Lord Darcy: Sherlock Holmes Meets Jonathan Strange

If you, like me, find the Harry Dresden series not to your taste, but like the idea of a magic-wielding detective, you might enjoy the Lord Darcy stories by Randall Garrett. Mix together Sherlock Holmes and Jonathan Strange, and add in a little alternate history, and you have an idea of what the Lord Darcy stories are all about. What if Richard Lionheart didn't die, and what if the Protestant Reformation never happened? Garrett imagines an alternate history where in the twentieth century the Plantagenet dynasty still rules, and where magic works. Lord Darcy is the Chief Investigator for the Duke of Normandy, and along with his assistant, Master Sorcerer Sean O'Lochlainn, he deals with locked-room mysteries, espionage and murder. And if you like CSI, you'll enjoy reading how forensic sorcerer Sean O'Lochlainn applies the science of magic to crime scenes. These stories are humorous, historically interesting, and extremely well plotted. There's a strong Catholic element present as well. They're a perfect next step for teenagers who like Harry Potter, and Lord Darcy's exploits would appeal to anyone who likes mysteries, alternate universes or contemporary fantasies. The stories were all written between 1964 and 1979, but were not collected in one volume until 2002. As editor Eric Flint points out, they're filled with allusions to many of the famous detective stories of the 1960s and 1970s: Nero Wolfe, the Pink Pather and the Man from U.N.C.L.E., to name a a few. I highly recommend them, especially the full-length novel at the heart of the collection, Too Many Magicians.

Harry Dresden Book One: Not for Me

I finished Storm Front: Book One of the Harry Dresden Files, and it wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but it was still quite entertaining. In brief: What I liked: The setting: I particularly liked Harry's house and office, and his idea about magic affecting complex machines The film noir elements combined with traditional wizard-lore Butcher's conception of magic and how it works: a little Latin, a staff, some magical symbols, all the things traditionally associated with users of magic The action scenes What I didn't like: The brutal and explicit plot elements, which, while mostly necessary to the story, were not really to my taste; I've never enjoyed reading about the seedy side of life in works of literature, and I like it even less in popular fiction; this is most definitely not a book for kids The demon/vampire characters: Even in shows like The X-Files I didn't like the stories that revolved around these kinds of characters The characterizations of the female characters: most of them were one-dimensional and not very complimentary The mob angle: For some reason, shows like The Sopranos or Once Upon a Time in America have never appealed to me, though there are some that I've really liked (i.e., The Godfather, Some Like it Hot); the gangsters in Storm Front seemed almost like Dick Tracy villains The mystery plot: If Butcher was aiming at a traditional mystery plot, he violated one of the rules of the game in not introducing a key character until very late in the story The writing style: I liked the first person viewpoint, but sometimes it was a bit over the top. I remember the end of one chapter when Harry, battered and bruised, said to the reader, "Do I have a great job, or what?" As you've probably noticed, most of my complaints against the book have more to do with my own tastes rather than with Butcher's writing. And I have to say that it's significant that I finished the book, so it's definitely not awful. Far from it. It's just not a series that I'm going to be continuing with. My next book is going to be Declare by Tim Powers. I loved his story The Anubis Gates and I have high expectations for Declare, based on reviews I've read online.

Last Rites: Mysteries Featuring Catholic Detectives

For some reason there a lot of Catholic detectives on the mystery shelves. I'm sure there are amateur detectives from other faiths (Rabbi Small, for instance), but Catholic priests and nuns seem to form their own sub-genre. Here are a few examples: Father Brown - The greatest of all ecclesial sleuths, G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown belongs in the ranks of the great detectives with Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple. Chesterton's stories are witty and clever, and very satisfying. All of his stories are collected in The Complete Father Brown. Brother Cadfael - Ellis Peters' medieval monk Brother Cadfael is a former soldier who now tends the garden at Shrewsbury Abbey--when he's not investigating mysterious deaths. I always recommend Brother Cadfael to fans of fantasy books who want to try their first mystery but don't know where to begin. Cadfael's stories begin with A Morbid Taste for Bones. Also see the great tv series starring Derek Jacobi. Father Dowling - Don't judge this priest by the tv series. Ralph McInerny's Fr. Dowling is a complex character written by an engaging storyteller. Highly recommended. Though most of the early Father Dowling mysteries are out of print, newer titles are still available, such as 2005's Blood Ties. Sister Mary Helen - I have not had a chance to read any of Sister Carol Ann O'Marie's mysteries featuring amateur detective Sister Mary Helen, but my wife loves this series, and that's saying something. My wife doesn't read very often, but she went through all of the books in the series and really enjoyed them. I love the titles: Novena for Murder, Advent of Dying, The Corporal Works of Murder. Other ecclesial sleuths include the 14th century clerk Brother Athelstan, and the contemporary Jesuit priests Father Mark Townsend, and Father John O'Malley. Have I left anyone out? Let me know by leaving a comment.

The Thinking Machine

I'm currently reading "The Problem of Cell 13" by Jacques Futrelle to my eighth grade students. Futrelle is probably the best mystery writer you've never heard of. He could have been the next Arthur Conan Doyle except for one tragic event in his life: he bought a ticket to sail on the Titanic. He and his wife were in Europe and decided to return to American on the Titanic, cutting their vacation short. When the ship began sinking his wife May boarded a lifeboat and survived, but Futrelle refused the lifeboat and did not survive. Futrelle's mysteries are short on character development, but if you like a good puzzle some of them are quite clever. He is most famous for "The Problem of Cell 13" in which his main character, Professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen--also known as "The Thinking Machine"-- agrees to be locked in the death cell of Chisholm Prison to prove he can escape from it in a week. It's one of my favorite mystery short stories, and I highly recommend it. All of Futrelle's Thinking Machine stories are available online at the official Futrelle site, or you can buy them in a collection published by the Modern Library. And apparently Futrelle himself becomes a detective in Max Collins' The Titanic Murders. I haven't read it, but if you like mysteries and are interested in the Titanic, give it a try. Leave a comment if you've read it to tell others about it.