Wulf's Web-Den

Time for more items on my reading list. Last Friday, I mentioned Morse and Wexford; here are some more of my top cops:

Inspector Dalgliesh

Adam Dalgliesh is the creation of PD James, a kind and sensitive man, a poet and a sharp weapon in the armoury of the Met. I enjoy reading about the inspector and his companions and I love James' writing style, which adroitly expands my vocabulary.

Inspector Banks

A more recent discovery was Peter Robinson's Alan Banks. His world seems to age at roughly the same pace as real life and the people around him, with the ongoing tapestry of their lives, is a strong part of the series. Each novel could be read in isolation but they resonate strongly together. Minor details, such as Banks' treasured CD collection (regularly consulted, destroyed in a fire and then gradually rebuilt) provide a sound track against which the individual investigations run.

Dalziel and Pascoe

Most of these detective heroes have a more or less regular side-kick but I have recently discovered Reginald Hill's pair of coppers. I knew there was a TV series of that name but wasn't aware that this was built on a series of books stretching back more than 40 years. My own investigations presently include digging through the earliest books I can find in the series and starting to piece this duo together.

I could name more but I think these are the five most enjoyable series of police novels I have encountered. Between them, they must include a hundred or more individual books, so more than enough to choose from!

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I started a reading list post on Wednesday where I mentioned that I like UK based crime novels featuring police detectives as the heroes. I left open the question of which ones. Here is a short list of some of my favourites:

Inspector Morse

Morse is irascible, erratic and brilliant. With Lewis as his foil he works things out even though by a tortuous route. As I recall, Colin Dexter's series helped get me hooked on this sub-genre. I was also fascinated by Morse's mortality - one novel sees him working on a historical mystery while confined to a hospital bed as a side effect of his inchoate lifestyle and the series ends on a bittersweet note as he succumbs to his frailties.

Inspector Wexford

Ruth Rendell's Wexford, by contrast, has a balanced private life and enjoys a strange kind of immortality. While he too has health concerns, albeit not self-inflicted by smoking and drinking, he and his companions age more slowly than the world. I have enjoyed both the early novels where Wexford, a few years short of retirement, gives unexpected insights into the attitudes of the late 60's and early 70's when they were written, as well as the more recent ones when, still a few years short of retirement, Wexford is equipped with mobile phones and computers but continues to serve as an angel of justice.

Time has run out on me - more to come in my next post in this series.

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Back to my reading list project and I am onto the police. Over the past decade I have become familiar with numerous books that share several characteristics: crime novels as part of an ongoing series featuring British police. I have read more widely than that in the crime genre, and discovered some excellent work (like Alexander McCall Smith's novels about Precious Ramotswe), but cannot ignore that notable subset.

Why am I drawn to them? I like the blend of familiar places and customs with the spice of the investigation. I like the chance the older novels give to reflect on what has changed and what has stayed the same in British society. I like the fact that I can generally rely on the case being satisfactorily resolved and justice being done. Most of all, I enjoy my own investigations, piecing together a picture of the leading characters as I encounter them in various tales often (through the vagaries of library shelves) read out of sequence; my own chance to do some detective work.

But which should I pick? I will ponder that for tomorrow. What fun is a mystery if it is resolved too soon?

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I am not sure how best to categorise the next addition to my reading list, which is Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. It might well be filed under science fiction but was also a best-seller (deservedly so); speculative fiction would be my speculative placement.

The heart of the book, which has no hard science but plenty of imagination, is that one of the protagonists frequently and inadvertently finds himself taking trips through time; the other is his wife. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it (chick lit? unreadable pretentiousness?) but by the end, I wished I could jump back a few days and savour the book afresh from the beginning.

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I have not read so much science fiction recently because I have read a lot more detective novels. One that Paul, instigator of the reading list project, set me onto was Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith.

It is set in Botswana and the protagonist is Precious Ramotswe, the country's only female detective. The style could hardly be called laconic because, frankly, not much happens compared to the labours of most of the fictional investigators I have followed. However, Mma Ramotswe still achieves an admirable success rate even though the book is as relaxing as sitting down to a cup of rooibos tea.

I have recently also read the first book in the series but, on balance, preferred this recent addition which sees the characters a little more rounded. However, I look forward to filling in the intervening tomes over the next few months (and the recent BBC / HBO adaptation for television is also worth watching).

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More for the reading list: A Fall of Moondust by the late Sir Arthur C Clarke.

Science fiction used to be my main reading material but not so much in recent years. I am sure some other works in that genre will make my list but I wanted to note this novel, which I borrowed from the library after the author passed away and I realised that I had very little first hand experience of his work.

It is classic science fiction, with a plot that works its way through several scientific problems. In that it provides a contrast with many more modern works on the sci-fi shelf, which might have grander ideas but less solid footing. It is a sparkling little story and, as well as entertaining me, gave me insight into why Clarke earned his good reputation.

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Time for my first notes on the reading list project. We are not playing by Desert Island Disc rules, so the Bible and Shakespeare do not get thrown in for free. However, as I've noted before, the Bible is the first book I read most mornings so it has got to be at the top of my list.

While I have now read it many times, it is a large work and not particularly ideal for reading from cover to cover. Paul suggested that I might like to highlight a smaller subsection. On reflection, it has got to be the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

I know that is four "books" but, taken together, they are still no longer than an enthusiastic short story. They can largely be read as a simple narrative, making them quite easy to follow. Most importantly though, they are the four direct accounts of the earthly life of Jesus. His life, teaching and person is the lynch pin on which the rest of the New Testament (the shorter, end section) hangs and which is both rooted in and illuminating the "Old Testament" (which Christianity shares with Judaism).

Whether or not Jesus said and did what is written is the basis of the Christian faith; without starting in the gospels and reading out from there, the reader is much more likely to get derailed by musings about whether Adam had a belly button and who Cain got married to.

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