The Novelist Gene

Novelists are a special breed that I think must be born with a unique "novelist" gene. The good one has to paint a geographical background with all sorts of detail, invent an exciting plot, and create people to walk and talk and do other things in that background.

Marne Davis Kellogg does all that. Roundup, Wyoming is just as real as London and the south of France. Her feisty female characters can wear cowboy boots or Dior suits. They all make me a little envious.

It's Christmas in May for me. Kellogg's new book, Brilliant is just out and it is every bit as much fun as all her others. Her new heroine is Kathleen Day Keswick, known as Kick. Kick had a rough start in Oklahoma but, thanks to the power of the novel, landed on her feet in upper crust London. A highly sophisticated, smart woman of indeterminate age (she has been Executive Assistant in a prestigious London auction house for 30 years) and indeterminate weight ("My size didn't mean I was less of a girl") she loves diamonds, fine wine, good food and, oh my yes, diamonds! When the auction house is bought by a charming scoundrel the plot heats up. Which one outsmarts the other? I'll never tell. The plot is complex but very smooth, the characters real and the fun continuous. Janet Evanovich wrote, "I loved Kick -- I wouldn't want to mess with her, but I would enjoy hanging out with her."

I loved Kick too, but I do think that Lilly Bennett and her bridegroom have been on their honeymoon long enough and should get back to Roundup, Wyoming and go to work.

Several other writers have ventured out with new characters.

Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum has been wise-cracking her way through eight mysteries, the ninth due this summer. The Jersey bond chaser with the off-beat family has a smart mouth and a crazy sense of humor To give Steph a rest, Evanovich has teamed with Charlotte Hughes to produce Full Tilt, which doesn't even take place in Jersey, but has moved down to South Carolina. Jamie Swift runs the local newspaper and Maximillian Holt rides into town with more money than she knew existed, an almost science fiction car and, murder and romance. Sound familiar? It is fun, but I'm glad Stephanie is due back soon.

Patricia Cornwell is another author to give her favorite character a rest. In Isle of Dogs Judy Hammer, Superintendent of Virginia State Police and Andy Brazil don't measure up to Kay Scarpetta and I found the book rather dull. On the other hand, one of my friends thought it was great, so take your choice. But it is not classic Cornwell.

One of my favorite women is Ella Clah, Navajo Police Special Investigator, the creation of Aimee & David Thurlo. Changing Woman is just out in paperback. Ella faces the issue of using gaming casino money as a means of easing financial problems in her Native American community, and the problems casinos bring, along with a bad guy out to shoot her. But it is Ella's character, part traditionalist and part modernist trying to balance job and family who is at the center of this excellent series.

Nearly a thousand years ago, the Anasazi ruled the cliffs and canyons of Mesa Verde with a rich, vibrant culture that disappeared as mysteriously as it arose. A series of novels by Kathleen and Michael Gear moves back and forth between present day archaeology and the People of 1200 A. D. The third, "Bone Walker" came out last winter. All three feature archaeologist Dusty Walker as he tries to bring the past to life. My friend the philosopher calls this series "kind of a time-traveling Tony Hillerman."

I found another mystery title on the web, but couldn't find a copy of the book in town: "I Got Away with Murder," by Scott Free.

Happy reading.