Mystery authors who have lost it

I, for one, think that Robert Parker has totally lost it. An avid fan a few years ago, I can't even pick up one of his books today. They're all the same, whether they're Jesse Stone, Sunny Randall or Spenser. It's relationship mush more than mystery. Anyone else agree/disagree? Any other authors?

I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head, but definitely agree about Parker ... some long-running authors are able to continually refresh their stuff and keep it up to date John Le Carre, Martin Cruz Smith) and some aren't ... it's like Parker has run out of ideas for Spense, et al, but also doesn't want to try something really new or different ... look at Walter Mosely ... whether you like his non-mystery books or not (I don't), he's at least trying to push his own particular envelope by getting into sci fi-type stuff and non-fiction.

Patricia Cornwell
The drop off in quality is huge and I can't explain it. It's like here brain fell out of her head or something.

Elizabeth Peters for me has lost it since I cannot stand her Rameses character anymore - he was insufferable as a child and now he's unbelievable as an adult and I cannot stand his smug presence. I prefer Amelia's stories before the brat.

I agree that Patricia Cornwell comes most readily to mind.

I love Mosely's Easy Rawlins mysteries. Though they're heavy on relationships and social commentary, Little Scarlet was as fresh and interesting as some of his earlier books.

IMHO, Patricia Cornwell's first 4 or 5 were unputdownable (word?), but her later ones were totally unbelievable and boring.

I still enjoy the Amelia Peabody mysteries, but then I like Ramses now (hated him as a kid). Even so, the reason I read them is definitely for Peabody and Emerson.

Oh, lord, there are so many.

Rita Mae Brown, Anne Perry, whoever it is that writes the "Cat Who . . ." books, Mark Richard Zubro, among others.

Julie Smith was getting dangerously close to losing it in the Skip Langdon books, but then she took the Talba Wallis character and created a new series that is doing just fine.

Have you tried Mosely's Fearless Jones? I like them better than Easy Rawlins.

Ed ~ No, I haven't read Mosley's other mystery series or his novels in other genres. Yet. On your recommendation, I'll start the Fearless Jones series. Better than Easy Rawlins is high praise indeed!

Lilith ~ Yes! You are so right about the one who writes "The Cat Who..." books. I loved the first few, but now give them a pass. I never did read Brown ~ I think I tried (perhaps with one of her more recent ones?) but couldn't get interested. Anne Perry, though ~ the Pitt mysteries got a bit out there, but I still enjoy her Hester and Monk mysteries.

Storeetllr, I am with you in the fact that the Monk mysteries are better than the Pitt ones. I have read all of both series and always enjoyed Hester and William much more.

James Lee Burke is one of the best, but I think his more recent books just rehash the plots of some of the other ones. I just finished Crusader's Cross and it felt like I had read it all before: Dave Robicheaux acts holier than thou, Clete Purcell beats someone up, a shoot out in a hunting cabin on stilts, colorful mob characters, a drunk/insane lady hits on Dave, a serial killer, Dave's wife is kidnapped, the three-legged dog . . . .

It's like all the components are on the computer and a program rearranges them, picks new names, and prints it out. Maybe Roald Dahl was right -- these books are all written by The Great Automatic Grammatizator!

Alistair Maclean let the drink and the bitterness get to him, or so I've read. The last four or five (I finally got smart and stopped buying the hardcovers after a while) were nowhere close to his earlier works. I started noticing a dropoff after (or maybe during) Circus.

I don't know if the authors always have "Lost it", as much as maybe it is the publishing companies putting pressure on the best selling authors to produce and then to meet the deadlines they put out an inferior product. Anyone else agree?

No, I think authors eventually get sick and tired of their series characters and formulaic plots. They may be pressured to perform rather more rapidly than is good for the product, but one has the impression that the "rush" to finish could be handled if the author still had the original "spark".

Martha Grimes, for example, had a very good franchise in her Richard Jury series. Then after 12 or 15 of them, she suddenly came out of the genre with The End of the Pier, a really bad non-Jury book. It looked like she just had to get away from Jury, and lance something festering inside her ("Pier" really was bad!).

Then, possibly realizing her mistake, she returned to the Jury series, but a half-dozen more never quite realized the earlier quality -- seemed she was just going through the motions. She also produced more non-Jury one-off books as well - perhaps "as badly" would be more accurate. Then she started what appears to be a new series : Hotel Paradise, Cold Flat Junction and Biting the Moon -- possibly better than their reviews indicate, but I haven't read them because I haven't overcome my revulsion at her last (22nd) Richard Jury title, The Old Wine Shades, where she has resorted to a dog as her narrator! Now that's going down hill for fair!

Yeah, Parker is a classic example of ose who have lost it and fill up pages with "relatonships", ranging from tender memories of kindergarten crushes to outreageous three-ring sex circuses which are not so much erotic as humorous. Personally, I don't believe there is all thatr much sxeual activity going on, but then Dorothy Parker id say "that if all the girls at the Yale Prom were laid end to end, she wouldn't be a bit surprised." Now Lawrence Block, with his recovering alcoholic, Mark Scudder, knows how to write a series of mysteries that hold up while his character loses everything, job, wife, kids, self respect and finally gets his act together and actually winds up marrying his whore and they live happily ever after. While working as a nursing staff coordinator, I recomm-ended the series to a couple of nurses running a drunk ward and they said it really helped some of their clientel. And you know something, I don't drink anywhere as much as I used to!

Perhaps it sounds harsh, considering how terrific Elizabeth George is in her prime, but I think that the rot set in during In Pursuit of The Proper Sinner and that her subsequent mysteries just don't have "it". They're certainly well-written, with obvious research, but there are sometimes noticeable plot holes or contrivances which just weren't there before.

I notice her latest, What Came Before He Shot Her, isn't a mystery at all, but an exploration of three young siblings living in a deprived inner-city environment (background for the previous mystery, With No One As Witness ). I have a bad feeling about this...

I thought Elizabeth George was going downhill after the stella Deception on his Mind, perhaps because she wrote a couple of books that didn't feature much, if any, Barbara. Frankly, Lindley is a bore without Barbara. I didn't seek the books out but if I came across an audio at a library sale, I picked it up. Most, I thought were so-so.

I will say though, that With No One As Witness is excellent - a bit daring. Interestingly, she switched over to Harper Collins to publish it. However, reviews from now-former co-workers are mixed on the newest and I'm unlikely to read it; I've moved on.

With No One As Witness isn't bad in the main, but it features one of those plot contrivances I mentioned, namely, a clueless top man who thinks giving out private information about police officers - such as where they live - to the media is a Really Good Idea. And of course he needs to do that for plot purposes, but in so doing he does not sound like a credible police officer. No cop would do that.

George never used to have to resort to stuff like that for her plots, and it's stuff like that (and the prisoner in A Traitor To Memory who spends decades in jail on the strength of a verbal promise!) which makes me think she hasn't quite "got it" anymore. It could be that what she lacks is an editor strong enough to point out these flaws before they make it into print?

But yes, Deception On His Mind was indeed fantastic. Model of how to go beyond a thriller to encompass social and political commentary as well.

I was also getting a bit teed off with all her perverse sexual crimes/murders; I thought it gratituitous. And bibliotheque, I think you're on to something there, the part I like in With No One as Witness is the part that touches on issues involved in making such a difficult decision (sorry to be so cryptic, don't want any spoilers). Still, I don't feel the slightest pull towards the latest, so I'll let her go.

Besides, I hear in the new Reginald Hill that the fat man is in the hospital due to an explosion and on death's door!

I think Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum was not up to par. Twelve Sharp just felt like it was missing something. She is one of the few authors that actually can make me laugh out loud while I am reading the book. I like reading her for "junk food for the brain" fun. It felt like she needed to bring in a new character to liven things up a bit. This was the first one in this series that left me a bit disappointed.

> 19

Well, I don't think she's lost it; I don't think she ever had it. I tried her once. Actually forced myself to finish the book! Poor me. Her "heroine" is such a ninny!

Patricia Cornwell jumped the shark with the Loup Garou -- straight downhill from there. Agreed the ones before were unputdownable, making the end result even worse! The woman can write, she just isn't!
Elizabeth Peters jumped the shark with the Ramses and Nefret affair.
Marcia Muller has turned Sharon McCone into a glorified Corp-o-cog; the adoption storyline was too much for me as well. Bring back Elena Oliverez.
Janey Evanovich seems to be using Lula and Grandma Mazur to "carry" the action a lot more than she should.

I think Elizabeth George's first two or three books were the high points. The rest have been overlong and way too full of the private angst of her too-precious and over-privileged stable of recurring characters, except for Sgt. Havers. I've waded through several of them, sorry to admit.

Then there's Jonathan Gash. Whose first several Lovejoys were a fun ride. But the other series - I can't remember if Different Women Dancing was the first or second - is just too hard-edged and brutal. And the later Lovejoys lacked something; maybe it was just me but I couldn't get engaged with them.

I agree about Anne Perry. I just can't read any more of her books. Everyone seems to ramble on about honour and duty. I dropped the Pitt books once she started with the great conspiracy of the Inner Circle; the last of that series I read was Seven Dials. And although I liked the Monk books more, The shifting tide is the last of that series I will read. I just could not get into the latest one. I tried her WWI series but put it down after two pages.

I had never read Anne Perry, but tried the first WWI series No Graves As Yet. It was pretty dreadful and I stopped at about 80 pages after flipping through to see if got better, but it looked like it only got worse.

Originally posted by Seajack:
"Patricia Cornwell jumped the shark with the Loup Garou -- straight downhill from there. Agreed the ones before were unputdownable, making the end result even worse! The woman can write, she just isn't!"

I totally agree. I couldn't read her other novels (Southern Cross, etc). It's like she's lost the feel for her characters. Lucy, who used to be brilliant, is now whiny and morose; Benton, who also used to be brilliant, is now a cipher reduced to cameo appearances. She hasn't had any decent villains since she killed off Gault and Carrie Grethen.

lilithcat: I loved the first two Stephanie Plum stories, maybe because I'm such a klutz, I could relate. After that, I thought all the stories were essentially the same, meaning that it didn't matter what the story was, they were just a backdrop for her goofiness. I do love the gun-toting grandma, though.

I recently finished Evanovich's "Twelve Sharp" and can see why some Amazon reviewers used the term "ghostwritten." The thought crossed my mind.

Anybody mention P. D. James? I think her last couple of books were pathetic.

While The Lighthouse wasn't exactly up to the level of Devices and Desires, I didn't think it was pathetic.

I stopped reading Cornwell after about four books. The plots were always exactly the same.

I agree about Martha Grimes. She should have spun off Melrose Plant about five books ago. The other thing about her books is that you can't start the series ust anywhee because of the complex relationships of the group in Long Piddleton.

I just finished the Lighthouse by P.D. James and I enjoyed it. I liked the extended prologue and epilogue which included more of the personal lives of the central characters. The mystery on the island began slowly, and then was solved rather suddenly, but it was an exciting and satisfying ending, and a good read in general.

I agree that Martha Grimes has gotten weaker, but her Jury books are still a lot better than many of the pulp mystery series out there, like Janet Evanovich.

I enjoy Janet Evanovich, but I don't think of her so much as a mystery writer as a romance writer who includes an element of mystery in her novels.

Followup to my #13> I confess to being a sucker for Grimes. I just couldn't resist giving her one more chance. I just finished her latest Jury book, Dust. Gad! She's got our Richard gone all sex-crazed!! He's totally forgotten Vivian and now has TWO sex-goddesses in tow. It never ceases to amaze.

She's still on about dogs, too.

I fet like James Lee Burke was falling off with Crusader's Cross but then I read Pegasus Descending which was really quite good (despite being formulaic). I wish he would devote more time to his Billy Bob Holland character who is a bit of a breath of fresh air in Burke's writing.

Also I used to love Tony Hillerman but he really just hasn't been good in a while.

I've been reading all these posts about authors I've been meaning to read "someday". You have all made me realize that I should start with their earliest books if I want to enjoy them. I think some authors just get so caught up with writing and publishing that they have to strain to get a book out every year or so and they (and we) suffer.

I used to love James Patterson's Alex Cross books but now he has ghostwriters and they're dreadful. Any author who publishes a book every month is not writing by himself. And he shouldn't have his names on the books if he's paying someone else to write them.

Well said, kageeh!!

Any author who has "staff" write the books should have to publish a disclaimer on the cover!

Speaking of, isn't there one of the famous spy thriller writers who is dead and new books are still being published in his name?

I think you mean Robert Ludlum - there are other people writing under his brand name. The VC Andrews 'franchise' is the same way. Maybe Patterson is trying to do the same, but while remaining above ground.

Yes -- Ludlum. That's who I was thinking of. You describe it perfectly as a brand name. How awful! I object!

I swear that Lillian Jackson Braun, the author of the "Cat Who..." books, isn't even writing them any more: she's just got an infinite number of monkeys at an infinite number of keyboards, and whenever one of them turns out something halfways intelligible, it goes off to the publisher.

#40 -- Might be the cat itself. ;)

I think Lillian Jackson Braun lost it at #1. I tried to read it and after getting about 1/3 of the way through, thought “this is rubbish”.

I have to agree that Lilian Jackson Braun is no longer writing complete novels. Plot threads begin and then are abandoned without resolution. I don't know why I continue to read the books as they are published.

I used to love Lawrence Sanders - his "Deadly Sins" series and "Commandment" series - but cannot read him anymore. Is he still alive or is someone else putting out the more recent books under Sanders' name (ala VC Andrews)?

Ralph

I really liked Lawrence Sanders' series featuring Archie McNally, as continued by Vincent Lardo after Sanders' death. The last one ended on a true cliffhanger note and then there were no more!

I'm hoping it's a fluke, but Donna Leon's latest, Through A Glass, Darklyis so badly written (IMHO) that I wound up wondering if she'd farmed it out to an aspiring 9th grader in the Midwest who's always wanted to go to Italy. I was shattered--I LOVE Guido Brunetti and loved her plots. I've been buying her last few books in hardback, and I'm signed up at Amazon.com to receive notice when her next one comes out (soon), but I'm really hesitant now.

I love Martha Grimes--all her other characters (besides Jury) are so well done! But Dust turned me off totally--not only dull but poorly written. Just like when Cornwall crashed with whatever forgettable book it was that she wrote. The first ones in her series were superb, but now I don't bother. Too many other good books to read.

As for Elizabeth George--her last one is more a sociological study than anything else. Her usual excellent writing--but I couldn't finish it, since you know how it ends, therefore no plot tension, and I wasn't into sociology that week.

Sadly, I agree about Tony Hillerman. Too bad with all of these writers who maybe are just written out. In Donna Leon's case, looks like she's into writing opera librettos and the opera scene in general. She dedicated Through a Glass,Darkly to Cecilia Bartoli. After reading the book, I wonder if Bartoli is embarrassed!

Tony Hillerman is over 80yrs old and in ill health. I wish I could write like him.

#47 Yeah, no kidding! Wouldn't it be wonderful to be "written out" like that (in the sense of having produced such an oevre)! Too bad about the ill health. Given he's been desinated as "A Friend of the Navajo People", do you know if he has gone through any of their healing rituals,paddyb?

Joycepa, no I don't think so. I read in a recent interview he gave recently that although he was "A friend of the Navajo People" he stated that he wasn't as well versed in their traditions as most people thought. He stated that he and his Navajo friends had many a laugh at the "traditions" that he (Hillerman) had bestowed upon them.

paddyb--thanks for the update. And for a wry laugh at myself for totally believing every single word he wrote! Just goes to show ya what a good writer can do. I once read that it doesn't matter if you don't know a language--if you hear it being pronounced badly, even though you can't speak the language, you'll still know something is wrong. I think the same is true of writing. Only the really good writers can get away with invention.

I definitely agree about Martha Grimes. I have gotten tired of her characters and have not enjoyed the last few.

I noticed that the last books by Agatha Christie (not counting the two she had locked away until her death) were considerably worse than her earlier works. Postern of Fate with Tommy and Tuppence, for example.

I have to agree about Lillan Jackson Braun..."Cat Who" series. They take forever to have a murder but nothing is ever solved now; just moves on about everyone in town.

She has lost the focus .... I loved the first several books but the last three I have read; well, I don't buy them any more and I now know why.

Sorry to agree with everyone but my choices are

Patricia Cornwell, I tell people not to bother with " At Risk" it's rubbish

Sue Grafton- S is for Silence just rambles on then winds up in about 10 pages

Lilian Jackson Braun- used to love these easy reading ones the last 3 are pants

James Patterson- can't even be bothered to write anymore

P.J Tracy- sorry girls but "Dead Run" was the worst book ever, they couldn't even be bothered to get the detectives wifes name right halfway throught the book. Anyone else spot that?

Reginald Hill went off the boil with the Deaths jest books but came back well with the Death of Daziel

Elizabeth George- what came before he shot her didn't even get past the first page

Sorry forgot the last Sarah Strohmeyer it was going well until the last few pages when it suddenly went all Princess Diaries Whats going on!!!!!!

I would add Robert B parker to this list. I think he is now writing by numbers.

His books gravitate towards the legal thriller variety - but John Grisham immediately comes to mind when I read the title of this thread. I can remember his earlier works as being page turners that I couldn't put down until finished. Now it's more of the 'mail it in & cash the check' variety.

I agree that some series seem to drag after a while, but it could be me and not the series/author. Maybe I just have a short attention span and a need to move on to something new. I have read at least a couple of the series mentioned, but have never stuck with them. Except I still like the Martha Grimes series.

Lilian Jackson Braun was wonderful in her first 4 to 5 books, then they became just a reintruduction of the earlier characters. Last three not worth reading.

Martha Grimes seems to be up and down, but definitely must be read in order and the early ones are better.

An author I haven't seen mentioned is Jill Churchill and her Jane Jeffry series. I really read it to see if I can spot Chicago area locations, but with her latest where she married off Jane, I think she had better quit the series. All are fun fluff, but I think Jill has run out of ideas for Jane.

I agree, Parker's plots have become unbelievable. Is he testing us by seeing how far he can go and still sell books.
His dialogue is still good. I find reading about one book a year keeps me interested.
Herbzen

#28 - mdbenoit, I couldn't tell after the last of her books I had read whether I agreed about P.D. James or if maybe I had just lost my taste for them.

I think that might prove a factor in some of the cases of authors "losing it." There was a time when I could tear through books by Tom Robbins (sorry, I know I'm veering off topic, but he was the first author that came to mind), but I doubt I'll ever read another.

Harlan Coben. His Myron Bolitar novels are great but anything else he writes is just a variation on the same plot. Terribly written and such a disappointment.

Well, I thought Mary Higgins Clark lost it for a while, but now she seems to bouncing back.

I like Harlan Coben. I can understand your comment about variations on the same plot, but why do you feel they are terribly written?

James Patterson is the one that comes to mind for me. I don't understand all the hype over this guy. I've read many of his books and even purchased a few. Now I'm getting them from the library. Lake House was not worth the paper it was printed on. Haven't read the latest but sure it will be more of the same.

I do love Harlan too- just not the stand alones. He loses his spark with them. Same theme, lacking character development, no magic.

#60
Well, I'll tell you when I've read a few more. He was interviewed on Oz radio last week and I scurried out to find one of his books. All I could get at short notice was Tell no one which I galloped through. And liked.

One thing - in the US are the terms microfilm and microfiche used interchangeably?

Kerry

Kawe: I've never heard the word "microfiche" before. As far as I know, microfilm is a little role of film you put into a viewer.

Never mind: my mom just told me when she was a kid microfilm and microfiche were the same thing. And then she started in on a rant about "You young kids..."

Per Wikipedia, which as we all know is often untrustworthy but in this case seems to be right, microfilm is scanned onto reels of film, while microfiche is scanned onto flat sheets. That fits my memory of my time at Museum libraries.

Interesting. In the library I worked in, fiche were definitely different from film. This was in the 70s and 80s.

Thanks for the replies.

Kerry

kawebb 65:

No, they are not "supposed" to be used interchangeably, although I suppose it does happen out of ignorance: microfilm is the spooled loop, and microfiche are the rectangular "cards" here.

The collective for microfilm and microfiche is "microform" and that's what we use in my library when referring to either (although in fact we don't own any microfilm, only vast quantities of microfiche).

I devoured all of Patricia Cornwell novels before, but couldn't even get past the first few chapters of 'The Last Precinct'. Thats when the Cornwall hiatus started for me.

Once she left Richmond (in her books and real life) it just started getting wierd. I just finished Predator, and while it is getting warmer to what I used to enjoy, it's not nearly as heavy into the forensics... Still, I'm glad to see she's somewhat back on Scarpetta. All of her characters from before seem to be having mid-life crises, which drives me nuts. They were quirky enough!

As for John Grisham, I can only read one of his books a year. They have such a formula to them and if I read them back to back I can catch the plot INSTANTLY. Such a shame.

My mother keeps handing me her copies of James patterson, but I just can't bring myself to read them. Anybody want to save me the trouble and tell me which to avoid?!

All of them

I like the Coben stand-alones better than the Bolitar novels. Too much witty guy vs. dumb thug wannabe Fletch diaglouge in the Bolitar books. The stand-alones are better paced and more is at stake.

Oh, thank goodness I was able to read this thread. I just finished Trace by Patricia Cornwell (I'm not even sure why, there was no suspense). I hadn't read one of her books in years, and I was wondering if my taste used to be so bad that I didn't notice what a hack she was. About a year ago I read one chapter of a James Patterson and knew I couldn't go on and yet I had enjoyed his early Alex Cross books. I'm glad to know it's not just me!
I'm still hanging in with Elizabeth George, though. I want to see if she redeems the series. Also, I like Havers okay, but I welcome explorations of the others' lives, e.g., Nkata.

I know I am a little late to the party but I agree regarding Parker...loved the Spencer series but enough!

Just finished "The Old Wine Shades" By Grimes and that took things a little far for me! The dog?? And where was the resolution, the difinition for me of Murder Mysteries is the Resolution...at least a why if not an arrest.............makes my chatic life a little more reasonable for a while...

microfilm is film you put in a reel

microfiche is a card of film you put in a reader

Elizabeth George's With No One As Witness was my first read of hers - I thought it was overwritten and needed some serious editing. I wonder, when authors get as famous and popular as George, do they refuse to submit to editing?

I think someone may have mentioned this before but when I read this thread the first person to come to mind was Patricia Cromwell. Boy, she has totally lost it. Her first few books were superb but then she went nowhere fast. She reminds me of John Grisham who used to write really well at one time and then discovered that he had a paticular formula and went with it. His stuff got old fast. Sad cause both were very talented.

I enjoyed The Firm and The Pelican Brief, and I read them in that order. I thought his best was A Time to Kill. The rest of Grisham's output have pedestrian and formulaic. Scott Turow is the same way. First two books were terrific and then, nothing.

I hate to say it, but Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I've read all their Pendergast novels so far, but their last one, The Wheel of Darkness, STINKS! Ugh...I don't even want to finish it.

I agree with all the above. I find more and more I am resorting to reading the last chapter after having read only the first few chapters of the most recent books by several authors.

Janet Evanovich could take her series in a whole, funny, new direction by having her marry Joe and stop all this back and forth nonsense. Instead she justs gives us yesterday's leftovers. I almost wonder if some of the "scenes" are outtakes from previous books.

The latest Patricia Cornwell was just AWFUL and I find myself wanting all the main characters killed off by a serial murderer. Just do it, please, and put us all out of our misery.

James Patterson has become a pimp, IMHO.

Elizabeth Peters, who I adore, is just writing and writing and getting lost in her writing and writing and writing and writing. She should leave Amelia and bring back Vicki Bliss. I always think it's a bad sign when an author's books become larger and larger over time. Do editors come to fear them?

I actually liked Blue Screen by Robert Parker but everything before and since has formula written all over it. Also, is it just me, or does Spenser seem like he must be 70 years old. Time to do some Elderhostel, Spense.

Sadly, Sadly, Sadly, I have to add my beloved Ruth Rendell to this list. Her latest, The Water's Lovely broke my heart because of its mediocrity. I had hoped that 13 Steps Down) was an aberration.

Patty (ToReadToNap)

ToReadToNap, I went to the earlier books by Barbara Michaels (Elizabeth Peters). Many of them are easily found at used bookstores. The last (hopefully really the last) Peabody felt like it was mailed in. The series seems to have come to a sensible conclusion with that one (Tomb of the Golden Bird), so stop already.

Yeah... I've heard both used and anybody who has spent any time in a library here in the U.S. ought to know what they mean.

I totally agree about Patricia Cornwell. Her Book of the Dead that came out last year made my clunker list. Terrible!

#81 I agree aout Elizabeth Peters. The last Peabody book I bought by her I never even read. I wouldn't mind reading a few more Vicki Bliss books.

On the microfiche item, I have worked with microfiche and it is flat sheets. Different from microfilm.

I'm a big fan of Fred Vargas, but I felt the last two novels # Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand (2007) (Sous les vents de Neptune 2004)
# This Night's Foul Work (2008) (Dans les bois éternels — 2006)) didn't quite come up to the standard of the first two. Maybe we're too imprisoned in Adamsberg's head in these later novels.

Still. Vargas mediocre is better than 90% of contemporary mystery writers at the best.

I thought Grafton's Q is For Quarry was slow and uninspired, as if Grafton were tiring of the "gig." I found the last Robert Parker I tried to be unreadable. Erle Stanley Gardner may have been the most uneven detective writer ever; some are good, some are horrible, and it doesn't seem to have to do much with when he wrote them in his career.

I also think Elizabeth George has lost it--her last 3 books have been awful.

Anne Perry
Patricia Cornwell
Stuart Kaminsky (I hate his two newest series with Lew Fonesca and Abe Lieberman)

I read the most recent Mrs. Murphy mystery a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say I'm getting tired of Rita Mae Brown. Born and raised in the south, but I've never known people so sickly-sweet polite to each other and yet so manipulative at the same time*. And normally when she puts politics in the story it's an aside, but this last book it was practically the theme.

ETA: *and bloodline obsessed. I forgot to mention that when I first posted.

The Vicky Bliss books are the only Elizabeth Peters books I can stand. I love those, in fact, but Amelia Peabody is super annoying.

And ditto on the Rita Mae Brown thumbs down. The first book was kind of fun and quirky, but really, I'm just not into the cats solving crimes.

I know he's been mentioned before, but I just finished the most recent Robert B. Parker and I think I'm gonna have to give him up. I read a review that called him "succinct", but that's just really too kind. I think there were 2 chapters longer than four pages -- the book had 63 chapters! I just don't think there was room in the book to do character development or even plot development. I was very disappointed. I'm pretty sure a decent book could have been written from his plot and characters, but this was not it. It's just sad.

Not to mention the waste of paper with all the white space necessary to start so many new chapters.

I agree with pretty much everything everybody has written above - especially Patricia Cornwell and Elizabeth Peters.

But several people wrote they wanted Vicky Bliss back and the one I read, The Scarlet something, was just awful.

I've actually never read any of Rita Mae Brown's cat mysteries, but most of her other books are quite wonderful, especialy the ones with the Hunsenmeir sisters Wheezie and Juts (Six of One,Bingo,Loose Lips).

I still love Harlan Coben, Myron Bolitar and non-Myron.

As with most authors, I find that if I read too many of them too close together the plots creak audibly and everything sounds like everything else.
Even my favorite Agatha Christie.

I love cats... I have cats, but cat mysteries do not entertain me. The Cat Who... books, no thank you! Rita Mae Brown’s NON-cat mystery books are wonderful, but like previous posts, after one of those Sneakie Pie Brown books, you’ve had enough. I did read a second one, I guess because I like her other stuff, but like cmbohn said, one was enough.

#93 karenmarie> I, too, hear the creaking if I read books by the same author too close together - crime fiction especially. In fact I am reading a book by Anne Holt at the moment - The Final Murder - which I know is well written but which is suffering because I began it immediately after another "detective-with-ordinary-family-problems-just-like-the-rest-of-us" novel. I think I'll put it away for a while and return to a bit of non-fiction - that is if I can bear not to discover who-dun-it until later on.

I do recommend Anne Holt though. She's Norwegian.

Sorry - I've strayed off-topic here.

edited to add last sentence

I'll add Kathy Reichs to the list. I used to wait eagerly for each one to come out, now her books are installations in the soap opera of Tempe Brennan's life. Bor-ring.

And J.A. Jance has done the same thing! I want a mystery, not a chat about babies and cozy family life!

I think mystery authors that have an established readership just get lazy. They'll get seven bazillion dollars whether the book is good or not. And it must take enormous effort to make each offering well plotted and interesting. Hard to write from a yacht cruising the Bahamas. I'm just saying...

I tend to agree with most of the previous posts. I love reading well-written series, but have found that the longer they go on, the more the writing (including characterization, plot, dialogue) seems to deteriorate.

I've been reading Robert B. Parker since he was first published -- has anyone noticed that the seeds of Spenser are quite evident in Parker's early (maybe even first?) book, Wilderness?

Readers who have done a little research into Parker's personal life are aware that all his books reflect his working out of the male-female domestic partnership in his own life. I personally find this mostly fascinating, but maybe that's because I am a long-time singleton. I enjoyed Parker's creation of Spenser's feminine alter-ego, Sunny Randall, and felt that his recycled plots in that series (Early Autumn redux in Melancholy Baby) worked well -- Sunny's femininity added a new dimension to the stories.

I even enjoyed his Jesse Stone series, though the relationship between Stone and his ex-wife leaves me puzzled and aghast. But the latest Stone novel, Stranger in Paradise, was extremely disappointing. See my review of the book for fuller details.

Harlan Coben's Bolitar books, while initially delightful, soon degenerated into formula. I still reread them occasionally, as well as his stand-alones, but I found Just One Look strangely unengaging.

I too never understood the hype about Patterson. I found all his books plodding and formulaic. Like Leon Uris, he came up with great plots but couldn't create "living" characters (IMHO) to save his life. But "the folks", as Bill O'Reilly says, love his work.

What I'm looking for in a series is character growth or evolution, and some kind of freshness, either in plot or resolution. It's getting harder and harder to find, though.

And, going off topic a bit -- I looked forward so eagerly to reading Kathy Reichs for the first time, since I really enjoyed the first year of "Bones". But I was so frustrated when I read a few. I found the novel's Temperance Brennan character to be so irrational, so moody, so cold and unloving, and so unintellectual that I wondered what even her friends saw in her. Forgive my vulgarity here, but the books' Temperance Brennan seemed to be in a permanent state of PMS. I wanted to put her on a hormone regimen! I forced myself to read four of the books just to make sure I was giving the author a chance, but I still found Brennan to be pretty hateful on a personal level, no matter how competent she was at her job. She made Kay Scarpetta seem like a model of rationality -- and that's saying something.

Is anybody out there a fan of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series? That series contradicts my assertion that I look for growth in series characters -- but they are just so well-written and the characters seem so real to me that I still love them and reread them every year. And I loved the last book in the series -- it did not break the cardinal rule of a good series: Thou shalt not have thy characters behave uncharacteristically. (Which commandment, by the way, Parker blatantly breaks in Stranger in Paradise.)

Forgive the lengthy post. It is just so delightful to me, after years living in a literary desert, to connect with folks who not only read, but THINK and WRITE about what they read! Perhaps there is a God, after all.

#97 RachelfromSarasota - I love Rex Stout. I'm in the process of re-collecting his books - gave away all my ratty copies when I moved to NC 17 years ago and regret doing that. I just listened to A Right to Die two weeks ago and am pumped up again.

They are very well written. The characters are consistent and don't do hugely irrational things to forward the plot. Frequently these days I'll be reading a mystery and say "WHY did she go into the woods at night when she knew there was a killer loose?" or "Why did he stop tailing the guy closely when he knew the guy might get away?"

I love Archie's narration, his obvious love for but irration with Wolfe and Wolfe's idiosyncrasies. I don't remember what the last book is (?)

Something I'd like to do if I read the books again from the start is to write down all the books Wolfe's read and check them out. Have you done that or know if someone's done that?

Another Rex Stout fan in the house! They're just really clever and fun and full of intelligent people and plots. I also love the A&E series which thought did a good job at adapting the plots. It's on my Amazon wishlist.

I agree that Elizabeth Peters, Patricia Cornwell, and Lillian Jackson Braun have all gone WAY downhill after their first couple of books. I guess part of it may be the way the new books all seem to make the entire world revolve around the book's hero/ine. And I still might read Anne Perry's Monk books, but not the others now. When you have a seven hundred page book that you figure out the mystery on page one hundred, there's not a lot of reason to keep reading.

I agree-- I really enjoyed the first few Pitt novels by Anne Perry and then they just fell off... In the beginning they reminded me a bit of Tuppence and Tommy, though.

The first Victoria Thompson gaslight series novel was also great and then by the third or fourth I really got the feeling she had stopped most of her historical research and was just kind of winging it.

But 'Death of Dalziel' is SO worth reading if you haven't already.

to karenmarie post 98:
The last book in the series is called A Family Affair -- and anything I say about it will spoil it! It's best read after rereading a bunch of the others. I see you're also a fan of Lord Peter's -- have you read the short stories that occur AFTER Busman's Honeymoon?

By the way, that was a great suggestion of yours about compiling a list of all of Wolfe's books. Actually, someone has already done that -- William S. Baring-Gould -- the famed biographer of another favorite sleuth of mine, Sherlock Holmes. Baring-Gould wrote a book called Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street: The Life and Times of America's Largest Private Detective, published in 1965. Chapter 28 is titled "The Library of Nero Wolfe" and it is a fascinating list, indeed.

However, since Stout died in 1975, perhaps it is time to update that part of the book.

Another great chapter in the book is 27 -- "The Philosophy of Nero Wolfe". If you're a Wolfe fan, the book is great fun -- especially the part where Baring-Gould speculates about Wolfe's ancestor/s.

#98 karenmarie - there's a web site - Wolfe's Reading List:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8907/wolfe_rl.html

Enjoy!

#102 and 103 RachelfromSarasota and etrainer. Thanks to both of you!!!

I just printed the website list and will look at it in a bit.

But I have to admit with TOTAL EMBARRASSMENT that I already have the Baring-Gould book sitting on shelf L52. I didn't remember having it, but thank goodness for LT! There it was, like a shiny penny. I'll compare the lists, and perhaps even re-read the book.

Sigh. I miss my mind.

> 97 - RachelfromSarasota

Looks like you and I are going to have to agree to disagree on Stranger in Paradise (mine's the review just below yours) :-)

Not trying to give you a hard time here, but genuinely curious: Can an author do character development in a series *without* having the character in question behave "uncharacteristically?"

I'm surprised anyone thinks Patricia Cornwell has fallen off. Her first book was so dire - it read like it was written by someone who'd done a how-to-be-a-mystery-author-by-numbers correspondence course - I can't believe she could have gone any lower.
Anne Perry: used to like both the Pitt and Monk series but they just went on too long. I've caught up with her WWI series this year and contrary to everyone else (I think) on this list, I'm riveted by it. Not primarily as a mystery. perhaps, but for its sheer scope, evoking the war on almost as many fronts as it was fought in reality!

Oooh, I so agree! I don't think her characters are growing or going anywhere. How much more of the Stephanie/Joe back-and-forth am I willing to read about? Either Joe accepts Steph for who she is or he doesn't.I thoroughly enjoyed the first few but have been disappointed in the later books. Enough, already.

etrainer @ #103, I'm the guy who helped Winnie with her Wolfe reading list (mailed her the excel file with the 'x's). I'm not sure there's anything to be added to her website; I'm just glad it's still around, since she's finished her Canadian studies and moved to Australia.

I've been pretty disappointed with Jonathan Kellerman, the more recent ones haven't nearly the same complexity as the early ones like When the Bough Breaks and Silent Partner and enough about how badly dressed his gay cop friend is.

Responding to ABVR's post #105: An author can absolutely show a character developing in a different direction, without pulling a rabbit out of a hat and having that character behave in a way that totally contradicts the careful limning of that character's personality. The key is to spend some time showing the reader what changes are going on in the character's life (external changes) that have led to major internal personality changes. Parker has taken time and effort to show readers how Susan and Spenser and Hawk and Paul have grown and developed, but he left holes the size of a Mack truck in Stranger in Paradise. So very disappointing to read such a half-hearted effort from such a gifted, if formulaic, writer.

Don't want to give any spoilers here, but as I've read all of Parker's work, including his very early books, it seems sadly clear to me that Mr. Parker is "stuck" on rehashing old issues.

His own marital problems and emotional conflicts are truly what he seems to be examining in every one of his books -- going back to his first foray into fiction. I love that he is so open, in interviews, about his rather unusual marriage -- but after 30 years or so I find it more than a bit sad that he's been unable to resolve those issues, at least in fiction. Spenser and Susan; Jesse and Jenn; Sunny and Richie -- only the perspectives change, but the main issue remains the same.

Read or reread his very first books (not the series books) and see if you don't agree with me.

Lilian Jackson Braun- can't read any more

Peters- I like Vicky Bliss but can't read the Egypt series now

Tamar Myers- her Pa. Dutch mysteries have lost it

Joan Hess- the Claire Malloy series is on the verge of fading

Susan Conant's dog mysteries now deal with subjects that are so painful that I no longer find the books enjoyable

Carole Nelson Douglas- I didn't like the last of her Midnight Louie mysteries that I read

I quit reading Patricia Cornwell some time ago, but I forgot that I had not read all the of Scarpetta novels. I recently picked up and started Point of Origin. I'd be interested in hearing, perhaps in another thread, where in the series you lost interest (for those that did). I can't quite remember where I thought I'd had enough, but I'm having a hard time getting into this one.

Actually, I think that was the one that did it for me. Plot holes the size of Ohio. Senior FBI guy acting beyond stupid. Really important stuff outlined and hashed over only to be completely forgotten later on. Bah. That was the last one for me.

>113 Bookmarque: If I'm thinking what you're thinking (avoiding spoilers here), doesn't that 'rectify' itself in a later book?

Even so, I'm just not enjoying this story - I'm at least 2/3 through.

I heard that it might have, but I didn't read further so I don't really know. Basically old Pat was just pissed off at her soon to be Ex so was doing all in her power to blacken the FBI. I seriously didn't need that axe grinding and so gave her up.

After reading all of these comments I'm THRILLED that I didn't get into Anne Perry's Monk series (read all of the Pitt series) nor farther than book 2 with Amelia Peabody. I finally did something right and have a lot to look forward to.

Anne has let me down every now and then but I know the Pitt characters so well, I'll probably keep going as long as she does. As for the WWI books I really enjoyed the majority of them (number 3 was getting boring but 4 & 5 redemed the story).

As I tell my bookie friends -- Anne Perry is my Danielle Steel. Elizabeth Peters can easily slide into that spot too.

I have to agree with most, some such as Peters and George I never did care for, Evanovich (like Danielle Steele) has become strictly formula. I haven't even ventured to pick up Fourteen yet for fear it will be the predictable car blows up, grandma tries to see in the casket, sidekick runs, Stephanie bumbles, etc.

I use to love Inspector Jury. He was serious with a touch of light with Melrose Plant and Marshall Trueblood but I haven't read Martha in years because her plots were getting so dark and heavy.

Patrcia Cornwell was going down hill with the werewolf character but really blew it for me when she brought a character back to life (don't want to mention names for those who aren't far into the series). Bringing the dead back in a later book reeks of desperation.

I haven't read Spenser but Sunny Randall has declined. I'll stick with Tess Monaghan.

Pfui! I finished Point of Origin and started thinking at least some of the story seemed very familiar - maybe a recap of events from this story in a later novel? But NO! LT now shows me that I already had a copy of this book, so I must of read it a few years ago and didn't remember it until I got to the end!! I could have sworn that I checked LT before buying this new copy. Getting more and more senile, I suppose. Pfui again!

>117 jschlei101:

For a wonder, no car is blown up in Fearless Fourteen. I'm not quite sure how she forgot - there is a vandalized car, but it remains drivable. I can't argue that most of the rest of the stuff is there though.

The first few Stephanie Plum novels are a screaming riot. Hilarious and engaging. Then Steph's monumental and repetitive stupidity just started to grate. Then Evanovich brought back lame characters, not the good ones. And when the endless Ranger/Joe action started, I gave up. Did not read past 8 or so. Maybe it was 7. They all kind of blend together...

I have read all the Plum books and I am so disappointed. Fourteen was just a cookie cutter of the previous ones. But I just read Plum Lucky. What a hoot. It felt like old times. I was laughing out loud and wondering when Grandma was going to get tired. I would recommend that one.

I'd left Patricia Cornwell alone for years, but ran into The Book of the Dead and picked it up. It is truly dreadful. In one scene, they discuss the clothing the victim is found wearing, a few pages later they're deciding it was a sex crime since she was found naked. I'm still reading, but only for the fun of being outraged by how carelessly it was written. But it's a farewell read for me--there are too many well written, tightly plotted books out there!

I can only concur with RidgewayGirl, for me it was the cheap device of killing off a beloved character only to bring him back a few books later. To me this is careless writing and the proverbial finger in the reader's face; it left me fuming; never mind that the Kay Scarpetta series took a real nosedive in quality following that little stunt and became poorly plotted and lost its way. I am glad I stayed away after reading the posts here...

For all of those who hoped that Elizabeth Peters was still "sharp" on the Vicky Bliss mysteries....just read the most recent, The Laughter of Dead Kings, wow....it's bad. In fact, it doesn't even seem like it was written by her. To her defense though, I will say that Elizabeth Peters (aka Barbara Mertz) must be quite old and I think she is trying to tie up loose ends. Sadly, this book is a pale shadow of her previous books. No wit at all and just a plodding story. Sad.

On the other hand, Lawrence Block keeps on writing and writing and I still find him enjoyable. Hit and Run, his most recent was fun.

96, I agree with you about Kathy Reichs, she far surpassed Patricia Cornwell with her first books but has rapidly gone downhill.
I was excited when I saw that Sara Paretskyhad brought out a new V.I.Warshawski book last year after a gap of several years, but didn't feel it was a patch on any of the others.

While I sadly lost interest in the Spenser series a few years ago, I really do enjoy the Jesse Stone series. Also enjoyed Appaloosa.

I absolutely love the Women's Murder Club series - even loved the TV series,although I seem to be the only one who can say that!

Martha Grimes is the one who breaks my heart. Her first several novels were so wonderful, I could barely wait for the next, and have never tired of re-reading them. But her novels from the past several years have been just awful, barely readable.

#128: The last one in particular--it was as if someone else wrote it.

(Just joined group and found LibraryThing, responding to entire thread)
Elizabeth Peters - I lived in Egypt for 8 years, and I loved her series, considered them family - and I am not able to get into them after "The Golden One". I love Vicky Bliss and was very happy she resurrected that series. Sorry to hear @124 that it was not good.
Patricia Cornwall - She started dragging in her rather right-wing political views on gun control, capital punishment, etc. several books ago, and somehow I was unable to enjoy reading her books after that.
Sue Grafton - They are formula and I don't think the character develops enough. I read them over years in the foreign service depending on community based paperback libraries but would not choose one now that I am back in the States.
Nevada Barr - I have not seen her on this list, but I am starting to wonder if she can keep Anna interesting now that she is married. Also, Winter Study was a little bit grim for me. I hope she keeps it going well because I love this series.
I agree with everyone about Robert B. Parker. I read the most recent Spenser and decided that was it for him.
Lawrence Block has been able to keep his writing very good. I am constantly amazed at his range.
Janet Evanovich's Plum series is so silly, but I keep enjoying it. However Fearless Fourteen seemed kind of "phoned in" and I agree the Joe/Ranger thing is getting VERY old.
So glad to find LibraryThing and this group.

What an enjoyable string! It goes back a long way and I'm new to it. I have a lot of sympathy for the concerns about declining quality in Robert Parker's Spenser series and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, but I still enjoy both.

I did think Rough Weather, with the Grey Man and the island kidnapping, was one of the better Spenser entries of late, and the Stephanie Plum books still are funny, which is what makes them stand out from many other series. The Spellman Files series by Lisa Lutz is another funny one. I do agree with the comment that Evanovich should take the series in a new direction, maybe by having Stephanie marry Joe.

If you like Donna Leon, you might like the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri. I enyoy the Montalbano character even more than Inspector Bruneletti.

This thread just reminds me how much my favorites did NOT lose it - Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Ellery Queen, Ruth Rendell. (None of these touchstones are working).

I read one Vicky Bliss and thought it terrible - I can't even remember the title. I gave up on Amelia Peabody about book 4 or 5... can't remember.

I've just gotten interested in the Inspector Morse books by Colin Dexter. I read one way out of order, but am going to start with the first one Last Bus to Woodstock soon. I hope they don't disappoint.

I've seen some Inspector Morse and enjoyed them, but I've never read them.

Most of the Morse books are really very good. There was just one dud in my opinion--I think it was The Way through the Woods.

Thanks, quartzite - I'll move Last Bus to Woodstock up in the TBR pile.

cmbohn - I had heard there was a TV series, but I just don't watch TV directly - eventually we discover some series we like, but always on DVD (most recently the American version of The Office). The only thing we're watching when it's actually aired is Battlestar Galactica and we HATE the commercials. We're terribly spoiled.

I got the DVDs from the library, which is how I know about the series. I'm not a big TV watcher either.

Robert Parker - no plot, just recycled
Patricia Cronwall - what happened? The first few were "must" reads and then...
Elizabeth Peters - after the kids got married
Anne Perry - Her WWI book was unreadable, she introduced a secret society in Monk...maybe the guilt is getting to her.
Martha Grimes - boook by number
Elizabeth George - I'm really bummed about this one
Janet Evanovich - never a favorite, but has really gone formula
Lillian Jackson Braun - see comment above
Sue Grafton - book by letter

I enjoyed all these authors at the beginning, then a started missing one or two books, then I just stopped reading them altogether.

I really liked the early Nevada Barr books with Anna Pigeon, but her later books were tough to get through and overall disappointing to me.