Getting a Clue

Just what I needed - another detective series to get hooked on. I keep coming across audiobooks at Half Price that are by authors Mother has long read faithfully and trying them out because they are a bargain. Then discovering that they are pretty darned good. Now I'm enjoying J. A. Jance, who writes two different series and both of them are very enjoyable.

I'm so behind on reading that it's not funny. There are several authors I buy as soon as they release a new book and for some of them I am 2-3 books behind. Which is sometimes a good thing, because once I read one and re-whet my appetite for that author, I have several books on hand to enjoy. Just this weekend I finished a reading marathon of the latest 3 books in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I've now embarked on catching up with the Miss Julia series, which will last for 3 books. Then there's the Stephanie Plum series where I'm 2 books behind, the China Bayles series where I'm about 5 books behind, the Maggody series where I'm 2 books behind, the Dearest Dorothy series where I'm 5 books behind, the Cedar Cove series where I'm 3 books behind, the Amelia Peabody series where I'm about halfway through a series of 18 or so and those are just the ones I can think of without going over to the book shelf and reminding myself of what all is waiting for me. I haven't yet gone into Mother's book stash to find out how many J. A. Jance books are in the wings.

It's been like this all my life. I was thinking today about my reading habits as a youngster. I was a big fan of the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Trixie Belden mysteries, the Dana Girls mysteries, and the Sue Barton nursing series. I read my share of Cherry Ames, Donna Parker, the Bobbsey Twins, and even a Hardy Boys or two. As I got older I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories, all the Nero Wolfe mysteries, all the Lord Peter Wimsey books, and a fair number of the books of P. D. James.

I also read the culinary mysteries of Diane Mott Davidson, the non-Stephanie Plum novels of Janet Evanovich (especially when I need a good laugh), the genealogy mysteries by Rett Macpherson, and the Cat Who mysteries of Lilian Jackson Braun. Nothing like a good mystery to take your mind off reality.

I have quite a choice available, with a little bit of every genre to please whatever mood I swing to next. But one thing I know. Come July 21st, I'll be joining the line of folks eager to find out how the Harry Potter series comes to a close. At least that's one series that I'll be able to put behind me. Which actually makes me a little sad.

LSW