In the third quarter of 2013, I read ten books by authors I had never read before. This is my list of books by new (to me) authors:
- Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser
- Green-Eyed Lady by Chuck Greaves
- Open Season by Archer Mayor
- Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage
- The Square of Revenge by Peter Aspe
- Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten
- The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
- The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
- The Infernal Detective by Kirsten Weiss
- The Yard by Alex Grecian
I will be reading at least one more book by all of these authors. They all piqued my interest enough to follow through and try more. But...For two of these authors, I rushed out (well, hopped onto the internet) and bought copies of the next two books in the series. So I guess that would put them at the top of the list.
Håkan Nesser (b. 1950) is a Swedish author who writes the Inspector Van Veeteren series.
An overview of the series, from a fansite:
The series, most often referred to as the Van Veeteren series, takes place in Maardam, a fictitious city in a made-up country that could be anywhere in northern Europe. It follows the murder cases investigated by Chief Inspector Van Veeteren – eventually the retired Chief Inspector – and his two crime squad protégés, Münster and Moreno.
In addition to the police procedural aspects, I liked the picture of Brazil and the political and sociological issues in that country. The story is told in a straightforward way; there are not a lot of descriptive passages. Time is spent on fleshing out characters, even the peripheral ones. The back story of how Silva has become a policeman is covered in depth and provides insight into his character.
But the reader should be forewarned that there is a lot of violence and brutality in this book. I felt that the level of violence was warranted, in that the book is describing a very corrupt situation in Brazil. It all seemed realistic, although it was not a comfortable read.
16 comments:
So glad you love Hakan Nesser, Tracy. I came relatively late to his books but he is now a firm favourite.
Tracy, I have placed Nesser and Gage on top of my pile. Now to go and look for thier books. I hope to read at least one book by each and then take it from there.
Tracy - Oh, excellent choices!! I truly hope you'll enjoy the rest of the Nesser series. And Leighton Gate was a highly talented and engaging writer. He is sorely missed.
Sarah, I am far behind on his books. On the other hand, that leaves me lots to look forward to.
Prashant, I hope you have a good experience with both Nesser and Gage. Very different writing styles and storytelling, but variety is good.
Margot, I expect to enjoy future books by both authors. Gage's books are about darker themes and have more violence, I think, but worth reading to get that picture of Brazil.
So first I like your list of authors for this quarter, Tracy, and I really want to pick up some Leighton Gage. Second, your post made me total my new-to-me crime fiction authors, and I'm not surprised it's only four since it's been a busy three months.I'm happy to be writing from our new place after moving twice in the last month :)
Some nice discoveries for you. Makes me want to backtrack on my resolution to stop buying, though I have left myself an out - mentioning it should start after my birthday. Plenty of time then to stock up on some Gage!
You have had a busy time moving and that would impact all of your reading time. I am glad to hear that you are settled in... or at least moved in. Leighton Gage is worth trying but the books are very violent and unsettling. Or at least the first one is.
Col, I know about resolutions to stop buying. One year I tried (and succeeded) not buying any books by new authors, and it did lower the books bought. But I would not go that route again. I have to figure out a plan that will work. Your birthday must fall between mine and Glen's. He just had his, and mine will be in early November.
Nice list, and knowing you have already got follow-ups to two of the authors is a very promising recommendation....
My moniker might give you a clue - though you'll have to factor in the fact that the UK and the US show the date differently. I think I might allow myself 1 "new" book for every 10 read.
I have started receiving review copies from a publisher, which is nice and also will keep my reading fresh - the main problem I have is I have a fear factor of missing out on the latest great book you read, the top book Keishon read, something Glen thought rocked etc etc etc
Hmmm, I had wondered what the 2910 conveyed, now I know. So you have three weeks to go wild with book buying.
Reading a certain number of books before buying one is the scheme Glen used 2 years ago, but we abandoned any plan last year and bought way too much, especially me. [I never count the Planned Parenthood book sale. Those are to inexpensive to count.]
Yes, Moira, I am eager to continue reading on those series... and many others.
I'm chiming in for reading Hakan Nesser's series. I've read about five and will keep going.
I read the first in Leighton Gage's books. Although I like his expose of social issues, and loved his posts about Brazil at Murder Is Everywhere, I found the book to be a bit too violent for my mystery tastes. What I know about Brazil, I have mostly learned from the talented and very socially conscious Leighton Gage.
Kathy, it is true, the first Leighton Gage is nearly non-stop violence. I usually don't like violence in excess or torture, which is also in the book, but this one had me hooked anyway.
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