Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Love An Update On

Leroy Brown (from the Encyclopedia Brown books by Donald J. Sobol)

I’m curious what he’s like as a grown-up. What did he do with his life? Join the police, the FBI? Become a professor? Go on Jeopardy! and clean up? Go live a quiet life as an accounant somewhere and just read a lot of true-crime? Now that I’ve started thinking about it, I haven’t been able to stop. I seriously need to know this.

Tabitha-Ruth “Turtle” Wexler (from The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin)

We got a good look at grown-up T.R. in the closing pages of the novel, but I’d like to see more of her in action as an adult. Turtle was one of my favorite characters as a kid (and I still have a soft-spot for her), I’d love to see more of her.

Patrick Kenzie/Angie Gennaro (from Dennis Lehane’s series)

Yeah, it’s technically two characters. But since they were both titular protagonists, I figure they qualify as one entry (also, getting an update on one would involve an update on the other anyway). I realize that Moonlight Mile served as one given the 11 year gap between it and Prayers for Rain. But it’s been 10 years, and I’d like another update.

Albert (from A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark by Harry Connolly)

I don’t remember his last name and haven’t had time to look it up, his aunt’s last name was Jacobs, maybe that’s it. The novel didn’t demand a sequel—and Connolly’s flat-out said he doesn’t have one in mind—but I would enjoy one—at least a novella-length thing. I liked the guy (eventually) and am curious how things worked out for him after these events.

Clay Jannon (from Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan)

Really, anyone from that book, but I figure there are more stories to tell with Clay (and we spend more time with him than anyone else, so, gimme more)

Rae Spellman (from The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

From the instant we meet her in the first book, Rae felt like someone who could carry her own series—and she just got more interesting from there. I’d love to know what happened to her from her mid-20s on.

Doug Parker (from How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper)

I could probably go for an update from just about any Tropper characters (anything to get him back to novels!), but Doug’s always been my favorite and I’d like to see that life worked out for him.

Carol Starkey (from Demolition Angel, and then a couple of the Elvis Cole novels by Robert Crais)

It really looked like Crais was going to do something with Starkey in the Cole novels, and he either abandonded that idea or just hasn’t gotten around to following through yet. Even when she showed up in the Cole books, I thought that Crais under-used her. She deserves better.

Tres Navarre (from Rick Riordan’s adult series)

I don’t know that there were many more stories to tell with Tres, but I thought there was a little more gas in the tank before Riordan realized he could make a lot more money by being the USA’s answer to J. K. Rowling.

Jane Eyre (from, well, duh)

I’d love to see what Jane’s like given a loving and supportive environment, a mission in life, and a stable place to live—just any kind of stability in her life, really.