If you enjoy Elizabeth George, you might also like Donna Leon, another American expat. She writes mysteries set in Venice and knows the scene and the politics well.
I've recently been delving into two writers who set their stories in the U.S., Linda Fairstein's tales of a New York City sex crimes prosecutor are a bit predictable in the mystery department but she really knows the city scene and are worth reading for her insight in the milieu. David Rosenfelt's protagonist Andy Carpenter practices law in Paterson, N.J. His adventures in this gritty old manufacturing city are fun and his attitude is wonderful. He sometimes gets his geography a little off -- I'm a Jersey girl and I know these roads -- but he's spot on about the sensibilities of the area.

I too enjoy Donna Leon's books (see my post above).

Have read all of Sue Grafton's and haven't found some of the most recent as good as the earlier ones.

Must disagree with the comment about S. Plum's "sexual repression," as she's had some rather steamy encounters with both Joe and Ranger. I have Evanovich's "Metro Girl" waiting to be read. This will be my first of hers without Ms. Plum.

Giovanna- To each his own, that's what makes the world go 'round. But - Seriously? Try counting how many times things are interrupted, it's very high school. No one would have picked up that phone or answered that door at that point, or stopped with an excuse. It's a morality pitch that I find annoying. But I don't won't to fight with you...unless it's over which of us gets Ranger (and I win).

Here's another vote for Joanna Trollope--love her books.

Also, Lee Harris's new series with the N.Y. woman cop protagonist is very good; the latest is "Murder in Alphabet City."

Elizabeth George an expat? According to the biographical notes in the last book of hers that I have, she "divides her time between Huntington Beach, California, and London."

Michael Dibdin is an expat Briton who now lives, I believe, in Seattle. His Aurelio Zen mysteries are extremely well written and show the seamy side of Italian life, more so than the books of Donna Leon.

I have just finished reading Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin. A wonderful story of personal triumph. Followed by a huge change of pace with "Phaic Tan - Sunstroke on a Shoestring" a take off from a Lonely Planet style travel book. Excerpt - Regular flights land at Phlat Chat airport, or if winds are strong, in a rice paddy within several kilometres. Where to stay: at the top end, Phaic Tan offers coastal resorts so luxurious that staff are sacked daily just to maintain freshness. Shopping: Phaic Tan boasts some of the highest quality counterfeit produce in the world and all items come with a Certificate of Inauthenticity ... The capital of Phaic Tan is Bumpattabumpah, where high levels of smog means that office tower blocks need no window tinting ... It's a hoot!
Next book to read, Why French Women Don't Get Fat, followed by The Sunday Philosophy Club. No wonder I never have any money.

I'm in the middle of A Thousand Days in Tuscay by Marlena de Blasi. She is the same author who wrote A Thousand Days in Venice.

So far so good!

I'm writing these down, as I have missed some of these good suggestions along the way. So many books, so little time!

I enjoy Dibdin, S. Saylor, and Lindsey Davis also. Sometimes predictable, but nevertheless enjoyable. For months several years ago, I was reading anything with Italian placements regardless of what era. I will try the R Grafton as suggested, ninasdream, thanks!

And no one has mentioned the big buck seller Michael Crichton. I tried the last one State of Fear, and couldn't get into it fast. I'll probably read it eventually. But I must say after reading a lot of the real scientific research data on database, that I do agree with his set of suppositions in the last pages. And I do admire that he had the guts to put himself and his own opinion on a set of end pages like that, when the majority media et. al are so much swaying to "the sky is falling" belief system at this particular point in time- and the majority opinion is also quite opposite. The man knows how to sell a scientific tale.

Going to go back to The Family Tree and a cup of tea now, before starting the big clean up. This is one I will be very sorry to see end. Aren't the good ones almost always like that?

I'm always torn between trying to find reading material related to my destination versus the biggest paperback I can fit into my pocketbook.

Some of my favorites:

Any of the Harry Potters

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult

The Best American Travel Writing (any of the series beginning, I think, in 2001 and continuing til the present.

The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton

Time and Again by Jack Finney

The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

Happy reading !!

topping

Hello, so glad to see there've been some additions here.

Scarlett, you're going to love "Winter House". At least I think you will. I had run out of British authors to read, so decided to give a few Americans a try (Actually, I have to confess, I already read Martha Grimes and Elizabeth George, faux Brits, and I mean that as a compliment.) Anyway, I've just finished O'Connell's "Crime School", and found that to be really good, too, as was "Mallory's Oracle". I frustrate myself, though, because I always read things out of order just because they're on the library shelf at the time. Scarlett, if you care to recommend anyone as good as Carol O'Connell, please do. I'll be watching to see what you suggest.

I've just finished reading several Alaska-set mysteries by Dana Stabenow, and I've decided to go through all of her Kate Shugak series. I have not the slightest desire to visit Alaska, but I love mysteries with a real sense of place. I'm enjoying her stories as much as Tony Hillerman's.

I'll recommend three more names of mystery writers that I've liked. Peter Lovesy's Peter Diamond series (British), Jill McGown's mysteries (also, I think), and then one by Aaron Elkins (American) called "Old Bones", set near Mont St. Michel--not very deep, but a quick, entertaining one if you like locales other than your own. Later, y'all, I'm off to the library today as a reward for going to the dentist. J.

I'm currently reading (and enjoying) a mystery by an author not yet mentioned in this thread: David Hewson. The title is "The Villa of Mysteries," referring to the famous villa at Pompeii and its wall paintings, although the book is set in Rome, not Pompeii. This is the second book by Hewson in what is apparently a planned series about Roman Detective Nic Costa. The first, "A Season for the Dead," is now out in paper. He also wrote "Lucifer's Shadow," set in Venice. If you're looking for a good mystery with an Italian setting, I'd recommend any of these. He works a good sense of place and history into his fiction.

Good morning jmw..
I really enjoy the Mallory books, I read that this new one ( Winter House) is a bit different and a better, in some ways, read..I am just finishing the Daniel Silva book, The Mrk of the Assassin. (his books I have mostly read out of order )
I discovered a writer when we got here to Fl. Her name is Jenny Siler and she has written 4 books. I admit that I probably read all 4 in a couple of weeks, she is/they are very good!
I think Flashback, her latest book , was the best ( but it was the first that I read so maybe not)
I cannot think right now of anyone that has not been mentioned here already :)
A nice bunch of bookworms at Fodors ((F))

I'll agree w/Giovanna & JJ5 on the "Plum-series". At first they were very funny but they seem to be the same things over & over. Most of the books she is releasing now are older books that are being re-released & I couldn't get into them, @ all.

Have any of you mystery lovers read Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters?

It's a series of very small and very readable books (around 20 of them) set in 12th century Shrewsbury. Mysteries all, and some of the episodes have been made into well-done TV 1.5 hour shows through BBC, I think (shown on A&E in the past) with Derek Jacobi as the main character. Brother Cadfael is an ex-crusader healer turned monk... well done books!!!

Shrewsbury Abbey has been set up as it would have been in Cadfael's day, complete with herbal workshop.

It's certainly not the most exciting reading but the prospectus for GMAC notes is currently taking precedence over Elizabeth George.

GreenDragon - I thoroughly enjoyed all the Brother Cadfael books. Unfortunately Ellis Peters died in 1995, so no more installments. :'(
((S))((*))

Just finished "Saturday" by Ian McEwan. Highly recommended. "Prince of Fire" by Silva is good, but for me was not as good as the other books in the Allon series.

OUR TEMPESTUOUS DAY (regarding Britain 1810-1820 by Carolly Ericskson. HITLER by Ian Kershaw. NEW WORLD COMING (regarding 1920s America) by Nathan Miller.

Have read most of those mentioned except for the Hewson, so I wrote it down for "soon". THANKS!

bronxgirl, we have some of the same favorites. I LOVE Piccoult. And Time and Again is a book that I personally have given to anyone I know who is on their first trip to Manhattan. I used to keep it "on reserve" at my first public library job to "lend" just for that reason. I can hear the clip-clop of the horses in C. Park as I type- and I originally read that eons ago.

I work with Brothers, so Br.Cadfael is enjoyable and worth an easy read time.
Ian McEwan is an excellent writer and I will definitely read "Saturday". I've read something else by him that I really, really enjoyed- and now I can't recall the title. But it was not that one. The list is getting longer. I'm glad I prepared the garden on my day off- because once I get my new list in on my next stop- I'll want to be reading out there, instead of working.

What good taste you all have, picking out such good finds from the deluge of books available. You want to read and reread Proust, Tolstoy etc. but not always. Sometimes you want something that sets a mood, or travels to another time and space and although it may not be literature, it opens another doorway or window. In 2005 I do feel like we are blessed with quite a few of those done extra well.