Fatherhood Is Rare Trait for Fictional Detectives

With Father's Day ahead, I began to think about fatherhood in mystery fiction. It's easy to find murderous or dysfunctional fathers and stepfathers, but what about crime-solving protagonist dads? Alas, research showed that most well-known male sleuths are either eccentric singles a la Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot; hardboiled loners like Philip Marlowe and Mike Hammer; or cerebral commitment-phobes like British inspectors Adam Dalgliesh and Endeavor Morse. Although even the most obsessive detective heroes may indulge in humanizing romance, fatherhood's responsibilities seem to be a plot distraction that authors prefer to avoid! But there are a few famous detectives whose fatherly roles play a part in their character arcs. In the police procedural space, there's Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Bosch's parentless childhood and difficulties in forming relationships inform and give weight to his edgy yet emotional bond with daughter Maddie, who initially lives with Bosch's ex-wife but takes a more important role in later books when she comes to live with him in Los Angeles and starts to emulate her father's police career. In the thriller genre, Tom Clancy's Dr. Jack Ryan—PhD., former Marine, CIA operative extraordinaire and heroic two-term President—also finds time to raise four children, including Jack Ryan Jr., who follows in his father's footsteps and enters the "Ryanverse" book series as an analyst for "the Campus," an off-the-books intelligence agency, where he is a great ally of Ryan Sr., of course. For those who long for a British gentleman as pater familias, there is Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard, who starts out single in the series debut A Man Lay Dead but marries in later novels and fathers a son Ricky, who plays major roles as a child in Spinsters in Jeopardy and as a young man in Last Ditch.  For dark-humor American fare, check out Slim and Anci, the father-daughter duo in Jason Miller's Little Egypt series set in southern Illinois coal country. Self-styled "redneck detective" and single-father Slim is teamed with his brilliant young daughter Anci, starting with Down Don't Bother Me about a mine owner who pays Slim to unravel the mystery of a dead reporter and missing photographer (sans police and press), and Red Dog, in which Slim tracks a missing pitbull only to find a dognapper with his head blown off. And if you want fatherly care without the blood ties, there is always Father Brown, the insightful Roman Catholic priest and amateur sleuth of 53 short stories by G.K. Chesterton (and a TV series).

The Special Satisfaction of Solving Cold Cases

The other day I was reading the latest mystery from Tami Hoag, The Bitter Season, including a cold-case investigation of the 25-year-old murder of a sex crimes detective, and I began to think about the fascination of cold cases. Not only are there many TV series, both the fictional and "reality" variety, built around cold cases, there are also many cold-case mysteries by top authors. For example, there is The Drop by Michael Connelly, in which LAPD detective Harry Bosch is asked to look into why DNA from a rape and murder 21-years earlier matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Is the new regional crime lab compromised, or is something even darker going on? Kate Atkinson launched her PI Jackson Brodie series with Case Histories, about three investigations--a little girl who went missing 30 years before, a random maniacal attack on an officer worker, and a grisly crime by an overwhelmed new mother--which turn out to have surprise connections. From Harlan Coben, a favorite for plot twists, comes Stay Close, about a detective doggedly pursuing the 17-year-old unsolved disappearance of a husband and father until the hidden secrets of past and present suburban lives disastrously collide. Laura Lippman's After I'm Gone also explores how one man’s disappearance affects his wife, mistress (who later disappears and ends up dead) and daughters, and then ensnares a retired Baltimore detective working the cold cases 36 years later. Similarly, in The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds that her investigation of an old man's murder links to the tragic past of the abandoned, haunted farm where an Amish father and his four children perished, and his young wife disappeared, 35 years earlier. And finally, one of my favorite forensic mystery writers, Kathy Reichs, offers Bones to Ashes, in which forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (the inspiration for the "Bones" TV series) works to solve the mystery of a young girl's skeleton. Could she be Brennan's childhood friend who vanished 30 years earlier? Or are the bones tied to a series of cold cases that have left three girls dead and four missing? I find there's a special pleasure in reading about the solution to a cold case. For one, there's the thrill of solving a puzzle that has baffled others. And then there's the satisfaction of the hunt, of capturing the murderer who almost got away. Most important, the long shadow of justice is affirmed, and the mystery ends with cathartic closure to tragic history. In reality as opposed to fiction, many cold cases remain unsolved, and those solved owe less to detective brilliance than to improved forensics, especially DNA, and belated witnesses or confessions. For examples of real cold case solutions, see http://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/10-cold-cases-solved

After the Election, My Mystery Shopping Deluge

I'm not much of a holiday shopping fanatic, but I need something pleasant to anticipate after the end of this awful election season. So I'm beginning to put together my holiday book list for mystery lovers. Courtesy of Publishers Weekly, here are some ideas: I like the look of Steven Price's By Gaslight, about two men combing London's 1885 underworld to find the master criminal responsible for a woman's dismembered body; you can't beat foggy streets, smoky opium dens, and Victorian seance halls described with "literary sophistication." For anyone who likes the moody mystery of Edward Hopper's paintings, In Sunlight or in Shadow is a fascinating idea for a crime fiction anthology, with top authors like Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Jeffery Deaver, Stephen King, and Joyce Carol Oates each penning stories inspired by Hopper's art. I'm a big fan of Canadian Louise Penny, and the 12th mystery in her Armand Gamache series, titled A Great Reckoning, has the former Quebec Chief of Homicide back in the village of Three Pines and following an old map into a dangerous web involving police cadets, a murdered professor and a stained glass window with terrible secrets. I'm also a fan of Caleb Carr's The Alienist about a psychologist investigating crime in 19th century New York City, so I'm piqued by a new entry from Carr called Surrender, New York, about a psychologist and a DNA expert solving present-day crimes in upstate New York. Also set in New York City is best-seller J.D. Robb's 43rd Eve Dallas thriller, Apprentice in Death, which starts with three ice skaters shot dead on Wollman Rink in Central Park. Plus, best-selling favorite Karin Slaughter has debuted another novel featuring Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Will Trent and medical examiner Dr. Sara Litton; in The Kept Woman, the pair of lovers investigate the death of a dirty retired Atlanta cop. For more fiction and nonfiction options, see http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/71628-holiday-gift-guide-2016-all-our-coverage.html

Mysteries Close to Home: Los Angeles Noir

It's a rainy winter day in Los Angeles, courtesy of El Nino, and a great time to stay at home with a good mystery. Since Los Angeles is the recognized home of "noir" police procedurals and "hard-boiled" private eyes, I'm gathering together my favorite "L.A. noir" authors. Start with Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye; in post-war L.A., iconic private investigator Philip Marlowe is dragged into a cesspool of dangerous lies after befriending a drunken, scarred vet with a rich nymphomanic wife who turns up dead. Then go neo-noir with James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia, the first in his quartet of novels about corrupt police and depraved post-war society, inspired by the gruesome, unsolved 1947 Elizabeth Short murder. Moving forward in L.A. history, there is T. Jefferson Parker's Edgar Award-winning The California Girl, set in Orange County's suburbs at the time of Vietnam, hippies and LSD, when three brothers (a cop, a reporter and a minister) collide over the decapitation murder of a teenage beauty queen. I also love Michael Connelly's maverick homicide detective Harry Bosch, and I'd recommend starting with the Edgar Award-winning The Black Echo. It's the first entry in the Bosch series and introduces Bosch as he fights enemies within the police department and his conflicting urges for justice and vengeance. For another tough PI, get to know Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer; The Underground Man has it all--a fire in the hills, a missing child, and Southern California's special brand of moral ambiguity. I'm also a fan of Jonathan Kellerman's child psychologist sleuth Alex Delaware, who helps the police root out the evil hiding under So Cal's sunny glam. A good starting point is the Edgar Award-winning When the Bough Breaks, in which Delaware tries to unlock the memory of a 7-year-old girl, the only witness to the murder of a fraudulent, sexually manipulative psychiatrist. Finally, for a very different angle on L.A, get to know Easy Rawlins, Walter Mosley's African-American sleuth. In the series debut, Devil in a Blue Dress, watch Rawlins transform from Watts day laborer to private detective. For more L.A. noir gems, see Jonathan Kellerman's recommendations at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/mar/31/jonathan-kellerman-top-10-la-noir-novels

Regional Mystery Rewards Sleuth and Tourist

Sometimes the setting of a mystery novel goes beyond a dash of "local color" into the realm of regional fiction, offering a special atmosphere, unique characters and local accents so integral to the story that it's hard to imagine the same plot in another place. Here are just a few regional mysteries that may appeal to fellow armchair detectives and tourists. Take a trip to New Mexico and its blend of Hispanic, Native American and Anglo cultures courtesy of the late Tony Hillerman; Skinwalkers or A Thief of Time is a good first read. Closer to home for me, Raymond Chandler may have been the pioneer of Los Angeles noir, but Michael Connelly is a worthy heir, winning every major award given to mystery writers, with his novels featuring LAPD detective "Harry" Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller. I also like Jonathan Kellerman's L.A.-based series with child-psychologist sleuth Alex Delaware, starting with the award-winning debut When the Bough Breaks. On the opposite coast, Dennis Lehane draws powerful, wrenching literary mysteries out of a gritty Boston landscape; a great example is Mystic River, winner of multiple book awards. Or follow the cases of the late Robert B. Parker's Boston private detective Spenser; with so many books in the series, a good start is Edgar Award-winning Promised Land. If New York City tops your tour agenda, Linda Fairstein and her Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper provide satisfying reads, including Nero Award-winning The Deadhouse. If you think drizzly gloom is the perfect setting for murder and mayhem, you'll be drawn to J.A. Jance's Seattle-based detective J.P. Beaumont series, starting with debut Until Proven Guilty. Or you can move further north to the wilder shores of Alaska, and meet Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak, kicking off the series with Edgar Award-winning A Cold Day for Murder. There are a lot more regional mysteries worth sampling, of course. For more suggestions, take a look at the post by Marvin Lachman, author of The American Regional Mystery, at http://somethingisgoingtohappen.net/2012/10/17/the-american-regional-mystery-by-marvin-lachman/