I Like Mysteries

There are those who say reading mysteries is a waste of time. I disagree, but everybody to her own opinion. Personally I can pass up science fiction, but my friend the philosopher has learned more physics than I ever knew by reading the stuff. And there are romances and straight fiction and all sorts of other books to entertain us. But I like mysteries.

A mystery novel can take place anywhere, and it is a good way to learn geography. Maine is way up in the corner of the country and I have never visited there -- in person that is. But I felt that I was there as I read Sara Graves' "Mallets Aforethought." This book gives a very subtle impression of the culture of Maine, which is not all that different than ours, but has a very distinctive feeling. We lived in Massachusetts for a while once and had a friend from Maine. He called me Henrietter and insisted that he talked exactly like me.

But to return to the book, Jaciobia "Jake" Tiptree left her high-powered career for the dream of a quiet existence in the quaint town of Eastport, Maine, where she practices her talent in house repair. Eastport's most notorious landmark is the old Harlequin House. It was used as a hideout for gunshot gangsters during Prohibition's heyday but now the local Historical Society wants to refurbish it, and Jake enthusiastically takes charge. But when she strips off a piece of wall paper and discovers a couple of bodies, one long dead, one quite recent, she drops fixing and starts detecting. I think this is an excellent mystery.

Maine and Jersey are farther apart than the miles would indicate. I just finished Janet Evanovich's ninth Stephanie Plum mystery-- "The Nines." I found it on the new paperback shelf. The next one , "Ten Big Ones" is out in hard back, but I have to read them in order -- for no logical reason. Evanovich changed her characters in "Visions of Sugarplums" but fortunately Stephanie is back. In "The Nines" her cousin Vinnie has posted bail on Samuel Singh. When Singh disappears, Steph and her oversized buddy Lulu chase him to Vegas and back. The usual characters are around, especially Grandma Mazur who is a classic. Publishers Weekly says of the series, "Stephanie Plum just happens to have more laughs, more sizzling sexual tension and more nonstop zany adventure than anybody around."

North Carolina is the setting of Kathy Reichs' "Bare Bones" If you are a fan of TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," this is for you. The author is a forensic anthropologist with a Ph.D from Northwestern. So she knows what she is writing about. It's a summer of sizzling heat in Charlotte where Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the North Carolina medical examiner, is packing for a romantic vacation. But plans often get changed. A newborn's charred remains turn up in a wood stove and a small plane crashes in a North Carolina cornfield leaving both bodies burned beyond recognition. And even more bones are dug up by Tempe's dog, Boyd. Only a scientist who has studied bones can put the whole thing together. When Boyd's discovery turns out to be the remains of a bear, the combination of mystery and animal rights makes a very exciting book. I'm going to cheat a little and tell you that after all the bones and gore, she and friend Ryan finally get their vacation.

It is hot and there are mosquitoes out there. Enjoy a good book.