The GMG Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Club

[mc ukrneal]

What are your Rex Stout Nero Wolfe favorites?

I only discovered this series a few months ago and I am quite fond of it, especially because Archie as narrator is so funny (not quite Bertie Wooster who was an inspiration but very good nevertheless). So far I have read. The mysteries are not as contrived (and unsolvable, e.g. I got the main twist in "Some buried Caesar" fairly early) as (to my recollection) many of Ellery Queen and Dickson Carr but for me that's actually a bonus.

So far I read:
Fer de Lance, League of frightened Gentlemen, Some buried Caesar, Black Orchids, Too many clients, Plot it yourself, The mother hunt, Death of a dude.

The last was (clearly) the weakest but I have not read enough to establish that "earlier=better". Should I go with the earlier ones first or are there particular favorites?

My wife read more of these than I did - she said Some buried Caeser (which you read), The Rubber Band, and Too Many Cooks. I get the impression that while some may be better than others, none (or incredibly few) are real clunkers.

[Ken B]

What are your Rex Stout Nero Wolfe favorites?

I only discovered this series a few months ago and I am quite fond of it, especially because Archie as narrator is so funny (not quite Bertie Wooster who was an inspiration but very good nevertheless). So far I have read. The mysteries are not as contrived (and unsolvable, e.g. I got the main twist in "Some buried Caesar" fairly early) as (to my recollection) many of Ellery Queen and Dickson Carr but for me that's actually a bonus.

So far I read:
Fer de Lance, League of frightened Gentlemen, Some buried Caesar, Black Orchids, Too many clients, Plot it yourself, The mother hunt, Death of a dude.

The last was (clearly) the weakest but I have not read enough to establish that "earlier=better". Should I go with the earlier ones first or are there particular favorites?

The early ones. Don't miss The Rubber Band. A good later one is The Doorbell Rang.

[Bogey]

So, just finished up this Jack Reacher novel:



A nice page turner and gives insight into the Jack Reacher character still as an MP in the Army.    I rated it 4 out 5 stars at Good Reads.  The next novel chronologically, continues the Reacher series.  Tom Cruise has a second movie coming out depicting this character.  The first was really good in my opinion, but the book series has captured me more so.  I believe there are 20 books in the series, and some sort stories.  I am on to this one now, as I have chosen to read them in chronological order as opposed to how they were published.:

[Jay F]

I'm completely caught up in Connelly, my favorite, and have read most, if not all, of Jonathan Kellerman (he started out okay, but now can't be bothered to write in complete sentences), and I have discovered a new detective series that takes place in LA, Robert Ellis' Lena Gamble series. He borrows heavily from Connelly in creating details, which is a little offputting at times, but overall the books are a good read (there are three so far). I backed into the Lena Gamble series after reading the first volume in Ellis' Matt Jones series, which I think I liked more.

Yes, I like my detectives Angeleno.

http://www.amazon.com/City-Fire-Lena-Gamble-Novels-ebook/dp/B000V21146/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1453052106&sr=1-1

[Bogey]

I'm completely caught up in Connelly, my favorite, and have read most, if not all, of Jonathan Kellerman (he started out okay, but now can't be bothered to write in complete sentences), and I have discovered a new detective series that takes place in LA, Robert Ellis' Lena Gamble series. He borrows heavily from Connelly in creating details, which is a little offputting at times, but overall the books are a good read (there are three so far). I backed into the Lena Gamble series after reading the first volume in Ellis' Matt Jones series, which I think I liked more. Anyway, here's Amazon's Robert Ellis page: http://smile.amazon.com/Robert-Ellis/e/B001ITTF94/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Yes, I like my detectives Angeleno.

Great post!  I read the first Connelly book and plan on reading Black Ice right after this Reacher novel.  Thanks for the leads through Ellis.  L.A is easily my favorite venue for crime novels, so I will look into these.

[Bogey]

Well, my the second Connelly novel does not arrive until Tuesday, so I am going to give this one a whirl.  I believe ave from MN gave it 4 out of 5 stars.  Never have tried Patterson, so here goes:

[The new erato]

I have read all of Connelly, a superb mystery writer.

I also want give a recommendation for Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti novels set in Venedig.

[Bogey]

I have read all of Connelly, a superb mystery writer.

I also want give a recommendation for Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti novels set in Venedig.

Just put Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti, #1) on my To Read list.  Thanks!

[Monsieur Croche]

I see no-one has mentioned the Sjowall/Wahloo books with Martin Beck yet. One of the great series, set in Sweden.

BUMP.

The above mentioned authors wrote ten novels in series. They are terrific, and if there is a real and decent bookstore still standing, all ten will be on the shelf under their category, and in many countries, in the language of the country. They are extremely well-written, quietly awful, dry, wry, horribly funny -- and enough of them have that 'Hitchcock effect,' i.e. without having noticed it, your temperature has been slowly rising along with the subtle way the tension increases without your having been conscious of it. Brilliant, classics, and strongly recommended.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Beck

----------------------------------------------------
ADDING,
Lawrence Block -- 'The Burglar' series, eleven novels. 'comic mystery novels.'
Wholly engaging, truly funny. Manhattan dweller book lover and second-hand book dealer Bernie Rhondenbarr] has this little compulsive tic -- he burgles.

He is constantly stumbling across just-dead murdered people in the middle of his robberies, is then the prime suspect, the cops look no further, and he has to then become the detective in order to solve the case in order to clear himself.

Each of the novels is also an hommage to an author and the particular sub-genre of the murder mystery that author is known for; knowing the other genre isn't necessary, while knowing it makes the read that much more fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Rhodenbarr
-------------------------------------------------------

Lindsey Davis -- Marcus Didius Falco series. There are now twenty books.
[After the first several of these, English critics dubbed her the new Ellis Peters, author of the medieval set Brother Cadfael books.]
Davis' books are set in ancient Rome when Nero was Emperor. The history is very-well researched, the detail of city, houses, everyday effects, difference of class and dynamics between the characters are all used to make you feel genuinely in the time while not at all having that dreadful and intrusive quasi-historical 'you are there,' kind of taste.

The crimes and detection are as gritty and intriguing as anything set in current time, some situations are not without humor. The relationship Falco, an ex-Roman soldier who now works for the government, has with a senator's daughter is developed throughout the series.
-----------------------------------------
These are all series, and within, the principal characters are constant, and throughout the books, the authors develop those characters. Ergo, if new to you, I recommend starting with their first, and progressing -- if your interest holds -- chronologically through the rest.

[Bogey]

BUMP.

The above mentioned authors wrote ten novels in series. They are terrific, and if there is a real and decent bookstore still standing, all ten will be on the shelf under their category, and in many countries, in the language of the country. They are extremely well-written, quietly awful, dry, wry, horribly funny -- and enough of them have that 'Hitchcock effect,' i.e. without having noticed it, your temperature has been slowly rising along with the subtle way the tension increases without your having been conscious of it. Brilliant, classics, and strongly recommended.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Beck

----------------------------------------------------
ADDING,
Lawrence Block -- 'The Burglar' series, eleven novels. 'comic mystery novels.'
Wholly engaging, truly funny. Manhattan dweller book lover and second-hand book dealer Bernie Rhondenbarr] has this little compulsive tic -- he burgles.

He is constantly stumbling across just-dead murdered people in the middle of his robberies, is then the prime suspect, the cops look no further, and he has to then become the detective in order to solve the case in order to clear himself.

Each of the novels is also an hommage to an author and the particular sub-genre of the murder mystery that author is known for; knowing the other genre isn't necessary, while knowing it makes the read that much more fun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Rhodenbarr
-------------------------------------------------------

Lindsey Davis -- Marcus Didius Falco series. There are now twenty books.
[After the first several of these, English critics dubbed her the new Ellis Peters, author of the medieval set Brother Cadfael books.]
Davis' books are set in ancient Rome when Nero was Emperor. The history is very-well researched, the detail of city, houses, everyday effects, difference of class and dynamics between the characters are all used to make you feel genuinely in the time while not at all having that dreadful and intrusive quasi-historical 'you are there,' kind of taste.

The crimes and detection are as gritty and intriguing as anything set in current time, some situations are not without humor. The relationship Falco, an ex-Roman soldier who now works for the government, has with a senator's daughter is developed throughout the series.
-----------------------------------------
These are all series, and within, the principal characters are constant, and throughout the books, the authors develop those characters. Ergo, if new to you, I recommend starting with their first, and progressing -- if your interest holds -- chronologically through the rest.

Indeed, concerning Falco!  Gurn sent me Silver Pigs and I enjoyed it a lot.  I need to get going on that series down the road.  And I also have enjoyed the first few Sjowall/Wahloo books.  I really like the "grind" of the day in and day out of their police work. 

[Jo498]

Sjöwall/Wahlöö are more than mere crime mysteries. Like Sayers' Lord Wimsey stories give a picture of 1920s-30s Britain and her attitudes (both Christian and feminist) sometimes obviously influence the stories, Sjöwall/Wahlöö show the 60s and 70s from the viewpoint of (Euro-)communists.
They called the whole 10 volumes "Story of a Crime" and the "crime" referred to is the social democratic, progressive Sweden of the time that despite welfare state etc. fails to build a truly human society. Regardless of whether one believes that communism would do better or if the conditio humana is just so crooked that any society will be twisted in many ways, this attitude gives the books a special "charme". I should re-read one of them.

[Jay F]

Well, my the second Connelly novel does not arrive until Tuesday, so I am going to give this one a whirl.  I believe ave from MN gave it 4 out of 5 stars.  Never have tried Patterson, so here goes:

Probably my least favorite mystery writer of all time. He gets DC locations so wrong -- or at least, he got them so wrong back when I was reading the Alex Cross series in the 1990s -- that I couldn't take anything else he wrote seriously. Besides, he writes in treatment style. It's the closest thing to reading screenplays I know of.

[Bogey]

Probably my least favorite mystery writer of all time. He gets DC locations so wrong -- or at least, he got them so wrong back when I was reading the Alex Cross series in the 1990s -- that I couldn't take anything else he wrote seriously. Besides, he writes in treatment style. It's the closest thing to reading screenplays I know of.

Well, 100 pages in and I am enjoying it so far.  I am not super familiar with the DC area, so that has not come into play for me.  The only complaint is that he does not seem to flesh out his characters enough for me, like in Bosch, or for that matter, Jack Reacher.  That is, the characters in the above so far are rarely presented within a time frame outside of the crime. 

[Jay F]

Well, 100 pages in and I am enjoying it so far.  I am not super familiar with the DC area, so that has not come into play for me.  The only complaint is that he does not seem to flesh out his characters enough for me, like in Bosch, or for that matter, Jack Reacher.  That is, the characters in the above so far are rarely presented within a time frame outside of the crime.

He is nothing like Connelly. He is the anti-Connelly, if you like lots of detail in such aspects of storytelling as location or character. He is to Connelly what CSI was to Homicide: Life on the Street or The Wire.

[Bogey]

He is nothing like Connelly. He is the anti-Connelly, if you like lots of detail in such aspects of storytelling as location or character. He is to Connelly what CSI was to Homicide: Life on the Street or The Wire.

No, I'm definitely seeing the difference between the two.  The likes of (at least in recent times) Connelly and Henning Mankell are at a level all their own for me. The Reacher stuff, as I felt, is even more developed (and I would throw Sanford's stuff in this ballpark as well).  I hit page 124 and Patterson lost me a bit when he took Cross out of DC.  So, I hope he circles around and does not get too far fetched. 

[Jay F]

No, I'm definitely seeing the difference between the two.  The likes of (at least in recent times) Connelly and Henning Mankell are at a level all their own for me. The Reacher stuff, as I felt, is even more developed (and I would throw Sanford's stuff in this ballpark as well).  I hit page 124 and Patterson lost me a bit when he took Cross out of DC.  So, I hope he circles around and does not get too far fetched.

Thanks, Bill - I've just ordered the first book in the Kurt Wallander series, Faceless Killers. I hope I like Henning Mankell too.

[Bogey]

Thanks, Bill - I've just ordered the first book in the Kurt Wallander series, Faceless Killers. I hope I like Henning Mankell too.

Hey, you are always giving us great leads on music and other cool things, so a pleasure.

Bosch fans:

Looks like there will be a Season 2 of Bosch on Amazon.  I enjoyed the first one.  (Yes, not the books, but hey....)

http://www.michaelconnelly.com/

[Bogey]

Under way:

[Super Blood Moon]

Ashley Bell by Koontz was pretty good, surprisingly enough. Bit of the supernatural there though; I think there's a separate thread for that stuff.

I will take John Connolly over Michael Connelly.

[Jay F]

Hey, you are always giving us great leads on music and other cool things, so a pleasure.

Hey, Bill.

I just finished my first Kurt Wallander, and I liked it. I've ordered the second, The Dogs of Riga, which I'll read as soon as I finish some other books in my Kindle. One you may like is The Madagaskar Plan, speculative "What if WWII had gone differently?" fiction. Lots of bullets and battles, too many of which make my eyes glaze over, and lots of Nazis using the original N-word, which is jarringly anachronistic, but there's a good story underneath these trappings, including what looks like a romantic happily-ever-after tale.


[asin]0805095950[/asin]