Moody Sleuth

Exploring crime fiction's melancholy detective series.

Challenges

2014 Global Reading Challenge

Getting a late start here, but in the next nine months I intend to complete the 2014 Global Reading Challenge, the Expert Challenge, which requires that I read three novels from each of these continents in the course of 2014:

  1. Africa
  2. Asia
  3. Australasia/Oceania
  4. Europe
  5. North America
  6. South America (including Central America if possible)
  7. A Seventh Continent (either Antarctica or a preferred ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, space, a supernatural/paranormal world, historical era, the future, or ?). 

Two additional requests from the challenge manager:

  1. From my own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to me.
  2. If possible, select novels from twenty-one different countries or states.

The 2014 Global Reading Challenge guidelines stipulate that I may read any genre so long as the books are fiction, but I want to further limit this to the genre of crime fiction, since I see this challenge as an excellent way to broaden my search for new moody sleuths.

I plan to use this page as a record of progress; I’ll update as I add books I intend to read, and add links to those titles I have finished reading.

The challenge manager invites participants to comment on the books they’ve read, so I expect I’ll be posting my comments on moodysleuth.com, and linking posts to books listed below.

Here’s my list:

Africa

  1. A Beautiful Place to Die (Detective Emmanuel Cooper #1) by Malla Nunn (South Africa)
  2. Nairobi Heat (Ishmael and O #1) by Mukoma Wa Ngugi (Kenya)
  3. Dead at Daybreak by Deon Meyer (Zimbabwe)

Asia

  1. Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lanka)
  2. Tokyo Year Zero by David Peace (Japan)
  3. Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco (Philippines)

Australia/Oceania

  1. The White Dog (Jack Irish #4) by Peter Temple (VIC, Australia)
  2. The Dragon Man (Inspector Challis #1) by Garry Disher (South Australia)
  3. Gunshot Road (Emily Tempest series) by Adrian Hyland (Northern Territories, Australia)

Europe

  1. I Will Have Vengeance (Commissario Ricciardi #1) by Maurizio de Giovanni (Italy)
  2. In Matto’s Realm (Sergeant Studer #2) by Friedrich Glauser (Switzerland)
  3. You’d Better Believe It (Harpur & Iles #1) by Bill James (England)

North America

  1. An Easy Thing ( Héctor B. Shayne #1) by Paco Ignacio Taibo II (Mexico)
  2. L.A. Requiem (Elvis Cole #8) by Robert Crais (California)
  3. Havana Blue (Mario Conde #1) by Leonardo Padura (Cuba)

Central & South America

  1. Alone in the Crowd (Inspector Espinosa #7) by Luiz Alfredo Garcia Roza (Brazil)
  2. Needle in a Haystack (Inspector Lascano #1) by Ernesto Mallo (Argentina)
  3. The Neruda Case (Cayetano Brulé #6) by Roberto Ampuero (Chile)

The 7th choice – Speculative Fiction/Sci-fi

  1. The City & the City by China Miéville (Besźel/Ul Qoma)
  2. The Caves of Steel (Baley & Olivaw #1) by Isaac Asimov (Futuristic NYC)
  3. The Surrogates by Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele (Central Georgia Metropolis year 2054)

 

Many thanks to Kerry at Mysteries in Paradise for hosting and managing the 2014 Global Reading Challenge.