It Killed a Cat, You Know

Okay, so you’re my blogging friends, and you probably all have different reasons why you read my blog.

I hope you read it because it actually interests you, not just to see how bad my writing is, or what irreversibly stupid thing I’ve done or said now.

That said, I’ve decided to expand my blog to include one of my favorite hobbies – reading and reviewing mystery books. Every so often I review a movie, provided there are no screaming children in my theater, and so this isn’t all that different (and rarely, if ever, will there be rants about screaming children).

I don’t know why, but I’m particularly drawn to mysteries. It may be due in part to growing up with a mother who read Victoria Holt and Dick Francis novels.

My favorite types of mysteries include futuristic (J.D. Robb’s In Death series; Paul Johnston’s Quintilian Dalrymple series), suspense (Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series), and thrillers (Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series).

Some historical mysteries are okay, but I’m not a fan of the “cozy” mystery. You know, where Jack meets Suzy, they don’t like each other, they get robbed, work together to catch the robber, then fall in love and live happily ever after.

If there are no car chases, shady people running from the law, or something doesn’t get blown up, it’s not my cup of tea.

Because my time is valuable, I don’t want to waste it by reading inferior mysteries. I depend on The Mystery Reader’s recommendations in the four or five star category. They are rarely in my experience, if ever, wrong about the quality of a mystery book. I especially love their five star mystery selections.

I feel like reading a mystery engages my mind – I’m curious - trying to figure things out, deduce whodunit, and at the end, I’m able to read a conclusion that ties the whole thing up.

Novels are just…life…and I’ve already got one of those. It’s sort of mind-torture for me to read a novel with no mystery. I do enjoy the occasional auto or biography. But novels are just so…whoosh…much more work for me.

Although, there are exceptions. I’m not bashing non-mystery novels; I’m just saying mysteries are the junk food my brain enjoys the most.

And I hope you enjoy the forthcoming reviews! Along with my usual frippery.