On Friday night I picked up Faye Kellerman's latest mystery thriller. This one is called Hangman. Faye Kellerman is one of my favorite mystery writers (note I said Faye and not her husband, Jonathan, whose stuff is too bizarre for me) and mystery is one of my favorite genres. But sometimes I wonder: do these mystery writers ever run out of title ideas? Isn't there a limit to the number of creepy one-or-two-word phrases you can crank out to lure readers? I mean, look at Sue Grafton. She knew it would be a problem from the beginning and just gave up altogether. A is for Alibi. S is for Silence. What will she do after Z? AA is for Camera Batteries?
In any case, I finally (and just barely) finished it today. I say "barely" because my niece was trying to burrow her head into my shoulder as I was reaching the best part, i.e., where all the threads tie together. (Very much unline the short stories I'm giving my students to read!) My brother asked me something from across the room and, buried in my pages, I didn't really hear him and grunted something like approval. But my neice had a bit more insight. Totally unfettered, she lifted her head from my shoulder and told him, "Uncle Dodo, Mimi's reading a book and until she finishes, she can't do anything else."
Well said. Now why does a 5-year-old understand me better than the rest of the adults in my life?
Anyway. I adore page-turning thrillers and this was as good of one as I've read in while. Her stuff fluctuates between outstandingly good and good, mostly because she really gets into the head of her characters. The woman was originally a dentist. How the heck did she get to be a NYT Bestseller? (Can she tell me the secret?)
Another mstery writer I love: Ayelet Waldman. Her stuff can be almost as thrilling, but usually more substantive in theme. A little higher in "take-away" message. Thankfully, I still have a few of hers to read. Don't you love it when you discover an author and find that s/he's written a whole bunch of books? It's like curling up with a whole package of Pepperidge Farm mint milanos and pressing "play" on your as-yet-unwatched episodes of Top Chef. Nothing beats it.
One other mystery writer I love who, not surprisingly, is also a Jewish woman: Rochelle Krich. She's like Kellerman but frummer. And not so graphic. Here's a link to an article that appeared in the summer issue of Jewish Action. It discusses some of these emerging Jewish authors who appeal to the mainstream media. I think it missed Tova Mirvis, who is taking her time about finishing her third novel, which I am anxiously awaiting. (Can you tell?) http://www.ou.org/pdf/ja/5770/summer70/16-19.pdf
If you read it--or any of the authors I've mentioned in this post--be sure to comment and let me know what you think. After all, this is a book blog, right? :-)
Happy reading.
