Plopping down to read in the middle of the afternoon is one of retirement’s greatest pleasures. And getting books from the library adds to the joy – no cost, no risk. Oh, the pain of spending money on a book you can’t get through.
While I read all kinds of stuff, my favorite genre is crime fiction. However, I’m picky about my crime. I avoid serial killers and creepy psychopaths in fiction and in real life. I avoid writers who almost always find a way to make women the victim. I’m looking at you, Harlan Coben.
Murder comes with the territory when you read mysteries, but I like to keep it simple … a crime of passion or greed. A stabbing, a shooting, perhaps an overdose. No torture. An ordinary person goes off the rails. A family tries to hide its secrets. I also like stories about missing persons, robbery and white-collar crime.
I prefer my crime to be over and done with before I start the book. I’m OK with some violence or threats of violence scattered throughout the novel to add tension, but the primary purpose of the story is to shape this defining character, usually a detective, who is going to solve the mystery.
Although I am a lightweight when it comes to grizzly details, I usually like my detectives a bit rough around the edges. Hardboiled and American, although I’m starting to branch out on that front.
Retirement is also a perfect time to discover or re-read oldies but goodies. Not every book in the series meets my ideal criteria, but I love these characters, and there’s a substantial catalog! Some newer, some older, but to me, they define the genre.
By the way, I’m still messing around with Goodreads. You should be able to access my shelf listing the first book in each series.
8 Classic American Detectives
Lew Archer (18 books): A southern California private investigator with a focus on complex family dramas, mostly written in the 50s and 60s. By Ross Macdonald.
Harry Bosch (22 books): A Vietnam veteran and Los Angeles police detective with an attitude and a conscience. By Michael Connelly.
Doc Ford (26 books): Ex-CIA agent and marine biologist on the west coast of Florida working hard to keep his friends out of trouble. By Randy Wayne White.
Sharon McCone (33 books): A San Francisco-based investigator and one of the first modern female private eyes. By Marcia Muller.
Travis McGee (21 books): A “salvage consultant” who recovers lost things while living on his houseboat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. By John D. MacDonald.
Kinsey Millhone (25 books): The famous alphabet series starring a tough female private investigator in Santa Teresa, California. By Sue Grafton.
Dave Robicheaux (22 books): A troubled cop in Louisiana investigating bad guys along with his dangerous sidekick, Clete. By James Lee Burke.
V.I. Warshawski (20 books): A former lawyer and private eye in Chicago focusing on murder cases connected with white-collar crime. By Sara Paretsky.
Yes! Perfect. Heading to Barbados on Friday and need to find some new authors to start borrowing from the library (e-books only – I pack ultralight!). I’m almost all caught up on my Inspector Banks series (by Peter Robinson) and casting about for a new crime series.
Thanks Donna!
Deb
“The Firm” is another great book for a Caribbean vacation. Have fun!!
And would need to put Elmore Loeonard at the top. And then somewhere throw in Don Winslow. Robert Crais and John Sandford are loves but probably a higher gore level for you
Oh. And james Elroy. Not to obnoxiously take over your list.
I had a friend who insisted James Ellroy was all that and a bag of chips. I’ve never been into him, but my tastes are changing, so I see myself re-visiting those books. And please feel free to take over the list!!!
It’s funny, but I haven’t read much Elmore Leonard. Definitely on my list. I LOVE the Don Winslow surfer books, but the border trilogy was too violent for me.
His surfer books were great. You’d never guess the same author wrote his other books.
I wish he’d go back to the surfer books! But I do think the border trilogy has been widely acclaimed, and I assume he’s happy about that.
Harry Bosch is one of my long-time heroes – maybe because Michael Connelly is such an excellent writer. You are a woman after my own heart, Donna, as we seem to enjoy the same type of crime fiction. Although I don’t like it, I’ll put up with a certain amount of gore (and simply skip over it when I see it coming) if I really like the main character. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series is my all time favorite in that respect; Reacher’s at the very top of my Hero List. You might enjoy Linda Castillo – her main character is a female sheriff in a small town in Amish country. Because my interests run to the great outdoors, I enjoy authors C. J. Box, William Kent Krueger and Paul Doiron, whose detectives are game wardens and a former small town sheriff. Your favorites Doc Ford and Travis McGee sound like good tips for a couple of new series. Thanks for this post!
Jack Reacher would be a great addition to the list. I like him as a character, although sometimes the violence is a bit much. A friend recommended him to me and said she liked him because he didn’t have a gun. Well … he might not have his own gun, but he doesn’t hesitate to use someone else’s.
Thank you for the great recommendations. I will add them to my spreadsheet. I think you’ll like Doc Ford. Personally, I love Travis McGee, but I seem to recall some women found him sexist. It has been a long time since I read them, but I seem to remember sexy not sexist. I’m eager to hear how they’ve held up over time.
I tend to go for thrillers and some are quite bizarre. One of my favorite authors is Dean Koontz, who sometimes gets into the realm of paranormal. I do like Michael Connelly. Sometimes his books are hard to find off the internet.
I haven’t read Dean Koontz, but he went to the same college I attended. Shippensburg University in PA!
My issue with Reacher is the violence also. I’ve read five of the eight on your list so I’ll have to check out the three I’m missing. I like Linda Castillo, also, and Betty Webb’s desert series, if you’re looking for more female detectives.
Just noticed that the Anne Cleeves female detective, Karen Pirie, is going to be a TV series. It’s British, which I know you’re not fond of, but I’m pretty excited about it. Anne Cleeves does the Vera and Shetland books, which were made into popular TV series and are streaming on BritBox.
I’ll check out the Betty Webb series. Thank you!
Actually, I want to start watching/reading more British and other international content. Vera — books and TV show — gets high marks. “The Crow Trap” is the first of the novels, and I thought I’d start with that. I’ve also been recording on DVR the PBS broadcasts of “Murdoch Mysteries.” I haven’t watched any of it yet, but the show looks promising. Canadian detective show set around the turn of the 20th century. I’ll do a post at some point on historical mysteries, another sub-genre I enjoy!