Clarissa's Blog

Elizabeth George’s most recent book has been an even greater disaster than her previous two novels. It cured my insomnia once and for all: I still fall asleep every time I remember its poor excuse for a plot and the horrible writing.

Ruth Rendell’s last good novel was published in 2009. She is a genius but her age is too advanced for her to write contemporary mystery novels.

Laura Lippman’s last novel was also a snooze.

Tess Gerritsen has made her writing as anodyne as possible to make it TV-adaptable.

Michael Connelly has taken the wrong path with his new character Mickey Haller. I mean, seriously, Mickey? It’s 2013, not 1943. You can’t expect people to read about somebody who calls himself Mickey and not get bored.

Jon Lescroart has squeezed all the juice there was in his Glitsky / Hardy series and created the most inane novel in the world this year. It was embarrassingly bad.

Richard North Patterson did a cute defense of feminism in his most recent novel but it isn’t a mystery.

So if you love the mystery genre and are finding yourself with nothing to read, I have advice for you: READ SOPHIE HANNAH. She is amazing. Her mysteries are the most intriguing, intelligent, and engrossing on the market.