Looking for a good book? Try Sue Grafton or Janet Evanovich

One of the McCormick Branch’s great strengths lies in the staff’s readers’ advisory skills. Since beginning at the branch in July, I have been consistently impressed by the staff’s ability to suggest new authors and titles for customers in search of something new and different (or old and familiar) to read. A few weeks ago, another staff member and I were going over the latest Bestseller List and comparing books on our own “to read” lists when she asked me my opinion of Janet Evanovich novel, Fearless Fourteen (2008). I was forced to admit one of my deepest, darkest secrets: that despite years of public library service, I had never read a Janet Evanovich novel. So shocking was this news that another co-worker was called over:

“Did you know that Kate has NEVER READ a Janet Evanovich novel?”

“Really?” said our co-worker.

“Well, surely she’s read at least a couple of Sue Grafton’s, at least.”

When I answered in the negative, it was dryly suggested that a basic working knowledge of Evanovich and Grafton ought to be required on the list of skills expected of new staff at the library. After all, both authors see huge circulation in the WPL system, and many people want to know where to find other authors who write similar feisty crime fiction. Accordingly, I felt it appropriate to bite the bullet, expand my horizons, and place holds on the first novels in the Stephanie Plum and Kinsey Millhone series for myself.

Sue Grafton has been churning out her alphabetical detective series since 1982; 2007 saw the publication of her twentieth book, T is for Trespass. Kinsey Millhone is a twice-divorced private investigator who in A is for Alibi is hired by a woman wrongly convicted of murder who wants to clear her name. Grafton aims for a hardboiled detective plot line, and hits the mark. Kinsey has all the loneliness and savvy of a typical detective, and her eventual solution of the whodunit mystery is accompanied by dead ends and danger in all the right places. I will definitely continue on with this series.

Janet Evanovich began her Stephanie Plum series in 1994, and her heroine (a lingerie buyer turned amateur bounty hunter) echoes Kinsey Millhone in many ways. Both woman are divorced, have limited incomes and little time for personal relationships, and tend towards vulgarity when it comes to their bodies – we always, always know when their legs are unshaven. With Plum, Evanovich constantly goes for comic relief – Stephanie can’t resist cracking jokes when she shouldn’t, which frequently gets her into trouble. Personally, I found her less convincing than Kinsey, but perhaps I just prefer the structure of more traditional detective stories. Based on the recommendations of people who have read up to Fearless Fourteen, I would be willing to go a little further with the series, but Sue Grafton is more likely to be on my nightstand. For informed recommendations of the latest must-read fiction, please do consult the staff at the McCormick Branch. We’d be happy to assist you in finding a good book for a cold autumn night.
- Kate