It's a Mystery

by Tricia Templeton

For my reading list in the Bellows I wrote about some of the best fiction and nonfiction books I have read in the past year. But I didn't include any mysteries or thrillers. I confess that they make up a large part of my reading. I know many of you like them, too. So here are some of my favorite authors. What mysteries and thrillers do you recommend?

Right now I am reading the second of Swedish writer Stieg Larrson's trilogy of mysteries. The first, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I devoured last week. I'm about 100 pages into the next one, and it is a page-turner. I predict some sleepless nights before I finish, and then a trip to the store for the third of the series, recently released in hardback.

Faye Kellerman writes a wonderful series of mysteries with a religious flavor. Rina and her husband, police detective Peter Decker, are Orthodox Jews, and their religious life is a big part of the background of the mysteries they become involved in solving. It helps to read these books in order to follow the unfolding relationship between Rina and Peter, who first meet when Rina is a victim of a crime.

Nevada Barr's series of mysteries featuring park ranger Anna Pigeon are all set in national parks. The environment of each park becomes an integral part of the story.

John Sanford's "Prey" series featuring Minneapolis detective Lucas Davenport are another favorite, as are anything written by Michael Connelly, many of which feature Los Angeles-based detective Harry Bosch.

For thrillers I have two favorites who both have new novels coming out later this summer -- Nelson DeMille, who writes with a wide variety of characters and settings. And Daniel Silva, whose main character is Gabriel Allon, who longs for a life as an art restorer, but who continually gets called back into service as a member of the Israeli intelligence community, which sometimes means being an assassin for his country.

So that's a few of my favorites. What are yours?

Tricia