I devoured thrillers this summer break and now I can’t seem to stop. They are highly addictive. I do read other books in between, but need a constant fix. When I see covers with those mostly naff three-word titles, I am hooked (which is also a good name for a thriller and probably is).
One of my favourite detectives, Hercule Poirot, was supposedly turning 100 this year, according to a few websites. However, he has been around for 101 years — 2020 was his centenary.
The eccentric detective from Belgium first appeared in Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which debuted in October 1920. His character was (along with many others) the spark of my love for detectives and mystery thrillers.
Poirot got me thinking about my best-loved detectives – those who have been around for a few decades and those who are relatively new.
There’s the “oldish” lot: Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, of course; David Baldacci’s Amos Decker; Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel; Lisbeth Salandar in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series; Alex Delaware in Jonathan Kellerman’s novels; Karen Slaughter’s Will Trent; Mike Nicol’s Fish Pescado and his spy girlfriend, Vicki Kahn; Eve Dallas in Nora Roberts’s In Death series; Mma Precious Ramotswe from Alexander McCall Smith’s The No 1 Ladies’s Detective Agency; Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch; Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther; Patricia Cornwell’s Dr Kay Scarpetta; Janet Evanovich’s bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum; and so many many more.
When I started writing this, I thought I had only a handful of faves, but now I think there are probably 30 or so.
There are also plenty of newish detectives series that are becoming mandatory for me. I’ve just finished the latest DI Helen Birch by Claire Askew, called Cover Your Tracks. It’s the third in the series and the protagonist is such a wonderful, multilayered character that I have to buy the first two books.
I am happy the next Michéle Rowe seems to be coming soon, according to her website. I have been invested since I first read about Detective Persy Jonas of the Diep River Police Station in What Hidden Lies in 2013. The second book, Hour or Darkness, came out in 2015 and it left me wanting so much more. Hopefully all will be revealed in Before Their Time, the last book in the trilogy.
According to the grapevine, Sally Andrew is writing the fourth Tannie Maria book. Can’t wait for more Karoo adventures with the agony aunt, as well as more delicious recipes. Her last book featured the spectacular and somewhat complicated Weerligkoek (lightning cake), which was perfect to try to make in lockdown.
Giving all the Reachers and Trents a run for their money is super-cop, FBI special agent Atlee Pine in the latest Baldacci. The weightlifter/MMA fighter is a tough heroine and in Daylight finds out what happened to her twin sister, Mercy, when they were six.
Leye Adenle introduced Lagos lawyer Amaka Mbadiwe to the world with his first thriller, Easy Motion Tourist. He featured her again in his next book, When Trouble Sleeps. All I am asking is for the next one soon, please.
The same goes for Attica Locke and her novels, featuring black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews (one t please!) fighting the good fight in the racist boondocks. It’s chilly southern Gothic at its literary best and I hope another is due soon, though Locke is a busy woman. She writes and produces TV shows such as Netflix’s hardhitting When They See Us and the Kerry Washington/Reese Witherspoon critical success, Little Fires Everywhere, which was adapted from Celeste Ng’s novel of the same name.
