Mystery Lovers! discussion

I'm wondering if anyone else is hooked on mystery writers from other countries? A few of my favorites are Ian Rankin (Scotland), Andrea Camilleri and Donna Leon Italy), Henning Mankell, Hakan Nesser and Kjell Eriksson (Scandinavian.

check out helen tursten (swedish? def scandinavian)

I found Arturo Perez-Reverte a few years ago. The Flanders Panal, a chess book, is great.

The Seville Communion, about a falling Catholic priest, part of the IEA, Institute for External Affairs, the Vatican's CIA, looking into mysterious deaths at a church in Sevilla, Spain, is phenomenal. This book got me looking into the Vatican's very civil structure, from its banks to its spies to its enforcers.

TK Kenyon
Author of *RABID: A Novel*
In which Msgr. Dante Petrocchi-Bianci of the Vatican's CDF investigates a parish's problems.

"a genre-bending story, part thriller, part literary slapdown." --Booklist Starred Review

I'll toss in Barbara Nadel's series featuring Inspector Ikmen of the Istanbul Police. The first book "Belshazzar's Daughter" is fairly easily available.

Here are a few more that I have read:

1. Batya Gur - intelligent writer, 6 books, Israel

2. Denise Mina - edgy and contemporary, Scotland

3. Akimitsu Takagi - The Tattoo Murder Case, Japan

4. Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - husband and wife, 10 books, Sweden

OOOh! Like this thread! I' love reading authors writing about other countries besides the USA. One of my all time favs is Janwillem van de Wettering. I've never read a bad mystery from him.

I've just finished reading Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason. I can't wait to read the third novel, Voices.

My current favorite is the series by Colin Cotterill set in Laso in the 1970's just after the communist take-over. The main character Dr. Sri Paiboun is a doctor who has become the national coroner because all the people qualifited for the job have left the country. The characters are wonderful and the setting and plots are very unique.

I've to The Flanders Panel sitting on my TBR shelf, so I'm glad to hear a positive review of it.

Also recently, I have listened to and quite enjoyed Erin Hart's two books set in Ireland Haunted Ground and Lake of Sorrows

Try Karin Fossum's Black Seconds--it's Norwegian beautifully translated. You can find the review on my shelves.

I just finished one from England called "The Blood Detective" by Dan Waddell. It involves the police using a genealogist to help solve a series of current murders that are somehow linked to murders in 1879. A little slow to start but it is a page turner by the end.

I just ran across an NPR story on how Colin Cotterill came to write the the Laotian mystery series:

In Colin Cotterill' Laos

I fell in love with Rennie Airth, but I believe he only wrote two mysteries. He is South African, living in Italy, and writing about England.

that be a good book

I love Janwillen Van Wetterling. He is American but lived abroad for many years and has a series of mysteries set in Amsterdam. The main character is one moody character. I love him!

I just finished SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon... takes place in Barcelona... and very much an epic mystery. It was wonderful! I understand that next to Don Quixote, it's the best-selling book of all time in Spain.

I agree with the recommendations for Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series (can't wait to read the new one, Curse of the Pogo Stick), and Janwillem Van de Wetering's Amsterdam Cops series. The Van de Wetering books are among the few that I go back and re-read occasionally. Both series are a bit quirky and may not appeal to everyone, but I love both the humor and the glimpse into another culture.

I've read a few in the Brunetti series by Donna Leon, which are set in Venice, and look forward to reading more.

Years ago I remember reading and liking Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg, which I think takes place in Sweden and Greenland.

Great thread - looking forward to more suggestions!

Another Scandinavian author I like is Asa Larsson. her first book was called the Savage Altar (released as the Sun Storm in the US) then there was Blood Split and she has just released a new one called The Black Path. I really enjoy the characters in these books and of course the exotic (to me) setting of Sweden.

I read Shadow of the Wind sometime ago and I think it was a great book. I truly enjoyed it.

Pat

I swear I answered this last week, but I don't see my post. Weird! Anyway, I read a lot of foreign mysteries--much more than American ones, actually. I don't even count mysteries set in the UK as foreign because they are almost the normal for me. LOL

Favorites:

Colin Cotterill's Siri Paiboun (Laos)
Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti (Italy)
Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano (Italy)
Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander (Sweden)
Sujata Massey's Rei Shimura (Japan)
John Burdett's Sonchai Jitpleecheep (Thailand)

I've also read one or two books by several of the authors mentioned above that I did really enjoy and have more of their stuff on my TBR, but would hesitate at this point to call them "favorites."

Cheryl

I love Sujata Massey's Rei Shimura, Cheryl! Is there a new one coming out that I don't know about? I always assume I've read them all (certainly before they get to paperback) but then one will pop up that I missed. I really enjoy her descriptions of Japan and Japanese culture.

Almost all my favorites are set in UK somewhere. Since I'm married to a British man I love when we visit his family because in London there are so many fabulous bookstores where I find European treasures I'd never access at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

Peace!

I just received a new Henning Mankell for review from The New Press. It is The Pyramid and four other kurt wallander mysteries and will be out 9/0/08.

Pat

I just finished The Saturday Morning Murder: A Psycholanalytic Case by Batya Gur (Israeli). It was interesting from both a "how do they solve crime in Israel?" and a psychological point of view.

I just finished Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which I absolutely loved. It's set in Sweden and features several intricate, well-resolved plots as well as some of the best characters I've discovered in a long, long time. Lisbeth Salander has stayed in my head for a few days now and I think she'll be there for a while yet.

I think the book is to be published in the US this month and I would highly recommend it.

Now I'm off to see if I can find some Henning Mankell or Batya Gur books - thanks for those recommendations people.

I recommend the author Hakan Nesser from Sweden. He wrote several books that are translated into English, including Borkmann's Point.

Courtney, the newest one (and sadly, the last one, according to Sujata) is Shimura Trouble, which was just recently released.

I haven't read them all yet--I tend to space my series reads out by several months so I have something to look forward to!

Courtney, my DH is from England also! We just celebrated our 10th anniversary yesterday. Haven't been back to England in a few years and I would love to go again next year, but with the ever-increasing cost of travel, I don't know if it's feasible or not. Most of my favorite series are set in the UK also.

I should add a website here for you to check out, Courtney. It's

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk

You can order UK books cheaply and (get this!) they have FREE shipping worldwide! I often will get some of my British historical mysteries there way ahead of their American releases, and some of the ones that you might have a devil of a time finding here. Their service is great and fast!

Cheryl

I'm new to the group and glad to have found other mystery fans. Some of my favorites across the big pond include Ken Bruen, Peter Allen, and Stephen Booth. Ken's is set in Ireland. Peter's and Stephen's series are set in England.

Correction on my previous post. Peter's last name is James, not Allen. Once I'm away from my bookshelf, all the names run together.

Folks interested in foreign mysteries might want to take a look at Robert Wilson, author of The Blind Man of Seville and A Small Death in Lisbon, among others.

I'd recommend John Burdett whose Sonchai Jitpleecheap is one of the oddest investigators ever to grace a novel.
There's also Arturo Perez-Reverte, Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, Caroline Graham on my favorites list.

Two I haven't seen mentioned here are Declan Hughes who has written a couple of really fine novels set in Dublin & Manuel Vazques Montalbán

Also, sorry to play know-it-all in my first post, Janwillem van de Wetering is Dutch by birth (Amsterdam, I believe)& only moved to the U.S late in life. Apart from his novels, which I set as a standard for if & when I try crime-writing myself, he wrote two really cool books about his time as a zen-student

My relation to Swedish crime novels since Sjöwall & Wahlöö is not good

I thought so, Lars, but didn't feel like googling...I'm on vacation! :) van der Wettering is amazing. I've reread his books a couple of times.

Qiu Xiaolong- All books
People Who Walk in Darkness" by Stuart M. Kaminsky- Russian detective -
James Church-Inspector O- North Korea
Martin Limon- Korea
Arnaldur Indridason-Jar City
Rygg, Pernille The Butterfly Effect, translated by Joan Tate-Norway
AND ALL THE SWEDES!
My favorite is still Gripstra & de Gier- brillant!

Lisa See's Red Princess Mysteries, which are set in modern China, are fantastic. I must echo the praise for John Burdett's Bangkok series as well as Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series. Thanks to all who posted for the great suggestions!