Let’s Stay Home and Read a Book!

 

It is usually the most wonderful time of the year, but right now it’s pretty dangerous out there. The best thing to do right now is stay home and read a book. Here are some of my suggestions. If you haven’t read these yet, you really should. Stay safe, stay home, and have a wonderful Holiday Season in a whole new way.

You might want to start with any Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you are a mystery lover and haven’t read these – you must! And if you have teens or even pre-teens introduce them to Sherlock and see what happens. If you want to go back in time but not as far as Sherlock Holmes take a look at the early Ed McBain and John D. MacDonald mysteries. “The Beast Must Die” by Nicholas Blake is part of a series written in the 1930s that you may have missed. Go back and revisit the classics. They never disappoint and can become old friends that you visit over and over again when you need them.

If you want a good laugh, you must try Carl Hiaasen’s mystery novels. If you get English humor try the 2020 humorous “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman. Other funny mystery authors include Jana DeLeon, Lilian Jackson Braun, Kinky Friedman, Chris Grabenstein, Kellye Garrett, and Tim Dorsey. Humor is something really needed right now so definitely try one of these and you can always fall back on Janet Evanovich.

We live in a time when there are so many amazing books to read that you just cannot get around to them all and 2020 has not disappointed in this area. All of the following are must read mysteries that came out this year. For a dark, creepy domestic thriller do not miss “Magpie Lane” by Lucy Atkins.  Helen Fields “Perfect Kill” is the sixth book in Helen Fields’ DI Callanach series (the first was “Perfect Remains).  “Good Girl, Bad Girl” was the first in a new series by Michael Robotham and he followed it up this year with “When She was Good.” This legal thriller series started off with “Summary Justice” and now the third in the series is“Forced Confessions” by John Fairfax.  Walter Mosley has had a long career with many awards and many amazing books. He newest is “Trouble is What I Do” which is the first book in a series that started with “The Long Fall.” Lisa Jewel’s most recent stand-alone is “Invisible Girl," Simone St. James’ latest is a bit of a horror book which is alright with me because it is amazing and you can always go back and read the rest of her mystery books (“The Sun Down Motel”). “The Night Swim” by Megan Goldin is another great mystery from this timely author. Austrian author Christian White has written two amazing mysteries with the latest being “The Wife and the Widow.”

All of these mysteries will make your hours at home go by quickly and make them much more fun.