Crime Novels or police procedurals have some of the best writers offering us a plethora of styles, contexts, characters and superb plotting that can keep us entertained and relaxed for hours on end.
And, we are not talking about potboilers either – there are writers who not only offer interesting characters and good plots (with all the twists and turns); but who are good writers of the language which adds immensely to the pleasure of reading.crime authors
There are some key American authors who excel at this – my top nominations include: Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, John Lescroart, Dennis Lehane, Lawrence Block and Ed McBain
And, still really good, but just a little bit down a wee level ….. and this is purely subjective:
Lee Childs, Jonathan Kellerman, Robert K Tanenbaum, John Grisham, David Balducci, Jeffrey Deaver, James Patterson, Harlan Corben, Robert Crais, John Connolly. Crime thrillers, to maintain your interest, do not have to keep you guessing ‘whodunit’ (a la Agatha Christie style with Miss Marple) though that’s great if they do.
That’s an added pleasure but, they do have to be plotted well and offer protagonists whom you care about and are interested in…… such as Harry Bosch (Connelly); Matt Scudder (Block); Dave Robicheaux (Burke); Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky (Lescroart); Kenzie and Gennaro (Lehane).
It’s not just the ‘good yarn’ that brings you back to an author – it’s his development of the lead characters that also grabs your interest and who become the thread woven throughout all of the series – perhaps best summed up John Lescroart
“When I was just starting to write it (his current work), I asked my wife, Lisa, what she hoped to see in my next book, and she said she’d like to just sit down and spend some time with all of her favorite characters-not just Diz and Abe, but Frannie and Treya, and Wes Farrell, and Wyatt Hunt and Gina Roake. And that’s pretty much what I used as my template for this one (The Victims).”
With Connelly et al (above) I recommend you start from the beginning of their series to obtain maximum benefit – all of them have maintained a high standard of storytelling and writing excellence throughout their works…….
They don’t just simply churn out novels to make a buck and then gradually decline into clich
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