Three Must-Read Murder Mysteries Set in Texas
Although I’ve been focusing recent blog posts on my work for my next murder mystery novel, Thicker Than Blood, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the setting of my first book, Under a Cloud of Rain, and some of the great stories that came out of Texas. I was born and bred in Houston, so I knew that my first book would take place there. As a side note, my husband and I have lived all over the place: we met in New York City, then moved to Los Angeles after we had our first child. We lived in Mexico for a year, then came back to Malibu, and finally ended up in San Francisco, where we live now that our kids are long moved out and grown up. We even got married in the exotically beautiful Hawaii and spent our honeymoon in Japan!
Getting back on topic, I think there are many well-written murder mystery novels set in Texas. Here are just a few that could make the must-read list:
Hello, Darkness by bestselling author Sandra Brown makes the list because she writes with an authority that is so captivating. I enjoy how the story focuses on a talk-show celebrity who is being stalked. It makes me think of my high-society elites in Under a Cloud of Rain, and how they would balk at such a crime being committed against them just like they do when people start being murdered in their neighborhoods. Hello, Darkness is truly a thriller. The main character, Paris, has to work with the crime psychologist assigned to the case, and the kicker is that the killer isn’t a stranger.
David Lindsey does a wonderful job creating a crime thriller in Mercy. I love that the main character is a strong female detective. She actually reminds me of (spoiler alert!) my female serial killer, who is a femme fatale in a world comprised almost exclusively of powerful men. Two women are found murdered in the streets of Houston, and detective Carmen Palma is tested personally and professionally as she digs into the mind of a sexually motivated serial killer. The narrative plays with some very provocative ideas, but this psychological thriller is a must-read if you want a peek into the gruesome world of sadism and murder.
Nancy Bell’s Judge Jackson Crain series definitely makes the list. The three books—Restored to Death, Death Splits a Hair, and Paint the Town Dead—echo the gruesome murders in my first novel. As in Under a Cloud of Rain and the other two books on this list, women are the prey in this bloody trilogy. There’s also some small-town gossip from a group of female busybodies, which I think mirrors my high-society pot stirrers in Under a Cloud of Rain.
I can only hope that Under a Could of Rain will be on the list of must-read mystery novels set in Texas someday (and Thicker Than Blood will be on the list of must-reads for books set in New Orleans)!
