I read Natchez Burning and The Bone Tree by Iles. I have not read the first two, thank goodness from what you all have said. His newest in the series came out in March and I have not read it yet.
This is an oldie but I have to mention it here because I found it so mesmerizing and haunting. The House on the Strand by Daphne DuMaurier is a time travel novel set in an ancient home in England. A potion allows the present-day resident to become an unseen observer of the past events which took place in his home and surrounding area. The potion - along with the past events - is highly addictive, and the protagonist becomes increasingly consumed by the lives of past residents of his manor. Ultimately, he must make choices.
As someone who loves to fantasize about past residents of historical sites, I loved this book.
@scout59, I decided to purchase Mystic River as my next audio book. Started it today while running errands in the car.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
The movie âMystic Riverâ with Sean Penn is also very good.
Hope you like it, @Nrdsb4! I found it haunting (but in a good way). The movie is good, too.
Many pages ago someone recommended an English police series where the main character was a young female police officer who lived on a houseboat and swam in the Thames. I read two of the books and liked them but now I canât remember the author! Can anyone remember the series/author?
Diana Gabaldon had a page on her websites about authors she reads.
Some of them were not my cup of tea, but the Dana Stabenow series got me hooked, I sort of binge read. The âdetectiveâ is Alaska native Kate Shugak. Great for those who like to follow the whole cast as their lives evolve. She also spun out a Liam Campbell short series.
My mom just found Louise Penny, and I picked up a book for her yesterday. Maybe I should check it out before passing it on.
Other good series -
CJ Box books, Joe Picket (Wyoming game warden)
Craig Johnson books, Walt Longmire (books are better than the TV series)
I totally agree with previous comments on the super-prolific mystery authors like Patterson and Sanford. Also would add Stuart Davis (Stone Barrington series) and the late Robert Parker (Spenser series) to that list. They start out with a bang, gain a big following, and then just start mailing it in.
For other mystery/crime fans here are a few authors I enjoy.
Sara ParetskyâVI Warshawski series, set on the South side of Chicago. Warshawski was one of the first female detectives in the mystery genre. VI was solving mysteries way before Kinsey Milhone (Sue Grafton) and Stephanie Plum (Evanovich).
Jane LangtonâHomer Kelly series, set in New England. Kelly is an ex-cop, attorney, and Thoreau scholar. His wife Mary also helps him solve crimes. Langton wrote childrenâs books (Hall Family Chronicles) before turning to mysteries. She hasnât written anything in a long time. Sheâs in her late 80s now.
Katherine Hall PaigeâFaith Fairchild series, set in a small Massachusetts town and also in Maine. Faith is a caterer and the wife of a minister who keeps finding dead bodies.
Archer MayerâJoe Gunther series. These are Vermont police procedurals.
Arnaldur IndridasonâInspector Erlendur series. I loved these books mostly because I learned so much about Iceland; the books are set in Reykjavik.
Series featuring cops/detectives who are really into forensics and bring serial killers to justice:
Jeffrey DeaverâLincoln Rhyme and Amanda Sachs series. These books are set in NYC although the most recent one was set in Italy.
Patricia CornwellâDr. Kay Scarpetta series.
Speaking of Parker and the Spenser seriesâŠAce Atkins is writing those now. I havenât read his Spenser books, but like his Ranger books with Quinn Colson. But if Spenser still pays the bills, who am I to judge?
âŠalthough, I do have a soft spot in my heart for John D. MacDonaldâs books, and he wrote a ton of them. They donât all hold up that well (OMG, the sexism!) but the man could write - and his last books were as good as the first.
@NorthMinnesota - sounded very familiar, and it turns out I have read them. The author is Sharon / S.J. Bolton. 4 books in the series.
Thank you zeebamom!!! Thatâs the author I was searching for!
I need to come up with a system to keep track of authors I enjoy so I can check back to see if new books have been published. Any one have suggestions? Is there anything online?
@NorthMinnesota A lot of reading friends I know use goodreads. Personally, I just pin my stuff to a pinterest board.
@NorthMinnesota Goodreads ! Goodreads! Goodreads! Itâs an amazing site !
Except that it is part of Amazonâs takeover and decimation of the publishing industry. But carry onâŠ
^ I like the ability to search and find people with whom you share similar tastes. It has an excellent database to track your books, and the ability to compare your book ratings with other people and find a âcompatibilityâ rating i.e. 75 % similar ratings or 18%- I love that feature.
I am not criticizing the application at all. Merely its overlords and giving them all of my reading data.
@NorthMinnesota - I keep track the old fashioned way. I bought a cute little notebook at Barnes & Noble that looks like a library card on the front. I keep track of favorite books and authors there.
Thanks for the suggestions! I explored Goodreads and discovered that I must have used that site at one point because it had some of my books already listed! I couldnât find how to manually add books that werenât read from my kindle. Can you do that?
I figured it out!