Week 33 - Recommend Me A...

[Joanna]

Do you like recommending books to other people? Do you find it easy? Or do you find it hard? Do you find yourself recommending the same book all the time or do you mix it up a bit?

Recommending books can be a lot of fun. But I think it can also be terrifying - what if they don't like it and then judge you for liking it? At least, that is how it always goes in my brain. Though, most people understand that tastes will vary; we might be friends but that doesn't mean we like to read the same books. Still I think offering and receiving book recommendations is on the whole a very positive experience.

With that in mind, I'd like to try to do threads on recommending specific genres of books. You all read so much and I'd love to hear what books you think we all should read.

This week: Recommend me a Mystery!

What are your favorite mysteries? Which ones do you recommend? Why? Tell us which mysteries we should add to our tbr piles.

I admit, I don't read a lot of mysteries with the exception of Agatha Christie. I will always recommend her, especially And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. The incredible plot twists in them were pretty unique at the time (and have since been copied quite a lot). Both books kept me glued to a seat until I read to the end. I will admit, I never figured out the solution on my own.

Surprisingly, J.K. Rowling's Cormoran Strike series (written as Robert Galbraith) is also pretty good. The mysteries I felt were compelling and I enjoyed Cormoran and Robin's relationship.

Going old school again, the Sherlock Holmes series and Wilkie Collins books The Moonstone and The Woman in White are also great mysteries.

Tell us which ones you like!

[Ann]

For old school, I also love Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey (the ones with Harriet Vane are my favorite): Strong Poison, Have his Carcase, and Gaudy Night.
There was a time when every mystery I read was set before, during, or just after WWI: including the Dorothy L. Sayers' mysteries (he was in the war and suffers from shell shock). Some of my favorites are: Laurie R. King's Mary Russell books, Charles Todd's Inspector Ian Rutledge series, Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series, Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher (set in Australia after the war), Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs.
Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope is set during WWII, with Maggie living through the bombing of London.