I REALLY liked "Death of a Peer" and "Died in the Wool". I think, however, in both cases I liked the characters involved in the murder just as much as Roderick Alleyn. I actually haven't read one with his wife in it, just with her mentioned.
But I REALLY liked "Death of a Peer", as in have read it at least 5 times.
Om that notes, does anyone else read mystery novels over and over again? On first thought, it seems silly, because you know the answer to the mystery, but I do it quite often. I find my Agatha Christies quite comforting, for example. I have been reading the same ones since I was 12 or 13.
Oh yeah, there are Sayers and Christies and Stouts I've read over and over, among others. Of course, I pay so little attention, half the time I forget who does it, anyway, so it's like a whole new story!
I reread my Georgette Heyers over and over, and I know not only how it ends but exactly how it gets there, and I find that comforting as well. I have reread Nero Wolfes as well.
Nero Wolfe is also among the re-reads. I also got a lot of John Dickson Carr and Carter Dickson (they are the same person) mysteries at many rummage sales as a child. Actually, I own Mrs. Charles Wuertzer (she put a return address label in the books) for much of my mystery reading habits. Almost all the books I bought at the rummage sales (Ellery Queen, Perry Mason, Nero Wolfe, Agatha Christies) were hers first.
If I wait long enough I forget whodunit.
I used to re-read my Martha Grimes a whole lot more than I did, but now I just re-read the Melrose Plant portions. Plus there's all my Sayers and Elizabeth Peters. The mystery itself comes second, it's the character interaction I enjoy. Heron Carvic's Miss Seeton books are fun to re-read as well.
Do gothic-type mysteries count? Because my Mary Stewart's are over 25 years old and still getting--carefully--reread. Likewise the Jane Aiken Hodges.
I definitely reread mysteries. If you're not focused on who the murderer is, you can pick up other details. And sometimes the language and the world-building is just fun.
There are several mystery writers I read without caring a single little bit who killed whom. Sarah Caudwell comes to mind -- I'm there for the dialogue, not the plot. I read Jonathan Gash for the antique neepery.
Like I said, I don't think Anita's jumped any of her were-lovers while they weren't human.
(Spoilers for Incubus Dreams): She kinda sorta does, in ID. Well, the guys are sort of in a half-way stage, anyway. How fuzzy do they have to be to count?
I used to re-read my Martha Grimes a whole lot more than I did, but now I just re-read the Melrose Plant portions.
I do this, too. In spite of him not quite working with the character description (piercing green eyes, etc.) I tend to picture Melrose being played by ASH.
