After 13 (well, 14 with this Christmas season's 'Coda' set of short stories)…

After 13 (well, 14 with this Christmas season's 'Coda' set of short stories) books, the Southern Vampire series is coming to an end.

I have to be honest, while I like the books overall, I'm happy to see it go because I'm a fan of Charlaine Harris's writing and this series never really showcased it.

She has a gift for small town and Southern voices that show up so much better in her Lilly Bard series, which is straight-up mystery, with no supernatural elements. (Though Lilly does show up in the Sookie novels in a cameo!)

Yes, the protagonist is triggery for some people, but in a field where everybody is writing about winsome innkeepers, charming caterers and dynamic reporters, a heroine who is a surly, guarded, kickboxing housekeeper is a breath of fresh air.

And her Harper Connolly series, about a young woman cursed with the horrible and bizarre supernatural ability to find dead bodies is a great study of how sometimes it can be a miserable life to play to your strengths and gifts.

So … yeah. I'm looking forward to what comes next.

#ToM

‘Dead Ever After’: Charlaine Harris on Sookie Stackhouse’s final chapter — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO | EW.com
Ready your tissues, Sookie Stackhouse fans! Though True Blood is still going strong (hey, Billith!), Charlaine Harris’ long-running book series chronicling the adventures of a…

View this post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog for WordPress.

https://plus.google.com/110773650362547171117 Casey Garske

Quit channeling my wife, +Curt Thompson. It's disconcerting.
https://plus.google.com/112539429469437111274 Curt Thompson

Sorry?
https://plus.google.com/110773650362547171117 Casey Garske

I'm pretty sure she's read all of Chalaine Harris's books. I know she's mentioned she wished the series would end to keep it from getting any more out of hand. Unlike the Stephanie Plum books, which are an out of control money train for Janet Evanovich.
https://plus.google.com/112539429469437111274 Curt Thompson

Though kind off appropriate for our Jersey Girl detective/bail bounty enforcer.
https://plus.google.com/110773650362547171117 Casey Garske

Even I, hardcore SF/Fantasy reader, read six or seven Stephanie Plum novels before the formula got too formulaic.
https://plus.google.com/112539429469437111274 Curt Thompson

I find I have a strange taste for 'cozy' mysteries. I used to be a huge noir fan in my youth, but as I've gotten older, I've realized the world is plenty dark enough, thanks.

But yeah, give me a mystery about a interior decorator/set designer who solves crimes much to the annoyance of his policeman boyfriend, or a detective with cats who may or may not be psychic, and I'll happily read until bedtime.
https://plus.google.com/110773650362547171117 Casey Garske

Yep, that's what the wife liked before the supernatural teenager genre boomed.

I go for Elmore Leonard if I want a crime novel. Victor Gischler is another good one.
https://plus.google.com/112539429469437111274 Curt Thompson

I don't mind the YA supernatural novels, but the problem with them is that the protagonists are young adults. And most of their problems could be solved with a haircut, a job and ten seconds talking to each other like adults, rather than pouting and stamping their feet like children.

…

Oh hell. That's a literary 'get off my lawn', isn't it?
https://plus.google.com/110773650362547171117 Casey Garske

And Charlie Huston. Can't forget him. He wrote a wicked hardboiled New York vampire series. And his regular crime series are spectacular.
https://plus.google.com/117083257302826576238 Theron Bretz

I love the Joe Pitt books by Huston. Blew through the whole series in ten days. Hasidic vampires, man.
https://plus.google.com/100284373240012510757 Soren Roberts

I think I've said this before, but I like stories with endings.

And, yeah, cozy mysteries are great. I think a balanced diet of cozy and noir is extremely satisfying.