Do you see the pattern in the five books Iāve recommended? In each of them, a woman writer explores the darker side of human nature and lures the law-abiding reader to explore it, too. I do not expect to ever commit a murder or to have to cover one up for the sake of a loved one. But could I? Could the person next to me in the grocery store line? Hmmm, I wonder. Traditional mystery stories and police procedurals reassure the reader that in the end, justice will be served and order restored. The women writers of noir/psychological suspense make us contemplate the world very differently.
The Vault is the sequel to A Sight for Sore Eyes. It is a police procedural with the detective trying to identify several dead bodies found in an abandoned coal cellar. The dead seem to have no connection to each other, so the detective must also puzzle out how each of them came to be there. I recommend it because the reader has some fun: She knows the answers to all those questions from having read the first book. Itās a great twist on mystery-as-riddle whodunits.
INCLUDES AN EXCERPT OF RENDELLāS FINAL NOVEL, DARK CORNERS
In the stunning climax to Rendellās classic 1998 novel A Sight for Sore Eyes, three bodiesātwo dead, one livingāare entombed in an underground chamber beneath a picturesque London house. Twelve years later, the houseās new owner pulls back a manhole cover, and discovers the vaultāand its grisly contents. Only now, the number of bodies is four. How did somebody else end up in the chamber? And who knew of its existence?
With their own detectives at an impasse, London police call on former Kingsmarkham Chief Inspector Wexford, now retired and livingā¦
I chose the āBestā title with trepidation: there are many sorts of aces and reading tastes will differ. Iām a cis-gender female, sex averse, verging on sex-repulsed. So, why M/M? Firstly, because reading about other females is too much like being involved myself. Secondly, because Iām het-romantic so I like my MCs to be male. And sex? I can take sex on the page as long as it isnāt gratuitous; it must be meaningful. Iāve chosen five very different books, but they all have gay protagonists and they meet my ace-based needs. In case itās an issue, Iāve commented on the flame count.
I very much doubt that Reginald Hill intended Pictures of Perfection to appear on a Best M/M list! Itās a quintessentially English tale with a backdrop of class-based snobbery and the threat to rural life from development. Itās also the sole book in Hillās Dalziel and Pascoe mystery series wherein Hillās gay detective sergeant, Edgar Wield, takes centre stage. Wield finds more than a missing policeman when heās sent to the village of Enscombe! Nothing to worry even the most sex-repulsed asexual here although, with hindsight, these stories can seem problematic in other ways: Dalziel is so non-woke. However, it was being a fan of Wield and Hillās books that got me writing my own gay mysteries, so Iām ever grateful.
For suspense, ingenuity and sheer comic effrontery this takes the absolute, appetizing biscuit' Sunday Times
High in the Mid-Yorkshire Dales stands the traditional village of Enscombe, seemingly untouched by the modern world. But contemporary life is about to intrude when the disappearance of a policeman brings Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel and DCI Peter Pascoe to its doors.
As the detectives dig beneath the veneer of idyllic village life a new pattern emerges: of family feuds, ancient injuries, cheating and lies. And finally, as the community gathers for the traditional Squire's Reckoning, it looks as if the simmering tensions will eruptā¦
