Re: A Series, A Series... I Need a new Series


"Willow Arune" <pangarun@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:IoH%i.720$HH2.242@xxxxxxxxxxx
Once again, I am looking for a series...

Having gobbled up several in the past year, I am at the next crossroads.
Paul Mann, John Burnett, Jane Haddam, Robert Crais, Robert Parker, Nelson
DeMille, Olen Steinhauer, John Sandford, Giles Blunt, Robert Goddard,
Dennis
LeHane, P.D. James, C.J.Sansom and Michael Connley have been devoured and
all are awaiting the next book.

Read with much less enthusiasm and ceased are Lawrence Block, Lee Child,
Randy White, Stephen Hunter, Chuck Logan, Patricia Cornwell, Richard Hoyt,
J.J.Jance, Kathy Reichs and Jane Evanovitch. Some of these may be
favourites of others here. For reasons unknown, they do not ring my
bell...

I tend to like foreign places. Bangkok, Bombay, Boston. Police
procedurals
as opposed to the infamous private eyes. Art thefts and robberies rate
higher than serial killers as a rule. The infrequent appearance of con
men
is a delight. Save for Sansom, historicals from New York to London tend
to
leave me cold. Spies are not high on my list nor are macho types.
Political thrillers from TV ("West Wing") to "Advise and Consent" and
Vidal's "American Empire" hold me tight. Historical series by Dunnett,
McCullough and now Follett have a place on my shelves.

So where next to wander. Iceland is the designated port-of-call but after
that brief sojourn?

Help!

Willow

Okay, I have several very carefully chosen recommendations:

1) Nicholas Kilmer. This is one of my very, very favorite authors, and he is
nowhere near as well-known as he deserves to be. Knowledgable people here
have said that it is because his publisher is not a normal genre house. He
is a published art historian, and you would not be surprised by that given
his obvious expertise, but his style, although intelligent, is not in the
least academic. His books have to do with art collecting and theft and are
set in Boston. Do yourself a favor and get these books!
2) Jane Langton. Her series has a detective, Homer Kelly, who is a retired
police detective who has pursued his passion for American Literature into a
professorship. Homer and his wife are sometimes major and sometimes almost
minor characters in her books. Most of her books take place in and around
Boston and Massachusetts, but they eventually stray into Oxford and Italy.
Langton is highly intelligent, somewhat fanciful, a tad eccentric, a keen
observer of human behavior, and has an original, literate voice.. Her books
often have to do with cultural events and institutions, ranging from Emily
Dickinson to morris dancing to art museums to Dante, but not always. A
number of them involve art. I can't recommend her too highly.
3)Iain Pears' art theft series set in Italy. This is not as strong a
recommendation. I must say that although these are quite good, I much prefer
his novels _An Instance of the Fingerpost_ and _Dream of Scipio_.
4) If you are willing to take a stab at an hisorical series, try Stephen
Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series. His history is top notch, as is his writing.
He's another major favorite of mine.
5) Reginald Hill.I can't imagine that you have actually managed to miss this
one, but if you have, get reading. His Dalziel and Pascoe series is one of
the best ever. And he's been doing it for wuite a while so it should keep
you busy while you are waiting for your hard-to-find Kilmers to arrive.
6) Another series I think you would like is the Dutch classic by Janwillem
van de Wettering (hoping I spelled that correctly). If, of course, you
haven't already read them.






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