– for Kerrie´s alphabet in crime meme –
No, I am definitely not a city person, but now and then I delve into a crime story which is set in a city or large town, and occasionally I even find one I enjoy.
Here are three crime novels set in cities, written by authors I have discovered this year and enjoyed very much.
Laura Lippman, The Girl in the Green Raincoat.
What I fell for first of all was the female protagonist, Tess Monaghan. She is pregnant, but though her surroundings keep telling her to relax, she is far too impatient to sit back and twiddle her thumbs for nine months. The story is set in Baltimore, and Lippman is deft at making the city come alive.
Rebecca Cantrell, A Trace of Smoke
This historical crime series was also a delicious find. Crime reporter Hannah Vogel is another intelligent protagonist, and through her eyes we get a strong impression of pre-war Berlin, including Nazis, nightclubs and cross-dressers.
Colin Bateman, Mystery Man
Bateman is one of the funniest writers I have found this year. His main character, the owner of a second-hand bookshop, is certainly not your average sleuth, and I wouldn´t exactly call him likeable. But he is an entertaining character, and I enjoyed seeing Belfast through his eyes.
What is your favourite crime novel or series which is set in a city? Why do you like this particular setting?
djskrimiblog 
Michael Connelly’s depiction (love affair) with LA, in effect an enduring character in his long Harry Bosch series and in his other books, takes some beating.
Dorte – What an interesting choice for “T!” I like it very, very much! As for the city setting, I agree with Maxine about Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series and his Mickey Haller novels, too. They do a terrific job of depicting L.A. Walter Mosley’s Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins series shows readers another side of L.A. and I think that’s quite compelling, too. And yes, Laura Lippman does a wonderful job of depicting Baltimore, too. That’s one thing I especially like about her Tess Monaghan series.
I couldn’t see your e-mail address anywhere and wanted to respond to your comment on self-publishing. If you can send me an e-mail to cozyintexas@yahoo.com I’d be glad to give you some publishing info.
Ann
I’m definitely not a city person, but I don’t mind reading stories that take place there.
Considering Historical Fiction is my other great love (besides mysteries) when it comes to reading, I think I need to put Rebecca Cantrell on my wish list. This one sounds very interesting!
Maxine, I thought of Connelly´s series, but the only one of his I remember is “9 Dragons”, and most of that one takes place in Hong Kong 😉
Margot: I know there are some good one, but they do not tempt me quite as much as village settings ;D
Thank you, Ann.
Kelly: she is a very fine writer so I think that is a good idea.
Sounds great. I love the new blog.
A warm and heartfelt welcome to the WordPress world – much, much better than Blogspot; in good as well as bad performance of Blogspot 😉
Weren’t you allowed to transfer all your old posts, or didn’t you want to? (Just curious…)
Thank you, Clarissa!
Ellen: thank you. All my posts are here (in the archive), but I did not succeed in transfering my comments.
welcome to your new home! I’m just back from New York and BEA!
Dorte: My two favourite mystery series from Saskatchewan are set in our two largest cities. Anthony Bidulka’s books are set in Saskatoon and Gail Bowen’s books are set in Regina. I hope the change is working well for you. I have adjusted my site for your new home.
Beth: I hope you had a wonderful time!
Bill: the problem about asking your readers for their favourite series is that before you know it you´ll be tempted to buy MORE books ;(
My new find is the crime writer Kate Atkinson, with detective Jackson Brodie. Mostly set in Scotland, Edinburgh. Characters are three-dimensional, and writing is excellent. In all four books there is a strong element of humor and of people making stupid (sometimes funny) mistakes about their personal lives, but carrying on as best they can.
Elsa
Elsa: Kate Atkinson is a terrific writer, but I don´t need anyone to recommend Edinburg which is a town I already love 😉