Two mystery writers to avoid

[stanwyck]

if you have liberal sensibilities: Diane Mott Davidson and Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. (maybe it's a 3 name thing). I like to listen to mysteries on tape/CD while I'm driving around town. Or I read mysteries on vacation. I used to really enjoy listening to Diane Mott Davison's. Her main character is a caterer (I like to cook) and the combination of sleuthing and cooking was intriguing and fun. But, increasingly, Davidson's books have stressed the wonders of materialism and have railed against "environmental wackos" ruining fictional Aspen Meadows. The main character (Goldie) has a best friend who is meant to be charming but is totally annoying. She's a Paris Hilton/Leona Helmsly clone who lives for jewelry and parties. The stories center on self-centered characters and their entitlements. There's a strong under-current of "we're blessed with money because we're better." Kind of like hanging with the Bushies. Yuck. No more for me.
Then there's Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's latest: "Sullivan's Law". Don't waste your time/money on this sludge. The main character might be Ann Coulter with a name change. She's a probation officer who fantasies about the beatings and rape of one of her probationers when sent back to prison. She finds it hilarious. She alters her appearance (shortens her skirt, unbuttons her blouse, piles on makeup) to interview a rape suspect. The character asserts she'll know if he really is a rapist if he stares at her cleavage. What? Maybe Rosenberg should read a real author's book: Alice Seibold's "Lucky" (Seibold wrote The Lovely Bones). "Lucky" is about Seibold's real life rape when she was a 19-yr. old virgin. No cleavage. Just jeans, buttoned up shirt, and a heavy sweater. I think the statistics will bear me out on this. It's not the clothes. It's the intent.
Plus, the main character has this really creepy fixation on her own adolescent son's physical beauty. She loves to stroke his bare chest and admire his chiseled muscles. The son and daughter in this book speak like TV kids. On really, really bad sitcoms. Or maybe you find it as hilarious as the main character (who can't stop laughing) when her daughter mistakes "touche" for "douche".
I returned the 8 cassette audiobook after listening to 4.
Feel free to stand up for these two. But, for me, it's over. No more Davidson or Rosenberg. Plenty of other better writers out there.
Back to Dennis LeHane and Kathy Reichs.

[candy]

1. I love mysteries and don't like them either----

I prefer male writers,with a few exceptions,and I'm a woman.

[indigobusiness]

11. I agree...

but Ayn Rand's work is awesome.

as well as Ursula K. Leguinne sp?

not mystery writers, but....

[Kenneth ken]

2. it's not a three-name thing

Rita Mae Brown is excellent.

I haven't read either Davidson or Rosenberg, so thanks for the warning.

[asjr]

4. I really enjoy Rita Mae Brown, especially

her Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries. I have read them all and wish she could write one a month. Can hardly wait for the next one.

[stanwyck]

5. Thanks for the recommendation

I'll pick up Rita Mae Brown next time and break the curse of the 3 name writers.

[Zomby Woof]

3. I'll stick with Walter Moseley or Raymond Chandler

[NewHampshireDem]

6. What about Jane Haddam?

http://www.janehaddam.com/index.html

She has a couple of interesting articles on her site about why she doesn't vote Republican. She seems like my kind of woman. :)

[stanwyck]

7. Another great recommendation

I wish I could go ahead and enjoy a writer or actor's work even when I know he/she is a winger. But I can't. The state of the world is just too critical. My son is in Iraq. I have grave concerns. So, when a writer starts expousing winger philosophy through their characters, I'm turned off. And it's very difficult for me to appreciate an actor's work when I know they're supporting causes I abhor. Fortunately, most decent actors are liberal. There are very few conservatives whose work is so captivating that it is irresistable. Thanks again for the tip on Haddam.

[Scout]

8. try Nevada Barr

her Anna Pigeon character is wonderful! I was never much of a mystery reader until I discovered Anna. Each mystery takes place in and around a National Park, so you get to learn about the parks too.

I highly recommend these mysteries!

http://www.NevadaBarr.com

[stanwyck]

14. Also a fan

I like Anna since she's close to my age and the locations are fascinating. Barr is a much better writer than Davidson or Rosenberg.

[mitchum]

9. I also detect some right wing tendencies in Patricia Cornwall...

and of course James Ellroy is a raving crypto-Nazi, but he's just too good to give up

[stanwyck]

13. you're right

as usual, Mitchum. James Ellroy is a foaming at the mouth Clinton hater. And Cornwall has ruined her writing by becoming paranoid and vengeful. Her early Kate Scarpetta books were fairly good. But she's written some dreadful stuff recently.

[indigobusiness]

10. Kinky Friedman---mind blowing mystery writer

http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/

[Nikia]

12. I like PD James

She writes good literature. I like literature that isn't just entertaining but also is thought provoking and says something about the human condition.

[stanwyck]

15. Also a fan

I believe the BBC has made a couple of her books into TV mini-series but I haven't seen them. I had to intervene at a bookstore when a woman was asking for her books and the clerk insisted P.D. James was a romance novelist.

[graywarrior]

16. Sue Grafton

She's demented.

[NightTrain]

17. I read Diane Mott Davidson's first book, "Dying for Chocolate."

It was so white-bread, I almost didn't get through the damned thing. Never read her again.