Today I am delighted to be joined by the wonderful Antti Tuomainen for the latest stop oh his Finish Invasion blog tour. Antti's latest book The Mine is out now. Like most crime writers he is also a big reader and in his post he talks to us about his five favourite detectives. I guess that one should not really be too surprised about those he chose.
Rust Cohle
"World needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door." - Rust Cohle
The first season of
True Detective is probably my favorite
single season of television. (Although any season of The Wire might come close.) And Rust Cohle, played so memorably by
Matthew McConaghey, is the ultimate world-weary detective. He's a true loner and a philosopher and quite probably the most obsessed man on the planet. What makes him such a great character also is that he is full of faults, almost enough to destroy him, and yet I completely understand him. That takes some great writing.
Matthew Scudder
Lawrence Block is one of the greats of crime writing, ever. He's written about 100 books in a
career that's been going now for over 50 years. He has had, and still has, at
least three series going. To me, Matthew Scudder is my favorite of his series characters.
Scudder is an ex-cop, recovering alcoholic and not even a licensed PI, but
still takes on cases as favors to people in exchange of cash, of course. The
Scudder novels (and short stories) take place in New York City and it's
perfectly rendered in these excellent, atmospheric books. Noir and good. Highly
recommended. You could start with Eight
Million Ways To Die or A Walk Among
The Tombstones.
Philip Marlowe
It's not really
Marlowe, it's Chandler, of course. He's the one writing Marlowe's thoughts and
lines. And they're still excellent.
Turner
I don't remember if
Turner has a first name. James Sallis is one of my favorite crime authors and
the Turner trilogy is very good, even if we never even find out the main
character (and the narrator's) name. Turner is, or becomes, a sheriff in a
small Southern town and investigates whatever brutality comes up. There are
time shifts as Turner reminisces his days as a big city detective and currently
serves the small community. Sallis writes so well. It is always a pleasure to
read him even if the plot doesn't take you where you expect it, or don't expect
it to. I can't decide which one.
Jackie Brown (not a detective, but…)
Elmore Leonard wrote a novel titled Rum Punch whichwas made into a film by Quentin Tarantino titled Jackie Brown. And Jackie Brown is indeed the name of the main character. She is a flight stewardess caught in the web of arms dealing, drug trafficking, thugs, cops, feds and who knows what else. She's a great character and it's a great story of survival, growth and standing up for yourself. A very
classical character journey in a highly entertaining fashion. Also, you can't beat Leonard's dialogue.
The Mine
Janne Vuori, an
investigative journalist for the Helsinki Daily, receives an anonymous tip
about illegal activity at a nickel mine in the small town of Suomalahti in
northern Finland. According to his source, the mining company is causing an
environmental disaster. Janne and a photographer drive to the mine to
investigate, but are briskly kept off the grounds by the head of mine security
at Finn Mining Ltd. Determined to find out the truth, Janne begins to
investigate the company in order to shed some light on its shady business. When
executives of the company start dying one after the other in mysterious
accidents, he realizes that he’s become embroiled in a dangerous game that
might just cost him his life.
You can find out more about Antti Tuomainen and his books can be found on his website. You can also follow him on Twitter @antti_tuomainen.
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