On Mysteries

Patrons are asking me all the time, "Can you recommend something to read?" I always hesitate to respond immediately because it seems like my reading interests are so limited. I read mysteries. Mysteries of all kinds, but my favorites are series. Mysteries seem to be a universal interest. If you look at the genre labels on the library shelves, the little Sherlock Holmes sticker is much more in evidence than any of the others. I suppose mysteries provide a sense of safety - no matter how heinous the crime, the perp generally is caught and justice is served.

Today I'm caught up in an offering by Susan Hill. The title is The Shadows in the Street (A Simon Serrailler Mystery). It's that subtitle that set me thinking this morning. I started reading this series a couple of years ago, then lost track of it. On picking it up I was drawn right back into the lives of the characters that populate Susan Hill's literary world. I really like these people, just like I like the characters in books by P.D. James and Elizabeth George. More recently, I sped through the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny.

The mysteries are interesting, but the people are more so. These are intelligent people with complex minds and lives. I would want these people to like me. And somehow I really care about them, hoping they're able to solve their own problems and that they weather their personal storms safely. Weird, isn't it? Agatha Christie's sleuths were recurring characters, but it doesn't seem to me that they "grew" or became any way changed. They're simply the instruments through which the mystery is solved. Those books have their merits and make for a good read, but they somehow don't draw my in.

No real point to this post except I'd like to know who you like to read and why. Any takers?