GEMMA, MAISIE, AND CLARE
My mother devoured mysteries. I think when she was raising her four children they were pure escape. She would read a Crime Club mystery in an evening and then read several more over the rest of a week—all of that required frequent trips to the public library. I am more selective in which mysteries I like, but I do have a few favorite authors whose series I follow. These are mystery novels featuring women detectives with these characters evolving over time. Reading them in the order they were published enables the reader to share in how a relationship, whether it’s with a work partner or a romantic interest, deepens and changes. For me, this is much more satisfying than a one-off crime novel. The books in these series are also well written. Each author came to writing after some other career and with considerable life experience and each has won multiple awards for her writing. So, here is my first batch of favorites—for those who know me, there aren’t any surprises!
Deborah Crombie grew up near Dallas, Texas, lived in the U.K. with her first husband, a Scotsman, and then returned to the U.S. and Texas. She loved England and her contemporary mysteries are set there and feature the Scotland Yard detective team of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma Jones. The first books focused on Duncan, but then their relationship developed. They became partners in life and often work together, whether officially or unofficially, on their cases.
The novels are rich with the complexities of children and stepchildren, ex-spouses, unreasonable bosses, challenging colleagues, and yes, murders with few clues. One of her most recent titles which I just read and enjoyed is The Sound of Broken Glass. There are at least 17 titles in the series—hard for me to believe I’ve read that many!
The Maisie Dobbs mystery novels by Jacqueline Winspear are mostly set in England in the period from WWI into the 1930’s. Maisie is a psychologist and private investigator and a somewhat quirky woman taking advantage of the winds of social change. Author Winspear was born and raised in the U.K., immigrated to the United States in 1990, and now lives in the San Francisco Bay area. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting her briefly when she was also a guest at an author lunch.
I find Winspear’s evocation of this earlier time in history to be fascinating and believable. Besides Maisie, her other characters—Maisie’s father, her mentor Maurice, and her friend James Compton—come off the page and I find myself savoring the details of their lives and their interactions. Currently, I’m reading the very latest Maisie Dobbs, A Dangerous Place, this one set in Gibraltar.
Unlike the other two writers, Julia Spencer-Fleming has always lived in the U.S. and has not strayed too far from home. She grew up in Plattsburgh, NY as an army brat, went to law school and then practiced law before becoming a successful writer. She now lives outside Portland, Maine. Her main character, Clare Fergusson, is undoubtedly one of the more unusual detectives. An ordained Episcopal priest, Clare has her own church in a small upstate NY town, and previously was a helicopter pilot in the army. The town of Millers Kill is almost as much of a character as police chief Russ Van Alstyne with whom Clare collaborates.
Almost every book title is a phrase from a Protestant hymn and some chapter titles too, but don’t be put off, there is some church politics in the mix, but these are not preachy tomes. One aspect of Spencer-Fleming’s work I particularly admire is her willingness to tackle contemporary issues within the context of a murder mystery, be it abandoned babies or the struggles of returning veterans. You may find, as I do, that her stories stay with you. One such for me was One Was a Soldier published in 2011.
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