I keep falling for these complicated types—detectives—in faraway places filled with intrigue.
The first was Commissario Guido Brunetti, an Italian police detective in his hometown of Venice. Happily married with two children, Guido hops on the vaporetto or ambles down narrow cobbled paths, philosophizing about morality, environmental destruction, fraud, bureaucracy, and the ottimo espresso.
At first I thought the main attraction was to revisit his ancient city of canals, open-air markets, and cafés. Twenty-seven Donna Leon novels later, it is much more than the city; I’ve fallen in love with Leon’s characters and plots.
Then came the new guy on my reading block: Cormoran Strike, a private detective who lives in a simple apartment above his office on Denmark Street in London, a place I’ve never been except via the pages of Robert Galbraith, the nomme de plume of J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series). I’ve zipped through all four of the mysteries in the past three months.
And, I’m not the only one. I was 17th on the request list at Schlow Centre Region Library for the latest Strike adventure, Lethal White. On Google Maps, you can get a Guide To Cormoran Strike’s Britain. And, if recipes are more to your liking, Roberta Pianaro and Donna Leon took advantage of Guido’s love of food and created the Brunetti’s Cookbook. These whodunits also have spawned television shows in the United Kingdom and Germany, and blogs across the Internet.
It’s not just a male thing. I’m caught up in Cara Black’s character of Aimée Leduc, a private investigator in Paris. Each of the Leduc series takes the reader to a murder investigation in a different neighborhood in Paris. Thus, you have Murder on the Left Bank, Murder in Montparnasse, Murder in Montmarte, or Murder in Clinchy, visiting 18 different arrondissements in all, with the 19th scheduled for release June 4. And, I’m cheering for Cormoran Spike’s assistant Robin Ellacott and Guido Brunetti’s computer whiz and fashionista Signorina Elettra, and other strong female characters.
With Guido, one of the main attractions is Italian food. As I read descriptions of the dinners his wife prepares, I get so hungry for polenta or pasta that my mouth waters. With Aimée, my French vocabulary has expanded: mec (guy), flic (cop), pute (prostitute) and Vraiment? (Really?) With Cormoran, it’s been right-leg compassion.
When my sister and her husband drive the five-plus hours from Connecticut to State College, they often listen to audiobooks. That’s how they got hooked on Cormoran Strike.
Me & my boot
When I had ankle reconstruction surgery in November and was sentenced to having my right leg, from foot to knee, in a cast for three months, they figured I’d have lots of time to read and would feel camaraderie with Cormoran, who lost the lower half of his right leg in an attack in Afghanistan. They sent me a copy of the first Cormoran Strike crime novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling.
So, for the past three months, I’ve been immersed in fictional crimes taking place in contemporary London, with the real-life backdrop of Kate and William’s wedding or the London Olympics. I got so excited when a character in the first novel had links to Marina’s grad school, the School of Oriental and African Studies. All the while, I’ve commiserated with Strike’s tendency to push past his physical limitations with the acknowledgement that his pain, at least in the pages of crime fiction, is permanent, while mine is temporary.
The anticipation of each new installment of these three series reminds me of the Harry Potter days with my children. Early on, I’d read each adventure aloud in the Hobbit Garden or at night, in bed. Then, they could read them on their own, but we still researched the publishing date of each next volume, prepaying for its direct and immediate shipment. We were hooked, as I am now. Laurie Lynch
Reader’s Quest: Has anyone out there read another good mystery series that they’d recommend? I’m reading my favorites faster than the authors can write!
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