Mystery Book Club Favorites 08

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Our Book Clubs voted on their favorite books.

Here are the Top Four Mystery Book Club selections of 2008:

First Place went to Season of the Monsoon by Paul Mann. George Sansi is called to investigate a murder in Bollywood, a horribly mutilated corpse has been found in a lake. Unraveling the crime will take him back to the time of the British Raj. Sansi is an unusual detective, Oxford educated with an Indian mother and a British officer for a father. Season of the Monsoon is full of interesting characters, exotic locations, and a plot that draws you into the story.

Second Place is claimed by The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. Set in Boston during the years after the Civil War, a killer is using Dante for inspiration. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has assembled a book club of his own; they meet to go over his translations of Dante's Divine Comedy. Murders mimicking the punishments in Dante's Inferno begin to plague the city, the club members are caught in a conundrum, if they report their suspicions to the police they become the prime suspects while the killer is left on the loose to wreck vengeance. Longfellow's translation of Dante will be the first in America, not too many people are familiar with Dante's Inferno. In fact almost all of them are right there in Longfellow's parlor. The men decide they must investigate the crimes to stop the killings.

Third Place goes to The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon, an Indie Bound Bestseller for 2008 and on my pick for the top ten of the year. The Jewish homeland is in Sitka Alaska, but only temporarily, soon the land will revert to the US. Meyer Landsman has made a mess of his life, divorced from his wife, alienated from his friends and relatives, and ruining his career as a detective. He lives in a derelict flophouse; his boon companion is his bottle. The apartment manager knocks on Landsman's door when another resident is murdered, it can be handy having a cop living in the building. No one wants this crime solved, not his bosses, not the victim's father, not powerful members of the government. But Landsman sinks his jaws into the case like a pit bull with a steak. If you like quirky, this is your book.

Fourth Place is The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman, the first in his beloved Joe Leaphorn series set on the reservation. Hillerman crafted mysteries respectful of native culture; they gave us a look at life on the reservation. His characters felt real and he always told a good story.