Erle Stanley Gardner
Author Gardner is best known for his long-running Perry Mason series of books, tv shows and movies. But his lesser-known, but equally enjoyable, Cool and Lam series is definitely worth a read. The Knife Slipped is described as a “lost” book, but in reality it was more …
Richard Osman
Osman’s debut murder mystery is, in a word, adorable. The popular British tv presenter and comedian has written a sweet, funny, poignant and also truly excellent murder mystery. His elderly crime-solvers, four retirees at an exclusive retirement community, are fearless and brilliant. The two hapless police officers trying …
John Dickinson Carr
Dickinson Carr is considered one of the classic “vintage” (though possibly second-tier) mystery writers. He’s up there with likes of Pim, Tey, and Marsh. But if Castle Skull sounds like the title a seventh-grader would give their first novel, you wouldn’t be far off. There is nothing …
You can’t help but compare Marsh to Agatha Christie as a grande dame of murder. After all, Marsh invites you to with the quote “It’s time to compare Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around.” – Dily Winn, New York Magazine printed on all of her books.
The …
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse
Mycroft Holmes had three major strikes against it – 1. written by a celebrity 2. co-written with a professional writer and 3. a story in a major and wildly popular canon. However, after reading an excellent op-ed written by Abdul-Jabbar in the Washington Post, …
Jane Willan
The author the Sister Agatha mysteries, Reverend Jane Willan, does a wonderful job evoking the peaceful life of a rural Welsh Abbey. Of course, being a mystery, there is plenty of murder and mayhem. But like many of the best mystery authors, the whodunnit is second to the …
Tim Myers
Set in rural North Carolina, innkeeper Alex Winston struggles to keep his one-of-a-kind inn open. Despite being miles from the sea, his inn features a full-size replicate of the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras. The series is a pleasant, low-key look at life in a beautiful, small town – …
Lorraine Bartlett
Author Lorraine (or LL) Bartlett writes the thoroughly enjoyable Booktown mystery series, a definite must-read for cozy fans. However, she has a lesser-known series that is, in many ways, more compelling.
Bartlett’s Jeff Resnick series follows a former insurance adjuster, now part-time bartender. After a nearly fatal mugging, …
Simon R. Green
Green, author of the fabulous Nightside series, has a new …”hero.” Ishmael Jones is an alien, crashed on the Earth decades ago. With no memory of who or what he is, but endowed with all sorts of handy strengths, he works for a secret organization protecting …
Kelley Armstrong
This atmospheric mystery is a gripping read. Homicide Detective Casey Duncan has a nasty secret in her past and a best friend who she is trying to protect from an abusive ex. When things come to a head, the two decide to drop out of society. They are …
Susan Cox
This book was humming along, being all wonderful and and stuff. And then it ended! The nerve! Worse, it is Cox’s first and was just published (Dec. 2015). Despite these short-comings, I would highly recommend picking up The Man on the Washing Machine. Theo Bogart, looking to escape …
Carolyn Hart
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Carolyn Hart
Hart is the current reigning queen of mystery. Her Death on Demand series has reached twenty-four titles. In addition to being a thoroughly enjoyable series, Hart uses the hook of the series being set in a book store (Death on Demand) to recommend dozens of mystery …
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Edmund Crispin
Crispin is one of those golden-era British mystery authors that is too little known today. His Oxford don, Gervase Fen, is funny, snarky, whitty, absent-minded and brilliant. Whirling from one unlikely event to another, finding clues (and only clues) in the oddest places, Fen and associates solve crimes …
Gretchen Archer
There are magical-realism authors that can spin a fine web or fantasy – making you believe a little bit of magic, and then a bit more – until you find yourself believing in a whole other fantastic realm. They do so subtly, slowly and skillfully. Writers like Hoffman …
