Detective novels . . .

Hey guys!

The semester is almost over, so you can look forward to more posts. But for right now, how about a bit of a double blog?

Okay, so for my popular literature class, we've been reading detective novels all semester. Most recently, we just finished reading A Grave Talent by Laurie R. King and, before that, Post-Mortem by Patricia Cornwell. Before I say any more, let me point out the fact that both of these books were written in the nineties, so they're a little out of date.

There are a couple of similarities between the two books, which is why I'm putting them both in one post. For one thing, they both raise feminist issues, as they are both told from the perspective of a woman "detective." The only other similarity is that they both have male working partners to kind of emphasize the fact that they are working in a man's world. Other than those two similarities, these books are vastly different, so I'll talk about Post-Mortem and A Grave Talent, respectively, separately.

Post-Mortem's main character is Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner. If you've ever seen the TV show Bones before, then you'll understand the general plot for this book. It's actually part of a series, but I've only read this particular installment (which is the first book). Basically, Kay is working alongside a tough-guy cop named Marino on a case that involves a serial killer. The novel opens on Kay visiting the crime scene of the fourth murder victim. The serial killer's MO is that he sneaks into a woman's house (usually a woman who lives alone or with someone who's out a lot) when she's in bed, then rapes and kills her. Since this is a serial killer, there is always the race to catch the murderer before he strikes again, and this builds the tension until you just can't stand it.

It's an interesting read, for sure, and it's relatively easy to read. But if I were you, I wouldn't read it right before bed. I know it's stupid, but I finished the book a little after midnight, and when I got up, I kept watching my back every time I turned off the lights. When I went to bed, I was so creeped out that I wanted to check underneath my bed for any psychos. Other than that, my only problem with the book was the main character, Kay. If it's one thing I hate, it's a whiny protagonist, and all Kay did throughout the novel was complain that her boss was antagonizing her just because she's a woman. He was, but the reader could tell as much without her griping. Ugh.

Now for King's novel, A Grave Talent. I have to admit that I liked this book a lot better than Cornwell's. This book is told from the perspective of Kate Martinelli, a female police officer who's promoted to inspector because she's a woman, most likely to keep feminists from criticizing the department. In this book, Kate works side-by-side with a male cop, Hawkin, to solve the murder of a six-year-old girl with brown hair (yes, another serial killer). Their prime suspect: a woman artist named Vaun who was previously arrested for the murder of a little girl.

Kate is a much more likable protagonist than Kay. Her best quality? She only complains about the lack of sleep she gets while working on the case, and I can totally sympathize with her there (I was staying up late trying to finish the book on time . . . it didn't work). And if the idea of child victims bothers you at all, I'll say that the details devoted to the victims are very minimal. Believe me, I would've had trouble reading this is had there been a bunch of gory details, but I really enjoyed the book.

Overall, I recommend A Grave Talent over Post-Mortem, but I would still recommend the latter for a leisurely read. My professor did say that King's novel is most popular among academics, and if you like art, I would highly recommend it.

As always, leave a comment if there is a book that you would like me to read and write a review on, and I promise I will try my best to get to it this summer. Also coming this summer: writing exercises. I plan on tagging a short writing exercise at the end of each post. I will try out the writing exercise and post what I came up with within the following days. Everyone is welcome to try out the writing exercises for themselves and post their results in the comments. Don't be shy and please be respectful of each other's posts and of my blog in general. Until next time.

Happy reading!