My Favorite Mystery Authors

• Susan Wittig Albert - If you have a 'taste' for murder you will enjoy her China Bayles Herbal Mysteries. I started with Chile Death, a deliciously spicy book and plan to enjoy more of this author's delectable offerings. First in the series is Thyme of Death.

• M. C. Beaton - The only book I've read by this author is Death of a Charming Man, but I found it very enjoyable. I definitely intend to obtain and read the beginning book of this series (Death of a Gossip) featuring Hamish Macbeth, a constable in Scotland, and work my way through them all. Another mystery series by this author features a sleuth named Agatha Raisin, a retired lady who lives in the Cotswolds.

• Lilian Jackson Braun - author of The Cat Who... series. These delightful mysteries feature Koko and YumYum, the feline companions of Jim Qwilleran. First in this light and likeable series is The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. I'd been skipping around reading these books, but not too long ago I decided to go back to the beginning and read or re-read, as the case may be, all the books in the series. I've read up through the tenth, The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts and I have the eleventh, The Cat Who Lived High in my stack of books waiting to be read. I feel by going back to the beginning I've really gotten to know "Qwill" and the cats better. The books I've re-read are just as enjoyable the second time around.
  
• The Cat Who...Fan Club Page

• Rita Mae Brown - The link takes you to the official website of the author who has a cat-co-writer named Sneaky Pie Brown in some of her mysteries. I've only read the first in the series, Wish You Were Here, and the two following. It is great fun to follow along as Mary Minor Haristeen solves the mystery of who perpetrated the murder and why with Sneaky Pie Brown's assistance.

• Agatha Christie - the "grande dame" of English detective fiction. Her primary investigative characters are Hercule Poirot (who made his debut in The Mysterious Affair at Styles) and Miss Jane Marple (who came along a few years later in The Murder at the Vicarage. I have 66 of her books and could read them all over and over again.
• Agatha Christie - The Icelandic Homepage

• Mary Higgins Clark - I suppose no list of mystery writers would be totally complete with including Mary Higgins Clark whose books combines romance and mystery. I do like her books, but I have to admit that if I were sorting this list of authors according to preference, she'd be down toward the bottom. A few of her books which I've read and enjoyed are A Stranger is Watching, A Cry in the Night, All Around the Town, Moonlight Becomes You, and Pretend You Don't See Her.

• Patricia Cornwell - I especially enjoy those Cornwell books set in modern-day Virginia with Kay Scarpetta as the State Medical Examiner. I have read that in later books in the series, Kay Scarpetta has left that position and works closely with the FBI. The most recent Cornwell novel I've read is Black Notice, in December, 2000. The forensic detail in Cornwell's novels appeals to me, I suppose, because of my biology background, but even so some of the details are quite graphic and not for the squeamish. First book in the Kay Scarpetta series is Postmortem. Fourteenth, and most recent, in this series is Predator. I need to do some catching up!

• Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park, the book, was BETTER than the movie, but the second Jurassic Park movie was even worse! Michael Chrichton is a riveting writer who can take scientific facts and weave them with fiction in a way that it's difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. Do not let the Jurassic Park movies or the E.R. television series (though excellent) be your only experience with the work of Michael Crichton. Crichton books I've read include The Andromeda Strain or Sphere.

• Deborah Crombie - I have become quite fond of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, the able Scotland Yard detectives of Crombie's novels. First book in this series is A Share in Death. I have read the first seve in the series and need to order or find at my local library number eight, And Justice There Is None and number nine, Now May You Weep.

• Colin Dexter - author of the wonderful "Inspector Morse" mysteries brought to life by the actor John Thaw (who passed away on February 21, 2002), and which we are fortunate to see on A&E in the United States. I enjoy the television series so much, I really don't know why I haven't read more of the books. I have read The Way through the Woods and The Daughters of Cain. Last Bus to Woodstock the first book in the "Inspector Morse" series, and Last Seen Wearing, the second book of the series, both of which I've recently purchased, are waiting to be read.

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - no list of mystery writers would be complete without this giant of the genre. Who can forget such classics as the novelThe Hound of the Baskervilles or the short story "The Red-headed League," both of which featured super-sleuth, Sherlock Holmes? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and numerous short stories in which Sherlock Holmes appears.
• Sherlockian.Net - links to novels and stories online.
• Baker Street Connection
• Sherlock Holmes International

• Dick Francis - mysteries revolve around the sport of horse-racing. I've read and enjoyed several of his books, but checked them out of the library and do not maintain them in my personal library.

• Elizabeth George - George's modern-day English detective fiction features Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers who have backgrounds about as mismatched as they come, but together make up a formidable investigative team. The first novel of the Lynley/Havers series is A Great Deliverance. I recently completed reading the tenth novel of the series, In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner. It was fabulous! The plotting is intricate and the characterizations have depth. However, it is not a book for the prudish or for juvenile readers as it deals with extremely mature subect matter. A Traitor to Memory, eleventh in the series, was published in 2002. A Place of Hiding, due out summer 2003, will feature series regulars forensic scientist Simon St. James and his wife Deborah. Ms. George is also the writer of numerous religious books.
• The World of Elizabeth George

• Sue Grafton - Grafton's working her way through the alphabet writing murder mysteries that feature Kinsey Millhone, a female private investigator, and so far Ms. Grafton's up to Q is for Quarry, published in 2002. I own them all and I've read eleven, including A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, and a few from later in the alphabet. Since I skipped quite a few letters, I've gone back to pick up the letters I missed. I'm current reading H is for Homicide. As all of her books do, it grabbed me from page one and has kept me turning pages well into the night.

• Martha Grimes - In Grimes' novels, such as The Lamorna Wink, which I read in December, 2000, Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury teams with Melrose Plant to solve the mystery surrounding one or more deaths. Grimes achieves a happy balance between darkness and light. The series begins withThe Man With a Load of Mischief. This is another series I decided to begin again at the beginning and read all the books in order. When I got to the third book in the series, The Anodyne Necklace, I found that it was out of print. I was able to get my local library to obtain it through inter-library loan. It was definitely worth the effort. Next I'll re-read The Dirty Duck, which I'm sure will be just as marvelous the second time around.

• John Grisham - Who hasn't heard of John Grisham? He has been a phenomenon, writing books of legal suspense and occasionally venturing into other genres, as well. I especially like The Runaway Jury--the irony was huge. Unlike many of my favorite authors, Grisham doesn't have leading characters which reappear from book to book. The last Grisham I read was The Summons. It had an interesting premise, started well, proceeded rockily, then ended lamely. I've not yet purchase his latest, The King of Torts, but I plan to read it eventually. Perhaps it will have a more satisfying ending.

• Jane Haddam - in the winter of 2000 I read And One to Die On. Not only does it have a title that is reminiscent of Agatha Christie, but other elements are Christie-ish as well--an eccentric cast of characters thrown together on an island and because of a fierce storm, cannot leave, thus limiting the number of suspects for a midnight murder. Among the guests is Gregor Demarkian, ex-FBI special agent, who deftly solves the crime. According to Amazon.com's review of Haddam's latest book, True Believers, it is the seventeenth outing for Gregor Demarkian. First in the series is Not a Creature Was Stirring. I suppose I better get busy reading this series since I'm already so far behind!

• Tony Hillerman - Hillerman's mysteries are primarily set in the Southwest, full of fascinating information on Native American culture. Hillerman's most recent book in this series (the 16th) is The Sinister Pig which was released May, 2003, again features major characters Navajo Policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. To start at the beginning of this series (which I think I need to do again since I skipped around a bit in the series) read The Blessing Way.

• P. D. James -Commander Adam Dalgliesh is her lead character in one series. Cover Her Face is the first book in the Dalgliesh series. Cordelia Gray is a lead character is another of Ms. James' series. First in the Gray series is An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Ms. James' style tends to be dark, her plots complex, and her characters well-defined.

• Carolyn Keene - this is actually the "nom de plume" of the syndicate of authors who produced the Nancy Drew series. One of those authors, Millie Benson, was featured in a January 6, 2002 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I was surprised to read that she was required to keep her identity secret and that she was paid only $125 per book for the 23 Nancy Drew books that she wrote. Ms. Benson died March 29, 2002, at the age of 96. Nancy Drew books were among my first introduction to the mystery genre and hooked me forever.

• Margaret Maron - Begin with Bootlegger's Daughter and work your way through her Southern-flavored series featuring Judge Deborah Knott. You will definitely enjoy the trip!

• Ngaio Marsh - Alas, there won't be any new Marsh books since she died two decades ago, but there are possibly still a few of her novels I haven't read. And, even if there's not, I won't mind reading all of them again. All Marsh's murderers are very imaginative. An excellent example is found in Final Curtain. Marsh's crimes are often solved by Inspector (or Superintendent, after his promotion) Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard, who first appears in A Man Lay Dead which was published in 1934.

• Jill McGown - Detective Inspector Lloyd and Detective Seargent Judy Hill work together (and sometimes sleep together) in solving crimes. Their 12th case is solved in Death in th Family which was released in February 2003--definitely on my must-buy list. To start at the beginning of the Lloyd-Hill series, read A Perfect Match.

• James Patterson - I read Along Came a Spider in January 2001. I found it action-packed and it had an interesting plot, but it really didn't resolve at the end. I kept envisioning Denzel Washington as the lead character, Alex Cross, but I've learned that this book is the prequel to Kiss the Girls, which was made into a movie and starred Morgan Freeman. So much for imagination!

• Ruth Rendell - I've read a few books by Ms. Rendell and have been impressed. Some are not in a series (such as The Keys to the Street and A Sight for Sore Eyes , others are. One series, the first book of which is From Doon With Death features Chief Inspector Wexford. I have plans to read it very soon for the first time, then reading and re-reading the other books in the series in order.

• Nora Roberts - I read Sanctuary at the advice of a friend; it was wonderful. I followed with Carolina Moon in the summer of 2001. It lived up to my expectations and more. The setting for the novel, South Carolina, is familiar territory for me since it is my husband's native state and all of my step-children are residents of the state. Roberts' fine writing and my knowlege of the area and its people made it easy for me to envision the town and to hear in my mind the voices of the characters. On the other hand, River's End swept me away to the complete opposite side of the United States to the rainforests of Washington. If you like a fine blend of mystery and romance, you'll love Nora Roberts' who-done-its.

• Dana Stabenow - The first (and only, so far) Dana Stabenow novel I read was Play with Fire in January, 2001. Stabenow's mystery-solver in this novel is Kate Shugak, who at one time was an investigator with the Anchorage D.A.'s office, but now spends her time in the Alaskan wilds. As a Christian, this particular novel contained some subject matter which disturbed me somewhat, but was thought-provoking. It explored the extremes of fanatacism. I hope that Stabenow was not equating ALL Christians with the characters she portrayed. Other than that, I liked the book, so I am willing to read another book by this author to see if a similar anti-Christian theme permeates them as well.

• Danielle Steele - more of a romance novelist, but some of her books do have a "mysterious" tone.

• Stuart Woods - I was first introduced to the work of this author in January 2001 when I read his novel Worst Fears Realized. The main character in this book and several others by Stuart Woods is Stone Barrington, a former policeman who became a lawyer. In addition to solving crime, Stone spends an inordinate amount of time maintaining his love life (or should I say, sex life.) The details are not overly explicit.

If you do not see your favorite author listed above, or would like more suggestions of mystery authors, I recommend:

• MysteryAuthors.Com

• TANGLED WEB UK

• The Mysterious Home Page

• Stop, You're Killing Me!

• MysteryGuide.com Author List

• The Thrilling Detective Web Site

• Mystery Women Authors

• Bibliomysteries - resource for mysteries that relate to books or libraries. Examples include Agatha Christie's The Body in the Library or Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare.

• BookBrowser - A really neat feature at this site is "Mysteries by Region." You can use it to find mysteries written about particular areas. If, for example, you were interested in mysteries set in Kenya, you would find that Karin McQuillan has written three: Deadly Safari, Elephants' Graveyard, and The Cheetah Chase.

• MysteryNet.com - fun and challenging online mini-mysteries, among other things.

Kids Love A Mystery

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