My Favorite Things: Mystery Novels

While I read a lot of history and biographies, as well as literary fiction, most of my reading is mystery novels.

I don’t apologize for this…They are a great escape.

But you have to be careful.  I detest some of the plot driven mystery novels that turn out to be Best Sellers.  I usually have those figured out in about 10 minutes and don’t really care about the characters.  I quit reading most of them years ago.

I need a good plot, but it’s also important to me that the books be character driven-and that the characters be well defined individuals.

Over the past year or so, I’ve discovered three authors I particularly enjoy.

If there is a mystery fan on your Christmas list, or if you just like to read mysteries yourself, I would strongly recommend these three:

1. Louise Penny– She is my favorite.  My only issue is that she doesn’t write fast enough!  I have to wait a year for each new book.  She is a Canadian writer and her books are mainly set in a little town called “Three Pines” outside of Montreal.  Three Pines is kind of an artist colony populated with fascinating characters who recur throughout her books.  Inspector Gamache is the police inspector on each case and his interactions with the residents of Three Pines is the though line in these books.  The characters are well defined and the books are wonderfully plotted.  I recommend reading them in order starting with “Still Life.”
2. G M Malliet- Start with “Death of a Cozy Writer”.  Her three books are all set in England or Scotland and I greatly enjoyed them all.
3. Julia Spencer-Fleming– I’m currently flying through her series of novels set in upstate New York.  Her books also really should be read in order, starting with “In the Bleak Midwinter”.  There is an interesting relationship between the married chief of police in the small town of Millers Kill and the new Episcopal Minister and military vet Clare Ferguson.  I would probably best describe it as kind of a modern Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn type of thing.  Frankly, some of her books are stronger than others, but I wouldn’t miss any of them.  Again, well defined characters and strong plot lines.

I would also recommend Rita Mae Brown’s Sister Jane/Foxhunting series set in Virginia.  It’s probably because I’m from Virginia and know the area where these are set very well and recognize the character types, but these are a real guilty pleasure.

I also read a fair amount of gay mysteries-when I can find a good one.  This is a very dangerous area as there is a lot of really bad writing in this genre.  However, there are four writers who consistently deliver well written books I really enjoy.  They are Josh Lanyon, Anthony Bidulka, Greg Herren and Dorien Grey.  I would also recommend these guys to people-gay or straight- who enjoy a good mystery.  In this genre, I also enjoy Charlie Cochrane’s series about a couple of Gay college professors in England prior to World War 1.  These are not as strong as the others, but I’m a sucker for English mysteries-Gay or Straight- set in this era.

Just some ideas.

Happy Reading!