BOOK & BLOG

August 26, 2005

Books of the Week: DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER and DEARLY DEVOTED DEXTER by Jeff Lindsay

These books by Jeff Lindsay won’t appeal to all of you, but I’d be doing a bad deed by not mentioning them. DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER (2004) and its sequel DEARLY DEVOTED DEXTER (2005) are startlingly different crime novels. Dexter, obviously the main character, is a serial killer – a good serial killer. He only ‘works’ on those who have done great wrong. Of course, the judge of that is Dexter alone; he is judge, jury, and definitely the executioner.

The story of how Dexter came to be what he is and how he maintains his day-to-day façade is simply fascinating. With a minimum of gore, Jeff Lindsay has managed a tour de force of a series about an extremely distasteful subject.

Just when I thought this genre was about to kick up its heels and die – and high time – the serial killer novel has gotten a shot in the arm. Dexter, a monster who knows exactly what he is, is a fascinating character, and Lindsay has us rooting for Dexter in no time, an uneasy position.

Blog

This past Friday I had the pleasure of being a guest at the twenty-fifth anniversary party of my favorite bookstore, Murder by the Book, in Houston, Texas. The manager of Murder by the Book (also a talented mystery writer), Dean James, has done more to boost my sales than any other one person, with the exception of my agent. The owner, Martha Farrington, was kind enough to put me in her guest bedroom when I paid for my own trips to Houston, earlier in my long career as a writer. Everyone on the staff is knowledgeable and enthusiastic. If you want to spend a happy hour or two among wonderful books and smart people, this store is the way to go.

Returning to the evening in Houston: I was flattered to be on the program with writers Carolyn Hart, Jacqueline Winspear, Randy Wayne White, Jeff Abbott, and Michael Connelly. I had never met Jackie and Randy before, or formally met Michael, so I enjoyed shaking their hands. I’ve known Carolyn for at least twenty years, and Jeff since the debut of his first novel, so I was happy to give them a hug and catch up on their news. (None of these writers could write a bad book under any circumstances, so look up their work and give it a shot. You can’t go wrong.)

After an evening of feeling exalted, amusing, and intelligent, I came home to find that my daughter couldn’t find her driver’s permit, my sons hadn’t mowed the yard, and the vet had called to say our oldest dog, Sugar, has cancer. In other words, life as usual. This Thursday, I’ll leave for Bouchercon, the world mystery convention, which will be held in Chicago this year. Once again, I’ll mix with the writers who are my friends and meet new readers. And I’ll come home to be Mother, Problem Solver, and Finder of Lost Objects (already found the permit). I don’t know how any writer can live in an ivory tower! Just show me one, and I’ll make a break for it . . .