The BEST Female Detective (In Fiction) Is....
Kinsey Millhone!
Kinsey is the best female detective in fiction-land because each Sue Grafton "Alphabet" novel that she appears in has gotten better and thicker (more pages = more great writing to read)! I also love the concept that all of her adventures take place in the '70s and pretty much happen together. Although it has taken many, many years for Ms. Grafton to write the Kinsey books, Kinsey's stories only cover a few years of her life. With each novel, we discover more about Ms. Millhone. We learn abo...

Victoria Laurie - Mystery Author of Psychic Eye and Ghost Hunters Series
Victoria Laurie - Author of Psychic Eye Series and Ghost Hunters Mysteries
Victoria Laurie is a psychic intuitive whose life shares similarities with her alter ego, Abby Cooper, the main character in the Psychic Eye Mysteries series. Victoria Laurie writes two popular cozy mystery series with a paranormal twist: the Psychic Eye Mysteries and the Ghost Hunters Mysteries. Victoria also has a new children's mystery series called Oracles of Delphi Keep. Photo from the Amazon.com author profile.

Top Mystery Books for Summer
3 Top Mystery Books for Great Summer Reading
As a lover of mysteries, and a book reviewer as well, I spend hours reading mystery books! The three books I'm highlighting on this lens are works I recently read and consider keepers. There are very few books that I am willing to keep - just don't have the space - but these three will stay around for a while. Not only will they stay on the book shelf, but those that are part of a series will have their previous stories joining them as soon as possible. No matter where I start reading a seri...

5 Essential Books for Mystery Writing Research
Mystery Writer? You're Going to Need Some Books...
Mystery writing is one of those genres which requires a lot of research for the average writer - most of us have never been in the police force, never solved a murder, probably never seen a dead body. This doesn't mean that we can't write it, of course - it just means that we need to get a little creative (what writers do best, right?) Luckily, there are plenty of books written to help us along the way. These are my picks of the very best of them - the ones I've loved and thought were the be...

Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith, Author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series
Alexander McCall Smith has become well known for his gentle series featuring Mma Ramatswe as the owner of the only ladies' detective agency in Botswana, Africa. Precious Ramatswe, the central character in the series, believes that understanding people is the secret to finding things out. The books in the series are mysteries, but do not fit the traditional pattern; instead, they have a gentle rhythm all their own. McCall-Smith, who has lived in Africa but currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotlan...