Mystery on our Digital Catalog

We get our blog assignments early in the year and I like to plan things out in advance. This post was supposed to be all about making books and making things from books. The intention was to be a tie in with craft programs in July and August. It was a great plan. But … Things Change.

So instead, let’s have a look at mysteries. Specifically mystery series that are available through our Virtual Branch.

Donna Leon’s series about Commissario Brunetti of Venice is a particular favorite of mine. The plots are solid, the scenery is great and, well, these books are going to make you hungry because the food is bellissimo! This is a police procedural but the fact that it takes place in Venice gives it a unique twist — just think: no police cars, they use boats, and that really changes things. The first book in the series is Death at La Fenice.

It is funny how books that you have read sink into your thoughts and surface in odd ways. When I saw in the news that all cruise ships were now banned from Venice my first thought was that Brunetti and all the citizens of Venice would enjoy that for a while at least.

This is also the series that brought me to hoopla! — I had been a long time eLibraryNJ/OverDrive/Libby user but hadn’t tried hoopla until I needed to read this series. Now both eBook & eAudio are available on hoopla and eLibraryNJ/OverDrive/Libby. It has also been made into a television series and Season One is available on hoopla as well.

Tip: search for titles in the MCL catalog and refine your search by using the menus on the left. Go to format, select eBook, eAudiobook and eVideo; click on “Include” to get just the items available in the Virtual Branch. The catalog is the one place where you can see everything together so it’s a great place to start.

I recently read Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. This is a stand-alone, but she has a great series featuring Dr. Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, and Harry Nelson, a detective chief inspector, in the Saltmarsh area near Norfolk, England. The first book in this series is The Crossing Places. I particularly like Ruth as the central character because she isn’t a detective but instead a civilian like us! I also have a soft spot of archaeologists. The series is available as eBooks on hoopla.

Griffiths also has another series: The Magic Men. In this one, it’s Edgar Stephens, a detective inspector, and Max Mephisto, formerly part of the Magic Men - stage magicians who performed special missions during WWII, and in 1950s Brighton, England. The first book is The Zig Zag Girl. I haven’t read any of these yet - have you? They are available as hoopla audio and eLibraryNJ/OverDrive/Libby eBooks.

Tip: I have to read a series in order - I never start with anything except the first book. Finding the whole of a series in order is a lot easier than it used to be since every author has a website, but my favorite resource contains ALL the series. It’s Stop You’re Killing Me. You can look up series by character as well as author and it has a lot of other useful information including all the annual awards (both winners & short lists).

Sometimes I like mysteries that break genre boundaries. One might say ‘a mystery is a mystery’, but what if it’s also science fiction, or fantasy, or romance — or all of the above? That can really change things! J. D. Robb’s Eve Dallas ‘in Death’ series pulls off the mystery/sci-fi/romance hat trick (or trifecta). The mysteries take place in a future NYC and have a definite romance thread (after all J. D. Robb is also romance writer Nora Roberts). This series - and it’s a long series - is available on eLibraryNJ/OverDrive/Libby as eBooks; there are a few audiobooks also. The first title is Naked in Death.

Another cross over is Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series. Harry Dresden is the only wizard listed in the Chicago yellow pages. This series is fun, but does trend a little more magic than mystery. Available on eLibraryNJ/OverDrive/Libby as eBooks and as graphic novels on hoopla. The first book is Storm Front.

How about a double two-for-one? The author Charles Todd is two people, a mother & son team, and has two series.

The first series is about Ian Rutledge, a shell-shocked World War I veteran returning to his job at Scotland Yard in London, England. Inspector Rutledge struggles with what we now call PTSD in a world that doesn’t acknowledge the existence of war wounds they can’t see. The first title is A Test of Wills.

The second takes place in the same time frame and focuses on Bess Crawford, a British army nurse in WWI and begins with A Duty to the Dead. It’s interesting to see two very different characters, with very different investigatory styles, operating in the same world.

And both series are available on both eBook/eAudio platforms!

The other day I was idly scanning a list of things that have been cancelled (I should just assume that everything is cancelled) and my eye was caught by a list of racing events - here and in the UK. So of course my mind turned immediately to Dick Francis —- when talking mysteries, horse racing and Dick Francis are practically synonymous!

Technically his books are not a series - but they all take place in the world of horse racing and various people, places and events appear in multiple books. They are available on both e-platforms and, since they are not a series, you can read them in random order. After his wife died, Mr. Francis revealed that while his name was on the books, they were actually a team effort and Mary Francis was the primary researcher. Eventually his son Felix stepped into his mother’s shoes and became Mr. Francis’ collaborator. When his father died in 2010, Felix took over the franchise writing books that are titled ‘Dick Francis’s ....”.

I could go on … there are a lot of mysteries available electronically. Happy reading!

- by Meg B., West Windsor Branch