The Crime Lady: On Private Detectives, and More
Dear TCL Readers:
A few months ago my editor at the Book Review, Tina Jordan, asked if I would contribute some additional recommendation lists for their ongoing project of helping readers find their next genre books. And because I’ve been thinking that in our current unsettled, chaotic moment, that private detective fiction is overdue for some kind of revival, putting together a “starter pack” of PI books classic and recent would be a good idea.
Here’s what I came up with. There are stalwarts: Hammett, Chandler, Macdonald, Stout, Crumley, Paretsky, Grafton, Mosley. There are lesser-known mid-century classics that I adore, like The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin and Sleep with Slander by Dolores Hitchens. And there are books & series published this century by Kate Atkinson, Stephen Spotswood, and Sara Gran (who also recommended some of her favorite noir novels.)
Obviously, many other books, including some of my own favorites, aren’t on here, and the many hundreds of commenters are eager to point out what’s missing. Such are the nature of lists! My feeling is that if recommendation lists get people to read at least one of the books, particularly one that is entirely new to them, we’ve done our jobs.
I do feel quite strongly about the revival idea. I’ve really liked Jane Pek’s books, which also offer sharp observations about technology and romance and surveillance. I have high hopes for Kate Christensen’s pseudonymous PI series, the first of which I reviewed late last year, and there are some forthcoming books I’m planning on reviewing that promise to update certain tropes in a new way — we’ll see if that is in fact the case.
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When I published my Rolling Stone feature on the life, murder and decades-delayed identification of Patricia McGlone a few months ago, I hoped the piece would generate more information about who killed her and why. So far, nothing major has emerged yet — I keep checking with my sources — but I’m even more hopeful now that one of the top true crime podcasts in the world, Crime Junkie, featured Patricia’s case for their latest episode. (The case was also featured last month by FOX5 New York’s “The Tape Room.”) The number to call with new information is 1-800-577-TIPS.
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As I get back into the swing of things with this newsletter — March was eaten up by, of all things, serving on a grand jury, about which more later — a few links to close things out:
One of my favorite new newsletters is Alia Habib’s Delivery and Acceptance, on the business of writing and selling nonfiction. (She interviewed me earlier this month.) Her latest dispatch is a roundtable of book media types including Maris Kreizman, Kate Dwyer, Adrienne Westenfeld, and Emily Firetog, and Lucy Feldman, and while the consensus is that things are bleak right now, they may not be forever.
A story I’m following fairly closely is the bankruptcy of 23andMe and the privacy ramifications for the millions of people who sent in their DNA for ancestry purposes.
I love deep archival dives and Matthew Rivera’s NYRB essay on the writing life of trumpeter Frankie Newton is a recent favorite.
Gisele Pelicot is publishing a memoir in January. Her daughter, Caroline Darian, published her second memoir in France this month, and the first was recently translated into English. She’s profiled in the NYT and also appeared on Oprah.
Recent books I read and loved: The Story of a Murder by Hallie Rubenhold, Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett, Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, How To Be a Good Girl and Trauma Plot by Jamie Hood.
Coming next month: book copyedits, Passover, my next choir concert! And definitely at least one other newsletter.
Until then, I remain,
The Crime Lady