Fiction
If you haven't picked up the first book in this extensive series, you are in for a treat. Precious Ramotswe lives in Botswana and has just come into an inheritance from her beloved father. With the money she decides to start a detective agency (the first women's detective agency in Botswana and perhaps in all of Africa - thus the No. 1). The ensuing series follows the mysteries and adventures that Precious encounters as a tenacious female detective. While this series is very gentle and full of humor, it does not shy away from serious obstacles modern Africans face. Also, if you end up liking this book series, HBO did an excellent television series adaptation of the first couple of books.
Flavia de Luce is the youngest of three sisters growing up in 1950s England. Her passions are chemistry and poisons and she spends most of her time tinkering in her inherited laboratory. One morning Flavia hears a strange noise coming from the family garden. Going out to investigate, Flavia discovers a dying man, who manages to gasp out a single word before he expires in the cabbages. Flavia could not be more delighted by this interesting event and immediately sets out to solve the mystery of the murdered stranger. Flavia is a spunky, interesting and very well written heroine. It's a pleasure to follow her further adventures in this continuing series.
I have read many adaptations of the "Sherlock Holmes" mythology and to my mind author Laurie King does one of the best jobs of keeping the original character intact and recognizable, while introducing new characters and circumstances into his well known story. In 1915 England, fifteen-year-old Mary Russell has an extraordinary encounter with an elderly beekeeper. It turns out that the beekeeper is in fact the semi-retired Sherlock Holmes and he sees something of himself in the fiercely intelligent, standoffish Mary. Soon, Holmes takes Mary on as an apprentice and the two are swept up in a mystery that will take them into the darkest recesses of British Intelligence in WWI England.
With the soaring popularity of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series, the American public has suddenly become much more aware of some of the fantastic international mystery writers - and not a moment too soon in my book. One of my absolute favorites is french writer Fred Vargas (a pseudonym for historian, archeologist and writer Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau). She writes police thrillers, all centered around Parisian detective Chief Inspector (Commissaire ) Adamsberg. Adamsberg follows intuition as much as he does evidence, which is frustrating to his colleagues (even more so when his hunches prove to be true). Paris has been baffled when a series of chalk circles are drawn around the city. Each circle contains an object, seemingly at random. Adamsberg knows that it is only a matter of time before a body appears in one of these circles and, as usual, he is correct. Adamsberg must use his unique perspective to catch an intelligent and ruthless killer.
Non-Fiction
Here, I have to admit my own embarrassing amount of ignorance. I had no idea that the Mona Lisa was ever stolen and remained missing for over two years. No idea. None (somehow this was never covered in the history classes I took). On a sultry day in August, 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. Famous detectives from all over Europe were called in a desperate attempt to recover the famous painting. Everyone from the famous (Pablo Picasso) to the common was accused of stealing the painting and still it was not discovered. This was the era of the telegraph, and what might have been a local drama turned into a media fueled international sensation. The world followed breathlessly as the investigation continued. Strangely, over two years after the painting disappeared, it was discovered when a man attempted to sell it to an Italian antique store. How had the Mona Lisa gotten to Italy? Why (and how) was it stolen in the first place? Author Scotti pens this excellent exploration of these questions as well as a riveting play-be-play of the event itself.
The degree to which the individuals in this book are obsessed with books is staggering, even for a bibliophile like myself. John Charles Gilkey is an extreme book lover turned international book thief. As of this books publishing, Gilkey had stolen a king's fortune worth of rare books. However, Gilkey did not steal these books to be sold. Gilkey kept them for his private collection. Facing off against Gilkey was another book obsessed man, Ken Sanders. However, Ken was determined to catch Gilkey and find the many volumes that had been disappearing into his extensive collections. What follows is a riveting chase between criminal and detective across the country, from book show to book exhibition. Bartlett chronicles this chase and supplements her materials with extensive interviews with both men.
If you thought that detectives with seemingly otherworldly abilities to solve mysteries existed only in the realm of fiction, then "The Murder Room" is the book for you. Ever since 1990, a group of extraordinary individuals gather once a month to have lunch and discuss the world's most puzzling cold cases. They call themselves the Vidocq Society, after a famous detective that was said to be the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. They come from everywhere, from every level and aspect of law enforcement. The only requirement is that each person must have an unmatched brilliance at solving crime. Although Capuzzo's narrative does occasionally get bogged down when he switches from the cases to the personal lives of three awe-inspiring detectives, the overall story of the Vidocq Society is entirely fascinating.
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