The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Hello Everyone, I joined Goodreads about a year ago but am just beginning to explore the groups. I'm an elementary school teacher and love talking about books with kids and look forward to lively discussions here with adults. I've read a smattering of mysteries and thrillers such as by Dennis Lehane and Walter Mosley. Anyone able to recommend mysteries, thrillers and crime novels that could be described as character driven?

Hi Jonathon. Welcome to the group. I'll leave the recommending to the members, who know everything there is to know about the genre. Hang on to your TBR!

Thanks for the welcome. (But what's a TBR?)

"To Be Read" list... that thing that grows and grows and grows and then takes over your life!

Hi Jonathon. Glad you found us. I'll start off the recommendations and your TBR list. How about the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly, the Insp Lynley series by Elizabeth George, and the Adam Dalgliesh series by P D James.

Thanks Donna, I'll look them up. Are those characters particularly memorable?

Hi Jonathon!!

I'm very much a character-driven reader as well so all of my 'favorite' books/series require good characterization.

My favorite author list goes back in time as I have been reading mysteries and thrillers for 40 years at least. Mystery authors I own and re-read often include Robert Parker (deceased), Dick Francis (deceased), John D. McDonald (deceased) John Sandford, Thomas Perry, Donald Westlake, Craig Johnson. Thriller authors include Alastair MacLean (deceased), Desmond Bagley (deceased), Clive Cussler, James Rollins.

Some have series, some have stand-alones, some both but I never have to pick up one of their books and read the name and wonder "now who was this character?"

I particularly like Craig Johnson, who is actually my 'newest' author, as he lives ... and his series is located ... in the area of Montana/Wyoming where I lived much of my life. I also highly recommend two of Thomas Perry's books ... very different but both very good ... The Butcher's Boy (main character is a very unsympathetic hit man but you WANT him to get away) and Metzger's Dog. Donald Westlake's "The Hot Rock" is a must read as well, humor very well done.

Thanks for your recommendations. (Butcher's Boy sounds interesting because of that unsympathetic hit man.)

The Butcher's Boy is a pretty incredible book. He has absolutely no socially redeeming characteristics, he is a hired killer who does a lot of mob 'work'. He's not even crazy, it's just a job for him. You KNOW you should despise him ... and the author still managed to make the reader hope that he will manage to escape.

The closest I've come to any other author managing this is John Sandford. In two of his Prey series books, the criminal Lucas us tracking is a hired killer, in this case, a woman. Not entirely unsympathetic presentation, but again, no real socially redeeming characteristics and you still have this guilty feeling you want her to escape.

Hi Jonathan. As Donna mentioned eariler about Michael Connelly and his character Harry Bosch, it's probably my favorite series so I highly recommend that.

Welcome, Jonathan! For character-driven mysteries, I'd recommend those that were finalists for or won the Agatha Awards each year. You can find the lists at:
http://www.malicedomestic.org/agathaa...

That's a great idea Beth. Thanks.