Reading the Written Word

I'm a writer, and a reader so when I look for material to digest I tend to do more than an ordinary person in the volumes I consume. Like food, a good book can leave a taste in your mouth that says, "I want more!" or a stomach turning disgust. Since I'm picky I tend to carefully choose what I want to sink into a comfy chair with these days.

Being a history buff I often look for authors that can take me back accurately and offer a good read too (That's a gift that many authors don't succeed at in my opinion.). Some of my favorite authors are not the ones that are often found on the New York Times Best Seller list though. But some are old favorites to many readers that I know.

Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books fascinate me as do Margery Allingham's Albert Campion series. At present the world of the mystery novel has my total reading attention and I am enjoying that delicious tingle as the book takes me between the covers and into the lives of the characters.

What makes a really good mystery novel for anyone? For me the formulaic crime novel totally fails in the long run. I really enjoy a good series where in each book we are taken in a new direction and where we can watch the main characters grow. In fact that is the best part of most stories in my opinion. In books, as in life sometimes people aren't allowed to, or cannot grow and we lose the intrigue for those life stories then. I have to have a well created yarn within the confines of a fascinating setting as well.

So right now if I had to choose a favorite mystery character it would have to be....hmmm, Hercule Poirot, no maybe Inspector Morse! So...who is your favorite mystery character?