This month I read a wonderful variety of crime fiction books. I read two books by my favorite author, Rex Stout. Both were re-reads, of course. I read a graphic novel that I enjoyed immensely. I read one contemporary book from 2008, and a police procedural published in 1941 for the Crimes of the Century meme at Past Offences. I read a collection of classic Christmas short stories compiled by Martin Edwards for the British Library Crime Classics series. And last, but hardly least, I read a very racy story by Richard S. Prather starring Shell Scott, private detective, my very first book by this author.
My list of December reads is:
Watchmen by Alan Moore, illustrated and lettered by Dave Gibbons
Mourned on Sunday by Helen Reilly
Year of the Dog by Henry Chang
Alphabet Hicks by Rex Stout
Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout
Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
Darling, It's Death by Richard S. Prather
Again, this month, I could not choose a favorite. Too much variety and I liked them all for different reasons.
Most of my reading this month was vintage crime fiction. Silent Nights was published this year but all the short stories were from before 1960.
Watchmen was published in the 1980s and presented an alternate universe where superheroes were real and the US won the Vietnam War and Nixon is still president.
Year of the Dog was published in 2008 but set in 1994 and into 1995 in New York's Chinatown.
10 comments:
A great month's reading to end the year, Tracy. Henry Chang is on the pile and I'll have to try Rex Stout one of these years! All the best to you and yours for 2016!
You had a terrific reading month, Tracy. And you've reminded me that I need to put a Henry Chang novel in the spotlight - thanks.
Thanks, Col. Happy New Year to you and your family. You should definitely get to Henry Chang, right up your alley. And reading about him has reminded me of Ed Lin, and I am going to get to his books for sure this year, too.
I agree, Margot, a Henry Chang novel would be a good one to spotlight.
Nice list, as ever,Tracy. I'll be reading some Rex Stout in January for our Tuesday Night Club...
I do look forward to your posts on Stout's book this month, Moira. I don't suppose you know who will be collecting the posts (as you did in December).
Hey Tracy, can you give me a Rex Stout to start with? Thanks!
Keishon, That is a hard one to come up with (since I like them all). In the earlier ones, Wolfe and Archie can both be very sexist, although for different reasons. If you want to try one of the earlier books, I especially liked The Rubber Band (1936) or Some Buried Caesar (1939). A favorite is Silent Speaker (1946). In the 1950s there is The Golden Spiders (1953). There is a book that is a sequel to Too Many Cooks written almost 30 years later called A Right to Die (1964) that deals with the civil rights movement. Also about the same time: The Doorbell Rang (1965).
The Richard S. Prather novel sounds good, Tracy. I have not read the author before.
This is the first novel I have read by Prather, Prashant, although I have a few books by him. I have one that has three short stories and two novellas, and one that has three novellas. I hope to read those this year. A little different from my usual reading, but definitely fun.
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