The Day the Earth Stood Green

Today is Earth Day, a warm fuzzy promotional kind of event to remind everyone that we do indeed live on a small blue marble, and we'd better not turn it into an environmental post-apocalyptic wasteland, a la the runaway greenhouse effect which reduced Venus to a smoldering cinder of a planet. But it's just a one-day thing, and that's hardly enough.

Still, the date reminded me of a discussion last year on the Dorothy-L listserve about  environmental crime fiction novels, so I went back to take a look at some of those titles. Recommended series authors included:

• John D. MacDonald. Definitely one of the "granddaddies" of environmentally-oriented mystery writing, his Travis McGee series often centered on the threatened nature of Florida. MacDonald himself served on environmental committees in Sarasota. 
• The other "granddaddy" of environmental mysteries (and the "other Macdonald") is Ross Macdonald, with his P.I. Lew Archer. In the 1960's Macdonald and his wife became active in environmental causes and wrote articles on the subject for Sports Illustrated and the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1969 he even helped to lead protests following a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara.
• Nevada Barr's series protagonist is Park Ranger Anna Pigeon
• C.J. Box - has written a seres with Game Warden Joe Pickett set in Wyoming
• Kathy Brandt - has forensic underwater diver series
• Karen Dudley's series features environmental consultant Robyn Devara
• Christine Goff - features a bird watching series
• Joseph Haywood's books feature conservation detective Grady Service
• Carl Hiasson's books often emphasize the plundering of Florida
• Skye Kathleen Moody has a series with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Venus Diamond 
• BJ Oliphant's books deal with environmental and/or issues, e.g. national parks, pollution, development
• Kirk Russell writes environmental mysteries featuring John Marquez, a California Fish and Game inspector
• Jessica Speart's protagonist is a US Fish and WIldlife Service agent
• John Straley's Alaska novels have strong ecological themes
• Judith Van Gieson's mysteries focused on Albuquerque attorney and sleuth Neil Hamel whose work often involved environmental issues, such as wildfires and endangered species

There were also some standalones discussed on Dorothy-L such as

• Half-Nelson by Jerome Doolittle involves his series hero PI Tom Bethany in a violent legal clash between environmentalists and the Pacific Northwest forest industry.
• Dead and Buried by Howard Engel surrounds a garbage collection company and the not-so-environmentally-friendly things they do with toxic waste, which takes place along the shores of a lake in southern Ontario.
• James W. Hall's Bones of Coral is a thriller about toxic waste in the Keys.
• The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by Sharyn McCrumb, with a polluted river and a cluster of cancer cases at the core of the plot
• Donna Leon, Through a Glass Darkly, has a prominent focus on pollution in the Venetian lagoon.
• Radine Trees Nehring's A Valley to Die For involves environmental destruction as the basis for a murder.
• Les Standiford's debut novel, Spill, concerns pollution in Yellowstone.
• Mark Stevens's Antler Dust, deals with hunting and animal rights protests.

Also, In 1992, an issue of Mystery Readers Journal was themed around environmental mysteries, mentioning such titles as Where Echoes Live by Marcia Muller and Blood Shot by Sara Paretsky. Editor Janet Rudolph might still have come copies on hand, if you request them.

Comments

[Peter]

Some of the current crop of Irish crime novels will mention environmental issues from time to time as part of their commentary in Ireland's economic miracle. Also, the opening chapter of Qiu Xiaolong's outstanding "Death of a Red Heroine" is a vivid picture of environmental damage in Shanghai.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

[BV Lawson]

Thanks for the additions, Peter. I also ran across a couple of other titles which show that environmental plots aren't exlusive to U.S. crime fiction authors--Finnish author Paul-Erik Haataja wrote several police procedurals set in Helsinki with strong environmental themes, and Kerstin Ekman's "Blackwater," set in Arctic Sweden on the Norwegian border, is filled with environmental concerns and social tensions between the Sami (Lapps) and Swedes. I'm sure there are plenty more...