Love must be in the air: last week our guest Carol J. Perry talked about famous mystery couples in books. The topic had been on our minds, too. There are a lot of great love stories out there. Do you have a favorite story? Or a favorite couple in a book?
Liz: I really love Clare and Russ in Julia Spencer-Fleming’s Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries. While the mysteries themselves are great, it’s that relationship that keeps me coming back to these books. She does a great job of setting up the tension between the two of them and carrying it from book to book, and all the problems they encounter on their journey makes them even harder to put down.
Edith: Liz scooped me for a couple in books! Instead, here’s a story most won’t know. A woman in her sixties named Annie was leading a tour of Russia’s spiritual sites. A charmer her age was on the tour with his sister and cousins to recover from his divorce. Richard fell in love with Annie and she reciprocated. Tour over, he went home to Indiana, she to Massachusetts. After a few weeks of phone calls, he declared his intention to make a new life with her. These dear Quaker friends of mine were blissfully married for two and a half happy decades until Richard passed away – a year ago Monday.
Barb: Favorite couple? Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James from Deborah Crombie’s series. Also, Dennis Lehane’s Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. I also love mixed gender sleuths with platonic partnerships, Elizabeth George’s Chief Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, and on television, Elementary’s Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson.
Jessie: I think my literary favorite is found in the Lucia books by E.F.Benson. Lucia and her dear friend Georgie are such a fascinating pair to watch over the course of the series. They start out as friends, are occassionally on the outs and then end up married, in the most platonic marriage I’ve ever read. And yet, through it all, they are perfect for each other and a complete delight to spy upon through the pages of the books.
Julie: I love Amelia Peabody and Emerson in Elizabeth Peters wonderful series. I’ve read Crocodile on the Sandbank several times first as a reader, now as a writer. Even though she got them together at the beginning of the series, she keeps the romance and the adventure fresh. What a wonderful writer.
Readers: Do you have a favorite love story? Or a favorite couple in a book?
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