Curl up with a whodunnit!

What do most people think of when they hear the word "library"? Reading, of course! 2014 is the year to "Reconnect with Reading 365" at the Cuyahoga County Public Library. To celebrate this initiative, the Bay Village Branch Library staff and customers will be sharing our suggestions from various genres each month here in the Observer.

I recently had a chance to sit down and chat about "whodunnits" with Friends of the Bay Village Library board members Linda Lamb and Liz Bailey who enjoy reading mysteries – both classic and new!

Linda Lamb’s favorite authors in this genre include Lisa Gardner, David Rosenfelt and James Patterson. Linda’s favorite of Rosenfelt’s offerings is the Andy Carpenter series. Linda finds it interesting to get to know the characters over the length of the series. She thinks the characters in this series are wonderful, full of humor and notes the books flow like a well-written TV script. After doing some research, she learned Rosenfelt does indeed have a background in writing for television!

Linda also enjoys reading James Patterson – specifically the Women’s Murder Club series and Alex Cross. Other Patterson fans will be happy to know that the 20th installment of this popular series, "Hope to Die: The Return of Alex Cross," will be released on Nov. 17 – put in your order at the library!

Liz Bailey began reading mysteries as a child and has such fond memories of reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes stories like "The Hound of the Baskervilles" from cover to cover multiple times. While Liz does venture into newer literary territory from time to time, she really enjoys putting herself back in the time these stories took place before the advances of current technology, when an investigator might need to take a fast boat or fly in a plane with an open cockpit piloted by a famous aviator to get an affidavit from a far-off city. One of her all time favorites is Dorothy Sayers’ "The Nine Tailors" featuring Lord Peter Whimsey.

Liz and other vintage whodunnit readers can revisit Hercule Poirot in the newly released "The Monogram Murders" in the style of Agatha Christie written by Sophie Hannah. If you are into thrillers that ride the line between whodunnit and other popular genres like Gillian Flynn’s "Gone Girl," try "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng. Those looking for contemporary women’s fiction blended with mystery and thriller aspects might enjoy this year’s "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarity and "You Should Have Known" by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

Join us for What to Read LIVE! on Twitter Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2-4 p.m. Tweet @CuyahogaLib with the title and author of one book you liked – along with #read365 – and our staff will reply with a reading suggestion just for you!

Our William N. Skirball Writer’s Center Stage series continues on Monday, Nov. 17, with best-selling author of "Eat Pray Love" and more recently "The Signature of All Things," Elizabeth Gilbert. Tickets are available by calling 216-368-5681.

Remember to check The Observer next month to see What Your Neighbors are Reading on the December theme of "Relax with a book" and visit the Bay Village Branch, 502 Cahoon Road, where the staff would be very happy to give you personal reading recommendations too. We hope to see you soon!

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WHAT YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE READING

at the Bay Village Branch Library

November theme: Mysteries

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