The Vine LIVE CHAT: June 5, 2013
Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on June 5, 2013 – 7:56 AM27 Comments
We’ll talk books, boys, crappy guests, and whatever else is on your mind. Chat window below!
The chat begins at 1 PM ET; join us live, or watch later and say your piece in the comments!
(Submitting a question today? Excellent. I may edit it for brevity/clarity. You can also submit answers; all comments are moderated. It may get bumpy technically, but hang in there. As usual, if your question is published, you’re eligible for Tomato Nation merch. Have fun!)
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Are we allowed to resubmit a book-hunting question that didn’t get selected for the Vine? Or should I maybe just take said non-selection as a sign from the universe that these book titles really are as unknowable as perfection and truth?
Sure! I can’t promise I’ll use it, but you can resubmit it. (The ATR book queue is long, just so you’re not taking that personally.)
I wasn’t, thanks. I figured if anything it was the fault of my boring-ass plot descriptions.
For the Female Detective have you tried ” Mistress of the Art of Death” series by Ariana Franklin. My wife turned me on to them, as long as you like historical crime fiction. It’s set in the Middle ages.
Thanks! And thanks for the rec–part of my problem was that it’s been years since I shopped for bras, and I couldn’t find anything completely unpadded in Target/department stores/etc that wasn’t a uniboob-inducing sports bra kind of thing, so I was all confused as to what was just standard padding and what would make me the Ted Danson of breasts. Much appreciated!
For the female sleuths: I second Sue Grafton, though the relentlessly 1980s setting does start to wear if you read more than a couple in a row. Also, Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski novels are very good, both in the kick-ass female detective vein and in the integrating social history with crime novels vein. Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone series is showing its age a little, but the first ten or so are solid. I’m a fan of Zoe Sharp’s Charlie Fox books as well–a little more action-thriller than detective, but a seriously powerful heroine. For something a little more cerebral, there’s Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs books–historicals set post-WW-I.
I’m leaving aside police procedurals entirely, too, and there are any number of those, both American and British: Alafair Burke’s Ellie Hatcher, Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan, S.J. Bolton’s Lacey Flint… I could go on and on.
This Wikipedia page mixes up TV and fictional characters, but might be a place to start browsing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_detective_characters
What a fun idea. Will this be the format for all future vines? And are you still answering grammar questions?
for the fluffy mystery question–there is a website called cozy-mystery dot com which lists just that kind of mysteries, including new releases every month. If you like humorous books I recommend donna andrews, who has a long series with puns on cliches and animals in the titles, with Meg Langslow as the “detective”.
@S: Not all future Vines, and yes.
I really like Kathy Reichs’ books, for the mysteries with a female protagonist (Tempe Brennan is a forensic anthropologist). The TV show “Bones” is based on her work. The writing is decent as genre stuff goes. Warning, though, these can be pretty dark/grim. You might also give Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series a try (“One for the Money,” etc.) — in this case, the protagonist is a bounty hunter — very spunky and fun. If you like the first one of either series, then you’ll have a fair bit of reading to keep you busy, since they are both probably up in the double digits at this point.
For the mysteries: In addition to Laurie R. King’s Kate Martinelli series, I’d recommend her Mary Russell series as well (particularly the first 5 or 6 books), as long as you don’t find playing with the Sherlock Holmes universe to be some sort of heresy.
I’ve liked Carol O’Connor’s Kathleen Mallory series, but these may fall on the wrong side of gory. Miriam Monfredo has a historical fiction mystery series with a female detective, Glynis Tryon, that I also enjoyed.
A friend has also recommended Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series, and they are in my to-read pile, so I’ll throw that name out even if I can’t speak to the books personally.
I second all of Lore’s suggestions (though I haven’t read these Zoe Sharp books…something to add to my own list). I’ve also been enjoying Nicola Upson’s books featuring Josephine Tey (with Scotland Yard detective Archie Penrose). As you may know, Josephine Tey was an author of detective stories — and many other books — herself.
The Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow may also scratch an itch: she’s an Alaska Native who has returned to her homestead after an unpleasant incident working as a DA’s investigator in Anchorage. She is pressed into service to investigate situations that take place in and around the national park where she lives.
I am 100% with Sars on anti-recommending Patricia Cornwell, though the Temperance Brennan series is a much better version of that kind of thing. She’s a forensic anthropologist (the TV show “Bones” is based on these books, though I think takes place earlier in Brennan’s career than the books), so maybe the gore factor is a bit too high.
I’d recommend for the mystery seeker:
Carolyn Haines “Bones” mysteries
Joan Hess “Claire Malloy” series and Maggody
Margaret Maron – anything particularly “Judge Deborah Knott” series
Carolyn G. Hart – “Death on Demand” series
Google “cozy mystery series and you get even more results.
You see – those are MY favorite kind of mysteries for beach reads. The above series are ones I still can’t put down.
Happy reading!
Re: Australian tv show, is it The Miraculous Mellops? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miraculous_Mellops_(TV_Series)
For mysteries, I second the recommendation for Laurie King’s books; the Mary Russell series is probably my favorite mystery series (I don’t have any loyalty to the Sherlock Holmes canon, though). I also like Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dibbs series. Both those are historical set in England around the start of WWI (when the series begin).
Lore’s Zoe Sharp rec almost sent me scurrying to find out if she is actually my childhood friend of the same name … until I realized that if it were so, it’s unlikely she’d keep it a secret from her Facebook friends list.
Mysteries:
They’re common enough that you’ve probably heard of them, but just in case, the ‘Naked In Death’ series by JD Robb. Futuristic as opposed to paranormal, with an addictive main character and some interesting plots.
I was also recently introduced to the ‘Faces of Evil’ series by Debra Webb. I’m not as crazy about them, frankly, but looks to be another big series to follow. Book one is ‘Obsession’.
This one is in the paranormal sector, but not of the werewolf variety, and the plotting is very down-to-earth; the Noah Bishop series by Kay Hooper. (Series title is deceiving, most of the protagonists are female.) Book one is ‘Stealing Shadows’.
Iris Johansen is amazing; try ‘And Then You Die’ for a start.
‘No Escape’ by Heather Lowell has some very memorable twists and characters.
I’ve read ‘Nine Lives’ by Sharon Sala many times and enjoyed it, though for some reason I was disappointed by the sequels.
Sandra Brown is prolific and frequently good, though she’s done some clunkers; the best in my opinion is ‘Standoff’.
Lauren Henderson’s Sam Jones books are great for mysteries with a female protagonist – in order, from memory, they are Dead White Female, Too Many Blondes, Black Rubber Dress, Freeze My Margarita (my favourite), Strawberry Tattoo, Chained and Pretty Boy.
N-thing the Mary Russell books, and the Maisie Dobbs (not Dibbs) series as well.
And adding the Jane Jeffry books by Jill Churchill. The first 4-5 are good – the later ones not so much.
Mystery seeker: Have you tried Elizabeth Peters? I find them quite entertaining.
Also, what Alice forgot. Not exactly a mystery but main character has to figure out what happened in the last ten years of her life and I found it scratched my mystery book itch.
For the person looking for book recommendations: How about the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith? No paranormal stuff and a lady detective. They take place in Botswana (Africa).
@ blue_squishie: YES YES YES. Oh my god, you’ve solved a mystery from YEARS AND YEARS ago. Thank you so so much!
For mystery suggestions:
Linda Fairstein
It’s not so much sleuthing, since the main characters are police/district attorneys, but they are great!
I am not sure this is right, but is the Og Series -Og, Son of Fire by James Irving Crump. It was a series from the 20s, and the stories originally appeared in Boy’s Life Magazine. http://www.trussel.com/prehist/crump/ogbl.htm
There is an evil Sabre Tooth tiger that stalks him.
Oops- the link to the book is http://www.trussel.com/prehist/crump/ogs.htm#T213
I’d add Linda Barnes to the list of authors with female sleuths. Her main character is a PI who sometimes has to drive a cab to make ends meet. Also, regarding the Sue Grafton recommendations, I never cared much for her plots, but really liked the character development. However, I felt like the character stopped developing around “N is for Noose”, and I wish I’d have stopped there in the series. Your mileage might vary.
For the person looking for the British English dictionary, you might want to try searching on variations of Cockney English Dictionary
For the female detectives, there is a new detective/spy series by Susan Elia MacNeal about a female mathematician who works for the British government during World War II. She is hired first as a typist for Winston Churchill, then proves that she can do more than just type. The first book is “Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.”