Fan Girl Goes to Bouchercon, Part 2

By Jody Speer

Bouchercon 2011

I almost skipped Bouchercon this year. The economy isn't looking so good, work was piling up, we had obligations. It seemed like an indulgence. It turned out to be a necessity.

St. Louis itself turned out to be a fabulous host city. The hotel was within walking distance of many restaurants and shops. We tried out Stefano's, Mosaic, Copia, Rooster, and Sen. All fabulous. We particularly liked Mosaic for indulging our ordering preference. We wanted to do small cold plates first, then see how many small hot plates we wanted after finishing the cold. They were fine with that. And a huge shout out to Copia for accomodating our group's vegetarian. Wow. Bringing plates out in the right order so that we all ate together was quite a juggling act, and it was managed expertly.

And then there was the conference. All panels and events were held in the adjoining convention center. My immediate reaction was that this would be an absolute pain. It wasn't. You knew where you had to go and how to get there. Signs were posted at critical junctures like the escalators so you knew where to go. After one panel, it was effortless. And the hotel staff were helpful at every turn. Our experience with the concierge desk was excellent for finding lunch on Thursday. My only complaint with the hotel was my usual with large hotels -- give me free something. I was surprised we weren't charged extra for breathing. And $20 for one for breakfast buffet? Seriously? But can't pick on the conference hotel that much. All hotels of a certain size do this.

But I'd rather concentrate on the high points of the conference. Too rich with experience.

First, the bowling. An event to raise money for the library. A good cause. And slightly boring. Uh no. First we chose Team Talent to root for and tweet about. Team talent consisted of Mark Billingham, John "I Suck" Connolly, Laura "Nine Pins" Lippman, Karin Slaughter, Martyn Waites, and Jeff Tindall. For three hours, they poured heart and soul into trying desperately to bowl a decent game. Laura hit 9 pins. Every time. It was eerie. Of course that was 9 more than John hit. And damn, Mark can bowl. Martyn was receiving unsolicited advice from Val McDermid. Many adult words. Many adult beverages. Watching someone bowl sounds boring. It's not. John came up to us at a break and said "I'm glad you are being entertained because I'm not." Yes, we were entertained.

After the bowling, we watched Joe Finder try to hold his own with Val McDermid, Laurie King, Laura Lippman, and S. J. Rozan. Not a pretty sight. Post-bowling slaughter. They did give him a bottle of Crown Royal afterward to ease the pain.

I've been to several mystery conferences including one other Bouchercon. This takes the prize for the most accessible authors. They would patiently talk to you when you descended on them, gawky and tongue-tied. So warm. So nice. Thank you Val for you patience and forbearance. It was almost more than I could do to approach in the first place.

The panels I attended were thoughtful. In every sense. Every moderator was prepared (not always the case), and the authors gave real answers that didn't necessarily include a plug for their newest book-. Well, after the smart-ass answer, of course. I found insight into many aspects of publishing, including the demands of American publishers upon UK writers. I wanted to call Mark Billingham's American publisher and say, "I'm a big girl. I understand that that they say boot for car trunk. And petrol for gas. And I know what a roundabout is. If I don't, I can look it up, and I SHOULD HAVE TO." These expressions are what make this book British. I don't want them to sound American. If I don't understand something, I'll figure it out. And I'd read different authors if I didn't want to try to make this leap. Please dumb down for someone else.

Lagniappe from the conference -- meeting Avery Aames and Julie Hyzy in the bar after their panel. They brought snacks. And were delightful. Julie had me when she alluded to Pollyana, my all time favorite movie. Free books over and above the books bags. Yes I'll take a Carol O'Connell ARC please. Martyn Waites being the nicest guy on earth. Paragraghs at the book store reading being so intriguing. Discussing clothing with Deborah Crombie. Dancing with Carl Brookins. Dinner with Kent Krueger. Meeting Al Abramson and learning about Bouchercon Albany.

The piece de resistance -- Roy Orbison as interpreted by Val McDermid and Mark Billingham. Too wonderful. Song has been stuck in my head ever since. Of course, so has I Saw Her Standing There. Thank you, Mr. Billingham.

Jon, Ruth, and Judy did a bang up job entertaining, educating, and enthralling the mystery readers and writers. What a great conference.

Confessions of the Non-Serial Reader

By David

I'm a mystery/crime reader who is not big on novel series. (Full disclosure: I stopped reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher books in the middle of Nothing to Lose and haven't gone back. I may be the only person in the world who can say "I stopped reading Reacher." Not something I'm bragging about, by the way.) I spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out which one or two books I should sample from a series to try out writers.

I know it's just me and that I'm out of step with most other mystery readers who just can't wait for the next Poirot novel by Agatha Christie to come out. Imagine. Me. Out of step. Go figure.

There are writers who I enjoy reading their standalone books but can't really get into their series character. Laura Lippman, for example. And some writers, I slurp down all the books in a series in what seems to me like a single gulp. The Dave Brandstetter novels by Joe Hansen.

My brainy wife and blogmate can sit down and rip through an entire series by an author in a week and enjoy every one of them. She can read authors who have multiple series (in order, in a row), enjoy all the books, and even keep the characters straight. See Charlaine Harris and her characters Sookie Stackhouse, Aurora Teagarden, and Lily Bard.

I've tried to devise the best way to try out mystery series. I've failed.

Here's why. I don't think that the first book in a series is necessarily the best place to start. Ian Rankin wrote in The Lineup: the world's greatest crime writers tell the inside story of their greatest detectives (edited by Otto Penzler) that he thinks that Knots and Crosses is in some ways too literary. That Rebus knows books a detective in his position, with his background shouldn't know. So that may not be the best introduction to the series.

Some authors definitely get better as they go. Some hit it for a six their first time at the crease. How do you know?

So, where do you start with a series detective? Whose word do you take that this would be the place to first encounter Lord Peter Whimsey or Travis McGee or Stephanie Plum? Luck? Trial and error?

So I turn to you, mystery and crime readers. Help me out here. Suggestions for series to sample and one (or two) books from that series as a place to start?

2010 Top Reads

Since I kept track of every book I finished this year, it was easy to pick out the ones I liked best. I know I haven't forgotten the absolutely great one I read in February because I wrote it down. And these include books I happened across this year. Not published this year. Or written this year. This was the year I discovered Ruth Rendell, so my taste evolves constantly. Suggest somebody I haven't read. I look for new authors all the time.

1. The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard Absolutely the best book I read this year. I could not put the book down. She employed the "if this one would only talk to that one" technique in an excrutiatingly brilliant way. The bloodbath of an ending rivals Hamlet. She captures the self-involved world of the teen ager so well. It is riveting.

2. The Pure in Heart by Susan Hill This book should have been breathtakingly frustrating. All of the plot lines of the book end without resolution. But it certainly left me eager for the next book. The plots advanced the characters that I adore like Simon's sister, Cat. The first in this series, Various Haunts of Men, didn't engage me as much as this one. Making Simon aloof from everyone in that one meant I had no interest in him. Or sympathy for him. I was right there with him about Diane. But wanting to giving him a swift kick as Cat did. Do Something, Simon. Anything.

3. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny In a year that I hadn't read the previous two books, this would have been at the top of the list. Gamache is an absolutely excellent character who needed some weaknesses exposed. And this book does that. This series is fast becoming my favorite. I still think the first one in this series, Still Life, is one the most beautifully written books I have ever read. The villagers of Three Pines are really the stars here.

4. Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope This book had all the permutations of women's lives. All the life choices modern women make to try to exist in the world are represented by the characters in the book. Single women, married women with children, single women with children, widowed women with children, career women. And the painful and glorious role men play in those strategies. An excellent look at the problems and joys of children and work and home.

5. Simisola by Ruth Rendell I read every single Wexford book this year. I picked the sad story of Simisola because when I see the title of this book, I remember the story instantly. I can be reminded of the story in the others, but this resonated with me. Wexford has a misstep in this book and comes all over with liberal guilt, as he should. The racial overtones and implications in this book raise questions for the reader as well. I'm sure I'd have done what Wexford did. And that is sobering.

6. A Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris No this is not the vampires. This is my personal favorite series written by True Blood's author. Harper Connolly can tell where bodies are buried and knows how they died. She is hired by private people to either find the body or tell them more about the body. And her family situation is complex in that modern way. Her half sisters live with her aunt and uncle who hate her. She travels with her "brother" who is really not her brother--he was raised with her when his dad married her mom. So the half sisters are related by blood to each of them. Um yeah. The plots here are ingenious in presenting situations that require her "talent."

7. Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews These books are so funny and so outlandish that a reader should be put off. But somehow it all makes sense. And you follow the intrepid Meg while more and more people camp at her house and she becomes more and more pregnant with twins. Of course a murder occurs with all the other mayhem. But somehow keeping her mother from decorating the nursery is on Meg's list more than the murderer. I wish Donna wrote several books a year. Everyone needs to laugh this much.

8. Death Message by Mark Billingham Billingham represents the token male on my list. I read Bloodline as well, but the story of the murderer and the cell phone is better. Thorne trying to work this out while being just this side of a Luddite is priceless. His usual sidekicks are there, making it difficult for him. Great cop story.

9. The Fixer-Upper by Mary Kay Andrews As much as I miss this author being Kathy Hogan Trochak, these fluffy Southern tales are fabulous for a light boy meets girl or rather girl meets boy. Her heroines always learn something and fall in love. This book is no exception. I love the work on the house almost as much as the romance. But I was happy this was actually work that crapped on the heroine instead of a cad. Her previous book, Deep Dish, I didn't like as much because it traversed well-traveled ground. This was different.

10. Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin My favorite Gail Godwin of all time is Father Melancholy's Daughter and I recommend it as well. Unfinished Desires is about a girl's school, and how changing alliances and friendships affect the lives of one class of girls. And what effect that all has when their daughters go to the school. In less skillful hands, the dual timeline and changes in narrator could leave a reader bewildered. Godwin weaves together mother and daughter stories with ease. Truly awesome.

The most surprising thing to me after re-reading my list of books was that I read 90 books this year and only seven were by men. Ouch. And two of those were the same man (Billingham). Men don't seem to be doing much better this year--first three so far are also by women.