I do not read straightforward mysteries too often, but I do enjoy a good whodunit from time to time. The best I’ve read in the last few years (and perhaps ever), is Val McDermid’s A Place of Execution. Structurally, it is about as fine as you get for a mystery novel. Well-written, suspenseful, atmospheric, with enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most particular reader, this one is a gem. 

This one goes way back, but it’s a good one. If you enjoy weird books with a fantasy/sci-fi lean, and if you have a penchant for Victorian romps featuring real-life characters from history, and if you like the occult, and if you like alternate universes, and if you like Sherlock Holmes tales–then you might like F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre’s The Woman Between the Worlds. I happened to be watching television one night when the great Harlan Ellison recommended it on the Sci-Fi Channel. This book is truly weird, and truly a lot of fun.  

One of my literary heroes is Robert McCammon. McCammon’s work — especially the masterpiece Boy’s Life – had a profound effect on my life when I was growing up. I had the pleasure of sitting beside McCammon at the Southern Kentucky Books Fest last weekend, and it was a real pleasure. I wouldn’t be where I am without that man’s novels. If you haven’t read Boy’s Life then I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. One of the great coming-of-age novels of the last 25 years.