Ask-A-Wench — Mystery and Crime

Anne here, continuing our discussion of mystery/crime stories. It started when I mentioned on our Word Wench loop that I was going to talk about mystery series, and the wenches started to chat about crime novels they'd been reading. And when the wenches get chatting about books...
So here, as an Ask A Wench post, are the word wenches, chatting about crime novels. 

Nicola: I've just ordered Elizabeth Bailey's latest, The Deathly Portent. She writes Georgian crime/romance. I enjoyed the first in the series, The Gilded Shroud, very much so am looking forward to this one.

Cara/Andrea:  Oh, must look for that one too, Nicola. The first one was great.

Anne: I've been meaning to order it. I used to love her historicals. Her FRIDAY DREAMING is one of my all time favorite Regencies. 

Joanna: Lately I've been reading my way through the C.S. Harris mysteries.  They're set in my own time period.  Regency mysteries.  And a long-time favorite Historical Romance author, Roberta Gellis, wrote a series of Medieval mysteries solved by the formidable Magdalene la Bâtarde, madame of the local brothel.  The series starts with A Mortal Bane.

I'm about to read an Anne Perry (I had dinner with her once at the Surrey International Writers Conference.  We agreed that Fouché was the most interesting figure of the Revolution.) as soon as I finish the  CS Harris I'm in the middle of.  How's that for Historical Mystery?

Jo: I like the Gellis ones a lot, especially as she shows how being a whore in theright circumstances could be a better option. I always like the way Gellis doesn't pander to conventional, modern expectations.

Cara/Andrea: I enjoy Anne Perry's books, especially the later Hester and Monk ones. I feel she does a good job at peeling back the layers of personalities, and deals with the complex conflicts of human nature in a thoughtful way. It seems to me she grapples with the good and evil that is inside everyone, and how people choose one path or another—and tells a good story in doing so. 

Nicola: Other historical crime I enjoy - Ellis Peters and Susanna Gregory but most of all C. J. Samson. I love his Tudor mysteries featuring Matthew Shardlake. The one about the sinking of the Mary Rose haunted me for days.

Sherrie: Has anyone here read any of the Alexander McCall Smith #1 Ladies Detective Agency books?  I have 2 of those as audiobooks.  I’m looking forward to them.  I also have several of Sue Grafton’s ABC series (A is for Alibi, etc.) and I’m really enjoying them. 

Mary Jo: I read the McCall Smith books for the characters and the wonderful sense of a healthy, deeply loved African society.   

Sherrie: I’ve also become a rabid Neil Gaiman fan.  He writes everything—fantasy, YA, graphic novels, comic books, screenwriting, etc., and has won just about every award there is.  I love his The Graveyard Book, about a young man who was raised by ghosts in a graveyard.  It’s an odd and charming book with very dark undertones and clever humor.

Anne: I love Neil Gaiman, too, Sherrie, and was lucky enough to hear him talk when he came to Melbourne last year. The Graveyard book is wonderful. 

Susan: Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer - my sons love reading his stuff. I've tried Coraline and one or two others. Sherrie, if you like Gaiman and some of the darker fantasy stuff, have you tried Gene Wolfe's Shadow of the Torturer series? Deep, beautifully written, moving, challenging and brilliant. I got my sons hooked on those when they were teens, and now they're huge Gene Wolfe fans. 

Thinking about historical mysteries, I'd have to say that Lindsay Davis and Falco are probably my favorites, along with Ellis Peters and Cadfael, and Elizabeth Peters everything. I've read more of the Falco and Cadfael series than any other long series.

I love the early Amelia Peabody books, but got overwhelmed with the sheer number of books and fell by the wayside. And I agree, Jo, I did enjoy the other Elizabeth Peters mysteries quite a lot, particularly the art history ones. I was thrilled that she wrote a mystery about a missing Tillman Riemanschneider! <g>  

Totally love the Barbara Michaels ones as well. Love ghosts. I watch all those ghost shows on TV. Some of them are beyond stupid, and I still love them. 

Susan: Perhaps my favorite perfect mystery, single book, is Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. I wore out a paperback of that one years ago, and bought a new edition a few years back just to read it again. It's excellent. The hospital stuff for the Inspector is of course dated (he's laid up in traction in the hospital, deals with a robust and bossy nurse, and out of boredom tackles the enigma of Richard III) but that can be seen in a historical perspective by now! And the rest is just classic, brilliant sleuthing and characterization.

Mary Jo: I'm another lover of Tey's THE DAUGHTER OF TIME  It made me a confirmed fan of Richard III. <g>

Nicola: Oh yes! I love all Josephine Tey's mysteries but that one will always be closest to my heart!

Joanna: Yes. Definitely Daughter of Time has to be mentioned.  And Dorothy Sayers.

Andrea: Oh yes, Dorothy Sayers is to die for. <G>
 

Susan: Omigosh, yes!  Read those voraciously when I was in college. 
 

Joanna: And with Sayers we have both the mystery and the love story.  *sigh*
 

Susan: Yes, sigh indeed on Lord Peter and Harriet! And then there's Agatha Raisin, fun as well. I love the Hamish Macbeth mysteries too.

Anne: My latest glom is Louise Penny. I read the first one while on the plane heading to my retreat a couple of weeks ago and ordered the rest of the series when I landed. They arrived last week and I've now read all except the last. I like crime, especially cosy crime that's beautifully observant about people, which this is. And I have very fond memories of Quebec from many years ago, so it's lovely to revisit.

Cara/Andrea: Anne, thanks for the mention of Louise Penny. I have been hearing wonderful things about this series and meant to get one of them, Now it's moved right to the top of the Must Get list. I think she's going to be at the mystery conference I'm going to in Washington DC later this month, so will look forward to meeting her too. The conference is much smaller and more low-key than RWA.

Authors all tend to hang out in an author's lounge during the day, and last year I got to sit around and chat with Rhys Bowen, whose Royal Spyness series I love.

This year another favorite of mine, Charles Finch is on the list of attendees—as is Elizabeth Peters!  I think she's in her mid-eighties, so not sure how much time she'll spend in public, but she really is one of my all-time favorites, so would love to just rub shoulders with her for a bit.

Joanna:  I signed next to Rhys Bowen at RT last year.  (I think it was last year.)  I told her I loved Her Royal Spyness.  Very nice woman.  Interestingly enough, RT seems to be good for mystery writers too.  She was very popular.

Cara/Andrea: Oh, fun, Joanna. Yes, she's delightful. And as the Spyness books have a fun romance element, they definitely cross over to romance readers.

Anne: I am so envious of you guys who have conferences all around you and famous and beloved authors attending. We really do suffer the Tyranny of Distance here (title of a famous Australian history book.) I love the Rhys Bowen books -- Mary Jo put me onto her last year. And Elizabeth Peters -- Crocodile on the Sandbank is an all time fave, of course and I also loved Die for Love. I've never heard of Charles Finch. Will investigate. Thanks

Cara/Andrea: Anne, Crocodile on the Sandbank is one of my all-time favorites. I adore Amelia and Emerson, and the start of the series has some priceless moments.

Charles Finch writes a very nice Victorian mystery series. It's very low-key with charming characters and well-woven plots. I like his writing, so do give him a try. The first book of the series, A Beautiful Blue Death, won a lot of awards.

Yes, we are lucky in that conferences do allow a chance to meet favorite authors. 

Joanna: I'm going to join everybody else in loving Elizabeth Peters and the remarkable Peabody and Emerson.  I also like her her modern supernatural mysteries written under the name Barbara Michaels.  Ammie Come Home is a classic. 

Mary Jo: I've read a lot of mysteries in the past, but I'm not much into them these days--I've gotten too wimpy to find murder entertaining, I guess.  But like the other Wenches, I adore CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK, though it's because of the hilarious romance and the marvelous voice of Amelia Peabody, who is one of the great historical heroines.  

Among modern historical mysteries, I find Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness books, set in England in the early 1930s, to be enormous fun.  The heroine, Lady Georgiana, is 34th in line to the throne, being a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria.  Her position means she's supposed to act like a lady, without having any money to support her royal bloodlines.  <g>  They're great, frothy fun, especially the one where she's sent as a royal emissary to a royal wedding in Transylvania.  

And last but hardly least, I mustn't overlook the Regency chocolate mysteries of our own Cara/Andrea! Writing as Andrea Penrose, she's published two delicious mysteries, SWEET REVENGE and THE COCOA CONSPIRACY.  Not only mystery and chocolate, but romance!  What more can one ask for????

So, are any of your favorites mentioned here? Any we've missed out? Do you have others to suggest? Go for it.

Comments

[Patricia Rice]

Thanks for pulling this discussion together, Anne. Now I have everything in one place for ordering. I love mysteries but my memory doesn't allow me to recall names and I wasn't home to scour shelves. I ordered STILL LIFE by Louise Penny on your recommendation. The insights into human nature are fabulous, and the setting is exquisitely and lovingly wrapped around the plot. I have a problem with her constant head-hopping but even the mystery was a real mystery, so I couldn't put it down.

[Cara Elliott/Andrea Penrose]

Anne, a brilliant job of cobbling together all our back and forth comments to each other. As readers can see, we have such fun talking about books among ourselves, and I always find some wonderful new authors through my fellow Wenches. I rushed right out to the library and got Josephne Tey's Daughter of Time, which I am enjoying immensely.

And while there, grabbed the new Maisie Dobbs book, Elegy for Eddie. Jacqueline Winspear has really done a marvelous job with this series—Maisie keeps getting more and more interesting as she continues to grapple with the eternal question of 'Who am I?' and 'What makes me happy?'I really enjoy that she understands those thing keep constantly changing throughout life.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Pat -- she's a beautiful writer, but the head-hopping is disconcerting, I agree. But I love the insights into human nature, the touches of humor, the cast of characters and the setting, so I could overlook the head-hopping.

"Josephne Tey's Daughter of Time"
Cara/Andrea, I think if I recall Joanna's post, she actually recommended the Daughter Of Tim. ;)

[Susan]

Anne, thanks! Our ongoing conversation about mysteries was fun - and this is a great, fun post. All the Wenches are mystery lovers, and we're all probably scribbling down wishlist titles like mad - I know I am!

[Susan/DC]

I've loved Tey's "Daughter of Time" since I was a teenager, and as a result I've not been able to bring myself to watch a production of Shakespeare's "Richard III" precisely because it runs so contrary to the image Tey created.

Since I inherited a love of mysteries from my mother, I've read and liked many of the series mentioned here. For those who don't know her, Tracy Grant wrote a number of romances, both individually and with her mother. She uses her romance background in her mysteries, which have a central love story running through them. As a result, they satisfy both the mystery and the romance lover in me.

Not mentioned today but one I discovered on this site (IIRC I have Nicola to thank) is Imogen Robertson's Georgian-set Harriet Westerman series. They are dark but engrossing and beautifully written and with compelling character portraits. I love Harriet, cranky though she may be at times, and her reluctant partner in this historical CSI is a reclusive anatomist, Gabriel Crowther, a man with secrets of his own. I recommend these books to everyone in my attempt to ensure that the series continues.

I heard Jacqueline Winspear last week at a local bookstore. She was charming and provided fascinating tidbits about Maisie and her world. One aspect of the books I've loved is that Winspear creates such a complete portrait of England between the wars. So many men died or were injured that no family was completely untouched. OTOH, women like Maisie could, for probably the first time, make their way in what had previously been a men-only world. Winspear manages to convey both the tragedy and the sense of opportunity.

[theo]

What a wonderful list! With the exception of a very small few, these are all 'new' authors to me so my TBR pile will be expanding exponentially.

Thanks and LOVED the chatty conversation. ;o)

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne, what a lovely job you've done putting together our chatter! Like Pat, I appreciate you're condensing all this in one good site for reference.

I can't BELIEVE that I mentioned Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness books, but neglected to mention the equally delightful (and more numerous) Daisy Dalrymple books, written by Honorary word Wench Carola Dunn.

So many books, so little time....

[Anne Gracie]

Susan D/C thanks for that very comprehensive comment -- wonderful stuff. I'm also envious of the range and number of author events you guys in the US have available to you.

And thanks for those suggestions — more added to my list.

[Anne Gracie]

Theo, me too -- there's a whole new world of books out there waiting. I'm looking forward to it.

Mary Jo, don't worry about missing out on Carola Dunn -- she was recommended by several commenters in my previous post. And it's not as if you were preparing a comprehensive list — I just lassoed a wandering wenchly conversation because everyone else was busy, that's all. :)

[Valerie L.]

So many of these mentioned are absolute favorites of mine. I had to read Daughter of Time for a class in college and became a staunch Ricardian. Falco is a joy, an absolute joy, and I love it when he calls Helena "Fruit". CS Harris has given us a complex man and mystery in her St. Cyr series. And I've just discovered Susanne Alleyn and her dark, complex series with Aristide Ravel, police assistant (never informer) in Revolutionary Paris. Each book was mesmerizing and gives us a glimpse of a world we usually see ony from the English side.

[Dee]

Ooh, more new to me authors. I pretty much love all the ones listed whom I've tried... Madeline la batarde is one of my favorites.

I recommend Martin Walker's Bruno Chief of Police books. I think he really gets the flavor of France right. And, I like gritty Chief Katie Burkholder in Linda Castillo's Amish set mysteries. The Barker and Llewelyn series by Will Thomas was fun -Sherlockian with a twist. And, I've loved most of Rochelle Krich's especially her Jessie Drake and her Molly Blum series. Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax. Ruth Downie's Army surgeon Gaius Petrus Ruso. Ok, clearly I like this genre too (much?).

[Louise Reynolds]

Anne, wow, thanks for this - looks like I have a whole lot of exploring to do. I agree with everyone about Daughter of Time and I must drag it off the shelf again. A classic.
And as someone who has seen you magnificently adorned, head to toe, in a Crocodile on a Sandbank costume theme, may I say you were amazing. Surely RW Australia's most creative dresser (although Marion Lennox is a close second :-))

[Liz Bailey]

Gosh, thank you so much for the lovely comments, ladies! Do hope you enjoy The Deathly Portent. I'm a huge fan of Cadfael and the McCall Smith No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Didn't know about Andrea Penrose regencies so thanks for that, and have been meaning to get into Royal Spyness as well. On the other hand, got to keep up with the writing! Lovely post, really enjoyed it.

[Diane Sallans]

I'm not usually drawn to straight mysterys - I want romance & if it comes with a mystery that's good too.
But somehow last year I read Her Royal Spyness and fell in love with Lady Georgie so I went back & read the rest of the series. I then signed up for Rhys's Pieces. So excited that the series is being developed for filming.

[Cara Elliott/Andrea Penrose]

Dee, thanks for reminding me of the barer-Llywellyn series. Love those too!

[Jane Myers Perrine]

Oh, thank you! I've already ordered several of these. I also have to highly rec. Daughter of Time (Tey). I have read this five or six times and it always delights me.

[Jane Myers Perrine]

Nicola--I so agree! "love his Tudor mysteries featuring Matthew Shardlake. The one about the sinking of the Mary Rose haunted me for days." It still haunts me.

[Elizabeth Essex]

Thanks for this great discussion. I'm a HUGE Anne Perry fan but haven't read many of the other suggestions. Looking forward to some new books!

[Louise Allen]

Just back from Botswana & many of the locals wanted to talk about the McCall Smith books & the TV series - they loved them & say they are very authentic

[Liz]

Tey, absolutely; the early McCall Smith's Dalhousie series; Dorothy Sayers; Barbara Michaels for Ammie Come Home particularly; Lindsay Davis' Falco sometimes.

How about: Bruce Alexander's Fielding series; Charles Todd's WWI series; Agatha of course; Mary Stewart particularly Madam Will You Talk (although not a series).

Too many to whom to do justice.

[Barbara Monajem]

I'm really enjoying the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries by Lindsey Davis. They take place in ancient Rome, and there's a lovely romance in the series as well as tons of fabulous historical detail. :)

[deniz]

A great discussion! I loved Daughter of Time, and still haven't read all the Dorothy Sayers mysteries. Working my way through all of Neil Gaiman's work at the moment :-)