Posted on 04/23/2020 11:54:45 AM PDT by Pining_4_TX
Help! I need recommendations for fun reading material. I really enjoy mysteries and have been re-reading some Agatha Christie books, because so many of the newer books are PC or extremely gory. Also, I prefer my reading material to be clean. Humor books are also good, as well as real crime and crime solving methods, as long as it's not too hair-raising. Fiction or non-fiction, as long as it's entertaining.
Are there mysteries out there where the detective has at least somewhat conservative values? Are there ones set in the past that don't have feminist females entirely out of character for the times?
I read a real stinker that got a good review in the WSJ with the tired, old plot of artistic types stuck in the boonies with a bunch of knuckle-draggers who just didn't appreciate anything but farming and football. Naturally, the murderer was a high school football player. Ugh.
Books I do like, in addition to Agatha Christie, are No Stone Unturned about forensic science, and Amy's Answering Machine, which is a humorous collection of the messages left on Amy's machine by her Jewish mother. I'm not keen on spy thrillers, and please, no romance novels.
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I like almost anything Dean Koontz or David Baldacci...also enjoyed the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child
Try the Billy Boyle mysteries. He’s a Boston Irish cop who is in the Army during WWII doing sleuthing for Ike, who is his shirttail relative. Win the War and solve crimes at the same time!
Here’s one of my favorite books, The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe.
I really enjoyed Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Series about a female private detective and her elderly landlord. She lives above a garage in a tiny but well-ordered apartment. She owns one dress, just in case she needs it.
Unfortunately, Sue Grafton died before she could write the final book in the series whose title would have begun with “Z”.
The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum; Silent Witness. There’s a newsletter I subscribe to called Crime Reads with lots of great stuff...
Dorothy Sayers mysteries and G.K. Chesterson’s Father Brown detective novels are great. Also try reading the Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens for lots of laughs.
Playboy has really good articles.
You just need an email address and password to access.
If you’re into old stuff, check out Wikisource for public domain literature.
If you can stand a little science fiction in with the mystery stuff, Simmons’s “Flashback” is one of the best books of its kind I’ve ever read.
Some good series:
Longmire
Inspector Montalbano
Jesse Stone
For humor, try some P.J. O’Rourke.
Republican Party Reptile
Holidays In Hell
Parliament of Whores
And much more...
anything by Taylor Caldwel
I am enjoying the series by John D. macDonald: “Travis McGee”.
Written in the sixties and forward, this erstwhile boating bum helps solve mysteries that are beyond the regular laws of the land.
Some light sex, but always meaningful according to the mores of the time.
No cell phones, computers etc.
I’m also alternating with Clive Cussler’s old series “The Oregon Files”.
All action and politics on a secret big ship...fighting the bad guys while way under the US govt radar.
G
"Life Lessons From a Ranch Horse"
Great book!!
You might like to read fellow FReeper's books....Matt Bracken. I think they are awesome....read everyone of them.
Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose is a fantastic mystery novel. https://www.amazon.com/Name-Rose-Umberto-Eco/dp/0544176561/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Anyone who reads it and doesn’t know anything about the time period would be best served by also getting this: https://www.amazon.com/Key-Name-Rose-Translations-Non-English/dp/0472086219/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=companion+to+the+name+of+the+rose&qid=1587669148&sr=8-1
Michael Crichton
Rafferty’s Rules by W. Glenn Duncan
The Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn
Vince Milam’s series - be sure to read in order
The Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald
The Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly
Seberal of Nelson DeMille’s books are very good, especially those featuring John Corey as the protagonist, but be sure to read in order!
The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child
The Jonathan Quinn series by Brett Battles
My Brother’s Destroyer and sequels, by Baer Creighton
That’s a list that ought to keep you busy for awhile!
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