Throwback Thursday - G rated for adults

I was listening to the radio this afternoon and there was a story on about the movie rating system and how almost everything BEFORE there were ratings would have been G rated and that everything, even movies designed for children (with very few exceptions) is now rated at least PG. The reason, clearly, to both the radio host and to my children, is that G rated stuff MUST be BORING.

My brain segued that into thoughts of books, of course. There the trend is similar. The mysteries of Christie, Chandler, and Queen are very mild compared to Robert Parker, Janet Evanovich, and James Patterson. Romance novels show an even wider difference between Betty Neels and Anne Mather on the early end (or Jane Austen, even) with Thea Devine and Sylvia Day.

But are they BETTER?

They are certainly different, but I can't say they are better. That is not to paint either extreme with a wide brush. I don't mind a graphic sex scene or an expressly violent scene if it adds to the plot or characterization in the story. Lisa Scottoline weaves sex and violence into her stories very well, as does Linda Barnes and many others. It is purposeful and well done.

On the other hand just because a story does not have graphic sex or violence definitely does NOT mean it is boring. Mitch Albom's works are some of the best I've read. Larry Doyle is excellent.

And I'd like to add one more. May Nicole Abbey writes historical/time travel romance. It is pretty G rated. It is exceptional. Her first book is The Dreamer. Her second, The Scholar, is recently released.

Feature and Follow - Sneak Peak at What I'm Reading

I am currently reading Lyn Hamilton's archaeological mystery The African Quest. It is a quirky mix of what archaeological tourism used to be before all the turmoil in Tunisia, Libya and other nations, a modern story and the ancient backstory that sets it up. So far (about halfway through) it is both well crafted and well-paced.

One scene in the book that worked well was when the protagonist, Lara McClintock, was following a suspected thief through the markets of Tunis. One could feel the jostling of the crowd and the myriad smells good and bad assaulting one's nose.

A scene that did not work, for me, was the meet-up scene at the hotel on arrival in Tunis. The descriptions were not nearly as crisp and vivid as the market scene and the dialog a bit tired.

The above notwithstanding, I would recommend this for mystery buffs, especially if you like your mysteries with a little bit of historical spice and exotic locations.

Any other mysteries with a twist you'd recommend?

Throwback Thursday - Linda Barnes

In light of recent events I've been thinking about Boston in literature. There are, of course, the classics - Poe, Emerson, Alcott - but that is a Boston unfamiliar. Then, looking at my book shelf, I noticed Linda Barnes.

Barnes writes mysteries, most notably featuring the gutsy private investigator and sometime cabbie Carlotta Carlyle. All of them are set in Boston and make use of the uniqueness of Boston to enhance the basic mystery storyline.

Carlyle is a hard-boiled female protagonist in the tradition of Kinsey Milhone and Sharon McCone. She doesn't back down but she has flaws and self-doubts as she winds through her cases. I thoroughly enjoyed the first Carlyle mystery A Trouble of Fools which won multiple awards when it came out in 1987. I have since read several others and enjoyed them all.

Barnes has introduced a new protagonist with her most recent novel, The Perfect Ghost, who is quite different from Carlyle. The action takes place outside of Boston, on Cape Cod. It is definitely on my "To-Read" list.

So, if you are looking for a mystery with a Boston angle, enjoyable to read and catching a flavor of that marvelous city, I highly recommend Linda Barnes' Carlotta Carlyle series.