Some Good Mysteries

Barr, N. ¨Anna Pigeon¨ is an independent, tough U.S. Park Ranger contrasted with her sister Molly, a New York city psychologist.

Bean, G. ¨Harry Starbranch¨ was a Denver cop who leaves the force and ends up as Chief of Police in small Wyoming town. The only officer on his force is Frankie Tall Bull, a 300 pound, full-blood Teton Sioux who is a gormet chef, classical music lover, secret reader of romance novels, and a sculptor. From the way the last novel read, I have the feeling this series has come to an end. Bummer.

Blunt, G. ¨John Cardinal¨ Canadian police detective.

Bowen, P. ¨Gabriel Du Pre¨ is a Metis Indian, Montana cattle brand inspector, part-time deputy, master fiddler and a throw-back to the 19th century.

Box, C. J. ¨Joe Pickett¨ GREAT READS!!!. Pickett is a Wyoming game warden. No macho here, just a normal family guy doing his best to get by. No broads trying to bop him, no alcohol/drug problems, no running away from a past life, no super hero friends to bail him out [oops, scratch the no on the friend, his buddy Nate turns out to be quite the super hero), and no brawling or marksmanship skills. It´s just Pickett and his sense of duty. (Hey, he has a yellow lab! 2nd oops, the lab died and he's rescued a part lab mix.) Books have received many accolades.

Burke, J. L. ¨Dave Robicheaux¨ is New Orleans detective who gets tired of the filth (literally and figuratively) involved in his life and job. Gives it up and returns to his roots on the bayou to fish and run a bait shop. Trouble however; always manages to find him. All outstanding reads. Burke has been able to keep the series going without a let down.

Burke, J. L. ¨Billy Bob Holland¨ is a former Texas Ranger who accidentally killed his partner in a drug bust in Mexico. He leaves the force and opens a law office in a small town in Texas.

Cody, L. ¨Eva Wylie¨ FUN READS. Wylie is a professional wrestler in London and junkyard security guard. Tougher than most of her male counterparts and meaner than the junkyard dogs she owns.

Cole, M. ¨John O´Malley¨ Catholic priest moved from his Boston parish to an Indian reservation in Wyoming due to alcoholism.

Crais, R. ¨Elvis Cole¨ is smart, hip, and mouthy LA PI whose best friend, Joe Pike, always covers his back. Joe has arrows tattooed on his deltoids. They point forward, because you never back up. Good reads, wonderful interplay between Elvis and Joe. Series has really deepened as it´s gone along. Both Joe and Elvis have troubled pasts which have shaped their characters.

Crais, R. ¨Carol Starkey¨ was a bomb squad tech but now serves as an LAPD detective after a bomb blows up on her and kills her partner.

Crais, R. ¨Jeff Talley¨ _Hostage_. I'm not sure if it will turn into a series. Talley is a small town Chief of Police in Southern California and has to deal with a hostage situation which brings up his past as an LAPD negotiator and his failure to save a young hostage.

Crumley, J. ¨Milo¨ & ¨Sughrue¨ are hard boiled, hard drinking (sometimes hard drugs) attorney & PI. Lots of unbelievable action, lots of humor, lots of fun.

Doss, J. ¨Charlie Moon¨ is a huge man, with a huge appetite and a Ute Indian cop on a Southern Colorado reservation´s police force. He believes in science and logic. His aunt, Daisy Perika, is a Ute shaman who follows the old ways. His best friend is the police chief in small town near the reservation. Lots of fun, good mysteries. Cases always work out as Charlie sees them, but that doesn´t eliminate the possibility that Daisy is correct.

Dunning, J. ¨Cliff Janeway¨ is former Denver cop who quit the force for roughing up a particular nasty thug. He is now an antiquarian book dealer. The series offers good mysteries and an interesting look at the used book trade. This book guy isn´t afraid to take or throw a punch.

Gorman, E. ¨Sam McCain¨ is a young struggling attorney who does PI work in rural Iowa to get by. He also likes that new music, Rock 'n Roll. Nice picture of small town life in the 50´s.

Hamilton, S. ¨Alex McKnight¨ was a minor league baseball player (not good enough for the big league) who was forced out by injury. Story picks him up as a burned out former cop who returns to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to run a small resort built by his father.

Harrison, J. ¨Jules Clement¨ gives up archeology and returns home to Blue Deer Montana to takes over the job of Chief of Police (job his father had until he was killed.) Harrison is the daughter of Jim Harrison (Legends of the Fall. Read his autobiography, Off to the Side. He has a NE connection in that he likes the strip club in downtown Lincoln and he´s buddies with Ted Kooser, local poet and a former U.S. Poet Laureate.)

Harstad, D. ¨Carl Houseman¨ small town cop in rural Iowa. Pretty decent mysteries and a good look at police procedures.

Hess, J. ¨Arly Hanks/Maggody¨ You will not have more fun with books than these. Arly returns to Maggody, Ark. after her New York marriage falls apart. She needs an income so accepts the job of Chief of Police in Maggody. The town and most of N.W. Arkansas are populated by the Buchanon´s. Jim Bob Buchanon is the mayor and owner of the town´s only grocery store. His wife is the pillar of the church and the epitome of high society in Maggody. The minister secretly lusts after Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon. Arley´s mother (who runs the town´s cafeteria and motel) and her mother´s best friend (town´s beautician) are always trying to marry Arly off and in the process end up entangled in the events of the story. Hilarious!!!!! Best read in order if for no other reason than to be able to keep the Buchanon´s life stories straight.

Heywood, J. ¨Grady Service/Woods Cop¨ is a conservation officer in Michigan´s Upper Peninsula.

Heywood, J. _Snowfly_ is not part of the ¨Woods Cop¨ series, but is an interesting blend of mystery, fly-fishing lore, with a hint of fantasy.

Hillerman, T. ¨Joe Leaphorn¨ (detective) & ¨Jim Chee¨ (cop) are on a Navaho

reservation´s police force. PBS & American Mystery Specials, along with Robert Redford have done three made-for-tv movies in Hillerman's series, Skinwalkers, Coyote Waits, & A Thief in Time. Good reads and excellent movies.

Huston, V. ¨Loon Lake¨ Lew Ferris is not only Chief of Police of Loon Lake, WI, she´s also a fly-fishing expert. Her unofficial deputy is retired dentist, Paul Osborne.

Hubbard, S. ¨Adirondack¨ Frank Benett, former big city police detective, is Chief of Police in Trout Run, New York.

Jance, J.A. ¨Joanna Brady¨ is the wife of an Arizona cop who is killed. It´s made to look like a suicide which implicates him as a cop on the take. Brady doesn´t believe it and sets out to solve the case and prove the innocence of her husband and ends up being elected Chief of Police.

Jance, J.A. ¨Brandon Walker¨ is an Arizona lawman. Lots of Native American Lore.

Jones, S. ¨Nathan Active¨ is a young Alaskan trooper on his first assignment in Northwest Alaska.

King, J. ¨Max Freeman¨ is an ex-cop who retreated to the swamps of Florida, but can't seem to shake the troubles of the outside world.

Krueger, W. ¨Cork O´Connor¨ is part Native American, part Irish American, and former sheriff in a small backwoods Minnesota town.

Lansdale, J. ¨Hap Collins & Leonard Pine¨ Eastern Texas is the setting. Hap is a former Vietnam vet turned pacifist and extreme underachiever. Leonard Pine is a kick-ass black gay man. They're the exact opposites, but best friends who look out for each other. Again, macho stuff, but lots of fun.

McGarrity, M. ¨Kevin Kerney¨ is an ex-cop who returns to the wilds of New Mexico where he grew up but he can´t escape the woes of the real world and is forced to return to enforcing the law.

Reaves, S. ¨Cooper MacLeish¨ is a former Vietnam vet who drives a cab and is writing the definitive book on the Vietnam war (obviously it´ll never see print.) He lives by his own code of honor and hassles no one. Gets sucked into trouble and must go it alone. He has no Joe Pike or Hawk to cover his back.

Rehder, R. ¨Blanco County, TX¨ John Marlin is a game warden for Blanco County, TX. Good mysteries with a couple of local goof-balls who manage to get in the middle of the action and always seem to avoid getting nailed in the end.

Riordan, R. ¨Tres Navarre¨ returns to San Antonio ten years after the killing of his sheriff father.

Rucka, G. ¨Atticus Kodiak¨ runs a protection service.

Sanders, W. ¨Taggart Roper¨ is a freelance writer who does investigating to bring in some cash. He lives in a trailer with his dog on the outskirts of Tulsa, OK.

Simmons, D. ¨Joe Kurtz¨ is the most macho of the bunch. Kurtz is a former PI who just got out of ten years in prison for dropping a particularly nasty drug dealer off of a 4-story building. He has to have a job to stay on parole so he opens a computer dating service (a good disguise for PI work.) A good, honorable guy who doesn´t always play by the rules. I'm not sure Hawk or Joe Pike could handle Kurtz. Simmons gets a great dig in about Spenser and Parker in the second Kurtz novel.

Stabenow, D. ¨Kate Shugak¨ resigns as top investigator for the Anchorage PD and returns to the native lands of her ancestors. She homesteads with her part wolf dog. The bad guys always seem to show up in the interior of Alaska and Kate gets pulled in as consultant to the PD, FBI, Game & Parks, etc.

Thurlo, A. ¨Ella Clah¨ is a special investigator for the Navajo Tribal Police.