When it comes to reading, I do quite a bit of it. Recently, I started reading books in the mystery genre, and in my opinion, these are the three authors – and their series – worth reading.
Kathy Reichs: The Temperance Brennan Novels
In the past three years books by Kathy Reichs featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan have gained popularity by those who normally would not have considered reading these novels. The reasoning behind this is that the character Temperance Brennan has been showcased in the Fox Network’s hit drama Bones. If you are looking for more Bones like story lines then these novels are worth your time. Of course there are some major differences in the story lines the main being that in the television show the character of Temperance Brennan is much younger than the character portrayed in the novels.
Kathy Reichs, who in her personal life is a forensic anthropologist offering services to Canadian and North Carolinian authorities takes aspects of her professional career and writes about them through the eyes of her character Temperance. Follow Temperance through many cases, her on again off again relationship with Canadian Police officer Andy Ryan, and many death defying adventures in these novels. Watch Bones Wednesday nights on Fox and be sure to check out these Temperance Brennan Novels:
Deja Dead (1997)
Death du Jour (1999)
Deadly Decisions (2000)
Fatal Voyage (2001)
Grave Secrets (2002)
Bare Bones (2003)
Monday Mourning (2004)
Cross Bones (2005)
Break Now Bones (2006)
Bones to Ashes (2007)
Patricia Cornwell: Kay Scarpetta Novels
In 1990 Patricia Cornwell released the first of her novels chronicling the life of Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner who gets involved in cases that not only challenge her professionally but personally. In these books Kay Scarpetta along with her niece Lucy, her longtime police contact Pete, and FBI agent Wesley fight crime using a variety of high tech devices and good old detective work. This series is a little more far fetched than some other mystery series and sometimes the books are not easy to follow. However, if you can make it through the difficult parts the payoff in the end makes these books worth reading.
Cornwell is well respected in the Mystery genera and her books always end up at the top of the bestseller list. Books that include the Kay Scarpetta character are:
Postmortem (1990)
Body of Evidence (1991)
All That Remains (1992)
Cruel and Unusual (1993)
The Body Farm (1994)
From Potter’s Field (1995)
Cause of Death (1996)
Unnatural Exposure (1996)
Point of Origin (1998)
Black Notice (1998)
The Last Precinct (2000)
Blow Fly (2003)
Trace (2004)
Predator (2005)
Book of the Dead (2007)
Sue Grafton: The Alphabet Novels/ Kinsey Millhone Novels
A,B,C,D,E,F,..Sue Grafton takes a unique approach to her Kinsey Millhone novels by naming each one for each letter in the alphabet. In 1983 Kinsey first appeared in A is for Alibi and has now survived through the letter T. While most series books tend to follow the time line in which they were published the Kinsey Millhone novels are all based in the 1980’s even the ones published currently. While most of us are using computers daily Kinsey still uses her trusty typewriter to make notes about the cases she investigates as a female private investigator in California. These books are entertaining, sarcastic, and always full of twists and turns. Currently there are 20 books in this series with the promise of at least six more to finish the series. Included in the series are:
A is for Alibi (1983)
B is for Burglar (1985)
C is for Corpse (1986)
D is for Deadbeat (1987)
E is for Evidence (1988)
F is for Fugitive (1989)
G is for Gumshoe (1990)
H is for Homicide (1991)
I is for Innocent (1992)
J is for Judgment (1993)
K is for Killer (1994)
L is for Lawless (1995)
M is for Malice (1996)
N is for Noose (1998)
O is for Outlaw (1999)
P is for Peril (2001)
Q is for Quarry (2002)
R is for Ricochet (2004)
S is for Silence (2005)
T is for Trespass (2007)
