Today at Sleuth Sayers, John Floyd posted a list of 20 of
his favorite series (characters & authors) (https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2018/12/a-series-conversation.html). So I wondered what my list would look like (restricting
myself to mysteries; not necessarily in order of preference). I want to emphasize that these are (clearly) not the only mysteries, or
mystery series, I read. But I own them
all and re-read them all. I got up to 17
series and stopped.
[Author, series character(s).]
Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe).
The best, number 1. El supremo. (http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/S_Authors/Stout_Rex.html)
Frances and Richard Lockridge (Mr. & Mrs. North. I like their other series characters, but not well enough to put them on this list).
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/L_Authors/Lockridge_Richard.html
Michael Bowen (Richard Michaelson). (http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Bowen_Michael.html)
Tony Hillerman (Both the Joe Leaphorn and the Jim Chee books)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/H_Authors/Hillerman_Tony.html)
Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/S_Authors/Sayers_Dorothy-L.html)
Frances and Richard Lockridge (Mr. & Mrs. North. I like their other series characters, but not well enough to put them on this list).
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/L_Authors/Lockridge_Richard.html
Michael Bowen (Richard Michaelson). (http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Bowen_Michael.html)
Tony Hillerman (Both the Joe Leaphorn and the Jim Chee books)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/H_Authors/Hillerman_Tony.html)
Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/S_Authors/Sayers_Dorothy-L.html)
Len Deighton (his nameless spy series and the Bernard Samsom
books).
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/D_Authors/Deighton_Len.html
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/D_Authors/Deighton_Len.html
Michael Z. Lewin, (Albert Sampson)
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/L_Authors/Lewin_Michael-Z.html
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/L_Authors/Lewin_Michael-Z.html
Manning Coles (Tommy Hambledon)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/C_Authors/Coles_Manning.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/C_Authors/Coles_Manning.html)
Lawrence Block (Bernie Rhodenbarr; not really a Scudder fan)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Block_Lawrence.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Block_Lawrence.html)
Raymond Chandler (Philip Marlowe)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/C_Authors/Chandler_Raymond.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/C_Authors/Chandler_Raymond.html)
Parnell Hall (the Steve Winslow books, written as J.P.
Hailey)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/H_Authors/Hall_Parnell.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/H_Authors/Hall_Parnell.html)
Alan Furst (no single character dominates, but World War II
is, really, the character)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/F_Authors/Furst_Alan.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/F_Authors/Furst_Alan.html)
(Walter Satterthwait (Joshua Croft; Miss Elizabeth Borden))
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/S_Authors/Satterthwait_Walter.html
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/S_Authors/Satterthwait_Walter.html
Robert Van Gulik (Judge Dee)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/V_Authors/Van-Gulik_Robert.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/V_Authors/Van-Gulik_Robert.html)
Walter Mosley (Easy Rawlins)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/M_Authors/Mosley_Walter.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/M_Authors/Mosley_Walter.html)
John LeCarre (George Smiley; but also the non-series books)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/L_Authors/Le-Carre_John.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/L_Authors/Le-Carre_John.html)
Alan Gordon (the Jester mysteries)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/G_Authors/Gordon_Alan.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/G_Authors/Gordon_Alan.html)
Dick Francis is not on this list because he didn’t actually
have a “series” character (although Sid Halley does appear, what, three or four
times?).
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/F_Authors/Francis_Dick.html)
(http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/F_Authors/Francis_Dick.html)
Dashiell Hammett is not on this list because I’m not a big
fan of the Continental Op; The Maltese
Falcon, is, of course, in a class by
itself.
Pronzini - Nameless?
ReplyDeleteNo Agatha Christie?
I'm not a big fan of Christie, to be honest. It's hard to say why I'm not, exactly. Partly it's that I don't like Poirot (he's a bit too mannered for me...Yea, I know Wolfe is over the top too, so sue me). I like the Miss Marple movies a lot better than the books (one example of a problem I have with the Marple books in in the immediately preceding post.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like Pronzini; I just don't find his stuff re-readable.
As I learned in my high school Latin class, "de gustibus non est disputandum."
(There's no arguing abut tastes.)
Have you tried The Pot Thief series by Michael Orenduff?
ReplyDeleteKarenM
T read the first 2 or 3, and they were OK, but didn't hook me. For whatever reason, they didn't resonate with me. (I still have a couple, as yet unread, but I haven't been motivated to get to them.) Probably just me...
ReplyDelete