I recently read that Stephen King has a new favorite author, Robert Goddard. I'm not a big Stephen King fan, though the few books of his that I have read were certainly page turners. I am a big fan of good mysteries however, and so decided I'd take Stephen's advice and give Mr. Goddard a try. I read his first book, Past Caring, and liked it. I'll be reading more. I checked Mr. Goddard out at Wikipedia, mainly to get a list of his novels in order of publication, but discovered other interesting facts about him.

Most mystery writers have a formula they write by, and Goddard is no exception. The description at Wikipedia is accurate for the novel I read, "A flawed hero will have a flaw, which may be crucial to the plot. The hero will sleep with a female character once, and the hero will visit lots of pubs." The historical backdrop for the novel is England during the first half of the twentieth century, and uses the key political figures of the time as well as the suffragette movement as integral elements in the plot. I've found most mystery writers start writing the same novel with the same characters, albeit with different names after the first half dozen books, so It's nice to find a new one where I can start with their first book. I'll let you know how Mr. Goddard's work holds up.