Lee Child

The Books of Sleuth

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It’s been a while since I wrote a post focusing on crime novels, so let’s get fictionally felonious again! Today, I’m going to discuss some of my favorite detectives/investigators in literature.

Their exploits can be compelling and satisfying for various reasons, including the wish-fulfillment aspect of seeing criminals get their comeuppance — though not always, and even those caught or killed can wreak a lot of havoc before their illegal work is done. Then there’s the appeal of intricate plots, trying to guess the culprits, seeing how fictional sleuths solve cases, enjoying the interesting and at-times weird personality traits of the detectives and criminals, etc.

Fictional sleuths — some professional, some amateur — are on my mind after having read four of Tarquin Hall’s India-set mysteries the past few weeks. They star private investigator Vish Puri — a brilliant, incorruptible, overeating, occasionally comedic, unfortunately a bit sexist character who solves various quirky cases. Just how quirky is telegraphed by the titles of some of Hall’s books, including The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing (2010) and The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken (2012).

Yes, sleuths are often in multiple novels — including J.K. Rowling’s superb crime series starring Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. Those two characters are brave, brainy, charismatic investigators who carry some serious physical or psychological baggage and, while work partners, are secretly in love with each other. It’s saying something that I find that 2013-launched series — written under the pen name Robert Galbraith — almost as compelling as Rowling’s earlier Harry Potter books.

Also excellent are Walter Mosley’s novels starring another expert investigator: Easy Rawlins, an African-American World War II veteran who lives in Los Angeles. The series began with the 1990-published Devil in a Blue Dress, and now has 16 installments set from the 1940s to 1960s.

Absorbing, too, are Louise Penny’s atmospheric Canada-set novels featuring inspector Armand Gamache.

And there are Val McDermid’s great books starring cold case detective Karen Pirie that I won’t get into today because I’ve recently written about them in other contexts.

Some other contemporary authors have created characters who are not detectives per se but do plenty of incisive sleuthing to solve crimes. Among them are bounty hunter Stephanie Plum in Janet Evanovich’s mysteries, attorney Mickey Haller in Michael Connelly’s books, and the roaming Jack Reacher in the novels by Lee Child (with recent titles co-written by Andrew Child).

Then of course there are past authors who created detectives — many quite iconic. Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (in novels and short stories), Edgar Allan Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin (in short stories), Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple (of course!), Wilkie Collins’ Sgt. Richard Cuff (of The Moonstone), Umberto Eco’s William of Baskerville (in The Name of the Rose), Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone (of alphabet mysteries fame), Dorothy L. Sayers’ Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane duo, Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, P.D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh, etc.

And, in books penned by multiple authors over the years…Nancy Drew!

Comments about this post? Fictional sleuths you’ve liked?

Misty the cat says: “The leaves turned after I installed steering wheels on them.”

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Misty says Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂

I’m also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about the start of school and more — is here.

Summer in the City? No, Summer with a Kitty

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My feline self sprawled next to Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Enchanted April, which I will not discuss today because I haven’t finished reading it yet. The first letters of that novel’s title spell “tea,” which I don’t drink. Thank you for your attention to these two matters. (Photo by Dave.)

Misty the suburban cat here with my every-two-month blog post. My previous guest piece was in June, this one is in August, and the next one will be in October. Except that U2’s October album was released in 1981, so I’m not sure how my next blog post will be in…October. There IS a song on that album called “Stranger in a Strange Land,” which is about me at the vet for my yearly check-up.

Anyway, my adult humans Dave and Laurel saw the Superman movie this month, and enjoyed its thrills, acting, and empathy. But I, Misty, was not allowed in the theater because of being a cat. I was actually kind of relieved, because sitting through 25 minutes of ads and previews would have had me yowling loud enough to be heard on Mars — which billionaire bozo Elon Musk, aka the Tesla dude, wants to not only colonize but have The Martian Chronicles author Ray Bradbury write a 2025 sequel called The SpaceX Chronicles. Given that Bradbury died in 2012, he…missed the pleasure of seeing the catastrophic flop of Musk’s stupid Cybertruck.

The Superman film reminds me and other kitties of Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the 2000 novel partly based on the real-life Jerry Siegel/Joe Shuster duo who created the Superman character for comic books in 1938 — the year the iPhone minus-69 was released.

More generally, the 2025 movie starring the “Man of Steel” also reminds my meowing self of fictional characters possessing abilities beyond the capacity of most mortals. One is the Lee Child-created Jack Reacher — who’s not a superhero but displays unusual strength, incredible fighting abilities, great intellect, and other attributes in the 29-book series that began in 1997. Exactly a century after Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), which stars a vampire who acts out in all kinds of ways after Frankenstein defeats him in pickleball. A tip of the hat to Mary Shelley.

Another character who combines exceptional brains with exceptional physical abilities is the prehistoric protagonist Ayla of Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequels. Ayla’s many accomplishments included inventing things and being the only person able to ride Baby the lion (a feline like me!), although she never played pickleball with her horse Whinney.

Some fictional people even rise in the air or fly — in magic-realism novels and other books. Among them are Remedios in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Margarita in Mikhael Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, and the title character of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan — which was first a play, then a novel, then an animated movie, then a live TV film, and finally a jar of peanut butter which also flew when Dave tossed it out the window to compare its hang time with a jar of Skippy peanut butter. Denying me the opportunity to swat both brands off the counter with my cat paws.

There are also characters who might not be extraordinarily adept in a brute physical way but are really, really smart. Hermione Granger of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, Sherlock Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective fiction, Hercule Poirot of Agatha Christie’s mysteries, Lisbeth Salander of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels, etc. Lisbeth sadly did not have a cat tattoo, but I forgive her because she’s Swedish and thus might toss some Swedish meatballs my way.

Dave will reply to comments so that I have time to eat the aforementioned meatballs. Rest assured that I maintain a balanced diet — one meatball in each side of my mouth.

I, Misty the cat, say: “After years of study, I’m finally qualified to inspect Belgian blocks.”

My and Dave’s comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Misty says Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂

Dave is also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more.

In addition to this weekly blog, Dave writes the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about my school district’s huge, recently discovered deficit — is here.

When It’s Two or More, Jaws Can Hit the Floor

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J.K. Rowling with the screen versions of her Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Cormoran Strike, and Robin Ellacott characters (Everett/Getty/BBC).

It’s impressive enough when a novelist creates one successful series — as, say, Lee Child did with his Jack Reacher books and Sue Grafton did with her alphabet mysteries. But an author who creates two or more successful series? Wow!

Some writers produce multiple series consecutively — finishing one series before starting another. Other writers tack back and forth between different series. Either way, it takes some impressive and wide-ranging creative talent, and helps “serial” novelists stay fresh. Those authors can also feel good about readers staying with them as they offer something new.

Among the queens and kings of multiple series is J.K. Rowling. She of course penned the seven mega-popular Harry Potter books. Then, after writing The Casual Vacancy standalone novel, Rowling as “Robert Galbraith” launched her crime series starring private investigators Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. I’m currently close to finishing the seventh installment — The Running Grave, in which Robin goes undercover to infiltrate a very problematic cult — and its 945 pages are full of the thrills, humor, suspense, poignancy, complications, excellent prose, and believable dialog Rowling always provides.

Walter Mosley is best-known for his detective series starring Easy Rawlins, who has now starred in 16 novels. But the author has interspersed those books with smaller series such as the King Oliver books and the Socrates Fortlow books. Mosley is always a great read, no matter who the protagonist is.

Val McDermid has gone the several-series route, too, including a compelling saga starring inspector Karen Pirie and another featuring journalist Allie Burns. Also not a clunker in the installments I’ve read.

Leaving contemporary fiction for a minute, L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels while also penning the semi-autobiographical Emily trilogy. (I consider a trilogy to be a series of sorts.)

Returning to a living author, Diana Gabaldon has gone the “sub-series” route by writing nine main Outlander novels (so far) and a number of offshoot books starring the Lord John character who’s a supporting player in the main novels.

Your thoughts about, and examples of, this theme?

Misty the cat says: “Snow means ‘Middlemarch’ author George Eliot wrote ‘Middledecember,’ too.”

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Misty says Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for my book features a talking cat: 🙂

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — which discusses what’s happening with my town’s animal shelter and much more — is here.

Donald Trump Meets Jack Reacher

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Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s disastrous time in the White House. Also, I finished reading Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher novel last week. The Trump-Reacher connection? There is no connection. But I’m going to make a connection. “Fake news” and all that.

First my brief review of 2017’s The Midnight Line, Child’s 22nd Reacher novel. (I’ve read 20 of them, and will eventually get to the two I missed! As Jack says, “Good to go.”)

The Midnight Line has some of the visceral action Reacher fans love — various villains get battered by Jack in innovatively choreographed ways. But this book also features a more mature, reflective Reacher — the big guy is now 57, after all — and there are poignant passages amid the page-turning excitement. Plus plenty of social commentary about America’s drug scourge and grievously wounded veterans — with the roaming Reacher getting a firsthand look at both problems while trying to locate a woman whose West Point ring he finds in a Wisconsin pawn shop. Last but not least, Child’s writing is as lean and impressive as ever, and includes the usual touches of humor.

My “fake news” connection between Jack (a good-hearted man of integrity) and Trump (a heartless man of no integrity)? I’m going to seriocomically discuss America’s Predator-in-Chief using the titles of all 22 Reacher novels. As I do that, I’ll keep in mind that Trump has boasted about sexually assaulting women, called majority-black countries “shitholes,” made life hell for immigrants, pushed awful tax “reform” that benefits only the ultra-rich, tried to yank away health care from millions, removed environmental protections, and more.

Killing Floor: Trump’s words and actions are so low there’s no floor to them. He killed the floor.

Die Trying: What happened to the woman in Charlottesville, Virginia, who bravely tried to counter Neo-Nazis the white-supremacist Trump would then praise.

Tripwire: What might keep Trump’s hair in place when he exits Air Force One after flying on a windy day.

Running Blind: If the didn’t-protect-his-eyes Trump had looked longer at last year’s major eclipse, this book title would have described his reelection effort in 2020.

Echo Burning: Sort of like Eco Burning — Trump has hurt the U.S. ecology in many ways.

Without Fail: The almost-always-wrong Trump never admits he’s almost always wrong.

Persuader: Trump has expertly persuaded everyone he’s a jerk.

The Enemy: Today’s GOP — including Trump, Paul Ryan, and other cruel far-right Republicans.

One Shot: All the out-of-shape Trump would manage to heave up on a basketball court.

The Hard Way: Democrats trying to win elections despite Republican voter suppression, gerrymandering, big corporate money, and biased right-wing media.

Bad Luck and Trouble: Nicknames for Trump’s two adult sons.

Nothing to Lose: Trump figured that was the case when claiming bone spurs to avoid the Vietnam War draft, even though he was healthy enough back then to play intense sports. His scam worked.

Gone Tomorrow: We wish. But then there would be Mike Pence. 😦

61 Hours: How long it takes Trump to read a paragraph.

Worth Dying For: No war that Trump might start with his reckless words.

The Affair: Not just one adulterous relationship for Trump while he has been married.

A Wanted Man: How law enforcement should label the corrupt Trump.

Never Go Back: The current White House occupant cowardly avoids visiting his posh Trump Tower home in New York City, where he’s loathed.

Personal: Trump takes criticism very personally.

Make Me: What Trump told his father, who bankrolled his not-self-made son’s real-estate career.

Night School: The incurious/ignorant Trump could use some schooling any time of the day.

The Midnight Line: Any repugnant sentence Trump spews out on Twitter when most of us are asleep.

Conclusion: Reacher would know what to do with someone like Trump.

I’m sure you could come up with other ways to discuss Trump via those Lee Child titles! Try if you’d like!  🙂

My 2017 literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column for Baristanet.com. The latest weekly piece — about the complicity of my town’s Republicans re the vile Trump — is here.

‘No Book Panic Syndrome’ Is a Novel Problem

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Do you occasionally suffer from NBPS? Yes, I’m talking about No Book Panic Syndrome.

Let me explain. You’re a literature lover, and you’ve finished all the not-read novels in your home. You need to go to the library or bookstore, but you can’t get there quite yet — maybe the next day. Or you’ve ordered a title or two online, and it won’t be arriving in the mail until, say, the weekend. And (this is important!) you read books the old-fashioned way, not on a Kindle.

What to do? You can of course click on some free short stories online, and read them there. But you crave print.

I suffered from NBPS this past week. On Tuesday, I finished Louise Penny’s excellent mystery How the Light Gets In — mostly set in a small Canadian town filled with memorable characters. Two other library books I borrowed in August — Octavia Butler’s sci-fi novel Parable of the Sower and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher adventure Night School — had already been read, admired, and put aside. But I couldn’t get to the library until Thursday because of chores and car availability.

(Yes, Car Availability would make a great name for a rock band.)

Why not go a couple days without reading, I asked myself? Yeah, right, I answered — ain’t happening.

Perusing the back of cereal boxes was not a tempting option, and I had already read too much about Hurricane Irma and What a Pain Donald Trump in the print and online New York Times. So, although I’ve promised myself the past few years not to reread books I own (too many never-tried novels and authors out there), I was desperate enough to start scanning my living-room shelves. There I spotted Ray Bradbury’s R Is For Rocket, a yellowing paperback collection of 17 short stories I hadn’t read since I was a teen. Just 184 pages — the perfect length for a bridge to that Thursday library visit.

And what evocative, exquisitely written tales — about kids (as well as adults) longing to travel in space, and the occasional pitfalls of doing so; about a huge, ancient sea creature falling in love with a lighthouse and foghorn; and the classic “A Sound of Thunder” that depicts how the killing of a tiny butterfly during a trip back in time revises the present the travelers return to just enough to have a nightmarish result.

After Bradbury filled that two-day gap, I found reinforcements on Thursday when my library visit got me Fannie Flagg’s The Whole Town’s Talking, Isak Dinesen’s Seven Gothic Tales, Larry McMurtry’s The Last Kind Words Saloon, and John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. I’ll undoubtedly mention all those fictional works in future posts.

What do you do when you temporarily have no book you want to read? Do you reread something? Do extra non-reading things? Sob uncontrollably?  🙂

Or maybe the crying will happen when I get to the above-mentioned John Green novel…

I’ll end today’s post with this video of a 2017 U2 song called “The Little Things That Give You Away.” Such as suffering from No Book Panic Syndrome…  🙂

My 2017 literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column for Baristanet.com. The latest weekly piece, about a way-way-too-big project that became way too big, is here.