9 Recommendations for Readers Who Love Mysteries with a Message
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Jen’s tastes are eclectic. Her reading lists each month include everything from fun and engaging middle grade mysteries and British mysteries to whodunnits that explore social justice issues. Stories that make us think and reconsider the world beyond the pages. This month, Tina, Carol, and Lida are sharing some of their favorite reads of the last twelve months that they think Jen would love, too. For those of you seeking more from your mysteries than the usual plot twists and red herrings, and for those who’d like to try middle grade reads, we think you’ll love these selections, too.
Tina’s Suggestions
I enjoyed some fabulous middle grade and YA books this year and I know Jen loves them too, so I recommend The Metropolitans, described as “…the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets The Apothecary in this time-bending mystery from best-selling author Carol Goodman.” This is a delightful Arthurian quest story that takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each of the four young characters develops extraordinary powers as they step into the shoes of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Morgan le Fay, and Lancelot. This is a story about courage, friendship, love and betrayal.
Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richie Narvaez has all the pizzazz of a 70s disco dance competition. It’s a touching and fun read about two outcast high schoolers, Holly and Xander, who form an unlikely bond and help Holly’s mom, a homicide detective, solve the murder of the school’s social studies teacher. This story is particularly fun for those of us who look back on the 70s with fondness.
Bewilderment by Richard Powers is one of those stories I can recommend to anyone. It has stunning writing and is deeply touching, but what made me think of Jen was the message behind the story. Bewilderment is a powerful ride of a story about a widower trying to raise his troubled eight-year-old boy on his own, while also teaching him about this planet and others. This is a book about conservation, politics, the ethics of scientific research and the bonds between fathers and sons. It’s unique.
Carol’s Suggestions
Jen is an anglophile like I am. It was easy selecting titles for her from the British mysteries that I read this year.
In Still Life (Karen Pirie Book #6) by Val McDermid, DCI Karen Pirie begins with an investigation into the discovery of a body in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. McDermid’s wonderfully complex plot quickly adds a second suspicious death when a body is found in a camper being stored in a garage. Someone missing for decades, art forgery, and long-held secrets make this a fast and satisfying read that I’m sure Jen will love.
Sleeping in the Ground (Inspector Banks #24), by Peter Robinson, has enough twists and turns to keep Jen reading long into the night. The mass shooting of a wedding party outside a church quickly plunges the reader into this mystifying case. Just as Inspector Alan Banks thinks he knows what happened and why, the case is turned on its head. Nothing is certain in this gripping British mystery.
Gallows Court (Rachel Savernake Golden Age Mysteries #1) by Martin Edwards I think Jen will appreciate Rachel Savernake, a truly unique female character. Is she a woman working for good or for evil? How does she connect with the cast of characters? Could she be the killer? Is she going to emerge as the sleuth? The reader is never quite sure what to believe until the very end. It’s terrific.
Lida’s Suggestions
Like Jen, I love fun, engaging middle grade mysteries and, sometimes, books that provide social commentary, especially about past eras.
The Ambrose Deception by Emily Ecton is a middle grade mystery that I enjoyed more than I’d thought I would. Besides the engaging narrative and the fun of watching young protagonists turn the table on greedy treasure hunters, of special interest to me was that the adventure took the reader all over Chicago, which is what I think Jen will find interesting. Does she see Chicago through a similar lens?
The Amelia Six: an Amelia Earhart Mystery by Kristin L. Gray, another middle grade whodunnit, features six girls who spend the night in the Amelia Earhart Museum on a scavenger hunt. All is fine until they discover that Amelia’s goggles are missing. Not only are readers taken on a hunt for clues, they learn all sorts of interesting facts about Amelia Earhart. What really enhances the story is that the girls come from different backgrounds and participate for different reasons. Again, a fun read I think Jen will like, too.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas is a different kind of read. If Jen is a fan of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, she may find this debut historical novel worth reading. The mystery takes place in a haunted hacienda in the Mexican countryside after Mexico’s War of Independence. There’s underlying political commentary about racism and colonialism sprinkled throughout the story. After her father is killed in the war, protagonist Beatriz struggles to survive. When she marries a wealthy landowner, thinking that her life will improve, she instead discovers unimaginable complications. Her husband’s late wife died under suspicious circumstances, and then there’s a priest with a bit of a darker side. And the hacienda where she lives? It could very well be haunted. Billed as “Mexican gothic meets Rebecca,” it’s not your usual, historical mystery novel.