I really like the Southern Vampire series of books by Charlaine Harris. They are fun, easy, mystery reads that, in a super-sneaky way, address racial prejudice and inequality in America.

No, it's a waterfall in Zion's Canyon. Close. I don't know if it's there right now, it was taken in a very wet year.

Hey Meh - A very good point, one I was very aware of while writing and publishing The Cardinal Divide. It has to be about the story. Here's how one reviewer addressed the issue: "Having been a devotee of the murder mystery genre since my grade school John D. McDonald days, I was apprehensive about wading through 346 pages of - I feared - an awkward attempt to cloak an environmental polemic in the thin disguise of fiction.

Thankfully, gratefully, it was not. Legault has crafted a totally engrossing yarn about people and places he knows well, with well-drawn characters and a plot worthy of the genre." (Rocky Mountain Outlook)

I agree - its about the story first. If it has a message, all the better.Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke is a spirited attack on the response to Hurricane Katrina. I love the Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr...these are great stories with a strong message.

Thanks for your post! And love the photo - looks like a place I've visited in the Escalante...calf creek falls maybe?

The mystery genre? Everybody I know that reads mysteries only reads them because they're some light fun that involves using your brain a little. Something to relax with. They wouldn't like being preached to in the book they're reading. Now you can still promote an important cause, it's just really really hard to do that without being preachy or overly subtle.

So, first off, I wrote this book. And I'm trying really hard to respect the rules around ruthless self promotion. If I cross the line, I'm sorry. So, here's my thesis: people read mystery novels. Lots and lots. Depending on who you listen too, they are either the second most read genre, behind romance, or third, behind romance and sci-fi. LOTS of people read mystery novels. And so, part of my purpose in writing the Cardinal Divide was to use this medium to tell an important story. My mantra is STORY FIRST: if the story sucks, nobody is going to read it, except your mom, and that's not going to cut it (sorry Mom). So story first. But that story can be about something important (in this case, the destruction of wilderness and wildlife).

Here is my question: what have you read that uses the mystery genre to bring an important social issue to the public's attention?