I think that the garden gnome thing is one of the Elizabeth MacPherson (if that's the way she spells it) mysteries, written by Susan McCrumb.
I battle evil. But I don't really win. The bad keeps coming back and getting stronger. Like that kid in the story, the boy that stuck his finger in the duck.
Buffy ,'Showtime'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
sumi - Apr 09, 2004 7:18:20 pm PDT #2124 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
dcp - Apr 09, 2004 7:18:27 pm PDT #2125 of 10002
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
Sharyn McCrumb did the postcard-sending garden gnome thing, don't know whether Elizabeth George did it too.
ETA: ha, sumi beat me to it by seven seconds
sumi - Apr 09, 2004 7:20:34 pm PDT #2126 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
Sharyn! How could I forget that name!
Ginger - Apr 09, 2004 7:21:24 pm PDT #2127 of 10002
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
One of the Sharyn McCrumb Elizabeth MacPherson books has a postcard-sending gnome. Elizabeth George is a good deal darker.
Of course it's a xpost.
Snacky - Apr 09, 2004 7:32:06 pm PDT #2128 of 10002
Like I need a hole in my head
Sharyn McCrumb stole my name!
DavidS - Apr 09, 2004 7:33:54 pm PDT #2129 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Sharyn McCrumb stole my name!
Snacky McCrumb? That bitch!
deborah grabien - Apr 09, 2004 10:34:10 pm PDT #2130 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Yup, McCrumb.
I love Archie Goodwin with body and soul. We're currently TiVoing all the Timothy Hutton Nero Wolfes.
Somehow or other, I've managed to never really get into the American modern mystery. It's weird; I love my old ones, my Stouts and my Chandlers and my Hammets. I prefer the UK ones most of the time, but those three, I love.
But somehow, I've never been able to enjoy Paretsky et al the way I do, say, Catherine Aird or P.D. James.
Amy - Apr 10, 2004 3:49:13 am PDT #2131 of 10002
Because books.
I recently picked up Deborah Crombie's mysteries featuring Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. She's another American author writing British mystery, and Duncan is an Inspector, so it's procedural. At first she seemed a little bit like Elizabeth George Lite to me, but as the series has progressed, she's really hit her stride. Dreaming of the Bones (the fifth book) was just gorgeous, about a very Sylvia Plath-like poet, dead for five years, and the woman writing her biography, who happens to be Duncan's ex-wife.
She follows Gemma and Duncan's lives as much as presenting the mystery, too, and I'm just loving them. I've read all of the Elizabeth George Lynley mysteries, and I adored them up until the last two. In trying to tell the story from other points of view, she's getting too far away from Tommy and Barbara. And Deb is a bit whiny for my taste.
msbelle - Apr 10, 2004 5:54:09 am PDT #2132 of 10002
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
I must mention Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series. She also has a couple of stand alones. Based in Baltimore.
And Lehane's Angie Gennaro is probably my favorite female in mysteries so far (I am admittedly not that well-read in mysteries).
deborah grabien - Apr 10, 2004 8:25:40 am PDT #2133 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
And Deb is a bit whiny for my taste.
Assuming you mean her character....?
I've heard raves about Crombie. She's on my TBR list, assuming I ever sit down and read again.