I've recently discovered a great mystery series. It's by an Italian author named Donna Leon, about a police detective in Venice. I find the books enjoyable because of the locale and the perspective on that locale (Venice is usually seen from the tourist point of view; not from that of the vastly-outnumbered inhabitants), and also because she's good with characterization and plot.
Donna Leon knows Venice, having lived there for 20 years. However, the same can't be said for many of the countless other writers of series mysteries.
The series mystery now seems to dominate the shelves in libraries and bookstores. Almost every book on those shelves is subtitled "A xx xx mystery"; and if you're a fan of that particular series, you can be reasonably sure that the latest book in the series will bring you the same enjoyment as the previous ones.
Series mysteries are safe. If you like one, you'll probably like the others. My own favourites are the Zen novels (Zen is the name of the character, not his religion) by Michael Dibdin, the Yellowthread Street mysteries by William Marshall, the Mamur Zapt books by Michael Pearce, the Inspector Ghote novels by H.R. Keating and the Dortmunder capers that Donald Westlake writes.
But it's getting harder to find mysteries that aren't parts of series. Ruth Rendell writes some (but she also has her own series detectives). So does Robert Barnard. And I'm sure there are others, but they're not given much shelf space - after all, it's the series novels that sell.
Then there are what I call the "gimmick" mysteries. These would include the books that feature famous people of the past as detectives (Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle and -- I kid you not -- Queen Elizabeth I. Or the ones that take minor fictional characters in books long out of copyright and turn them into detectives in their own right (a series featuring Inspector Lestrade of Sherlock Holmes fame springs to mind). There are a number of series set in the past - Brother Caedfel and his ilk in medieval times - you can thank or blame Umberto Eco and his The Name of the Rose for these; at least two set in ancient Rome; and others in ancient China and Egypt. I'm surprised we haven't seen a series about Oog, the Cavewoman Detective yet.
The problem with the mysteries set in the past is that modern sensibilities and attitudes about the sanctity of life, the equality of women and men, racial tolerance, scientific scepticism, etc., have to be grafted onto people whose attitudes were very different. It makes for awkward plots, but without it, we would not find the heroes of these novels very likeable.
There are mysteries involving animals (endearing cats and dogs that either solve the mysteries on their own or help their human companions to do so - Rita Mae Brown and Lillian Jackson Braum spring to mind). And mysteries involving cooking, or crossword puzzles, or knitting or ... whatever. As more of these are produced, new authors are forced to search further afield for gimmicks of their own. These particular books are a godsend for people hunting for Christmas gifts for readers though. "Aunt Gertrude reads a lot and she also likes gardening - let's get her this book about a gardener who solves mysteries, The Corpse in the Compost!"
I find this trend rather disheartening. It makes for formulaic, lifeless, market-driven books that have no soul, no life in them.
Posted by wetcoast at September 27, 2003 10:03 AM