Hi all.
Recently I've completed James Kestrel's "Five Decembers" – the first noir, hard-boiled detective story I've come across and it blew my mind. I was in awe of the characters, the witty writing and the general plot.
I'm now looking for something alike for reading and also for inspiration since I'm in progress of writing a sci-fi mystery novel myself.
I've tried looking through classics like Raymond Chandler or Agatha Crust but I found them a little too dated. Pardon the mini rant but Chandler's "Big Sleep" struck me as a boring description-festival written by some old perv living in a rap music video world where all the women are drunk, have long oiled-up legs, girly laughs and wear see-through sleeping gowns all day, while Christie's books on the other hand were dull, and too uniform for me, feeling more like "Pride and Prejudice – But Someone Died".
I'm looking for something with spirit, with fun, but also intelligent enough to surprise me. I love when a writer can convey a setting vividly yet with as little words as possible (McCarthy/Gibson), and when the characters are witty, smart and have more than just two dimensions (Aaron Sorkin fanboy here).
Five Decembers managed to have all of these traits to acceptable extents. I've looked through the author's other works but apparently nothing he made has ratings as good as this one.
The setting is not so important, although I would prefer nothing in the medieval times (I'm reading Words of Radiance in between).
I was wondering what are the local favorites, and if any would perhaps fall close to my description.
Any help would be wonderful here.
by CReid667