Posted by mair on May 22, 2002, at 15:45:17
In reply to Philip Luber » mair, posted by kiddo on May 22, 2002, at 13:02:10
Kiddo
Philip Luber is not as prolific as Stephen White. He has only 3 or 4 books in the series I read, and I don't think there has been a new one for a couple of years. His main character is a therapist in Concord, Mass. He is a widower, single parent, who is trying to help his daughter maintain her relationship with his wife's family (whom he dislikes) and who is trying to develop some relationships himself that his daughter won't resent. A more or less active role is played by the local police chief and by a local Catholic priest, although the therapist is Jewish. It's best to read the books in sequence because the therapist's life really does sort of unfold.
It's been a few years since I read the series, although my recollection is that I found the main character to be a more interesting, and mercifully less uptight than the characters used by either Stephen White or Jonathan Kellerman.
Elizabeth George and PD James write classic British mysteries, where the main characters are Scotland Yard detectives. Both writers employ the same characters from book to book so they need to be read in sequence also. This is particularly true of the Elizabeth George books where you tend to learn alot about spouses, lovers, friends and co-workers over the course of many books. I'm not sure what the appeal is for me with these books. They are a bit longer than many mysteries and these writers don't try to crank them out quite as quickly. There is more of an emphasis on character development, which I like, and I just feel that for the genre, they're a little better written.
I've read many other authors who've developed a main character over a series, like Sue Grafton, Sara Paretski, and Patricia Cornwell. I like these by and large, although they just go by a little too quickly. I used to like Patricia Cornwell alot better than I have lately. After awhile her books got too weird, her plots too violent, and her law and order politics too annoying.
Enjoy
Mair
Another series worth mentioning might be a series by Leslie Glass featuring an Asian-american police detective from NYC. These can be rather morbid too - I think this really turns off some people. I like the interesting subplot that is developed concerning her relationship with her very traditional Chinese parents, and her very non-traditional hispanic boyfriend. A psychiatrist-consultant plays a big role in many of these, but I don't think he's anywhere near as interesting as the Chinese detective.
poster:mair
thread:422
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20020206/msgs/439.html