As is my custom, as the year winds down I like to
assess the books I've read and make some recommendations.
Since I'm a voracious reader of both fiction and
non-fiction (reads and re-reads nearing a hundred and the year isn't quite
over), I'm limiting to just 10 books in the mystery genre this time around.
Note, they weren't all published in 2017 either. Here they are, in no
particular order:
A RECKONING IN THE BACK COUNTRY by Terry Shames. The
vicious murder of a doctor from out of the area poses a perplexing mystery in
this seventh in the Samuel Craddock series. I don't know why, but this was my
first experience with this series. It won't be the last.
SEE ALSO PROOF by Larry D. Sweazy. This Marjorie
Tremaine mystery takes the reader on a harrowing journey back to the
1960s--which weren't as wonderful as some would have you believe.
ROBICHEAUX by James Lee Burke. It's been far too
long since the last visit with Dave and the gang. Burke has given us other
novels in between, but Robicheaux remains my favorite of his creations.
THE LINE by Martin Limon. This page-turner with Army
Criminal Investigation Division agents Sueno and Bascom takes the reader on a
nail-biting jaunt to the DMZ where a South Korean soldier has been murdered and
their investigation threatens to set off an international incident.
A KNIFE IN THE FOG by Bradley Harper. I'm not a fan of writers appropriating
the character(s) of others for their own stories. But rather than
"borrowing" Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Harper has employed Conan Doyle, his
creator; Dr. Joseph Bell, Doyle's mentor, and Margaret Harkness, a remarkable
woman, whom I'd never heard of before, for a brilliant and plausible joust with
Jack the Ripper, whose bloody exploits continue to fascinate and remain as
shrouded in mystery as the foggy streets of 19th century London.
THE WITCH ELM by Tana
French. I've enjoyed her Dublin Murder Squad series but this stand-alone with
an unreliable narrator may be my favorite of her works. Psychological suspense
at its best.
FIVE DAYS, FIVE DEAD
by Carole Crigger. I've been a fan of Crigger's China Bohannon since reading
the first in the series. This fun romp in the Wild West is a good introduction
if you haven't yet read any of the previous novels.
THE STRANGER HOUSE by
Reginald Hill. This standalone by the late, lamented author of the superb
Dalziel/Pascoe series isn't new (published in 2009) but it's erudite, witty and
highly entertaining.
BODY AND SOUL by John
Harvey. This is the final episode in Harvey's Frank Elder series and, based on
his own comment, his last novel. As always, it's sharp and gripping.
Personally, I hope there are more novels to be written by Harvey. If not, there
are still a good many I haven't read.
SMOKE AND ASHES by
Abir Mukherjee. This is the third outing for Captain Sam Wyndham and his
sidekick Sergeant "Surrender-Not" Banerjee and I hope there are many
more. Sam's addiction put his career in jeopardy as he tries to solve several
ritualistic murders and Banerjee grapples with family and personal issues
amidst the turmoil of Gandhi's Indian independence movement.
