Livre d'Or

Here from three_weeks_for_dw--I see some Mary Renault in your booklog; you *have* read The Charioteer, right? Riiiight?

Your emphasis on good characterization reminds me of my favorite series of detective novels: the Nero Wolfe series, by Rex Stout. I don't really care much about the cases themselves; I read them for the narrator-character Archie Goodwin, who's, well, difficult to describe, but let me try: witty, dashing, noir-ish, comic, and very American. You can probably start reading just about anywhere in the series, but I'd avoid the first and last novels (Fer-de-Lance and A Family Affair) to start with. One of my favorites is Plot It Yourself.

Oh, and I second the rec for Christopher Priest's The Prestige. The book is quite different from the movie--much better and much creepier. If you like audiobooks, Simon Vance does a good reading of that one.