Like Little Miss Sunshine Only a Crime or Thriller Novel
April 23, 2018 6:52 AM Subscribe
I enjoy funny crime caper novels like Carl Hiaasen's Stormy Weather and Dave Barry's Big Trouble, both of which made me laugh out loud several times. I enjoy gritty and layered crime novels such as Denise Mina's books, which touch on poverty, class, resentments, and life in often nuanced and gritty ways. Can I get both?
Are there any crime novels or thrillers (or other genre fiction) that are to crime as Little Miss Sunshine is to film? I totally get that a "dramedy" is probably harder to pull off as a novel than as a TV show or film. Can you recommend any novelists who that well or fairly well? Dark humour is fine; light humour is fine. Just looking for gritty with a sense of humour if such a thing exists.
Are there any crime novels or thrillers (or other genre fiction) that are to crime as Little Miss Sunshine is to film? I totally get that a "dramedy" is probably harder to pull off as a novel than as a TV show or film. Can you recommend any novelists who that well or fairly well? Dark humour is fine; light humour is fine. Just looking for gritty with a sense of humour if such a thing exists.
Best answer: Some of the Discworld books might fit in terms of crime novel + comedy, but they're not as gritty as Hiassen. The "Watch" books are specifically satires of crime novels, but a few of the others might fit.
The Truth has some fun criminals running around; Making Money and the other Moist Von Lipwig books feature a con man turned good taking on corruption, etc. Making Money also features the trope that Hiaasen really likes of one of the bad guys ignoring a really obviously gruesome physical injury to the point of grossness.
posted by damayanti at 6:59 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
The Truth has some fun criminals running around; Making Money and the other Moist Von Lipwig books feature a con man turned good taking on corruption, etc. Making Money also features the trope that Hiaasen really likes of one of the bad guys ignoring a really obviously gruesome physical injury to the point of grossness.
posted by damayanti at 6:59 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books-- although to be fair, the humor is more obvious in the TV adaptations.
posted by BibiRose at 7:19 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by BibiRose at 7:19 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning, by Hallgrimur Helgason.
posted by ortoLANparty at 7:42 AM on April 23, 2018
posted by ortoLANparty at 7:42 AM on April 23, 2018
Elmore Leonard has books that have both a bit of grit and a bit of light-hearted humor.
Get Shorty and Maximum Bob are better known for being funny (gritty crime is ensured for Leonard) and have screen adaptations.
Mr. Majestyk touches on agricultural migrant/immigrant workers plights in the 70’s but also has some levity.
If you want more laughs, but still murder mystery crime, you may like Stephanie Plum novels. They all feature moments of hilarity, just pick an early one at random.
In general, there are zillions of novels that may be called ‘dramedy’ but I can’t recommend more because I’m too confused by books that are to crime as Little Miss Sunshine is to film? - I’ve seen the flick and it’s good and all but it’s been a while and it’s a bit of a stretch for me to use that as a basis to recommend crime novels... so extra, more literal detail may help you get better answers.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:44 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Get Shorty and Maximum Bob are better known for being funny (gritty crime is ensured for Leonard) and have screen adaptations.
Mr. Majestyk touches on agricultural migrant/immigrant workers plights in the 70’s but also has some levity.
If you want more laughs, but still murder mystery crime, you may like Stephanie Plum novels. They all feature moments of hilarity, just pick an early one at random.
In general, there are zillions of novels that may be called ‘dramedy’ but I can’t recommend more because I’m too confused by books that are to crime as Little Miss Sunshine is to film? - I’ve seen the flick and it’s good and all but it’s been a while and it’s a bit of a stretch for me to use that as a basis to recommend crime novels... so extra, more literal detail may help you get better answers.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:44 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Belinda Bauer!
Back with more when I've hit my deadline.
posted by humph at 7:50 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Back with more when I've hit my deadline.
posted by humph at 7:50 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
2nding Elmore Leonard. The writing is lean, the humor dry and usually implied. Sometimes he'll have a set piece that will make you laugh out loud. I managed to read, I believe, all his crime fiction and a good number of his western novels and short stories. He earned his reputation.
posted by conscious matter at 7:54 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by conscious matter at 7:54 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Caimh McDonnell, The Dublin Trilogy - I laughed and sniffled my way through the first one in January (A Man With One of Those Faces) and am rationing myself to try and make them last until the end of 2018.
posted by humph at 7:55 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by humph at 7:55 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Joe Ide's IQ series (2 books so far).
posted by ferret branca at 8:23 AM on April 23, 2018
posted by ferret branca at 8:23 AM on April 23, 2018
Best answer: Earl Emerson's Thomas Black series scratched this itch for me.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:31 AM on April 23, 2018
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:31 AM on April 23, 2018
Joe Gores, great combo of tense crime and off-kilter comedy.
posted by MovableBookLady at 8:33 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by MovableBookLady at 8:33 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Joe Sixmith series by Reginald Hill. I haven't yet read all of them, but the first novel, Blood Sympathy , is both funny and moving in its depiction of a redundant factory worker deciding to set up as a detective. Joe is a great character, and the novel really stayed with me.
posted by kelper at 9:48 AM on April 23, 2018
posted by kelper at 9:48 AM on April 23, 2018
Laura Lippman - her Tess Monaghan series is a little more comedic, her other stand-alone novels are a little more gritty, but both have comedic and gritty elements.
posted by Kriesa at 12:46 PM on April 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Kriesa at 12:46 PM on April 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney might fit the bill. The Girl in Green by Derek Miller is a fantastic read, but a sense of dark, dark humour is required.
posted by wavelette at 1:09 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wavelette at 1:09 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: J.A. Konrath's Jack Daniels series, in particular Bloody Mary. This crime series featuring a female Chicago police lieutenant manages to be both relentlessly violent and humorous.
Dave Barry's Big Trouble
Also, Barry's Insane City.
posted by fuse theorem at 1:11 PM on April 23, 2018
Dave Barry's Big Trouble
Also, Barry's Insane City.
posted by fuse theorem at 1:11 PM on April 23, 2018
I believe the original Ocean' s 11 novel, which inspired the movie, was intended to be both funny and suspenseful. It's also a bit trashy. It may be hard to find behind all the glam of the movies.
posted by SemiSalt at 1:27 PM on April 23, 2018
posted by SemiSalt at 1:27 PM on April 23, 2018
In general, there are zillions of novels that may be called ‘dramedy’ but I can’t recommend more because I’m too confused by books that are to crime as Little Miss Sunshine is to film? - I’ve seen the flick and it’s good and all but it’s been a while and it’s a bit of a stretch for me to use that as a basis to recommend crime novels... so extra, more literal detail may help you get better answers.
I think that "caper" would be a good search term. Little Miss Sunshine seems pretty caper-y to me.
posted by Kriesa at 1:47 PM on April 23, 2018
I think that "caper" would be a good search term. Little Miss Sunshine seems pretty caper-y to me.
posted by Kriesa at 1:47 PM on April 23, 2018
Best answer: If I read you right, Christopher Brookmyre might be up your alley.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 1:50 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 1:50 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I just read Himself, which is a bit like this. However, it's got a supernatural element: the main character can see and talk to dead people. If that won't bug you, it's both funny and, at times, grim.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:18 PM on April 23, 2018
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:18 PM on April 23, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks, folks! Great ideas so far, other recommendations welcome. Note: I have read the Stephaine Plum novels and enjoyed them at first but now am sick of them because there is no character development (not in any single novel, not in the series as a whole). That is often true of novels by Carl Hiaasen as well. (I have read Elmore Leonard, forgot to mention it.) So perhaps that is what I meant by the Little Miss Sunshine reference. I want funny (or at least some humour) and I want realistic characters who are more than cardboard cutouts and who actually change over the course of the novel. Okay, bowing out.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:30 PM on April 23, 2018
posted by Bella Donna at 2:30 PM on April 23, 2018
Response by poster: These were all really good suggestions, many thanks for the advice.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:33 PM on May 24, 2018
posted by Bella Donna at 2:33 PM on May 24, 2018
« Older Who’s a good dentist in London? | Please recommend beautiful songs about difficult... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by misteraitch at 6:58 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]