If You Like THAT Author...
13 commentsFor quite a few years I taught high school English and read THE GREAT GATSBY, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, etc. over and over. Each time I would teach one of these books, I'd read it again. Between that and all the other "stuff" that went with teaching, I wasn't reading much outside of what I taught. So when I left the classroom, I was pretty clueless as to what was out there. Like many people I saw what was on the shelves in the stores I frequented most often: Sam's Club, the grocery store, the drugstore, Wal-mart, K-mart, Borders, B&N, etc. That was where I found the two authors I credit with pulling me head first into the mystery genre.
At the time Linda Fairstein had a book out called ENTOMBED. The title grabbed my attention and I read the book jacket to find the plot had a tie-in with Edgar Allen Poe. Ding, ding, ding! Former English teacher, bells are going off! As I flipped through the pages, I discovered Linda had an entire series of these books and me being the obsessive-compulsive type, I surely couldn't start in the middle of the series! I devoured the entire series in less than a year and was waiting for the next Alex Cooper novel to come out.
My experience with Robert Crais was almost identical. So here I am, desperate to read more of these two authors, but I've finished both series and the new books aren't ready yet. So, I started doing some searching and I discovered a group of folks called The Craisies. They, as you can imagine, talk about Robert Crais and his books. But they also talk about other things they are reading. It was with this group of folks that I started to learn about all the fantastic books that aren't on the shelves at Wal-mart, Sam's Club, Costco, etc. I owe these Craisies a lot and I want to pay the favor forward. Do you enjoy crime fiction? Do you have a loved one who enjoys crime fiction - in books or on television/movies? Let me show you just a sampling of who else is available in the crime fiction world and give you suggestions of who from the big box stores they might compare to.
If you enjoy Kathy Reichs or Patricia Cornwell, you may also enjoy:
- Thomas Holland
- Tess Gerritsen
- Karin Slaughter
- Jonathan Hayes
- Jefferson Bass
- Craig Johnson
- C.J. Box
- Jo Nesbo
- Michael Stanley
- Robin Burcell
- Michael Koryta
- Reed Farrel Coleman
- A.E. Maxwell
- Les Roberts
- Don Winslow
- Ken Bruen
- S.J. Rozan
- Sean Chercover
- Megan Abbott
- Daniel Woodrell
- Libby Fischer Hellmann
- Alafair Burke
- Sophie Littlefield
- Jan Burke
- J.A. Jance
- Gregg Hurwitz
- Andrew Gross
- Lisa Unger
- Tim Hallinan
- Simon Lewis
- John Lescroart
- Margaret Maron
- Ken Isaacson
- Robert Dugoni
- Paul Levine
- Andrew Grant
- Brett Battles
- Tom Rob Smith
- Lee Child
- Daniel Levin
- Chris Grabenstein
- Tom Schreck
- Jeffrey Cohen
- Steve Hockensmith
- Louise Penny
- Jane Cleland
- Karen Olson
- Rosemary Harris
- Diane Stuckart
- Hank Phillippi Ryan
So, if you have a person on your list who already enjoys crime fiction, watches crime dramas on television, action movies, etc., a crime fiction novel would make a fantastic gift for the holidays.
I hope your holidays are wonderful and full of crime...fiction that is! Happy Reading.
Jen Forbus
http://jensbookthoughts.blogspot.com
Posts
November 6, 2009 4:45 AM
For the "lighter" fair- I'd suggest the Booktown mysteries by Lorna Barrett... who can resist mysteries set amongst a town full on indie bookstores??
November 6, 2009 5:15 AM
Great post! I wish I could put something together like this -- it's really terrific! You listed a bunch of authors that I'm not even familiar with!
Also a great suggestion,Sam! I haven't read those, yet!
November 6, 2009 5:22 AM
Nifty idea. Thanks.
November 6, 2009 5:23 AM
Oh Julie, you totally made my day! Thank you. I really was aiming to try and highlight authors who are terrific but who people don't necessarily hear enough about. So, I'm tickled!
Thanks everybody for stopping by to check out the list!
November 6, 2009 6:06 AM
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November 6, 2009 6:07 AM
Thank you, Jen! What a fantastic list--and it's so exciting to be part of it.
What a treat..and of course I agree--buying books for the hoildays is the perfect gift.
And lots of wonderful indie mystery bookstores--including The Mystery Company in Carmel, Indiana and Mystery Lovers in Oakmont, PA (among others!) have free shipping. Who could ask for anything more?
Happy shopping everyone!
November 6, 2009 6:18 AM
Wonderfully done, Jen. Nice combination of lists and authors. Thanks for this.
November 6, 2009 7:53 AM
Related to crime fiction is the true crime genre, one I've avoided for years because I find it just too, too scary. But when a Traverse City, Michigan, writer invested a "cold case" over 100 years old, set in the country where I live, I had to read it. And the writing was so good (ISADORE'S SECRET reads like a novel!) that I went back to read her book from 2007, one that I'd been avoiding, WHEN EVIL CAME TO GOOD HART. The mystery of these stories, along with the northern Michigan settings, make for gripping reading. I'm still not a true crime fan, but I am a fan of these books.
November 6, 2009 8:37 AM
Great lists! I have a lot of family that reads Patterson, so I'll have to get them some books from your Patterson read-alike list for Christmas!
November 6, 2009 11:35 AM
This is a great list for my mom. What about Lisa Scottoline? If someone likes her, would you recommend evanovich or something else?
November 6, 2009 3:13 PM
Serena, I'm not especially knowledgable about Scottoline so if someone else knows more, please chime in, but I do believe that Hank's books would be comparable. Some other authors you might check would be Shane Gericke and C.J. Lyons?
Also, anyone who enjoys historical mysteries, I highly recommend Rebecca Cantrell, Kelli Stanley, or Ariana Franklin - all different time periods, so you can take your pick! ;)
November 6, 2009 8:16 PM
this is such a great idea...thanks jen
November 12, 2009 5:13 PM
Jen...a bit late chiming in, but thank you for including me with some great authors. Wow, I rated the "Agatha Christie" category! May everyone have a very literary holiday, whatever holiday they celebrate :)