1) When The Sacred Ginmill Closes - Lawrence Block Fantastic novel that was the first mystery I read where I could see, smell, hear and taste what was being described. Superb story, superb characterisations (even though most of the characters are not that loveable) and one of the finest depictions of alcoholism I've ever read. And the mystery ain't bad either :)
2) Jester Leaps In - Alan Gordon This series has been one of my finds - well, actually it was found by jenni411 who recommended them to me, for which I'll always be deeply grateful. I'm sure I've raved about these in my LJ before, but that's not going to stop me from plugging them again :) The premise is that many (if not all) Jesters belong to The Fool's Guild which is actually a medieval and international version of MI6. Feste/Theophilos, the hero of the series, travels to many locations where he is able to infiltrate to the highest levels and carefully influence events as best he can. Sometimes direct and dangerous action is called for. This book is the second in the series and contains some of the finest descriptions of Constantinople it's been my pleasure to read. Go read them all, at once!!
3) Venus in Copper - Lindsey Davis If you like historical mysteries, then I can't speak highly enough of Lindsey Davis's Falco series, set in Ancient Rome. Falco walks the mean streets in a different era to Sam Spade and Marlowe, but he is just as tough and has just as good a line in repartee as they do. However, these are not noir novels, but rollicking good reads set against a highly researched historical background. Choosing one book was really tough - any of the first five could have been here - but this is probably my favourite of the 17 (yes SEVENTEEN!) books in the series to date.
4)Dolly and the Doctor Bird/Operation Nassau - Dorothy Dunnett Famous for her historical sagas, the much missed Dunnett also wrote seven adventures about Johnson Johnson, internationally famous painter, owner of the yacht "Dolly" and also a secret agent. I'm not cheating by choosing two books, btw, the original series all had "Dolly" in the title and the "birds" were the women that were the heroines of each book. (e.g. Dolly and the Starry Bird, Dolly and the Bird of Paradise). The books were retitled in the Nineties, presumably out of political correctness. Bleh. Some of the descriptions of clothing and culture have dated but the characterisations are still sharp, the locations superbly described and the stories are all absolute crackers. This one narrowly beat Starry Bird to make this list, but really the only one I'm not hugely fond of is the last one "Moroccan Traffic" - the lead girl in that was the least likeable of all the heroines, to the point where fans of the series rechristened the book "Dolly and the Dodo Bird" :P. If you want to know more, there's an excellent site here (http://www.angelfire.com/zine/azurite/dolly.html)
5) The Holy Thief - Ellis Peters If there's one criticism of Peter's Brother Cadfael novels, it's that her description of the 12th century is a little bit too pristine. However, you can forgive that when the stories are as good as they are. I don't think she wrote a duff novel out of the 20 Brother Cadfael books. This is my favourite of them all, but again it could have been two or three others. I love Brother Cadfael and his regular companions in his adventures. This, by the way, is that rare series where the later books are every bit as good as the earlier ones. This particular book was the 19th in the series :)
Honorable mentions: Sara Paretsky (last year at Bouchercon Toronto, I was able to get a book signed by Ms Paretsky during which I plucked up my courage and managed to tell her just how grateful I was to her for her work. Not only did she inspire me to read a whole new genre of mystery fiction, she inspired the generation of female authors writing strong female detectives who came after her), Sharon Kay Penman, Greg Rucka, Barry Eisler (*swoon* *THUD*) and Agatha Christie.
Ack!!
1) When The Sacred Ginmill Closes - Lawrence Block
Fantastic novel that was the first mystery I read where I could see, smell, hear and taste what was being described. Superb story, superb characterisations (even though most of the characters are not that loveable) and one of the finest depictions of alcoholism I've ever read. And the mystery ain't bad either :)
2) Jester Leaps In - Alan Gordon
This series has been one of my finds - well, actually it was found by
3) Venus in Copper - Lindsey Davis
If you like historical mysteries, then I can't speak highly enough of Lindsey Davis's Falco series, set in Ancient Rome. Falco walks the mean streets in a different era to Sam Spade and Marlowe, but he is just as tough and has just as good a line in repartee as they do. However, these are not noir novels, but rollicking good reads set against a highly researched historical background. Choosing one book was really tough - any of the first five could have been here - but this is probably my favourite of the 17 (yes SEVENTEEN!) books in the series to date.
4)Dolly and the Doctor Bird/Operation Nassau - Dorothy Dunnett
Famous for her historical sagas, the much missed Dunnett also wrote seven adventures about Johnson Johnson, internationally famous painter, owner of the yacht "Dolly" and also a secret agent. I'm not cheating by choosing two books, btw, the original series all had "Dolly" in the title and the "birds" were the women that were the heroines of each book. (e.g. Dolly and the Starry Bird, Dolly and the Bird of Paradise). The books were retitled in the Nineties, presumably out of political correctness. Bleh. Some of the descriptions of clothing and culture have dated but the characterisations are still sharp, the locations superbly described and the stories are all absolute crackers. This one narrowly beat Starry Bird to make this list, but really the only one I'm not hugely fond of is the last one "Moroccan Traffic" - the lead girl in that was the least likeable of all the heroines, to the point where fans of the series rechristened the book "Dolly and the Dodo Bird" :P. If you want to know more, there's an excellent site here (http://www.angelfire.com/zine/azurite/dolly.html)
5) The Holy Thief - Ellis Peters
If there's one criticism of Peter's Brother Cadfael novels, it's that her description of the 12th century is a little bit too pristine. However, you can forgive that when the stories are as good as they are. I don't think she wrote a duff novel out of the 20 Brother Cadfael books. This is my favourite of them all, but again it could have been two or three others. I love Brother Cadfael and his regular companions in his adventures. This, by the way, is that rare series where the later books are every bit as good as the earlier ones. This particular book was the 19th in the series :)
Honorable mentions: Sara Paretsky (last year at Bouchercon Toronto, I was able to get a book signed by Ms Paretsky during which I plucked up my courage and managed to tell her just how grateful I was to her for her work. Not only did she inspire me to read a whole new genre of mystery fiction, she inspired the generation of female authors writing strong female detectives who came after her), Sharon Kay Penman, Greg Rucka, Barry Eisler (*swoon* *THUD*) and Agatha Christie.