BOOK & BLOG

January 19, 2012

Blog

My time was spent this past week reading one very long book that I’d read before, so I won’t do a book section until next week. In a sense, this blog is also my book section, because I was thinking yesterday about how many series have fallen into obscurity, either by time or because the author never made a splash, or simply due to the volume of books available to read.

Barbara Hambly is a great writer. Not only does she write historical fiction, fantastically researched, but she wrote Those Who Hunt the Night, and its sequel, Traveling with the Dead. If you haven’t read these wonderful books, you ought to. She also wrote the Benjamin January series, historical mysteries with a free man of color as the protagonist in pre-Civil War New Orleans. They’re wonderful reading; great mysteries AND great history.

Tanya Huff also springs to my mind. After her very well-written “blood" series (Blood Price, Blood Trail, to name a few) Tanya wrote three absolutely charming books beginning with Summon the Keeper. Claire Hansen, who is a Keeper, is summoned to seal up an opening to hell in the basement of a guest house. She brings her uppity cat to help her with the job, which is complicated by the new owner, a handsome young man who lives by the Boy Scout oath. He can also cook.

I have mentioned both Hambly and Huff often, but I don’t think I’ve talked a completely admirable writer, James McClure. His books, set in South Africa in the 1980s, feature the detective of the white Lieutenant Kramer and the black Detective Zondi. McClure’s books don’t preach; they don’t have to. Kramer and Zondi live in different worlds; they know it, and they never speak of it. But they’re amazingly effective as a team. McClure’s eight books about this duo are powerful and engaging. The Steam Pig is one of my favorites.

I’m sure a lot of you have read Joan Hess, but let me recommend again a writer who has produced consistently amusing and entertaining mysteries for decades. I’m partial to the Maggody books, myself. I’ve met Claire Malloy fans who didn’t care for Arly Hanks (the law enforcement protagonist of the Maggody books), and you may number among those. But for me, Hess’s tales about the hapless hamlet of Maggody, populated by inbred Buchanans and assorted miscreants, are simply delightful. The Malloy books are about a bookstore owner in a town in Arkansas that much resembles Fayetteville, where Hess used to live. There’ll be a new Claire book in February, Deader Homes and Gardens, and the most recent Maggody book is The Merry Wives of Maggody.

While I’m thinking of amusement, let me recommend Catherine Aird. Her Sloan and Crosby books are as close to perfect as you can get, if you like traditional English detective novels. Aird’s books are short, very funny, and wonderful entertainment. Though all of her books are good, the earlier Sloan and Crosby books are excellent. My favorite is The Stately Home Murders. These books are available at second hand bookstores, but Tom and Enid Schantz of Rue Morgue Press have reprinted many of them to keep them available to readers.

I’ll try to remember more writers, for those of you who want to fill in your back knowledge of the mystery and science fiction fields. It’s a pleasure when I rediscover writers I’d almost forgotten, or pique readers with enough curiosity to pick up older books.

Charlaine Harris

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