It's a Mystery
Ok. Not really. I mean, these are mystery books, but it's no mystery why I liked them. Let me start over.
Today's Top 5 Wednesday topic is Mysteries. List 5 favorite mystery books.
I have 363 books on my Goodreads shelf labeled Mystery. I'll just order them by my rating and away we go!
That being said, I'm feeling like mixing it up a bit. If you've been here for any length of time you know I love certain mystery series. Today I'm going to talk about some books I don't mention here very often.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - This book is beyond all the mysteries I had read before it. I read it in 2007 and it blew my mind. Perhaps it is a function of being originally written in Spanish? It definitely reads more like literary fiction than mystery, but it is decidedly a mystery.
In the Woods by Tana French - Maybe I just have a thing for European mysteries. This one is set in and around Dublin, Ireland and each book in the series follows a different member of the fictional Dublin Murder Squad. The books are highly character driven while supporting a twisty mystery plot.
Murder at the National Cathedral by Margaret Truman - When I was expecting my oldest I was on bed rest for the last month. My sister sent me a box of videos and books to help pass the time. Some of the books were in this series set in Washington, D.C. The sister who sent them had lived and worked near D.C. for years and therefore had a tie to the settings here. I hadn't been to D.C. since I was nine years old. It didn't matter. These books are so fascinating, it didn't matter that I didn't remember what any of these places looked like. I still think about these books and that baby just turned 23.
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun - It put the first in the series here, but really any of the books would work. My mother introduced me to them when I was in elementary school. Or maybe I just purloined one from her shelf when I was looking for a book. Either way I devoured these things and I still pick one up when I need a comfort book.
Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte - Ok, we're back to European fiction. This is set during the Spanish Inquisition (which NOBODY expects). The aforementioned Alatriste is a soldier returned home to be a mercenary. He is hired to give a scare to some travelers visiting Madrid, but they turn out to be very important people and what happens next will effect history.
So there you have 5 mysteries (and series) that I rarely mention, but really love.
What are yours?