Robin Agnew
Guilty pleasure alert: I LOVE Entertainment Weekly. It's true you can read it in a half hour - but it arrives every week! I originally subscribed to it because I was monitoring their book reviews for Sisters in Crime, but I quickly grew to love it. In my family, it's worth fighting over, and when my daughter left for college this year, she had to get her own subscription. Now anyone who reads Entertainment Weekly knows that one thing they love are lists. I love them myself, and I started thinking about great mystery characters - of a more recent vintage, not Poirot or Holmes. These aren't in order.
Harry Bosch - duh. He's capable, smart, loyal and oh, a little dangerous. Never dull, just like the books he appears in. What's not to love?
Detective Kubu - The first time I read one of Michael Stanley's books, much as I enjoyed it, what struck me was the wondrous character of Kubu that they had created. A fat gourmand who also loves wine, he loves his wife and family just as much, but he's also a smart detective who always gets his man. I asked the "Stanleys" is they had based him on Nero Wolfe and got a complete denial, but I can still see it. He's absolutely adorable, by which I mean - I adore him.
Inspector Gamache - What can I say? Penny set out to both recreate and update the classic mystery and she succeeded admirably, not least with her signature character, by turns calm, angry, sedate, kind, just, even tempered, and someone who also has a rich and full family life. When I asked Louise if he was related to Simenon's Maigret I didn't get a denial, but I've met Louise's husband, and there's a resemblance there too. However he came to be, he's a delight.
Alex McKnight - I live in Michigan, I almost have to love Alex! But what's not to love about a tormented guy with a bullet lodged near his heart who lives in the middle of nowhere but who must still right wrongs, however they appear. Sure, he may have tasered his best friend in one book, but heck, he had to do it.
Claire Fergusson - I think Claire is single handedly responsible for a new wave of crime fiction heroines, but she is supreme. Tormented, capable, always acting with her heart as much as she's determined to act with her brain, she's unforgettable and indelible. Bravo.
Madeleine Dare - Cornelia Read's mouthy, preternaturally articulate creation looks at the world with a critical but loving eye. If there's a sentence that falls out of Dare's (or Read's mouth) that isn't actually memorable, I'm not sure I've read it - I must have skimmed that part. Thanks for the gift of language, Cornelia.
Cork O'Connor - Mystery fiction's ultimate good guy. If Cork ever makes a mistake it's for the right reason. There couldn't be a more reliable, intelligent or better realized character. Cork has gone through a lot in his journey and we've been right there with him. I always need a kleenex.
There are so many more, these are just some faves. I'm sure you all have your own. Happy reading!
