I have any number of books loaded up for reading that are nutritious, filling fare. I’m working through several non-fiction books for research and because, like Ultralearning by Scott Young, Switchers by Dawn Graham, the Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, Python for Everybody, and Sea People by Christina Thompson. I’ve just recently finished the delightful Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan.
And I’ve started to read and review children’s classic fiction for my own purposes. You would think all of that would be enough to occupy my brain. Sadly, no. I’ve also recently been dealing with the side-effects of stress, which mean that I have been trying to find some brain candy for the middle of the night that isn’t going to activate the brain like the research reading, and will enable me to practice enough escapism to return to sleep without the nightmare tracking me down again. This may not be best practice, but it mostly works for me. So! I wanted brain candy books.
Tongue-in-cheek, I posted on X about the difficulty of finding mood-reading material.
MCA Hogarth promptly pointed out that I could do exactly that using one of the chat-AIs. So I went over and nudged Grok, since it was handy.
If you enjoy the works of Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham, here are some authors and series with a similar style, focusing on classic British detective stories, often featuring amateur or gentleman sleuths, with intricate plots, social commentary, and rich character development:
Authors Similar to Dorothy L. Sayers:
- Agatha Christie –
- Series: Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple
- Notable Works: “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”, “The ABC Murders”, “And Then There Were None”
- Ngaio Marsh –
- Series: Inspector Roderick Alleyn
- Notable Works: “A Man Lay Dead”, “Death of a Fool”, “Surfeit of Lampreys”
- Josephine Tey –
- Series: Inspector Alan Grant (though not always series-focused, her standalone novels are highly regarded)
- Notable Works: “The Daughter of Time”, “The Franchise Affair”
- Edmund Crispin (Robert Bruce Montgomery) –
- Series: Gervase Fen
- Notable Works: “The Case of the Gilded Fly”, “Holy Disorders”
- Michael Innes (J.I.M. Stewart) –
- Series: Sir John Appleby
- Notable Works: “Hamlet, Revenge!”, “The Daffodil Affair”
Authors Similar to Margery Allingham:
- Patricia Wentworth –
- Series: Miss Silver
- Notable Works: “Grey Mask”, “The Case is Closed”, “Lonesome Road”
- Georgette Heyer –
- Series: Although not exclusively a mystery writer, her Regency romances often include mystery elements.
- Notable Works: “The Unfinished Clue”, “Behold, Here’s Poison”
- Gladys Mitchell –
- Series: Mrs. Bradley
- Notable Works: “Speedy Death”, “The Saltmarsh Murders”
- Nicholas Blake (Cecil Day-Lewis) –
- Series: Nigel Strangeways
- Notable Works: “A Question of Proof”, “Minute for Murder”
- Ellery Queen (Although an American, the style can resonate with Golden Age British mysteries due to the puzzle element):
- Notable Works: “The Chinese Orange Mystery”, “The Greek Coffin Mystery”
Additional Recommendations:
- Rex Stout – While more American in setting, his Nero Wolfe series shares the charm and wit of Sayers’ work, with an eccentric detective.
- Notable Works: “Fer-de-Lance”, “The League of Frightened Men”
- G.K. Chesterton – His Father Brown series, while more clerical in nature, offers philosophical and moral angles to crime-solving akin to some of Sayers’ themes.
- Notable Works: “The Innocence of Father Brown”
These authors and their works capture the essence of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, characterized by complex puzzles, well-developed characters, and often, a touch of humor or satire, much like Sayers and Allingham. Remember, these lists are not exhaustive, and exploring these authors might lead you to even more discoveries within the genre.
I’m familiar with most, but not all! of these authors, so now I’ve queued up a few of the Mrs. Bradley series for readin enjoyment.
I also asked for more like DE Stevenson, since her gentle light romances are catnip for me. The commentors here had helped me find other authors like her when I finally finished reading all of hers recently, and I was using that as a checksum on the Grok results.
D.E. Stevenson’s novels are often characterized by their gentle humor, detailed portrayal of English village life, and the exploration of familial and social relationships. Here are some authors and books that share similar themes or styles:
Authors Similar to D.E. Stevenson:
- Elizabeth Goudge –
- Notable Works: “The Castle on the Hill”, “Green Dolphin Street”, “The Little White Horse”
- Georgette Heyer –
- While known for her Regency romances, her lighter works also capture the essence of British life and wit:
- Notable Works: “The Reluctant Widow”, “The Quiet Gentleman”
- Angela Thirkell –
- Her Barsetshire series offers a close look at English rural life with a touch of humor and social commentary.
- Notable Works: “High Rising”, “Summer Half”
- Barbara Pym –
- Focuses on the quiet lives of ordinary people with a keen eye for detail and humor.
- Notable Works: “Excellent Women”, “A Glass of Blessings”
- Margery Sharp –
- Known for her warm, often comedic novels about everyday life.
- Notable Works: “The Flowering Thorn”, “Martha, Eric and George”
- Elizabeth Cadell –
- Her books often mix light romance with humorous observations of British society.
- Notable Works: “The Lark Shall Sing”, “The Friendly Air”
- O. Douglas (real name Anna Buchan) –
- Her novels provide a cozy, nostalgic view of Scottish and English life.
- Notable Works: “Penny Plain”, “The Day of Small Things”
- Nancy Mitford –
- While her social satire might be a bit more biting, her depiction of upper-class British life can be humorous and engaging.
- Notable Works: “The Pursuit of Love”, “Love in a Cold Climate”
- Dodie Smith –
- Best known for “I Capture the Castle”, which has the charm and character development often found in Stevenson’s works.
- Dorothy Whipple –
- Her novels often focus on domestic life with depth and nuance.
- Notable Works: “Someone at a Distance”, “They Were Sisters”
Series or Specific Works:
- The Miss Read Series by Miss Read (Dora Jessie Saint) – These books depict life in an English village with gentle humor and warmth.
- Notable Works: “Village School”, “Miss Clare Remembers”
- The Fairacre Series by Miss Read – Similar in tone to the Thrush Green series, focusing on village life and its inhabitants.
- The Thrush Green Series by Miss Read – Another delightful series about the lives, loves, and small adventures of the residents of Thrush Green.
These authors and works should provide you with the same cozy, introspective, and often humorous exploration of community and interpersonal relationships that you find in D.E. Stevenson’s novels. Remember, these books often come from an era where life moved at a slower pace, and the charm lies in the detailed observation of everyday life and the human condition.
And then I was just having fun with it. Since our own Dorothy Grant started a sub-genre of Tactical Romance, and there are very few others writing in it, I wanted to see what Grok could find like her stuff.
Here are some tactical romances that might appeal to fans of Dorothy Grant’s military or tactical themed stories:
- The Shadow Warriors Series by Lindsay McKenna – While not exactly like Grant’s style, this series focuses on military life, particularly involving special ops and the personal lives of the soldiers, including romance.SEAL of Protection Series by Susan Stoker – This series centers around Navy SEALs and their missions, intertwining action-packed plots with romantic elements. The heroes are tactical, skilled, and often find love amidst danger.The Black Ops Confidential Series by Nicole Munoz Stewart – Features a group of vigilante assassins with military backgrounds, providing a mix of action, espionage, and romance. The characters are tactical and highly skilled.The Night Stalkers Series by M.L. Buchman – This series follows the lives of a special operations aviation regiment. It combines tactical operations with romance, exploring the high-stakes world of military aviators.Delta Force: Team Panther by Susan Stoker – Another series by Stoker, focusing on the Delta Force, where tactical operations meet personal stories and romantic entanglements.KGI Series by Maya Banks – While not all books focus on tactical operations, the Kelly Group International handles various high-risk missions, blending suspense with romance. The characters often have military backgrounds or connections.
- The Deep Six Series by Julie Ann Walker – Although primarily set around a bar in Key West, the series involves ex-military men involved in high-stakes adventures, often with tactical elements.The Elite Ops Series by Lora Leigh – Former Navy SEALs turned elite operatives, this series is heavy on the action with romance woven throughout. The protagonists are very tactical in their approach to both missions and relationships.The Hostile Operations Team Series by Lynn Raye Harris – Each book features a member of the Army’s top covert ops team. The stories are filled with tactical missions, danger, and romance.“The Things We Cannot Say” by Kelly Rimmer – While more historical and less about ongoing tactical missions, this book captures the wartime setting and the strategic decisions characters make for love and survival during WWII.The Vixen War Bride Series by Thomas Doscher – Mentioned in your search results, this series focuses on a post-apocalyptic setting with tactical military operations, though it leans more towards military sci-fi with romantic elements.
Sadly, other than The Vixen War Bride series, which is… good, but no Dorothy Grant, these are failures as comps for her writing.
I was showing Dorothy the results, and we think that Grok is likely pulling from Goodreads, and book blurbs, but also I was getting results that included snips of reader reviews, with attribution (ie Amazon review) so the whole thing is probably pulling into the search that Grok is doing. Which is fantastic both for me the reader, and potentially me the Indie Author.
See, this kind of very personal recommendation is generally only possible via word-of-mouth, which is slow and tends to be biased by the recommender. If you have friends with the same taste as you, great! But in the larger venn diagram of what you like and what they like, there won’t be complete overlap (generally). This is a way to find new stuff, and quickly, plus as Grok itself points out, you can use these lists to springboard off into even more ‘authors I might like’ and so on ad infinitum.
As an Indie author who works with a small press? This is something the traditional gatekeepers used to do. You paid your monies and got your book(s) listed in Publisher’s Weekly or Kirkus Reviews. That got you in front of the buyers, who in turn got the lucky selected authors in front of actual readers in bookstores and libraries. We don’t have to jump through those hoops any longer. Also? This is why your blurbs need to be impeccable. Eeek!
Mad Genius Club 
6 responses to “A Tsunami of Brain Candy”
New names can be useful with a bit of research. My reaction to some of these recommendations is the old-fashioned, Gag me with a spoon. Also, I cannot believe that Molly Clavering, who was a neighbor and friend of D. E. Stevenson, and a fellow writer, didn’t make the AI list. And yes, blurbs… every word counts… sigh.
Nicole Munoz Stewart ==> Diana Munoz Stewart
Cool stuff!
*starts reading the blurbs of the recommendations*
*eyelid starts twitching*
Yep, this is why I write – because I can’t find anything like I want to read.
Here is why I use AI only for creating art.
The Nero Wolfe mysteries are wonderful, but Fer de Lance is “notable” only in that it is the first and, if you are supremely geeky about tracking authorial evolution, the only part of the Nero universe that is whole. complete, and in line with the rest of the series is Nero himself. The mystery hinges on a gimmick that was bog-standard for mysteries of the 1920s (of the Edgar Wallace variety, among others); Archie Goodwin is basically a thug, rather than the refined and sophisticated clotheshorse he would become in just a few books; and the police, while antagonistic to Nero, aren’t in quite the same relationship they are in most of the series.
The League of Frighened Men is absolutely notable, because it is possibly the best-constructed mystery of the series, but it’s still an outlier in terms of the atmosphere most readers look for.
So I’m pretty sure ChatGPT just grabbed the first two books in the series, and called them “notable”, like a panicky college freshman trying to complete a paper at the last minute would do.
I once poked an AI about a story of mine:
“The Maze, the Manor, and the Unicorn” is a captivating short story by Mary Catelli. It weaves a tale of banishment and magical intrigues. Let me take you into its enchanting world:
Flattering but it then went on:
As the sun sets, casting long shadows across the courtyard, Cecily stumbles upon an ancient tapestry. Its threads depict a unicorn—a creature of myth and wonder. But this is no ordinary unicorn. Its eyes hold a knowing gaze, and its horn seems to pulse with magic.
Ah, no. There is no tapestry because there is, actually, a unicorn.