Charles Todd -- Duty to the Dead

Charles Todd is the joint pseudonym for the mother-and-son writing team of Charles Todd and Caroline Todd, pseudonyms of David Todd Watjen and Caroline L.T. Watjen. The two share a fondness for English authors, and Charles grew up listening to bedtime stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Shakespeare, which his mother read to him. There is a history of storytelling in their family; both authors enjoyed hearing their fathers and grandfathers tell stories of their own childhoods. One grandmother shared ghost stories, while a great-uncle recounted his experiences as a flyer in World War II. They each cite the influence of childhood reading for their interest in writing, and especially their interest in mysteries. In an interview on the January Web site, Charles Todd remarked: "I can't remember not having a library card. Or my parents not reading to me. Or not finding stacks of books on every imaginable subject all over the house. And I liked the puzzle of a mystery--I liked figuring out why it worked."

WITH CAROLINE TODD, UNDER JOINT PSEUDONYM CHARLES TODD; "BESS CRAWFORD" MYSTERY SERIES

• A Duty to the Dead, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2009.
• An Impartial Witness, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2010.
• A Bitter Truth, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2011.
• An Unmarked Grave, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2012.

WRITINGS:

WITH MOTHER, CAROLINE TODD, UNDER JOINT PSEUDONYM CHARLES TODD; "IAN RUTLEDGE" MYSTERY SERIES, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

• A Test of Wills, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1996.
• Wings of Fire, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1998.
• Search the Dark, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 1999.
• Legacy of the Dead, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2000.
• Watchers of Time, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2001.
• A Fearsome Doubt, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2002.
• The Murder Stone (stand-alone novel), Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2003.
• A Cold Treachery, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2005.
• A Long Shadow, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2006.
• A False Mirror, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2007.
• A Pale Horse, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2008.
• A Matter of Justice, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2009.
• The Red Door, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2010.
• The Kidnapping (includes excerpts from A Lonely Death, The Red Door, and A Pale Horse), William Morrow (New York, NY), 2010.
• A Lonely Death, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2011.
• The Confession, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2012.
• Proof of Guilt, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2012.

Bess Crawford mysteries

By: Todd, Charles

(First book in series) Independent-minded Bess Crawford's upbringing is far different from that of the usual upper-middle-class British gentlewoman. At the outbreak of WWI, she volunteers for the nursing corps, serving from the battlefields of France to the doomed hospital ship Britannic. On one voyage, she promises to a deliver a message from a dying officer to his brother. Once she's able to do so, she's disturbed at the brother's indifferent reception of the message, and when an unexpected turn of events provides her with an opportunity to stay with the family for a short time, she takes it.

Read-alikes from NoveList

Maisie Dobbs novels

Winspear, Jacqueline, 1955-

Reason:  Bess Crawford and Maisie Dobbs both served as nurses in World War I. Maisie established her own detective agency after the war, and Bess finds herself solving mysteries during the war. Both series vividly portray Great Britain during and after the war, and feature strong and interesting characters, well-plotted, gradually unfolding mysteries, and self-sufficient women. -- Katherine Johnson

Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries

Reason:  The Lord Peter Wimsey and Bess Crawford mysteries are private detective stories set in Britain between the wars. Harriet Vane is a prominent female character in the Lord Peter books, and both series feature intellectual, intricate plots and interesting secondary characters. -- Katherine Johnson

Phryne Fisher mysteries

Greenwood, Kerry

Reason:  Phryne Fisher is a wealthy flapper in Australia, while Bess Crawford is a nurse in England, but the interesting characters, well drawn past World War I settings, clever plots, and sense of adventure are very similar. Phryne is more adventurous, especially in romantic relationships. -- Katherine Johnson

William Monk and Hester Latterly mysteries

Perry, Anne

Reason:  These series are Character-driven, and they share: the genres 'Historical mystery stories' and 'Mystery stories' and the subjects 'Nurses' and 'Murder investigation'

Navada Barr -- High Country

Nevada Barr

Born March 1, 1952, in Yerington, NV; her parents were both pilots and mechanics; divorced.

Education: California Polytechnic University, B.A.; University of California--Irvine, M.F.A.

Addresses: Home: Clinton, MS

Awards: Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and Agatha Award for Best First Novel, both in 1994, both for Track of the Cat; "Prix du Roman," French National Crime Fiction Award, 1996, for Firestorm; Barry Award for Best Novel, 2001, for Deep South.

Career: Classic Stage Company, New York, NY, performer in shows Off-Broadway; performed in television commercials and corporate and industrial films, Minneapolis, MN; United States National Park Service, law enforcement ranger in National Parks, including Guadalupe Mountains, TX, Isle Royale, MI, Mesa Verde, CO, Natchez Trace Parkway, MS, and Horsefly Fire Camp, ID, beginning 1989. Has also worked as a Morgan Stanley executive assistant for eighteen months, a voice-over actress for radio, a storytelling instructor, a travel writer, and a restaurant critic.

Anna Pigeon Mysteries:

1. Track of the Cat (1993) Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas

2. A Superior Death (1994) Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior, Michigan

3. Ill Wind (1995) Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

4. Firestorm (1996) Lassen Volcanic National Park

5. Endangered Species (1997) Cumberland Island National Seashore of the coast of Georgia

6. Blind Descent (1998) Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

7. Liberty Falling (1999) Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Monuments in New York City.

8. Deep South (2000) Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi

9. Blood Lure (2001) Glacier/Waterton National Peace Park in Montana

10. Hunting Season (2002) Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi

11. Flashback (2003) Dry Tortugas National Park, a grouping of tiny islands seventy miles off Key West

12. High Country (2004) Yosemite National Park in California

13. Hard Truth (2005) Rocky Mountain's National Park, Colorado

14. Winter Study (2008) Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior, Michigan

15. Borderline (2009) Big Bend National Park in Texas

16. Burn (2010) New Orleans, Louisiana

Other Books:

Bittersweet (1984)

Seeking Enlightenment... Hat by Hat; A Skeptics Path to Religion (2003)

Deadly Housewives (2006) - Short stories by Nevada Barr and many other well known authors.  

13 1/2 (2009) - Stand alone mystery/thriller set in New Orleans, LA

Read Alikes

Of the range of Wildlife Mystery Thrillers currently available, Jessica Speart's Rachel Porter mysteries come perhaps the closest to the feel of the Anna Pigeon stories. Sassy and spunky, yet with an underlying vulnerability, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Rachel Porter investigates all sorts of crimes for which she is woefully unprepared

Marcia Muller's fans appreciate her heroine, Sharon McCone, for her intelligence, independence, and investigative skill, among other things.

C. J. Box's acclaimed Mystery series featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett has done much to revive interest in stories of the modern West, while infusing new blood into the Mystery genre.

============================

Web sites

Nevada Barr’s Homepage:

http://www.nevadabarr.com/

Nevada Barr Resource Page:

http://mindharp.tripod.com/nbarr.html

Reviews of each title:

http://www.dancingbadger.com/nevada_barr.htm

Diane Wei Liang -- the Mei Wang Mysteries

DIANE WEI LIANG: THE MEI WANG MYSTERIES

The Eye of Jade (2008)

A tale set in modern Beijing follows a detective's search for a missing artifact, in a case that illuminates less-favorable aspects of Chinese culture and the detective's own family during the Cultural Revolution.

Paper Butterfly (2009)

When Mei receives a call from the chief executive at Guanghua Record Company, she learns that one of Mr. Peng's top starlets--the beautiful pop star and troubled, mysterious Kaili--has been missing for four days. Mei must find the starlet while keeping up the record company's facade that nothing is amiss.

About the Author:

Personal Information:

Born 1966, in Beijing, China; immigrated to the United States, c. 1989; immigrated to England, 1998; married; children: two. Education: Carnegie Mellon University, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Addresses: Home: London, England.

Career Information:

Writer, educator. University of Minnesota, former professor of business management; Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, England, lecturer, 1998-2006.

Writings:

• Lake with No Name (memoir), Headline Review (London, England), 2004.
• The Eye of Jade: A Novel (first book in the " Mei Wang Mystery" series), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2008.
• Paper Butterfly: A Mei Wang Mystery, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2009.

Sidelights:

Diane Wei Liang is the author of the "Mei Wang Mystery" series, set in Beijing, China. Liang's fictional protagonist operates an information consultancy firm, as private detective agencies are illegal in China. But make no mistake: Mei Wang is China's first female private detective, and the character earned Liang an international readership with her series debut, The Eye of Jade: A Novel, published in more than twenty countries. In fact, publication of this first novel caused such an international stir that it allowed Liang, formerly an instructor in business management, to leave academia behind and become a full-time writer. For Liang this was only one more piece in the amazing mosaic of her life.

…...

In an interview with Linda L. Richards of January magazine, Liang shared some of her writing craft: "I start each book with a theme. ... Then I work intensely for weeks on the characters, sketching them out as much as I can. They are the cornerstone of my books. After that I work on the plot. ... Inevitably the characters and the plot will take over and dictate how the story will move."

Similar Reads from NoveList:  All Around Asia (Jul 2009)

Contributed By: Burton, Kimberly

Summary: Although most of us think first of China or Japan, "Asia" includes all the diverse cultures east of the Urals and south of the Caucasus Mountains. Enjoy mysteries set all around Asia—China, Turkey, India, and more—where the past and present so often meet.

Bamboo and blood: an Inspector O novel (Nov 2008)

By: Church, James

In 1997 North Korea, Inspector O is working in Pyongyang as the country's nuclear missile program begins to escalate and as the wife of a North Korean diplomat turns up dead in Pakistan under suspicious circumstances.

Series: Inspector O novels, #3

Shanghaied (Jul 2009)

By: Stone, Eric

Private investigator Ray Sharp and his partner Wen Lei Yue head to Hong Kong to track down a missing Tibetan monk and a large sum of money.

Series: Ray Sharp novels, #4

The lord of death (Jun 2009)

By: Pattison, Eliot

Shan Tao Yun is an exiled Chinese national, a former Beijing Investigator, on parole from the Tibetan gulag to which he had been consigned as punishment. Leading a mule bearing a corpse at the request of a local wisewoman, he comes upon a traffic accident involving a government bus transporting illegal monks to prison. Two women in an approaching vehicle are shot, and one dies in his arms....

Series: Shan Tao Yun mysteries, #6

The master of rain (Apr 2002)

By: Bradby, Tom

The brutal murder of a Russian woman drags English policeman Richard Field deep into tumultuous, corruption-ridden Shanghai in 1926 as he investigates the expatriate community.

Tokyo year zero (Sep 2007)

By: Peace, David

When the bodies of two women, raped and strangled, turn up on the first anniversary of the Japanese surrender in American-occupied Tokyo, Detective Minami of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, haunted by the atrocities of war, searches for the killer.

Series: Tokyo trilogy, #1

The Mao Case (2009)

By: Qiu, Xiaolong

Inspector Chen investigates a young woman, the granddaughter of an actress who was once close to Mao, who may be in possession of an object that would bring dishonor to the Chairman's memory.

Series:Inspector Chen Cao mysteries, #6