Virtual Mystery Reading
There are many great titles available for download from Handley Regional Library, other public libraries, or commercial services.
I will be sharing some of my favorite mysteries that are available virtually from HRL. Since none of these are current bestsellers, many should be available for download.
I like a mystery that has an interesting protagonist and a sense of place.
For instance, Nevada Barr's Anna Pidgeon is a National Park ranger. Anna is in parks all over the country, running into murder and mystery. I have learned much about parks that I would never visit. Liberty Falling is set, of course, at Ellis Island and the Statue of Library. Anna goes into areas visitors never see to solve a murder.
Steve Berry sets his novels in historic sites. In fact, to quote his webpage:
"Steve Berry and his wife, Elizabeth,
travel the world both researching and promoting his books. One comment they hear repeatedly concerns the dwindling supply of funds available to preserve our heritage. So Steve and Elizabeth launched History Matters to assist communities around the world with restoration and preservation."
This is somewhat ironic because the title I chose to showcase: The Jefferson Key centers its mystery around Thomas Jefferson. In the course of a battle to save the world from some evil families, Monticello takes a beating! But the tie to our locality is great!
Another series of books with a keen sense of place is the Dave Robicheaux novels that mainly center in the Louisiana bayous. A good choice is In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead, which is kind of weird but great! This one is available as a downloadable audiobook. I love hearing the narrator say "Robicheaux!" There was a movie made of the book, but I have not seen it. Handley owns it.
Another series of mystery novels that should be heard, not read, are the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. Set in "The Berg" in Trenton, these books are like potato chips--you cannot put them down once you start, but in the end there is not much depth (or nutrition) in them. This series features the misadventures of Plum, a likable but inept bounty hunter. There is a great cast of characters, including the Lulu, the ex-prostitute file clerk who would rather go with Plum to collect people who did not show in court (and eat donuts or fried chicken on the way) than tend her filing. Plum's boyfriends and family are also a hoot! I chose this one because it is available to download in the audio version, which is a necessity just to hear Lulu!
I also enjoy Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski books. V.I., a private investigator, gets the award from me as the protagonist most likely to be seriously injured in every book. Somehow that works in the mean streets of Chicago.
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