Why So Series? Part 2

 

    Sometimes a reader might want to return to the comfortable and comforting. Maybe that means reading a favorite again.  That was never me; there are probably only 4-5 books that I've ever read more than once.  Maybe that means reading new adventures of familiar characters in a series of novels.  Here's part 2 of a look at some historically themed mystery series that you might want to consider.

    My latest read of these selections is the first entry in the Harlem Renaissance Mystery series called Dead Dead Girls, written by Nekesa Afia.  It's an interesting premise and a rich setting to explore, the Harlem Renaissance of the roaring twenties, one of the most exciting and active moments in American history. A young woman named Louise mirrors the twenties, struggling to balance two lives --- old-fashioned, traditional father and upbringing on one hand and the life of a modern girl, a flapper, on the other. Unfortunately, the author missed the mark. The story is somewhat interesting, but it's obvious that the author was more interested in writing a "woke" commentary than a true historical novel. There were some anachronisms and things that just didn't make sense to my mind.

    Jonathan Putnam is much more successful with his Lincoln-Speed mystery series. These books focus on Abraham Lincoln and his best friend, Joshua Speed, in Illinois as they solve crimes. His stories are based on kernels of truth, and the reader can tell that Putnam has done his research. Speed is actually the star of the novels; he is the narrator, and Lincoln, in fairness, doesn't appear in large sections of the books. Putnam's Lincoln generally sends Speed out to do the legwork, puts the clues together, and comes up with the solution. Still well -written and entertaining.

    The Hangman's Daughter series is translated from the author's original German. The author discovered that he is descended from a family of medieval German executioners. The position of Hang,an or Executioner was a necessary but unpleasant part of medieval life. The job was often passed down from father to son. Executioners were not only executioners, but torturers, and interrogators, and often they also possessed a very specialized novel of medicines, poisons, medical treatments, because their work often involved inflicting great pain and taking the accused to the brink of death, but pulling him back at the last possible moment.  So after the author discovered his own ancestry, he created Jacob Kuisl an executioner in 1660 Germany who, along with his family, solve mysteries and crimes.  Enjoyable series.

    Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are very successful authors on their own, but together, they have created two very popular mystery series that have a lot of historic themes. One series stars eccentric (OK, weird as heck) FBI Special Agent named Aloysius Pendergast.  There are now 22 Pendergast novels in the series. Besides being grounded in history, there is also frequently a supernatural or seemingly supernatural element involved.

    The pair recently spun off a character from the Pendergast books into her own series, and the third in the series has just been published. Nora Kelly, the protagonist, is an archaeologist who often stumbles into archaeological and historical mysteries that require her to work with the FBI.