the_rck | (no subject)

I don't like most mysteries. I keep trying them, though, because there are some authors and series that I like quite a lot. I can't tell ahead of time which mysteries will work for me. GoodReads hasn't proved very helpful in that way, either. Well, a lot of those recommendations are for things the library doesn't have, and my experience with GoodReads recommendations is not sufficiently happy for me to gamble by buying books in any genre based on its say-so. (GoodReads recommendations do tend to be much better than Amazon's recommendations, however.)

I tend to like atypical mysteries, the ones that are only classified as mysteries because they aren't something else. I tend not to like puzzle mysteries. Agatha Christie's novels, for example, almost never work for me. I can read and enjoy her short stories, and I liked the Tommy and Tuppence books, but all the Poirot and Miss Marple novels lose my interest rapidly. I tried a lot of Ngaio Marsh as a teenager because my mother loved her books, but I only liked two of them, and I didn't like those as mysteries-- I liked them for the theater elements.

I like Margot Arnold, Marian Babson (before she got all cat obsessed), Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Donna Andrews, Nancy Atherton, Kerry Greenwood, Emma Lathen/R.B. Dominic, Peter O'Donnell, Susan Holtzer, some Dell Shannon/Elizabeth Linington/Leslie Egan, Charlotte MacLeod, Roger van Gulik (problematic), Arthur Upfield (deeply problematic from what I understand, but I devoured his books), and Alexander McCall Smith (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series only. Also problematic). I tend to like historical mysteries or mysteries set in parts of the world I know little about. I have a weakness for stories set in research libraries or around theatrical productions.

I tend to be skeptical of mystery series set in the sort of small town where everybody knows each other (Donna Andrews' books are an exception to that). My suspension of disbelief doesn't work when there's murder after murder in a setting like that.

Recommendations welcome, but it would help if you tell me why I might like the book or author in question.

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the amelia peabody series by elizabeth peters is set mostly in egypt (sometimes in england) in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

I second this. Amelia as a character completely slipped her reins and ran loose, and I never care much about the mystery--Amelia is just so entertaining.

I read the first several Amelia Peabody books as they came out. I don't remember why I gave up on the series or which book was the last one I read.

You may've given up on the Wesley-Crusher-like Ramses. I know he almost made me bail.

I think you've said before that you don't tend to do audiobooks, but if you ever find yourself in need of one, the Peabody books are, I think, entirely done by the magnificent Barbara Rosenblat, and she makes them even more fun than the books. Utter braincandy. I had one with me when my dad went for surprise bypass surgery back in 2008 -- I listened to it on the drive down AND relistened to it on the way back, and it did not pall.

Now that I think about it, I think some of why I stopped reading was a feeling that Amelia was getting stupider. I didn't want her to be stupid. I think the stupidity I saw was in aid of making Ramses seem cooler.

I'll bear that in mind about the books on CD. I've got quite a long list of those that I want to get to, and I haven't been listening to them at all recently. I wonder if Scott would like them. He listens to a lot of books on CD as he drives back and forth to work.

I read the first several Amelia Peabody books. I've lost track of just where I left off, so I've hesitated to try to pick up the series again.

I'm really not sure if you'd like Dorothy Gilman or not. They're often filed in mystery even though they're sort of action, more than mystery. I love her Mrs. Pollifax books - starting with The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - but if you don't like the main character or the "feel" of the first, then the series isn't going to work for you.

I've read and loved the Mrs. Pollifax books. I just didn't think of them when I was listing mysteries.

Oh, have you managed to find The Clairvoyant Countess, which was a Gilman standalone? It was one of the rare books my mother accidentally had on the shelves (Mom doesn't buy books, because she doesn't reread them) and I adored it.

When I was in high school, my local library had The Clairvoyant Countess, and I found a used paperback copy of it when I was in college. I've also got the not quite as good sequel, Kaleidoscope.

I agree that you might try both of those, but kyrielle's caveat is spot on, and for the amelia peabody I'd warn that as the series drags on they get longer and longer and more...book-y, less cozy mystery.

I've read the Mrs. Pollifax books and own the first six or seven. I've also read the first few Amelia Peabody books. I don't remember why I stopped reading or which book was the last one I read.

Have you tried Tony Hillerman's books? His protagonists are Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, who are both Navaho Tribal Policemen. I am mostly a reader of science fiction and fantasy, but read occasional mysteries, and one of the things I really like about this series is the worldbuilding, which appeals to the SFF reader in me. So when you say you like mysteries set in parts of the world you know little about, this came to mind. Tony Hillerman is white and writing about a culture that is not his own, but seems respectful and knowledgable about Navaho culture, at least from my white perspective. The first book is The Blessing Way, and it is best to read the series in order.

Thanks for the recommendation! I haven't tried Hillerman's books. I expect that the library will have them.

Charlaine Harris who wrote the True Blood series/sookie stackhouse has also written the aurora teagarden mysteries (not supernatural) the Lily Bard series (not supernatural) and another series I can't remember the series name of but one of the books is called "grave sight" (this one is supernatural, the heroine can be near a dead body and sense how the person died) I'm not big on mysteries for similar reasons you have cited, but I enjoyed all these, although the teagarden mysteries do sort of take place all in the same area, but it's Atlanta, which is not exactly tiny.

I also like Kathy Reichs "Bones" books...so I would recommend all of them. Do you have an e reader? I could probably send you one book of each series in whatever format you need (or provide you a link to download yourself) for you to try them out, see if you like the writing, and then you'd be on your own for personal aquisition. I know a site where people upload books (I'm of the support the author mindset myself, but when it comes to books I have purchased already in paper format I don't have a problem downloading the ereader...I simply do not have room for all my books and am having no choice but to switch formats and there is no way on god's green earth I could replace over 3000 books.)

I didn't like the first Sookie Stackhouse book, so I haven't tried any other Charlaine Harris. The library has Grave Sight, so I'll try that and see what I think. I can't be sure how much of disliking Sookie was the writing and how much was that I really, really dislike vampires (and werewolves and zombies and unicorns).

The library also has quite a few of Reichs' books. I've put a hold on the earliest of the ones with 'bones' in the title. I think it's Bare Bones.

I do have an e-reader, a Sony, but I don't use it much. Most of what's on it is fic that I may not get around to reading. Since the library has these books, I wouldn't worry about trying to get me e-books.

The teagarden mysteries and the lily bard mysteries are nothing like true blood, very normal world type stuff. The ...Harper Connelly series (I finally remembered it!) that has grave sight does have the spooky but it's just sort of like ghost esp, no other supernatural bogies.

I have a sony e reader as well (t650) I just don't have room for hard copy books in this tiny place and already have a ton of them. Let me know how you like the books when you've read them!

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