Mystery/Crime novel faves

[Jane Mitchell]

As a Reference/Adult Services librarian I read countless book reviews as well as books--mystery/crime being my preference. Is anyone else out there a reader of any of the following: Jane Haddam (Gregor Demarkian books) Phil Rickman (Merrily Watkins series) David Lawrence (Stella Mooney series) or Stephen Booth (Ben Cooper and Diane Fry series)? I never see them discussed a lot or praised as much as I think they should be. What say, mystery buffs?

[norby]

I just got the latest Gregor Demarkian from the library. I also like the Stella Mooney series although my library has, for some reason decided not to get very many so I'll be purchasing those it looks like.

I got my mom hooked on the Demarkian books-they definitely don't get the praise they deserve.

[Barbara Fister]

If the library isn't getting the books you'd like to read, tell them which you want. Rave about them. Lurk in the stacks and tell different employees. They might just succumb and buy what you're looking for, and then others can discover it, too.

[norby]

My library is a branch of a district library. They have a system where you can request that a book be ordered, but in order to do so you have to look up everything but the author's birth date. By the time I do that I may as well order it myself. Plus the system is a little clunky-supposedly you can easily use it online, but so far I've not been able to. It's not a big deal-I've found plenty of other little gems there. Eventually I'll figure it out I'm sure.

[Barbara Fister]

The number of underappreciated but wonderful mysteries is unfortunately large. I would add Robert Eversz Nina Zero series to the list. Brilliant stuff.

Of the ones you mention the only one I haven't read is Phil Rickman. Can you tell me more?

[Elaine Flinn]

I love Steve Booths's books. That says it all. Oh, I kinda love him too. He's just that kinda guy. You know, easy to love. :)

[Jane Mitchell]

I especially liked "Black Dog," and have followed the series since then. I have depression/anxiety problems but my meds mostly take care of it. But Ben Cooper and his family and their troubles ring true with me.

[Laura Root]

Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins' series feature a female vicar, who is the diocese exorcist, and in that capacity becomes involved in investigating various psychological dramas/mysterious deaths which have a certain spiritual element to them. The books are set in the English/Wales border country, and write about village life unsentimentally. Phil Rickman has written several other stand-alone thriller/horror stories, usually set in similar territory.

[Jane Mitchell]

At first I was one of the few librarians in my county to purchase Phil Rickman's Watkins series. Now others have joined in. They are hard to find at local bookstores. Apparently some find them too "British" which is kind of nuts around here since we are a tourist mecca and have oodles of Brits living here as well as visiting during Snowbird season. (November to May).

[Joy Calderwood]

Jane Haddam. Her earlier books are great fun, fizzing with human observation. Her later ones are deeper, high impact. I buy them all. Gregor and his friends are great company.

Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series. They are set in her native Alaska and feature an Aleut woman as detective, powerfully drawn. I was thrilled to bits when I won the most recent one, A DEEPER SLEEP, in a drawing.

[Jane Mitchell]

I buy Stabenow's books for the library's collection, but have not read. Will have to do so. Jane Haddam's parents moved to my little town on FL's west coast and when she was visiting one year at Christmas she came to the library and talked to a group of us about her work. She is very eccentric, but a wonderful writer. Both her father and her brother who lived here have died within the last year. But her mother still lives here. I email her occasionally and sometimes she answers, sometimes not. I love the Demarkian books. The latest is Glass Houses and is brilliant. I love her characters so much I occasionally reread them when I am in need of comfort.