Since this is Friday morning, one has to assume that there are “forgotten books” being promoted around the crime-fiction blogosphere. And sure enough, here are some highlights: Dead in the Water, by Ted Wood; Big Town, by Doug J. Swanson; The Dark Side, edited by Damon Knight; The Overseer, by Jonathan Rabb; After Things Fell Apart, by Ron Goulart; Solomon’s Vineyard, by Jonathan Latimer; and, uh, Jonny Quest’s Adventure with the Secret Tunnel, by Horace J. Elias.
Patti Abbott features several more choices in her own blog, including Modesty Blaise, by Peter O’Donnell. Go to Abbott’s blog, too, to find a complete list of this morning’s forgotten books picks.
Friday, January 02, 2009
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2 comments:
Again 8 books recommended and none by women.
Do folks not read books by women authors or just not think they're any good?
Meanwhile, I find them...? From the U.S., England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Iceland.
Kathy D.
Dear Kathy D.:
I can speak only for myself on this matter.
I read a number of books by women authors, including Sara Paretsky, Linda Barnes, Fred Vargas, Val McDermid, and Linda L. Richards. But there are many more female crime fictionists whose work I simply won’t pick up. That’s partly due to their determination to write cozy subgenre stories about knitting detectives or canine sleuths or crime-solvers with day jobs in the clothing-design or antiques-selling fields. I also give a wide berth, for the most part, to comical mysteries, and women write many (though not all) of those. Such books simply don’t fulfill my interest in serious and thought-provoking crime fiction. I’m equally turned off by what seems a trend among women writers, to pen tedious serial-killer yarns and other stories with an even harder or more violent edge than what’s being produced by their male counterparts. There’s no need for such overcompensation.
There is a contingent of men out there (myself included) who are looking for female novelists interested primarily in telling good, solid crime yarns, rather than trying to find gold in niche markets or writing primarily for women.
Cheers,
Jeff
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