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So, you’ve pulled a name for your work or family Secret Santa, and your person says they read about crime. Well, you’re in luck! Everyone knows I like a good whodunnit. Some murder, mystery, and mayhem in a story is fine with me. Allow me to make a couple of suggestions.
This fall was a great time for crime! Elizabeth George’s newest Inspector Lynley novel was released mid-September. The last day of the month saw the release of both Ann Cleeves’ first book in her new Jimmy Perez series and the latest book in Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club series.
“A Slowly Dying Cause” is the 23nd installment in the Inspector Lynley series. Set in his ancestral home of Cornwall, Thomas Lynley and Detective Seargent Barbara Havers find themselves pulled into a murder case outside of their jurisdiction. The brother of Thomas’ love interest has been charged with the murder of his employer. This is one of my favorite series. If you’re unfamiliar, Inspector Thomas Lynley isn’t your average Metropolitan police officer. He’s the eighth Earl of Asherton. Paired with the decidedly blue-collar Sgt. Havers, they make an odd crime-fighting pair. But they make great reading. (You can find a brand-new Lynley adaptation on Prime. It’s not bad.)
“The Killing Stones” is a new Jimmy Perez novel, according to the book jacket. However, Inspector Perez has left the Shetland Islands behind. He’s now in Orkney with his significant other, Chief Inspector Willow Reeves and their growing family. They’re working to solve the murder of Jimmy’s oldest friend, when there are more, seemingly related, murders. So, I’m thinking of this as the Jimmy Perez/Willow Reeves series. It’s just as enthralling as the Shetland series, with breathtaking descriptions that now make me want to visit Orkney just as much as I want to visit the Shetland Islands. (The Shetland adaptation on BritBox is worth watching - or rewatching.
Richard Osman’s series and his newest, “The Impossible Fortune,” are cozy mysteries with charming amateur sleuths getting up to all sorts of hijinks. These books make me want to move to Cooper’s Chase Retirement Village to hang out with The Thursday Murder Club gang: Elizabeth, a retired MI-6 operative; Ron, a retired labor organizer; Ibrahim, a retired psychologist; and Joyce, a retired nurse. In this newest book, they find themselves investigating a death that appears to be related to a fortune in Bitcoin. The new Netflix adaptation of the first book in the series, “The Thursday Murder Club,” is okay. It has an amazing cast, but it is not nearly as good as the books.
While I love all of these fictional crime-solving stories, I am not a “true crime” fan. Maybe it’s knowing that there is actual evil out there. I’m just more comfortable with made up crime.
Recently, though, I found myself in possession of, not one, but two true crime stories. And somehow they both centered around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). “Children of Darkness and Light - Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: A Story of Murderous Faith” and “Under the Banner of Heaven” are these two books. While the LDS doctrine doesn’t make sense to me, personally, I do not want this to turn into an indictment of LDS. The mainstream LDS church has distanced itself from the many different sects and neo-fundamentalist groups that have led to particularly heinous acts carried out by people who believed that it’s what God expected of them. If you’re looking for true crime, these fit the bill.
I hope you find just the right book for your Secret Santa friend, and maybe one for yourself.
Happy Reading!!
This fall was a great time for crime! Elizabeth George’s newest Inspector Lynley novel was released mid-September. The last day of the month saw the release of both Ann Cleeves’ first book in her new Jimmy Perez series and the latest book in Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club series.
“A Slowly Dying Cause” is the 23nd installment in the Inspector Lynley series. Set in his ancestral home of Cornwall, Thomas Lynley and Detective Seargent Barbara Havers find themselves pulled into a murder case outside of their jurisdiction. The brother of Thomas’ love interest has been charged with the murder of his employer. This is one of my favorite series. If you’re unfamiliar, Inspector Thomas Lynley isn’t your average Metropolitan police officer. He’s the eighth Earl of Asherton. Paired with the decidedly blue-collar Sgt. Havers, they make an odd crime-fighting pair. But they make great reading. (You can find a brand-new Lynley adaptation on Prime. It’s not bad.)
“The Killing Stones” is a new Jimmy Perez novel, according to the book jacket. However, Inspector Perez has left the Shetland Islands behind. He’s now in Orkney with his significant other, Chief Inspector Willow Reeves and their growing family. They’re working to solve the murder of Jimmy’s oldest friend, when there are more, seemingly related, murders. So, I’m thinking of this as the Jimmy Perez/Willow Reeves series. It’s just as enthralling as the Shetland series, with breathtaking descriptions that now make me want to visit Orkney just as much as I want to visit the Shetland Islands. (The Shetland adaptation on BritBox is worth watching - or rewatching.
Richard Osman’s series and his newest, “The Impossible Fortune,” are cozy mysteries with charming amateur sleuths getting up to all sorts of hijinks. These books make me want to move to Cooper’s Chase Retirement Village to hang out with The Thursday Murder Club gang: Elizabeth, a retired MI-6 operative; Ron, a retired labor organizer; Ibrahim, a retired psychologist; and Joyce, a retired nurse. In this newest book, they find themselves investigating a death that appears to be related to a fortune in Bitcoin. The new Netflix adaptation of the first book in the series, “The Thursday Murder Club,” is okay. It has an amazing cast, but it is not nearly as good as the books.
While I love all of these fictional crime-solving stories, I am not a “true crime” fan. Maybe it’s knowing that there is actual evil out there. I’m just more comfortable with made up crime.
Recently, though, I found myself in possession of, not one, but two true crime stories. And somehow they both centered around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). “Children of Darkness and Light - Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell: A Story of Murderous Faith” and “Under the Banner of Heaven” are these two books. While the LDS doctrine doesn’t make sense to me, personally, I do not want this to turn into an indictment of LDS. The mainstream LDS church has distanced itself from the many different sects and neo-fundamentalist groups that have led to particularly heinous acts carried out by people who believed that it’s what God expected of them. If you’re looking for true crime, these fit the bill.
I hope you find just the right book for your Secret Santa friend, and maybe one for yourself.
Happy Reading!!
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