Greatest Hits, and some failed mystery reads

[snugglekitty]

So, here's what I want to point out. If you are not very familiar with a genre, if you just have a few favorite authors in it, it is hard to figure out whether a book is good without reading it.



I have been in a mystery mood recently, which happens to me sometimes in the summer. So I went to a large local branch of the public library and browsed their mysteries. I asked for suggestions from reference, who pointed me towards reference material and databases but didn't give me any actual suggestions. I wandered around and picked out things that I thought I would like.

The first two books I tried to read were busts. The Rosewood Casket by Sharryn McCrumb... well, a few hundred pages in I realized I was only reading to see what was going to happen to the family farm. I didn't care about any of the characters. So then I just read ahead and found out and returned the book. Funny Bones was an anthology of funny mystery stories, but even though I didn't dislike most of them there weren't any that I really liked. I kept reading the book for a while - got more than halfway through - and then I realized it was actually dampening my enthusiasm for reading more mysteries. Poo! So, I stopped right there.



However, I had grabbed a second anthology - it seemed a good way to find new mystery authors I liked without a big commitment - and that turned out quite well. The anthology is _Greatest Hits: Original Stories of Assassins, Hit Men, and Hired Guns_, edited by Robert J. Ransini. For whatever reason, I like stories about people that kill people for money.

The anthology opens with a reprint from one of Lawrence Block's famous John Keller books. Oh, those books are a riot. I just love them, and there is a new one out this summer. My favorite new stories were "Snow, Snow, Snow" by John Harvey, "Upon My Soul" by Robert Randisi (it's so nice when the inevitable editor's story is a good one), "Doctor Sullivan's Library" by Christine Matthews, and "Retrospective" by Kevin Wignall. There were also a number of stories that were quite good but too black-humor or just plain dark for my taste. However, it was a very solid anthology and I'd recommend it to fans of assassins or mystery. Three stars.

So now, I happily have several new leads for good mystery writers to pursue. Hopefully that will diminish the number of duds in my next set.

Comments

Anthologies:

[avivasedai.livejournal.com]

I own and have read a number of anthologies, and sometimes even noted the authors of the stories I really liked. However, I'm bad on follow-through: I don't think I've picked up books by those authors ever, based on just reading their short stories. I'd call it laziness, as well as forgetfulness- by the time I get to a bookstore, I don't recall the names. I'm rather passive about collecting new books or authors.

Re: Anthologies:

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Huh. That's interesting. I am great at followthrough in that regard - I browse the authors on amazon.com, I put the books that interest me on my wishlist (which is ironic because I never buy anything from them) and then I order it from the library. I do pretty much the same thing with all the recommendations I get, whether from review communities or people or indiebound.org...