I got my new copy of The 3rd Degree: The Official Newsletter of the Mystery Writers of America the other day. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Edgar Awards, and the MWA is updating a list its members put together in the 1990s of the "Top 100 Mysteries of All Time." Here is the previous list. I've read fewer of these books than I care to admit (more than a third, but less than half). I should definitely catch up on my reading before my survey arrives. What books would you add to this list? I need suggestions.
Recommended Reading
Kirkus Reviews asked me which book I'm most looking forward to in 2011. There are lots, but the return of Kurt Wallander is definitely at the top of my list:
Paul Doiron: “One book I’m really looking forward to in 2011 is the English translation of Henning Mankell’s The Troubled Man(Knopf, March 29). I can't think of a character in contemporary crime fiction that feels as real to me as Kurt Wallander. I’ve read reviews that criticize the way Mankell chronicles the mundane details of Wallander’s day-to-day existence—all those rumpled shirts and take-away hamburgers—but I’m more captivated by the prosaic quality of these books than I am by the political issues at their centers. Because we identify so closely with Wallander, we share his shock and moral repulsion at the horrific crimes he investigates. Mankell’s achievement is that he takes us inside the lived experience of another human being who just happens to be a police detective. He makes us believe in Wallander’s reality.” Doiron made our Best Mysteries of 2010 list with The Poacher’s Son. His next book, Trespasser, is out June 21 on Minotaur Books.
I should have mentioned that Mankell's mysteries have damned good plots, too.
Do Novels Make You More Empathetic?
A new study suggests they do. Unfortunately, we seem to be trending in the wrong direction in our habits:
The number of adults who read literature for pleasure sank below 50 percent for the first time ever in the past 10 years, with the decrease occurring most sharply among college-age adults. And reading may be linked to empathy. In a study published earlier this year psychologist Raymond A. Mar of York University in Toronto and others demonstrated that the number of stories preschoolers read predicts their ability to understand the emotions of others. Mar has also shown that adults who read less fiction report themselves to be less empathic.
As a novelist, I naturally believe this observation to be true. I'd go further and say that writing fiction forces a person to develop their empathic capabilities even further. Then again, many novelists are self-involved jerks, so who knows?
Hat tip: Zoe Pollock.
The Median Mainer
I realized this morning that I had forgotten to post a link to my new column over at the day job. I'm not sure this one is of great interest outside the Down East readership. But it might increase your enjoyment of the Mike Bowditch stories to learn more about my state's demographics.
Another Best of 2010
Oline Cogdill, who reviews crime novels for the Orlando Sun Sentinel and the McClatchy Newspapers, is out with her "Best Mysteries of 2010" list. She's included a selection of "Best Debuts," and I'm very happy to report that The Poacher's Son is one of her top six picks.