Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams
My all-time favorite novel
It's been over twenty years since I first read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. There are very few books that interest me just as much now as they did twenty years ago. In fact, the only ones I can think of are Douglas Adams's other novels (The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul and The Hitchhiker's Trilogy) and the best of Tom Holt's work (Expecting Someone Taller, Who's Afraid of Beowulf, and Flying Dutch). (I hadn't discovered Terry Pratchett back then; otherwise his n...

Silent In The Grave
Silent in the Grave - A Victorian Murder Mystery
I found Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn by accident. I was fairly desperate for something to read that was going to capture my imagination. I didn't want another book about serial killers complete with so much forensic detail I could almost qualify for CSI without further training. When I read the opening lines, helpfully printed again on the back cover, I knew this was the book for me. I thought them witty and cynical so they made me smile. The novel didn't disappoint even though I...

Nevada Barr - Murder Mysteries in the National Parks
National Parks Murder Mysteries by Nevada Barr
I was introduced to Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon murder mystery books when my mother read "A Superior Death", which takes place on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. She thought it was a very engaging book with interesting characters and and in a beautiful natural setting, and suggested I take a look at it. I had backpacked on Isle Royale a couple times and loved the place. I also love murder mysteries with strong female characters and well-constructed, complex plots, so I was hooked a...

Burn: An Anna Pigeon Murder Mystery by Nevada Barr
Burn -- an Anna Pigeon Novel by Author Nevada Barr
Burn is author Nevada Barr's 16th Anna Pigeon murder mystery novel. Anna Pigeon is a law enforcement ranger who works with the National Park Service, and solves murder mysteries in the parks where she's stationed. In Burn, Anna is on administrative leave to recover from physical and emotional traumas suffered in Nevada Barr's previous two Anna Pigeon novels, Winter Study and Borderline. Of course she doesn't find the rest and relaxation that she had planned on. Anna gets pulled into helping ...