Have you read any good mystery or suspense novels lately?

[DanCa]

I am of course looking for a liberal bent to them . Let me know okay :D

[Flaxbee]

1. I enjoyed "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova...

it was a little tedious in places but overall quite good - it invaded my dreams, and not many books do that.

About a family's life as they research/trace Dracula.

Almost any mystery by P.D. James will fit your requirements, as well as Minette Walters (though hers can also be a bit disturbing - I like her earlier ones - The Sculptress, The Ice House - best). Ruth Rendell is also excellent at psychological thrillers and she's also quite liberal.

[redwitch]

32. I am reading "The Lighthouse" by P.D. James right now.

I have a major crush on Adam Dalgliesh. :blush:

[RebelOne]

2. I'm reading 2 Dean Koontz books now.

Velocity and The Taking. Koontz and Stephen King are the ultimate in suspense.

[pitohui]

13. perhaps but koontz is illiberal

and they did say liberal

king has a new one out and he's also a liberal and anti-war marcher in good standing but i haven't read it yet, called cell

[RebelOne]

23. The first chapter of Cell is featured in Entertainment Today.

It starts out pretty gory. Can't wait to read the book.

[China_cat]

27. I've got it here and will start it

as soon as I finish the Vonnegut I'm re-reading. (About 10 more pages)

But didn't King say he was retiring after the last Dark Tower book? That he wouldn't be writing any more?

[China_cat]

29. If this one keeps on like it's started

(I'm about 1/3 of the way through) it's the best thing King's written in YEARS (if you don't count the Dark Tower).

[China_cat]

31. I just finished it.

It's King at his very, very best. For once there aren't 50 different elements competing for your attention and covering up the main premise of the story, it doesn't go off in 10 different directions at once and it doesn't go on 3 chapters longer than it should have. Tight, on point and an absolutely perfect ending.

[renie408]

3. I just finished "The Rule of Four"

it was good up til the end, but the ending just didn't deliver for me. But it was fine as a distraction.

Hey, I also just read 'The Alchemist' and found it very thought provoking. It isn't a mystery, though.

[salin]

4. In her recent mysteries

Sarah Paretsky has taken on issues that include McCarthyism, abuses within the prison system and in her most recent book key to the story is a family and store that looks and reads a lot like Walmart and the Waltons. I highly recommend reading her books.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. I heard her speak once, and she said that she gets her story ideas

from the Wall Street Journal, which she describes as "members of the ruling class telling one another what's really going on in the world."

[HEyHEY]

5. The instruction booklet to this fucking lampstand

I really wanna see how this ends, though I think it may be in disaster

[petronius]

6. I've been (re)reading a lot of Ross MacDonald

lately - not real political, but a nice noirish look at southern California. Also a bunch of Rex Stout, which does have more of a liberal bent, although just in passing.

[hippywife]

7. I haven't read this one recently

but I do recall liking it very much when I did read it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345366239/qid=1138572125/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0495888-1607028?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

[bikebloke]

8. James Lee Burke

It's a shame to label his writing as detective since it's closer to literature. Languid, beautiful prose. In his last couple books, he's fired a couple broadsides at the junta. His Dave Robicheaux series is great. He started another series based in Montana or Wyoming. Plus a few stand alone books. Give him a try.

[SKKY]

9. Just re-read "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr...

...if you haven't read it, go out and get it now. A 2-nighter for me- it was that good.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

10. Unfortunately, no

I did read "The Historian." But like Flaxbee said, it's tedious in parts, and although I finsished it, I'd lost alot of interest. Have a book now called "The Great Stink." Set in 1850's London and dealing with (whodda guesed it) the sewers. Don't recall the author's name (the book is at the office, reading it at lunch). Haven't decided on it yet - still not "into" any of the characters - a requirement for me to enjoy fiction.

[Lisa]

12. Frank McConnell's mysteries are a nice mix of satire and suspense

Unfortunately he died a while ago, so there won't be any more -- but his widow is still politically active with the California Dems.


p.s. if you'd like a lighthearted twist on the genre (actually, two genres, since they overlap with fantasy too) -- Terry Pratchett's "Night Watch" books, from his Discworld series, can be looked at as police procedurals. Being British, he puts in a lot of commentary on class structure -- the underfunded public servants dash around trying to protect their city, which often means foiling plots by the aristocracy and big business (portrayed as vampires, assassins, and the like). "Men at Arms" is an interesting take on corruption and violence. I particularly liked "Feet of Clay" -- a murder mystery which ends up taking a hard look at economic exploitation and labor issues.

[tigereye]

14. just finished Jonathan Kellerman's Billy Straight

intense psychological/police procedurals. Creepy with wonderfully drawn characters. Also was reading the new Homer Kelly mystery by Jane Langton. Really nice historical/ literary mysteries with a wry sweetness to them. The Kelly mysteries are pretty liberal, Kellerman is to a point.

I'm a mystery junkie, so I could go on and on....

I also have Capote (bio) on tap, haven't started it yet. The movie was excellent, very disturbing.

[Lisa]

16. Jane Langton also did a neat fable, "The Fragile Flag"

It dealt with the Cold War era, but the photo-op-obsessed White House, the duplicitous presidental advisor (like a young Karl Rove!), and the attempted "swiftboating" of the kids who organize a peace march were oddly prescient.

(I was amazed by how much background she did for the Homer Kelly mystery about the Boston church organist. It's right up there with Dorothy L. Sayers and the bellringing, in Lord Peter Wimsey and "The Nine Tailors".)

[tigereye]

17. don't think I've read the Cold War one...

isn't she wonderful? I've hungrily read most of her mysteries. Do you remember the one (quite early) about the eclipse? Often her books are much more intense than they appear to be! :hi:

Do you like Ian Pears? He makes me think of Langton, often. And I still haven't forgiven Amanda Cross for taking herself off this mortal coil....

[Lisa]

18. I was just thinking about the eclipse one ...

It was the first one I ever read, with Homer Kelly in it. I'm trying to remember whether any other author has incorporated an eclipse into a mystery before, and I'm coming up blank. She's really good at coming up with memorable settings or situations for her mystery books -- and children's books too.

I haven't read Ian Pears yet, but the name sounds really familiar -- does he do historical mysteries?

[tigereye]

20. they are great - usually about art fraud

with travels to Europe and numerous museums. He makes the DaVinci Code guy look, well, like someone who has no skill.He does have one historical one - The Incident of the Finger Post - I think, I haven't been able to make it through that one yet. It's massive and set in the 1400s, I think.

Also, Reginald Hill has some historical slants as well, he writes witty, intellectual and quite funny mysteries with a college- educated detective teamed with a big cagey Cornwall native. I highly recommend them both - 2 of my favorites!

[momophile]

15. I read all Nevada Barr books as soon as they come out in...

paperback. They seem to be pretty liberal. I guess.

[zone]

19. Magic Treehouse #24

Earthquake in the Early Morning (lol)

[politicat]

21. The Mary Russell series by Laurie R King

No real political bent to them, other than she mentions she dislikes Prohibition and is uncertain about the change of British government in the 20s. Highly feminist.

[tigereye]

24. isn't she a wonderful writer?

I love the Russell character. And her non-historical characters as well.

[Lisa]

22. almost forgot! From Canada -- Rosemary Aubert and Gail Bowen

An anti-poverty activist I know highly recommended Aubert's "Ellis Portal" mysteries. The main character is a Toronto judge who ended up homeless and living on the street, giving him a unique perspective on the justice system. I've only read one of them so far, but it was quite well done -- examined the dismal state of low-income housing, and the pros and cons of gentrification.

Gail Bowen has written several mysteries, including one about a popular politician who is murdered during an election campaign. My guess is that the political party in question is meant to be the NDP (although the grassroots organization would probably look familiar to most people who are politically-involved, regardless of the party or country). Bowen's husband works for the Saskatchewan NDP, and he got into trouble for referring to Bush as "President Shrub" in an internal memo which got leaked!

I would also put Howard Engel in the liberal category -- he writes about a Jewish private eye who operates in Southern Ontario. The series isn't as political as many of the ones which have already been mentioned, but if you want a look at "Marxist" and "hedonistic" Canadian society, which certain Republicans have been ranting about lately, it's an entertaining look at small-town (or rather small-city) central Canada. (I grew up there so I can vouch for many of the geographical details.)

[Richardo]

25. "Lincoln Lawyer" by Michael Connelly

Don't know or care about his politics, he's a kick-ass writer.

[Whoa_Nelly]

26. Kathy Reichs' books (She's also a Forensic Anthropologist)

The novels feature Temperance Brennan, also a Forensic Anthropologist, who in more ways than one, resemble the author. The novels are good, fast-paced, and intriguing.

Here's her website:
http://www.kathyreichs.com/

and

http://literati.net/Reichs/
About Reichs:

Kathy Reichs is forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. A professor of anthropology at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Reichs is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal and is a frequent expert witness in criminal trials.

[China_cat]

28. You might like

No Country for Old Men. Cormac McCarthy. Apolitical, which could meet your needs.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

30. Recently finished "Phantom Lady" by Cornell Woolrich

Very good noir-y mystery/thriller from the 40's.

And it does have a bit of a liberal tone to it in that the entire plot of the novel plays out under the shadow of the execution of an innocent man.

So, I suppose one could say that it makes an argument for the abolishment of the death penalty.

[XemaSab]

33. I'm going to say what I always say

"Sabbathday River" by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

Very liberal, very thought provoking, VERY well written.

It's about a Jewish woman in northern New Hampshire who finds a dead baby in the river. One of her employees is arrested for the crime for the sole reason that she's been having an affair with a married man.

Go get it. It's terrific.