Has anyone read a good mystery lately?

One of my personal favorites: Oblivion by Peter Abrahams. Takes the familiar detective story and rips the seams out of it.

Another, more traditional (though it isn't really that traditional structurally) mystery: Val McDermid's brilliant, BRILLIANT A Place of Execution. A "cozy" with razor-sharp teeth.

These two are not only two of my favorite mysteries, they're two of my favorite books period.

P.D. James, The Gardens of the Dead. My agent suggested I read it as an example of making my MC more sympathetic. I like her a lot. Very good writing.

Whenever anyone asks about mysteries, I point them towards Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham. It really is about the best out there.

The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tay is also a cracking read.

I heartily second both Margery Allingham and Josephine Tey (although my favorite of the latter is The Daughter of Time, in which the author pulls off the investigation of a mystery while the detective never leaves his hospital bed).

More recently, my favorite series has been Carol O'Connell's series featuring Kathy Mallory, particularly the first three books. Mallory is a sociopath--as a child she spent some years surviving the streets of New York after her mother was murdered--so not your typical detective.

In the past year or so: Cornelia Read's A Field of Darkness. Writers will enjoy it for her terrific use of language (borderline too clever a few times in the opening chapter or so, but stick with it--this is a great book). It's out in paperback now, and I'm psyched to see she has a new book coming out in January: The Crazy School.

Ian Rankin's "Rebus" mysteries are, IMO, the best mysteries going. He is my favorite mystery writer. I like Val McDermid too, but really, read Black and Blue by Ian Rankin. You'll be hooked if you like that kind of police mystery and love the Scottish settings.

Some that you might not have taken seriously because she writes "Culinary" mysteries featuring a caterer, are the mysteries by Diane Mott Davidson. She writes an excellent cozy. Not fluff, but real well done mysteries. Great recipes in them too.

Tess Gerritsen writes some wonderful books too.

If you like Laura Lippman, you might also like Denise Hamilton -she writes about present-day LA. And if you like Rebus, then try the first Stuart McBride, Cold Granite. Dark humour, gritty, set in Aberdeen. (After the first one, he goes all Val McDermid, so depends on how gruesome you want to go.)

I like the Golden Age writers like Tey and Allingham. Have you read John Dickson Carr's Sir Henry Merrivale and Dr. Gideon Fell books? Fabulous mysteries and a hoot to boot!


peg

The "Anna Pigeon" books by Nevada Barr

Interesting thread! I'm now trying to read mystery/suspense novels with a more critical eye, since I'm starting to move in that direction with my own writing.

I just got introduced to a series you might like: the Anna Pigeon books by Nevada Barr. These are set in the national parks, featuring a feisty late 40's female Park Ranger who travels around to various National Parks to investigate crimes. I just read the one set in Yosemite, "High Country," where she goes undercover as a waitress to investigate the disappearance of young Park Service employees. I picked it up on a trip there, after I spotted it in the bookstore. I thought it sounded a little improbable--but I couldn't put it down!

Very realistic depictions of the park setting and the quirky community around it, psychologically astute, some humor. But not a "cozy" by any means--definitely a thriller, with some pretty raw scenes. The author is a former NPS ranger who has written about a dozen in the series. Makes the NYT bestseller lists. I plan to read more.



Susan

I'd like to thank everybody for the recommendations. I prefer personal recommendations to some script-generated auto-list or random browsing.


Please keep them coming.