Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A-Z Blogging Challenge: Letter D

Day 4 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be doing posts for each letter of the alphabet. It is my plan to make my posts reading &/or book-related. April 5th is brought to you by the Letter D.

D is for Detectives. What good would a mystery novel be without a detective? Whether it be an official representative of the law such as Lt. Bill Weigand or Inspector Heimrich in the novels of Frances and Richard Lockridge, a private, "consulting" detective like Sherlock Holmes, or your out-and-out amateur like Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple, you've got to have a detective to help the reader sort out the clues and get to the bottom of the mystery. Personally, I always enjoy trying to figure it all out before the detective. And I'm pretty broad-minded. I like most any kind of detective--even the hard-boiled type in small doses.

Within each category of detective there is even more variety....There are the quiet, unassuming elderly ladies like Jane Marple and Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver whom everybody seems to underestimate. Those fluffy old ladies drink in the gossip and have their eye on everything that goes on in their small towns. There's Nero Wolfe sitting in his brownstone home--drinking beer, raising orchids and unraveling all the mysteries that come his way. There's the very logical and scientific "Thinking Machine" (Dr. S. F. X. Van Dusen). And, of course, there's Hercule Poirot who depends on his "little grey cells." Representing the law, you have Inspector McKee, one of New York's finest and starring in some of the first examples of the police procedural. More recently, and on the other side of the pond, there is London's Inspector Lynley. A very good detective--but a very human one. Elizabeth George's stories have a lot of human interest mixed in with her mysteries.

Hmmm. I can't wait till lunch time so I can go read my latest detective novel.....


2 comments:

Sherrie said...

Hi!
I'll agree, you do need a good detective to solve the crime. One of my favorites is of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. But I also love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Sue Grafton's Linsey Milhone. Thanks for stopping by my place. I'm also following you. Have a great day!

Sherrie
Just Books
http://sherriesbooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/to-z-blogging-challenge_05.html

fredamans said...

I like who-done-its, but am not a Sherlock fan.

http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/2011/04/d-is-for-dad.html