I’ve been reading a lot of detective fiction of one sort or another lately and thought I would share some of my favorite authors with you:
Robert Crais–Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels. Best one: The Last Detective. Summary: Crais’ Elvis Cole novels are set in L.A. Cole is an ex-Army Ranger who has set up a detective agency in partnership with his friend, Joe Pike, a taciturn ex-cop/ex-mercenary. Crais is one of those rare authors who simply keep getter better the longer they write. My favorite is “The Last Detective”, a multi-viewpoint kidnapping novel where Cole searches for his girlfriend’s 10-year-old son. Although it sounds formulaic (buddy tough guy detectives solve mysteries), Crais injects both of his male viewpoint characters with humanity, vulnerability, and intelligence.
Jim Butcher–Harry Dresden series. Best one so far: Toss-up between “Blood Rites” and “Dead Beat”. Summary: Harry Dresden is wizard/private detective living in a modern day Chicago where the supernatural world exists alongside (and is religiously ignored) by our mundane one. Dresden’s mysteries usually have a knotty, magic-related problems at their core. Butcher is another one of those authors who keep getting better as time goes on. Harry grows and changes and the characters keep getting deeper and more multi-layered.
Terry Pratchett–Guards series starring Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch. Best one to date: “Feet of Clay”. Summary: Commander Sam Vimes and the colorful cast of the Watch (dwarves, werewolves, trolls, zombies, and humans) strive to keep law and order in the sprawling city of Ankh-Morpork, Citie of a Thousand Surprises (many of them armed and dangerous). I like “Feet of Clay” because it gives a good picture of the day to day running of the Watch and as well as being a solid, stand-on-its-own mystery. Briefly, two old men have been murdered and the golems, magical clay statues that do the undesirable jobs in the city, are suspected. The Patrician, Lord Vetinari, has been poisoned and everyone is suspected. And Constable Nobbes is revealed to have a here-to-fore unsuspected noble lineage. It’s up to Vimes, Capt. Carrot, and Constables Angua, Littlebottom, and Detritus to solve the crimes, save the city, and see that justice is done.
