Jon Hassler

One day many years ago, I was walking into a used book store and I paused at one of those carts placed outside the store with bargain books. The name, Jon Hassler, jumped out at me from the cover of a book titled: North of Hope. I noticed the name because Jon Hassler had been the name of my freshman English teacher at Brainerd State Junior College in 1969-70; now Central Lakes College.

I picked up the book and looked for the author photo. It was most definitely the same person! He was a very handsome fellow, but I think what enhanced his good looks was his extreme kindness. When all of the assignment details have faded from the courses we take, we are left with some foundational ideas and the essence of the person who made the assignments. All I remembered from freshman English was the respect and kindness that Jon Hassler showed every student regardless of their performance or ability.

I had no idea that he had been or had become a writer, and I was curious. North of Hope did not disappoint. Subsequently, I looked him up and read a few more of his works. They are easier to find in Minnesota bookstores than they are here on the West Coast, so when I go back there, I usually find a few more. I have read nearly everything he has written and passed the books along to friends.

If you don't live in the Midwest, used books are pretty easy to find on line. The following link gives the names of his works. They are, in my opinion, pretty timeless stories. The plots are good, the characters are unforgettable, and the themes are the stuff that make readers everywhere grateful for the gift of language.

Especially fun for me in this journey of discovery was an anecdote in the forward of the book Rufus at the Door and other Stories about how and when he began to write. He recounts leaving one of his classes at the Brainerd college, going to the library during his free period, and sitting down to begin writing for the first time. It was 1970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Hassler

Zero Hour is Approaching

For those of us who have been following Sue Grafton since A is for Alibi, the approaching end of the alphabet is a little bit sad. If you have not read anything in her series, I envy you. You have 26 marvelous stories and many hours of relaxation ahead of you. I think of the protagonist in these books (Kinsey Millhone)  as a kind of girlish Clint Eastwood. She does not, however, take herself very seriously, so she is a little more palatable than her male counterparts.

Happily, the stories are set in a fictionalized Santa Barbara, California.  Reading the novels is a clever and inexpensive way to live in Santa Barbara for a few hours, creating a kind of delightful flashback for anyone who has been lucky enough to spend time there in real life.

A is for Alibi was published in 1982, and all of the novels are set in the eighties. Grafton's own story is satisfying in a mildly vengeful way. She has been turning the straw of a bitter loss into gold for decades. Ms. Grafton once told an interviewer that after her divorce, she spent so many hours and sleepless nights plotting ways to kill her ex-husband and his new love interest that she decided to turn these fantasies into books. I have no way of knowing just how true this story is, but it has a nice Happy Ending ring to it. Whatever the actual facts are, she is a talented writer and a great contributor to one of literature's most popular genres.

She has stated publicly that the last book in the series will be Z is for Zero. I can't wait. Or maybe I can. Maybe she will do something with numbers, and then I won't have to worry about running out of her books. Is that last title a hint?

Post Script: Sue Grafton died in December of 2017 and Z is for Zero exists only in our imaginations. 

Stuart Woods: Stone Barrington, Holly Barker, Will Lee, etc

Stuart Woods is frivolous, totally frivolous. If you take yourself at all seriously, you will not want to read his work and you will certainly not want to admit it in erudite company. However, if you are looking for light reading, he is just the ticket. He has written several series, but they overlap quite a bit. The most voluminous of these is the Stone Barrington series. 
 

Exotic foods, expensive wines, luxurious travel, and extravagantly tailored clothing are part of the fantasy formula for the Woods stories. Hollywood movie stars and wealthy producers also add to the overall embarrassment of riches. Realism plays no visible part in these books, so if you read for escape, Woods’ books are the perfect exit from reality. The women are all athletic, trim and perpetually in their 30's, while the men range into 50's and 60's. The stunningly gorgeous females fling themselves at the middle-aged and elderly men with abandon - possibly the most fantastical feature of the stories.

Woods’ plots are a blend of Boxcar Children, James Bond and Murder, She Wrote with a little sprinkling of West Wing. These books are television for people who would rather read than watch TV. There are no loud commercials and you can get up for a snack or a drink whenever it suits you. They are technically mystery/detective/crime stories, in the same way that Scooby Doo is a mystery/detective/crime series.  

And just when you think you know people, you discover this!

Woods first book was a masterpiece. This book is in the same league with To Kill a Mockingbird, seriously. This portrayal of old Georgia, written in 1981, is a gem. Chiefs is set in three separate time periods: 1920's, post WWII, and early 1960's. It got enough attention to warrant a TV mini-series in 1982.

Frivolity or good literature, take your pick. 

John Sandford Books

Sandford is a prolific author and I have not yet scratched the surface of his many volumes, but I can safely say that I will be reading all of at least two of his series. He reminds me of Hiaasen, and that is a huge compliment. Like Hiaasen, Sandford creates characters with an irreverent and innovative brilliance. If you also like characters who engage in creative cursing and philosophical meanderings, these flawed protagonists will make you happy.

Sandford's good guys have a strong moral compass that has nothing to do with piety or religion and everything to do with living an examined life. The characters and plots are not as wacky and outrageous as Hiaasen's, but that might be an accurate reflection of the difference between Minnesota and Florida. That is not to suggest that there is anything bland about the Sanford stories. On the contrary, the color in both the language and the circumstances is artful and amazing. Not

since Shakespeare have rogues and miscreants been insulted with such

enthusiastic poetry.

These characters do not take themselves too seriously, and that feature is one of several that makes the stories move along in a sort of freewheeling style. Detective novels can be made tedious by too much swashbuckling. Sandford's story telling gets another boost from the fact that there is little to no "filler" in the books. Every sentence moves the plot along briskly and meaningfully - downright cheerfully, to be perfectly honest. There is definitely an upbeat quality to the cast of characters.

There are Prey novels, Flowers novels, Kidd novels, a series called Singular Menace,  and a couple of non-series books. The Prey series is the longest and contains some fairly grisly content. But all of the books are suspenseful and create some tension. Sandford is a good researcher and the tension is often created by his delving into the minds of the truly nefarious. Everyone has heard the phrase, "couldn't put it down." It is a saying that applies to every one of Sandford's books.

A Few Weeks in Provence!

If you would love to visit the south of France, but feel that you can’t afford it, you can visit there for a period of a few weeks absolutely free. To accomplish this minor miracle you need only check out a dozen or so books by Peter Mayle from the local library.

Mayle has written several  nonfiction books  about his experiences in the region of Provence in southern France, and he has also written a handful of near farcical novels set in the same region. The net effect is quite similar. The descriptions of food, terrain, local residents, wine, and weather are altogether intoxicating.

His first book about the region was a memoir about his first year as a resident of Provence. This book, A Year in Provence, gained a great deal of attention and he went on to pen several more.  Mayle’s fascination with and love for the area shows up in his work. There is a lighthearted and joyful attitude that permeates all of the stories as well as the guideooks.

Bon Voyage!

Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Series by Anne Perry

I have realized that I did not include Anne Perry in my earlier posts.  Many years ago, I read a half dozen or more of the Charlotte and Thomas books, which comprise a series set in late Victorian London. I have a couple of problems with Perry's writing style, and those things sometimes leave me less than enthusiastic about the entertainment value of her work. I prefer crisp dialogue and nearly all of her characters give lengthy, tangential speeches. There may be substantial differences in the way people speak to each other between then and now, but these stullifying monologues are not quite believable somehow. Perry also tend to end her stories somewhat abruptly and I miss the tying up of loose ends that is the stock in trade of most writers of mysteries.

Lately, because I have oodles of time, and I have chanced to finish reading the books in the series that I didn't get to earlier. I have also re-read some of the earlier works. At this point, I am finding them interesting because of the information she includes about the era. These stories take place a little over a hundred years ago, and the comparisons to current time are fascinating. I'm working on developing more tolerance for her style quirks!

Perry has a fascinating story of her own. As a youngster in New Zealand, she was involved in a real life murder plot which became internationally infamous. There is now a book about her actual life titled Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham.

Chet and Bernie

Beginning with the smirkingly funny title, Dog On It, this is a tremendously enjoyable series of books about a dog and his private investigator partner by Spencer Quinn. It's certain to appeal to aficionados of dogs, but it actually has a much wider appeal because of the excellent comedy. The stories are told from the point of view of the dog, and it works unimaginably well. There are about a half dozen of them at this point, and hopefully, Quinn will write a few  more.

Carl Hiaasen

Hiaasen has been around since the mid eighties and I have no idea why I haven't read any of his books until now. He writes biting, zany, outrageous satire and creates characters who are as bizarre as any in literature. He also gives the occasional speech, and if you google him, you can watch some great comedic performances on Youtube. He is as much fun to listen to as he is to read. If you are squeamish about expletives, you will want to give him a miss, as he rolls out some of the most creative curses ever invented - a kind of folksy, metaphorical spice to the already delicious prose.

Hiaasen's books do not have to be read in order. Some of his characters recur, but there is no thread to lose if you read the more recent books first. This is cynicism at its best, for those of us who cannot get enough of that brand of humor.

Hiaasen also writes nonfiction, children's books and a column for the Miami Herald. In my opinion, he's a genius.

McInerny

Father Dowling Mysteries by Ralph McInerney
I discovered these shortly after writing the last list. They are mind candy, to be sure, but they're better than most television by a long shot. The setting is a Catholic community outside of Chicago and the Notre Dame professor/author informs the reader about the dilemmas and issues of Catholics.

British Mysteries

A few more mystery series authors:
It’s almost always a good idea to read these in order. In addition to the mystery murder plot of each book, there is a long running story thread in each series. All of these are set in England in more or less modern times –late 20th and early 21st century.

Martha Grimes – There are two central sleuths in this series; one is a bona fide detective (shades of P.D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh), and the other is a landed gentry type (shades of Lord Peter Wimsey). For added fun, each story takes place in connection with an English pub possessing a whimsical name, i.e., The Man With a Load of Mischief, The Grave Maurice, The Lamorna Wink, and The Five Bells and Bladebone, to name a few.

Simon Brett – This fellow has written a couple of series; the one I found to be compelling enough to read straight through in the course of a few weeks was the ‘Fethering Mystery’ series featuring two middle-aged women who live next door to each other, and develop a friendship despite some personality difference. One is a rather conservative, retired civil servant and the other is a rather Bohemian character with a questionable past.

Hazel Holt is a modern mystery writer whose character is a Sayer’s fan, so there are occasional references to Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, which will be amusing for readers who are also Sayers admirers. The main character is a likable widow writer who is an enthusiastic participant in small town life. She likes cats and dogs, but does not imbue them with any mystery solving propensities, much to my relief.

Hamish Macbeth series by M C Beaton
M C Beaton also writes the Agatha Raisin series, which I didn’t like at first, but they grew on me after a dozen or so of them. The BBC produced three seasons of Hamish Macbeth television shows. They are extremely well done, but you may need to watch them twice in order to completely understand the Highlander brogue.

Mysteries

Everything by Agatha Christie
Nothing can touch the Christie stories for plot. She is the reigning queen, with no contenders on the horizon. My method is to read them all, forget them, and then reread them all again every ten years. This way I can enjoy these masterpieces at least 5 or 6 six times during my lifetime. If I become more forgetful in my advancing years, maybe I can shorten the span to every five years!

The "Lord Peter Wimsey" series by Dorothy Sayers
Dorothy Sayers is the runner up in this category. This series has a romance running through it, so I have prepared a list of these books in chronological order that I bestow upon my lucky friends! The butler's character in this series, Bunter, is very much like Wodehouse's Jeeves, and adds a dimension of humor to the reading.

The Dorothy Sayers List of Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane Mysteries

1. Whose Body?
2. Unnatural Death
3. Clouds of Witness
4. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
5. Documents in the Case
5. Strong Poison
6. Five Red Herrings
7. Have His Carcase
8. Hangman's Holiday
9. Murder Must Advertise
10. Nine Tailors
11. Gaudy Night
12. Busman's Honeymoon
13. In the Teeth of the Evidence (Collection)
14. Thrones, Dominations by Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh (This was written in 1998, using a partial manuscript and notes of Sayers. It is excellent.)


"Joe Leaphorn" and "Jim Chee" series by Tony Hillerman
These are reasonably good mysteries, but they are a Master's level course on Navajo history, culture and religion. The combination of these two things makes the whole series a real treat. As with all of the series books, I think they are more fun in chronological order.

The "Peter Decker, Rina Lazarus" series by Faye Kellerman
This series contains a bit more crime than I usually like in a novel, but her portrayal of Orthodox Judaism is as good as any religious studies text without having to suffer from the boring, dried up style of the average textbook.

The "Day the Rabbi…" series by Harry Kemelman
After learning all about Orthodox Judaism from Faye Kellerman the next logical step is to read these books, which describe Conservative Judaism. Kemelman is a little more prosaic than Kellerman, and he offers a pretty thorough examination of Jewish thought and life in a broad sense. He also helps readers understand the variations among Jewish tradition. After reading these two enlightening series, I realized that most people I'm acquainted with knew as little about Judaism as I did. It seems a shame that we don't know more about each other as a matter of course.