Best of 2006

Overall, I read 106 books in 2006, 102 of which were mysteries. I always say I'm going to read more "regular" fiction and read some non-fiction, but I rarely seem to get around to it. However, I am reading a non-fiction item right now: Michael Korda's Making the List, which is subtitled "a cultural history of the bestseller." He goes through decade by decade and looks at what the best books of each year were according to Publishers Weekly. It's good for odd factoids if nothing else....for instance, in 1949, three of the top ten non-fiction books were about canasta. Hmmmmm.

I also am waiting for a copy of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals to become available at the library. We're starting up one of those "what if all the freshmen read the same book" programs and this was on a list of possibles and looked quite interesting.

Looking ahead at mysteries in 2007 - there is a series I recently ran across by David Hewson, set in present day Rome. I thought I had the first one checked out, but realized it was the second one. Am a bit compulsive about reading series in order, so it was put aside.

Looking back on the year just ending...

The best "new to me" mystery series that I read in 2006:

Carol O'Connell - Mallory series

Nancy Pickard - the Jenny Cain series and the Marie Lightfoot series

Barbara Cleverly - Joe Sandilands series


The ten best mysteries read in 2006, in no particular order:

Louise Penny, Still Life

T Jefferson Parker, The Fallen

Greg Iles, Blood Memory

Jan Burke, Kidnapped

Lee Child, The Hard Way

Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh

P J Tracy, Snowblind

Karin Slaughter, Triptych

Stephen White, Kill Me

Michael Connelly, Echo Park

Best non-mystery fiction read:

Anita Shreve, A Wedding in December

Hope McIntyre, How to Seduce a Ghost (British chick lit with a light mystery element)

Jennifer Weiner, The Guy Not Taken

December reading

Jan Burke, Kidnapped
Latest in the Irene Kelly series. I felt Bloodlines was so good, this was a bit of a let down, but was very good. One of my favorite series.

Greg Iles, Dead Sleep
Thriller about a woman who is trying to solve her twin sister's kidnapping and is still struggling with her father's disappearance during Vietnam.

Louise Penny, Still Life
FIrst in a series, can't wait for the second one. A police team from Quebec is sent to a small village to solve a murder case. Excellent writing, an incredible cast of characters, very enjoyable.

Greg Iles, The Quiet Game
One of his earlier ones. Good plot, involving a young widower and his daughter returning to his hometown of Natchez and getting involved in an unsolved case from the 60s, but it went on too long. Could have used another edit!

Lee Harris, The Cinco de Mayo Murder
Latest in the Chris Bennett series. I have really enjoyed this series and am willing to overlook the average writing and weak dialogue because the plots are usually entertaining and involve cold cases. This one is a cold case, but Chris' involvement in it is such a stretch, I found myself rolling my eyes a bit.

Robert B Parker, Hundred Dollar Baby
When a minor character is brought back for the third time, does that mean he has totally run out of plot ideas? Not the best in the Spenser series.

Charlaine Harris, Grave Surprise
#2 in the Harper Connelly series. Very enjoyable. Harper has the unusual ability to find dead bodies and identify the cause of death, which she was left with after being struck by lightning. In this one, she has gone to "demonstrate" her skills for a class and she discovers the body of a young girl she had been hired to find years before. Good characters and she makes the supernatural element seem very mundane.

Jennifer Weiner, The Guy Not Taken
Collection of short stories, many of which are very good. Similar themes throughout (dealing with divorced parents, angry siblings, whiny children) but very different in tone and style.

November reads

Sujata Massey, Girl in a Box
Latest in the Rei Shimura series, this one was pretty disappointing. Rei has become a secret agent of sorts and returns to Japan. The cultural element in this one was fashion and the role of fancy department stores in Japan, just not as interesting as earlier ones.

Lea Wait, Shadows at the Fair
First in the Maggie Simon series, about an antique prints dealer who helps solve a string of murders at a craft fair

Lea Wait, Shadows on the Coast of Maine
Maggie goes to visit an old friend who has moved to Maine and helps solve a murder that happens during her visit

Lea Wait, Shadows on the Ivy
#3 Maggie Simon, focuses on Maggie's other work as an instructor at the local college, where she gets involved with solving the murder of a student

Jacqueline Winspear, Messenger of Truth
Recent in the Maisie Dobbs series, another good one in this interesting series. Maisie is hired to determine whether an artist was murdered or committed suicide, and her investigation takes her back to the artist's experiences during WWI

Lea Wait, Shadows at the Spring Show
Another Maggie Simon, went through these too quickly perhaps, was pretty bored with this one

Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh
Recent in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. A really sad one in this superb series. The trouble between Fergusson and Van Alstyne and their relationship has a number of tragic repercussions.

Susan Dunlap, A Single Eye
A new Sue Dunlap! I never thought I'd see the day. Although I wish she would return to the Kiernan O'Shaughnessy series, this was an interesting read about a stuntwoman who solves a mystery while at a Zen retreat.