it up.

Phoenix Rising (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences #1) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Phoenix Rising (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences #1) by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Enter Wellington Book, Esquire (or Welly as Eliza prefers to say) is an archivist, content in his case files and seeming encyclopedic knowledge. His new partner is Eliza D Braun, a New Zealander field agent with a preference for bullet-proof fashion and a penchant for clever devices, preferably those that explode in some manner. Together they must discern why Londoners have been disappearing only to return minus blood, bone, or skin and what this has to do with a nefarious secret society (aren’t the all) called the Phoenix Society.

Steampunk as a genre has been ending towards formulaic over the past few years, so it is especially wonderful to see a story that provides an excellent tale within that framework. The story itself has a nice little mystery with some interesting character development and more than enough explosions and gun fights to keep things exciting.

I would also suggest finding this on audio. James Langton narrates the story and does an excellent job with the various accents that occur. As a side note, I think it is an unwritten law that a librarian has to enjoy a character that is a librarian whose name is books. Thankfully Ballantine and Morris make it very easy to obey this law.  

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

Within O’Malley’s The Rook there is an interesting blending of two fairly popular genres. The first is the spy novel. We are treated to secrecy and intrigue at the highest levels, impersonations, investigations, and infiltrations abound and sufficient baddies and brawls to sate followers of Ian Fleming’s notorious 007. Second, elements of urban fantasy/paranormal, which seems to continue in popularity.

The Rook opens out protagonist (Myfanwy Thomas) coming to in a rainy park with no memory of who she is or why she is so bruised and sore, seemingly from fighting, and surrounded by dead bodies. In fact, only a note from her past even lets Myfanwy even know her name and that her memory and even her personality have been erased. As she tries to grasp what happened and find out who is behind it, we learn that is a high level member of the Checquy, an organization that battles supernatural threats to Britain. As Thomas struggles to impersonate past, wiped-personality, she also learns that there is a plot afoot to overthrow not only the Checquy group, but to also invade England. To make matters worse, it is someone within the Checquy leadership that attacked Thomas and the plot to take over England.

Initially, the concept of this supernatural organization feels a bit like a spin-off of the X-men, with some powers that seem just odd. However, O’Malley does introduce a character by the name of Gestalt, who is one mind in control of 4 bodies and does some rather interesting things with the concept.

Stylistically, we are subjected to letters from the old Thomas giving useful but ill-timed information right as the new Thomas is about to start something dangerous. The effect is very similar to mini-cliffhanger commercial breaks in TV shows.

While The Rook does have the feel of a debut novel, it is still an entertaining read. Also, with some more experience and polish, I can easily see O’Malley taking this spy/paranormal/fantasy genre some very interesting and fun places.

Great Books--Super Sleuths January 2010

Washington-Centerville Public Library is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year--2010!  We will have great programs, author visits, and monthly lists highlighting Great Books.  January is Great Mystery month and our booklist is called Super Sleuths.  Here are three of the adult headliners:

Agatha Christie--This Brit is the world's best known mystery writer and the most widely published author of all time--outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.
Michael McGarrity--This New Mexico native has been nominated for multiple awards including the Anthony, Dilys, and Spur. His series is full of great characters, lots of action, and immerses you in the culture and history of The Land of Enchantment.
Virginia Lanier--This Agatha Award nominee didn't publish her first book until she was 65. Her Bloodhound series features a strong female character and introduces us to the world of Search and Rescue. A must for any action buff and/or dog lover. Unfortunately the author died in 2003. A fantastic series!

Stay tuned for more great mystery writers and their super sleuths!

Check out more Great Books!

Man Booker Prize Winner Announced!

Tuesday October 6, 2009 the Man Booker Prize winner was announced--and the winner is: Wolf Hall by English author Hilary Mantel! This 650-page historical monster is about the 16Th-century political maneuvering in the court of Henry VIII. The author retells the story of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell. Another interesting thing about this book is that it was favored to win by the oddsmakers (bookies, gamblers, etc.) and it did! The last time this happened was in 2002 when Life of Pi won.

For other non-British or Commonwealth authors who have had their work published or largely translated into English there is the Man Booker International Prize, which was awarded to Alice Munro this year for her body of work. So if you like historical fiction or just a good story then try Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Also, try one of the following authors that were runner-ups for the Man Booker Prize:

The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt

Summertime by J. M. Coetzee

The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters