Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Mysteries in September and Pick of the Month

I read eight mysteries in September, and I finished reading two mystery reference books that I had been reading off and on for a couple of months.

Below is my list of mysteries read in September. Three of the books were part of a trilogy so for the purposes of this list, I count them as one book.
  1. The White Trilogy by Ken Bruen
  2. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
  3. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
  4. The Infernal Detective by Kirsten Weiss
  5. The Yard by Alex Grecian
  6. Vendetta by Michael Dibdin
The two mystery reference books I read are Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers (2006), edited by Jim Huang, and The Mystery Lover's Companion (1986) by Art Bourgeau. Both were fun reads, and I have read Mystery Muses more than once.

I have no problem this month picking a favorite mystery (or three): The White Trilogy. This trilogy consists of the first three books in Ken Bruen's Inspector Brant series. The books are: The White Arrest, Taming the Alien, and The McDead. I loved each book, but together the three books form a perfect whole.

A White Arrest introduces Chief Inspector Roberts and Detective Sergeant Brant. Brant is an immoral cop who does what he thinks he has to do to deal with criminals and stay alive. And what he does may not be strictly legal. Roberts is sixty-two and feeling his age. He has a wife and a teenage daughter, but police work (among other things) has strained their relationships. He has dreams of a real family life. WPC Falls is a young black woman trying to fit into a male-dominated profession. The story of Falls in this trilogy is heart breaking but also very affirming. She is a strong female character with a lot of facets to her character.


The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. Bloggers link to summary posts for the month, and identify a crime fiction best read of the month. Check out the link here to see the other bloggers picks.

9 comments:

col2910 said...

You're making me pine for a bit of Bruen now! I hope you carry on with the series, will Glen be reading them?

TracyK said...

Col, I will definitely be reading more Bruen. Glen read The Guards and plans to continue the Jack Taylor series. I don't know if he is interested in the Brant series.

RebeccaK said...

Great variety, Tracy, and I think, realistically, I won't get to Bruen until after Christmas. I have to find some books from Asia and Australia to wrap up the Global Reading Challenge (I already have Japan) first.

TracyK said...

Rebecca, I will be interested to see what you think of Ken Bruen when you read one of his books. For the Global challenge, I need one Australia, one Asia, and two Africa. I have them lined up, just got to read them.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, I have added THE WHITE TRILOGY to my list of probables. I'll have to see how I can get hold of a copy without having to buy one.

TracyK said...

Prashant, The White Trilogy is worth reading but I know what you mean about the price. I had been trying to find those early books in that series for so long, I was willing to pay for the trade paperback, which was pretty expensive. I spent way too much on books this year and have to cut back. Really.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, not on account of the price but because I am not buying any new books till I have read many of the ones I already have.

TracyK said...

Prashant, Well that is a good reason too. I am hoping to stick with a resolution to buy less books for several months. Having a place to put them is a problem too.

Clothes In Books said...

Good collection there Tracy, and you have (as ever) added a few to my list!