Not everyone enjoys a solidly crafted murder mystery--this is understandable. However, mysteries/thrillers compose a consistently high-demand genre of popular fiction, and as a librarian, I am sometimes asked who I might recommend from among the vast throng of writers from said genre. I will take this opportunity to wholeheartedly endorse J. A. Konrath.
I am a reader of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum franchise, although most of the time I simply cannot digest the credibility of a woman who is so consistently clueless about her work as a bounty hunter. Besides which, as any reader of the Plum novels will tell you, we keep coming back for the shenanigans of Grandma Mazur and Lula. I'm also a serious P. D. James fan: her tortured, completely repressed Scotland Yard Commander, Adam Dalgliesh, is as revered as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot among devotees of British investigatory mainstays.
Joseph Andrew (who writes as J. A.) Konrath presents a variety of murder mystery titles which make for a pleasant stop-gap between Evanovich's utter fluff and James' more sober prose.
Like so many mystery authors, he has an established central character with a retinue of ancillary figures. His protagonist is Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, a savvy, world-wise, but compassionate Chicagoan whose career is the driving force of her existence. In her early 40s and divorced, her partner is fifty-something Herb Benedict; her former partner, Harry McGlade, erupts into each novel in the most unwelcome fashion, as his history with Daniels is less than civilized. Phineas Troutt, a shady, quasi-rehabilitated criminal who acts as Jack's inside man on many occasions, rounds out the recurring character list.
While Lieutenant Daniels' personal life is often fraught with comic situations--whether it's her abortive attempts to find (and keep) a man in her life or successfully cope with her elderly (yet quite sexually active) mother visiting her cramped apartment from Florida--Konrath's plots also feature with some very gritty crime writing. Critics have claimed the juxtaposition of the merry, lighthearted banter and zinger-laced repartee that often occurs among the characters with the (sometimes) gore-filled depictions of the villain's atrocious crimes is irreconcilable. This reader finds the blend of the two--pardon the pun--intoxicating: the good guys are credible, heroic crimefighters and the psychopathic serial killers are evil, inhuman monsters. I consider Konrath's brief novels the written equivalent of television's much-lauded (and, at least by this reviewer, deeply revered) "Law & Order" series. Add in the fact that each title is named after a popular cocktail, and I wonder what more a mystery-loving reader could want?
All of Mr. Konrath's titles are available in hardcover and audio CD from the Main Library:
Whiskey Sour (2004)
Bloody Mary (2005)
Rusty Nail (2006)
Dirty Martini (2007)
Fuzzy Navel (2008)
I am a reader of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum franchise, although most of the time I simply cannot digest the credibility of a woman who is so consistently clueless about her work as a bounty hunter. Besides which, as any reader of the Plum novels will tell you, we keep coming back for the shenanigans of Grandma Mazur and Lula. I'm also a serious P. D. James fan: her tortured, completely repressed Scotland Yard Commander, Adam Dalgliesh, is as revered as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot among devotees of British investigatory mainstays.
Joseph Andrew (who writes as J. A.) Konrath presents a variety of murder mystery titles which make for a pleasant stop-gap between Evanovich's utter fluff and James' more sober prose.
Like so many mystery authors, he has an established central character with a retinue of ancillary figures. His protagonist is Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, a savvy, world-wise, but compassionate Chicagoan whose career is the driving force of her existence. In her early 40s and divorced, her partner is fifty-something Herb Benedict; her former partner, Harry McGlade, erupts into each novel in the most unwelcome fashion, as his history with Daniels is less than civilized. Phineas Troutt, a shady, quasi-rehabilitated criminal who acts as Jack's inside man on many occasions, rounds out the recurring character list.
While Lieutenant Daniels' personal life is often fraught with comic situations--whether it's her abortive attempts to find (and keep) a man in her life or successfully cope with her elderly (yet quite sexually active) mother visiting her cramped apartment from Florida--Konrath's plots also feature with some very gritty crime writing. Critics have claimed the juxtaposition of the merry, lighthearted banter and zinger-laced repartee that often occurs among the characters with the (sometimes) gore-filled depictions of the villain's atrocious crimes is irreconcilable. This reader finds the blend of the two--pardon the pun--intoxicating: the good guys are credible, heroic crimefighters and the psychopathic serial killers are evil, inhuman monsters. I consider Konrath's brief novels the written equivalent of television's much-lauded (and, at least by this reviewer, deeply revered) "Law & Order" series. Add in the fact that each title is named after a popular cocktail, and I wonder what more a mystery-loving reader could want?
All of Mr. Konrath's titles are available in hardcover and audio CD from the Main Library:
Whiskey Sour (2004)
Bloody Mary (2005)
Rusty Nail (2006)
Dirty Martini (2007)
Fuzzy Navel (2008)
1 comment:
Once again, another good recommendation. I think the covers would have turned me off originally but after reading your entry and going to the author's site, I will try the series out.
Does the library have any discussion groups or anything?
Post a Comment