By Larry Ballwahn | Wilton
Other than “The House on Pooh Corner,” the books I’ve reviewed are nonfiction. But for purely recreational reading, it’s hard to beat detective-type fiction.
I’ve gotten hooked on mystery series. The first actual series that I got involved with was the Sue Grafton “alphabet series:” “’A’ is for Alibi” … “’Y’ is for Yesterday,” with “Z” still to come (Sue Grafton died in 2017 so “Z” will forever remain a mystery). Mystery “series” tends to mean books with the same featured character(s) in a variety of challenging situations.
I discovered William Kent Krueger when the Ontario Public Library book club read “Ordinary Grace.” It turned out that Krueger’s main claim to fame was as a mysterywriter: Cork O’Connor, the Ojibwa culture of the Boundary Waters and modern-day challenges.
While waiting on a William Krueger book from the Winding Rivers Library System, I found one of the Linda Castillo’s “Kate Burkholder” books in the Wilton Public Library. Kate Burkholder is formerly Amish, now a sheriff in Ohio’s Amish country. She has to navigate between the two cultures to do her job.
Describing Krueger’s depiction of Ojibwas led a fellow book club member to refer me to Craig Johnson’s “Longmire” series. Walt Longmire, sheriff of Wyoming’s Absaroka County, also has to deal with the clash of cultures as he is challenged by the mysteries that inhabit the area.
Staying with the mystery-series theme, but going in a slightly different direction, I was referred to author Paul Doiron and the “Mike Bowditch” series. Mike Bowditch is a game warden in the wilds of Maine. According to Goodreads, the series follows Mike Bowditch from his first weeks on the job through his early years as a Maine game warden and is very much about his journey from a troubled young man to a mature law enforcement officer.
The books are all written so they can stand alone, but like the “Boditch” series, all progress through the lives of their main characters.
While emailing with Wilton Public Library director Gina Rae about the subject, she responded:
Think: Miss Marple, Inspector Gamache, Father Brown.
Look for Edgar Award Winners. Check out the following authors: Nevada Barr, CJ Box, James Lee Burke, Dana Stabenow, Donna Leon and Louise Penny.
When I think about which of these authors appeals to particular readers, I think that setting is their defining characteristic.
Northern Minnesota, Ohio, Wyoming, Maine? Choose your location and your vocation, and help solve a crime. The magic of books.
Pick an author, or a setting, or both. Get to your public library right away; it’s a New Year’s resolution you can keep.
