John D. MacDonald had already written dozens of novels when, at 47, he launched his only series and most famous character, Travis McGee. A lot
Sue Grafton tried something different in “G is for Gumshoe,” pairing Kinsey with a temporary partner/love interest while she was being hunted. Because the author
Sue Grafton overlaps two high concepts in “G is for Gumshoe” (1990) but under-develops one of them, leading to a fizzle of an ending. In
John D. MacDonald covered several themes in his Travis McGee series, but he most regularly returned to the Drug War. Appropriately, the 21st and final
By his 20th novel of out 21, “Cinnamon Skin” (1982), Travis McGee knows who he is and is starting to accept it. John D. MacDonald’s
Kinsey Millhone is tired, annoyed, criticized coming and going, and attacked by a tennis-racket wielding nutjob in “F is for Fugitive” (1989). In other words,
Simone St. James’ “The Sun Down Motel” (2020) has a structure that’s almost like cheating. Twenty-ish Viv investigates cold cases in 1982 while working at
J.K. Rowling (under the pen name Robert Galbraith) continues to push the boundary of how involved a mystery novel can be with “The Hallmarked Man”
In “E is for Evidence” (1988), there’s evidence that Sue Grafton underwrites key parts of the mystery. While this fifth Kinsey Millhone book has compelling
In his novels (both solo and with Lincoln Child), Douglas Preston writes what he knows. In “The Lost Tomb and Other Real-Life Stories of Bones,