I Love a Good Mystery

Series or Stand Alones?

Late last year, I decided that 2010 was going to be the year that I finally started and/or got caught up with a number of series that had been sitting on Mount TBR for quite a while.  I chose:

• Ian Rankin's John Rebus series
• Joe Lansdale's Hap & Leonard series
• David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series
• John Baker's Sam Turner series
• Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight series
• Ray Banks' Cal Innes series

Almost 6 months in, I've made some progress.  I've read 7 Rebus novels, 4 Hap & Leonard novels, 2 Andy Carpenter books, 4 Sam Turner novels, 4 Alex McKnight books, and 3 Cal Innes novels.  Interspersed among them were other books, mostly the latest in favourite series, debut novels and a few stand alones.  I've come to the realisation that I have a bit of a preference for books that are part of a series.

What really prompted my realisation was finishing Stuart MacBride's Blind Eye. It's the fifth book in the Logan McRae series, and while the crime aspect didn't quite suck me in totally, the characters that I've met and enjoyed in the 4 earlier books certainly did. (I've already ordered and received the latest in that series, and will be reading it next month.)  The author has a knack for creating vivid and compelling characters that I want to read about, regardless of the story going on around them.  The humour is also consistent across the books. With a series read, you know already what you're going to get, at least in part.

When I think about my favourite series of all times, it's the characters that pop into my head first, not the storylines. Lucas Davenport, Inspector Banks, Elvis Cole, Jack Taylor, Detective Erlendur and others...I can think of details about them and their lives easier than I can recall details of the various plots.  (Maybe it's just me?) 

On the flip side, one of my favourite authors is Duane Swierczynski, and his novels aren't part of a series. One of the reasons I enjoy his books so much (other than the writing style) is that I never know what to expect.  The story usually goes off in directions that I never saw coming.  Simon Kernick is another author I enjoy who writes stand alone novels that I enjoy for pretty much the same reason.

So...series or stand alones? Books in a series are good, comfortable (don't mistake that for boring) and make me smile. Reading them is like being home, surrounded by familiar faces.  Stand alones (that I read) are like great "throw the map out the window and drive!" road trips that are twisty and the journey is the destination.

Preference notwithstanding, I'm certainly happy that there is huge choice out there in published books for all types of readers.

Peter Robinson's Bad Boy Video Teaser

Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series has long been a favourite of mine, so I was happy to come across this video teaser for the newest book (due out soon).

Amazon's Distribution Centre Coming to Canada

It's safe to say that many online book shoppers in Canada already know of and use amazon.ca, but the company has just been given approval to open up a Canadian distribution centre. The reactions seem to be mixed. 

I can see both positives (competition, improved access to products) and negatives (impact on small independent retailers, foreign ownership), but as a budget-conscious pathological book buyer who strongly believes in promoting Canadian businesses, artists, etc., I'm torn.  I guess only time will show what real impact this will have on Canadians.

Review: THE SERIALIST by David Gordon

When I first looked at this book, I noticed that the back cover included "The Serialist is a love letter to books - from poetry to pornography - and proof that truth really can be stranger than fiction."  A love letter to books? Could the book live up to that? Intrigued, I started reading.

The main protagonist is Harry Bloch, a struggling writer who has published serial novels under various pseudonyms and in a variety of genres (vampire lit, urban crime fiction, science fiction, pornography).  Harry agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of incarcerated murderer Darian Clay (aka New York's infamous Photo Killer), but it doesn't take long for things to become a dangerous mess.

I realise I'm making the plot sound a bit cliche, but I don't want to say more because I try to tread carefully around spoilers. This book does have cliches in them, but the author has fun with them and so will readers.  It lived up to the "love letter to books" claim on the back cover.

It's definitely a crime fiction novel, but with excerpts of Harry's writing, we get glimpses into other genres. The author comes across as knowledgeable about the publishing industry, and has some fun with it, but never gets bogged down in too much seriousness.  It's funny.  Sometimes laugh out loud funny and sometimes overflowing with dry wit, and always entertaining.

Last sentences of the first (2-page) chapter:

"Still I'm a professional, of sorts, and since this is a Mystery/Suspense (shelve accordingly), I want to open in the classic style, with a hook, a real grabber that holds the reader hostage and won't let go, that will keep your sweaty little fingers feverishly turning the pages all night long. Something like this:

It all began the morning when, dressed like my dead mother and accompanied by my fifteen-year-old schoolgirl business partner, I opened the letter from death row and discovered that a serial killer was my biggest fan."

Congrats Harry Bloch...it worked on this reader!  This debut novel has a few minor flaws, but the positives more than make up for them.  David Gordon has created a great character with a compelling voice, and I hope this is just the beginning of a new series.

Bloody Words 2010

Bloody Words (Canada's largest gathering of mystery readers and authors) is celebrating its 10th birthday this year, and it looks like it's going to be a good time.

The conference is back in Toronto (May 28-30), and has an impressive list of authors (including Deon Meyer, Peter Robinson, Robert Rotenberg, Howard Shrier, Giles Blunt, Mary Jane Maffini, Sean Chercover and Linwood Barclay, just to name a few!),  updated Mystery Cafe, awards banquet, and a variety of panels & events. 

To Kindle or Not To Kindle

The Kindle is now available in Canada.  Exciting news, but I'm not sure I'm ready to jump on that bandwagon yet.

I like the idea of getting a book within seconds. I like the idea of having a number of books with me without having to carry the weight of print books.  BUT...

I love books. I love reading, but it's also the actual books that I love. I like having them around my house. I like seeing the shelves full of favourite reads and books not yet explored. If I admitted the amount of time I've spent organizing, stacking, re-organizing, and shelving my books, you'd probably think I was nuts.

I've resisted audio books, primarily because the few I tried to listen to were too slow and I didn't care for the narrators. There's a good chance that I'm just a control freak, and I like to control the speed of the reading. With books, I sometimes go back and re-read a passage if it affected me in some way. I have, on occasion, skimmed paragraphs when they dealt with something I found boring.  With an audio book, that control is limited.

Not so, however, with a Kindle. I can skim, go back, and read at my pace.  This tempts me much more than audio books, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to give up my printed books.  In a world where technology = good, I'm feeling a little like a relic...but a happy relic surrounded by lovely books, in all shapes, colours and sizes.

Canada Reads - Book Selections

The books have just been announced for this year's Canada Reads, and they are:

GOOD TO A FAULT by Marina Endicott

NIKOLSKI by Nicolas Dickner

GENERATION X: TALES FOR AN ACCELERATED CULTURE by Douglas Coupland

THE JADE PEONY by Wayson Choy

FALL ON YOUR KNEES by Ann-Marie MacDonald

I haven't read any of these books (yet), and believe I only have the Douglas Coupland book somewhere on my bookshelves.  Interesting choices...

A little background (from the official site):

"Canada Reads celebrates five Canadian books for three months online, at public events and on air. It all leads up to a week-long show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi. In this annual title fight, five celebrity panelists defend their favourite work of Canadian fiction. One by one, books are voted off the list, until one panelist triumphs with the book for Canada to read this year.

The half-hour debates will air on CBC Radio One from March 8 to March 12, 2010, at 11:30 am and 7:30 pm (3:30 pm and 8 pm in Newfoundland). The program will also air on CBC's digital channel Bold from March 8 to 12 at 6:00 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. NT, 3:00 p.m. PT) and on Sirius 137 on the same dates at 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET; it will also be available online and via podcast."

Crime Fiction Alphabet: I is for Ian Rankin

This week’s Crime Fiction Alphabet is brought to you by the letter I, and I'm using this opportunity to confess a sin I've been hiding for a while....

I've never read a book by Ian Rankin.  *hangs head in shame* 

Scottish author Ian Rankin is UK's best selling crime author, and best known for his Inspector Rebus series. The first book, KNOTS AND CROSSINGS, was published in 1987 and since that time, 16 more Rebus novels have been published.  Rankin has also written a number of other novels, including his latest, THE COMPLAINTS.

I have most (if not all) the Rebus novels in my TBR piles, and I have THE COMPLAINTS on my Christmas wish list but I'm not sure where to start. Do I go back to the beginning and make my way through the Rebus novels? Do I start with the most recent (a non-Rebus), then go back to the series?  I've toyed with the idea of trying to read one Rebus every month for the next year and a half, but I worry that it might be too much.  There are some series that are less enjoyable (to me) if I read them in somewhat rapid succession.

If you're a Rankin fan, what would you suggest?

Tower

TOWER, written by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman, tells (through dual narratives) the story of Nick and Todd, best friends and 'thugs on the rise'.  To say much more could spoil things, and this is too good of a book to be spoiled.

This book is brilliant in its concept and execution, and it wow'ed me big time. It's smart, violent, funny, and deals with issues of loyalty and friendship in a compelling way. The ending actually made me shed a few tears. Powerful stuff! 

Definitely one of my top reads of the year.

(Check out the story behind the story!)

Tower

Great news! Tower, a novel written by great authors Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman, will be out in fall 2009.

From the cover copy:

In the tradition of The Long Goodbye, Mystic River, and The Departed, Tower is a powerful meditation on friendship, fate, and fatality. A twice-told tale done in the unique format of parallel narratives that intersect at deadly crossroads, Tower is like a beautifully crafted knife to the heart.

Can't wait to get my hands on this one!