BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / veecee's book recommendations

**Posted by veecee** July 7, 2012 2:16 am

For a truly unusual detective story, try The City and The City. I don't know how to describe it, except that it is both realistic and fantastic at the same time. I can't recommend it enough for those of you who enjoy a good mystery and a little strangeness.* I wanted to go and live where it took place. And, I learned recently they have made a play of it that I plan to see in Chicago early next year.

Oh, that reminds me of another good one: Gun, With Music. Talk about a strange mystery.

And if you haven't read the classic mysteries like Agatha Christie's and Dorothy Parker's, please do. (Just be forwarned that you may run across some period prejudices, like you do in ACD's.) Love the British drawing room mysteries!

Liza Cody wrote some good contemporary mysteries -- I think in the 90's.

Better give my mystery/detective-story-writing countrymen their due: for classics, Dashiel Hammett and Raymond Chandler; more recently, Walter Mosley, especially the Easy Rawlins series. (Ladies, just picture a younger Denzel Washington as the hero. In fact, he made one such movie.)

* I would love to discuss theories about The City and The City with anyone who ends up reading it.

Last edited by veecee (July 7, 2012 4:20 am)

**Posted by SusiGo** July 7, 2012 8:27 am

Veecee, I just ordered The City & The City. I'll get in touch after I've read it - which can take some time as my SUB (German acronym for pile of unread books) is quite high. But it sounds very interesting.

I just read "Niceville" by Carsten Stroud and quite liked it. I'm not so much into stories of "usual" crimes like bank robberies with bloody disputes between the perps but the mixture of horror and crime was quite fascinating.

Last edited by SusiGo (July 7, 2012 10:39 am)

**Posted by veecee** July 7, 2012 7:03 pm

Thanks. I'll take a look at Niceville. I can order a sample on my Kindle, I hope. I will be interested to hear your theories about TC&TC when you've had a chance to read it.

**Posted by veecee** July 13, 2012 3:38 am

Someone else just mentioned Kate Atkinson, who I should have included before.

And how could I have forgotten Martha Grimes?! I'm not even talking about her well-known Richard Jury pub-named series. My favorites are the Emma Graham books, in which the main character is a 12-year old mystery-solving girl. She is one of my favorite fictional characters ever. The books are
Hotel Paradise (1996)
Cold Flat Junction (2000)
Belle Ruin (2005)
Fadeaway Girl (2011)

**Posted by SusiGo** July 13, 2012 6:06 pm

Sorry, but The City & the City will have to wait a bit. After having finished Case Histories I need a bit of historic romance to relax (Berlin and Paris after WW2) .

**Posted by veecee** July 13, 2012 6:18 pm

Whenever you're ready. But it is really worth it.
I just finished Niceville. The sample I had downloaded did not hit at what the book turned out to be. I expected a little paranormal mystery and was not prepared for all the violence. Still, I liked it and may read the sequel. I admire authors, like Kate A., who can interwine the different stories and characters.

**Posted by SusiGo** July 13, 2012 8:04 pm

Regarding Niceville I'd have preferred more of the Rainey Teague kind of story and less of this bank robbery thing. I couldn't quite follow the Cosmic Frisbee story. But the subtle threat by the cliff and Crater Sink and the paranormal influence from the past was interesting.

**Posted by veecee** July 14, 2012 5:00 am

Yes, that's what I thought it was going to be about based on the sample.

**Posted by SusiGo** July 24, 2012 8:06 pm

Welcome back, Veecee. I started reading "The City & the City" and I like but it's quite hard to read. The language itself is not the problem, but to get into story when you really don't know about the two cities and the divide between and all that. But I like it and it's quite extraordinary.

**Posted by veecee** July 24, 2012 8:28 pm

Right. Just imagining how those two cities co-exist is mind-bending. I feel like I want to go there (even thought it's fictional) and experience it. How does it work? Is it physical, paranormal...what?

It will be interesting to see how they interpret it on stage.

Thanks for the welcome back. I am trying to catch up on the forum, but there are pages and pages of new posts since my last visit!

**Posted by SusiGo** July 24, 2012 9:06 pm

I'm going on holiday on Sunday and I hope that I'll have Internet success, else I'd be lost afterwards.

Last edited by SusiGo (July 24, 2012 9:12 pm)

**Posted by Davina** July 24, 2012 11:12 pm

Apart from the ACD originals I am reading Joe Nesbo's The Redbreast. If you haven't managed to read these stories from a great Norwegian author then you are issuing something special. The German readers have an advantage as the first two books have not yet been translated into English but have been translated into German.

Last edited by Davina (July 25, 2012 7:00 am)