Psychic Siamese cats and men with big moustaches. Man-hungry PR ladies in the Cotswolds. Victorian Egyptologists pursued by ghosts. Welcome to the world of comic detectives!
I was much entertained by this genre in the last few years, when my brain was cloudy and spirits were low. "Light as a souffle" suddenly became a welcome sign rather than a comment which put me off reading. I now alternate these books with more serious stuff when I feel like a bit of time out. Here is some of what I found:
1. Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who.. series
2. Agatha Raisin and.. by MC Beaton
3. Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody -the Victorian Egyptologist sleuth.
One aspect which attracts the reader is a main character whose failings are as appealing as her or his strengths, such as Amelia Peabody. Through the odd comment as she narrates her stories, we find she is bossy, proud, likes giving advice - but putty in the hands of the right man, although she won't always admit to that. Agatha Raisin is extra appealing as she hasn't got a happy-ever-after marriage and she is down to earth in her mixture of bitchiness and generosity.
Another is a perfect, comfortable yet interestingly different world eg where neighbours are friends, reporters become millionaires and live in fantastical barns and coincidences make the world smaller and happier, less alien to us. Similar to the TV version of 'Lark Rise to Candleford' for British viewers. Community spirit is very much alive in these stories -often remote communities where everyone knows each other: a perfect pretext for much character interaction and comedy from the eccentricities of the inhabitants. This is, alas, escapism and wishful thinking for urbanites - and anyone who longs for the days when we lived more closely together.
Any of us who would like more friends - and also to be entertained by the conflicts that come up when we are not friends. And the extra spark added by a murder. ...So we yearn for more love, while our intellects love the intrigue and are coldly curious by the evil intent. Well, that's enough of philosophising - where's the next Agatha Raisin?
Another is a perfect, comfortable yet interestingly different world eg where neighbours are friends, reporters become millionaires and live in fantastical barns and coincidences make the world smaller and happier, less alien to us. Similar to the TV version of 'Lark Rise to Candleford' for British viewers. Community spirit is very much alive in these stories -often remote communities where everyone knows each other: a perfect pretext for much character interaction and comedy from the eccentricities of the inhabitants. This is, alas, escapism and wishful thinking for urbanites - and anyone who longs for the days when we lived more closely together.
Any of us who would like more friends - and also to be entertained by the conflicts that come up when we are not friends. And the extra spark added by a murder. ...So we yearn for more love, while our intellects love the intrigue and are coldly curious by the evil intent. Well, that's enough of philosophising - where's the next Agatha Raisin?
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