Terrific Crime Capers
- Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen
- Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen
- Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen
- Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
- Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
- What's the Worst That Could Happen? by Donald Westlake
- Don't Ask by Donald Westlake
- Drowned Hopes by Donald Westlake
- Jimmy the Kid by Donald Westlake
- The Hot Rock by Donald Westlake
- Smoke by Donald Westlake
- The Burglar in the Rye by Lawrence Block
UPDATE
I recently removed "comic" from the title of this list because it really only applied to the Westlake. But they are all light, and all have quite funny parts. Love 'em all.
OLD COMMENTS
Sorry to be so heavy-handed on Hiaasen and Westlake, but they're the cream of the crop in the comic crime genre, as near as I can tell. I'd welcome other recommendations if anybody out there has any.
Hiaasen needs to be read to be believed. Wonderful over-the-top characters. I will not be able to him justice here.
As for Westlake, all the books I've listed except "Smoke" are from his "Dortmunder" series. The whole series is terrific, and you can read them in any order, but you will perhaps enjoy them more in order. This is especially true of "What's the Worst That Could Happen?", which is much more enjoyable after becoming familiar with how Dortmunder's escapades usually go.
Well, I have a feeling they're a different type of mystery altogether, but you might want to try my "Humorous mystery authors" list. I tend to like the "cosies" (English country house, Agatha Christie, that type).
Ah yes, an interesting list, especially for me, since I haven't read any of those authors (I hate it when that happens :).
I have a quirk . . . I generally like "crime" (where you know basically what the plan is and who wronged who, and the fun is in getting there) over "mystery" (where something happened, and the fun is in figuring it out). That's how I define them, anyway. Which camp do the authors in your list fall into?
And, since my reading list is already a mile long, if you had to recommend one book from your favorite author on that list, which would it be? I'll add that to my "to read" list.
Mine are definely of the "mystery" variety, for the most part. However, if you still want to try one, I would recommend The Affair of the Blood-stained Egg Cosy, which is actually a parody of the genre (English country house, secret passage, secret identities, murder, assault, and theft all in the same night).
Also, if you like true crime at all, you might enjoy Real Murders by Charlaine Harris, which features someone copying famous unsolved murders (Lizzie Borden, etc). Still a "mystery" though.
Thanks for the recommendations - I will try to check them out. The only true crime I've read is Homicide, which was excellent.