100 books like Deal Breaker

I wouldn’t lie; I love legal thrillers. And Michael Connelly is a crime-writing genius. The book is titled The Lincoln Lawyer because Mickey Haller, a criminal lawyer, works out of the back seat of a chauffeur-driven Lincoln.

In this first book by Connelly featuring Mickey, he has raised the bar for all legal thrillers to come. He puts Mickey, the lawyer, at the centre of the story as someone who is hoodwinked into accepting a case that can destroy him. Mickey has to run with his arms tied behind his back. Talk about being stuck between the Devil and his mother. 

A brilliant story and a fantastic trial—both in and out of the courtroom. 

Kinsey Millhone, a private investigator, says she is a nice person, but she’s twice divorced, kidless, petless, doesn’t even want to take on the responsibility of a houseplant, drinks cheap Chablis out of a coffee mug—for God's sake—and she’s a killer. Frankly, how nice can she be?

I like not nice, and I loved Kinsey Millhone. Happily, there are 23 more Kinsey Millhone mysteries in the lineup.

Introducing Elvis Cole, L.A. Private Eye, who, along with his business partner Joe Pike, features in 18 books. Cole is a literate, wisecracking Vietnam vet who is determined to never grow up. Pike is a former Marine, quiet, ruthless, and deadly.

When Ellen Lang enters Elvis Cole's Disney-Deco office, she's lost her husband and her young son. The case seems simple enough, but Elvis isn't thrilled. Neither is his enigmatic partner and firepower, Joe Pike. Their search down the seamy side of Hollywood's studio lots and sculptured lawns soon leads them deep into a nasty netherworld of drugs, sex, and murder.

Reacher is dedicated to his “family” 5000%. Nothing else matters. Nothing. He is an incredibly simple and driven character who cannot resonate with the world around him nor give a moment to care that he does not. He is. That is all. Family is his team and, in this case, one actual family member. All are on equal footing.

While most details from books fade from my memory, this book (read when it first came out and eons before the TV show) is etched into my memory completely. The characters, the places, the fights, the sights and smells. I fell for Reacher’s plight and his steadfast mission to prove his innocence. My favorite image is hobo Reacher sleeping wherever and thinking nothing strange in that.

My mother was a very troubled young woman. The age difference between us was only 17 years, which meant that by the time I was a teenager, she was still young. Her alcoholism, broken marriages, and difficult relationships with her own family, including my Irish grandmother who effectively raised me and her two husbands, first my biological father and then my step-father, all made for a very challenging emotional landscape for a sensitive only child.

This seminal debut novel in what is now considered one of the finest crime series of all time. It features the series detective Harry Bosch who had a similar, troubled relationship with his own mother. Her death haunts Harry and influences his entire life and career, as the death of my mother does mine.

The first novel about legendary private eye Phillip Marlowe is also the first mystery novel that ever made me cry when I turned the last page.

Marlowe’s poetic narration and bruised outsider’s voice offer a cynical but also strangely hopeful perspective on both the shady underworld types and the corrupt high-society folk who fill the “mean streets” down which Marlowe must walk (in Chandler’s much-quoted phrase).

Why hopeful when death–the big sleep–awaits us all? Because a man of principles like Marlowe can still bring a measure of justice in this unjust world, sometimes just by bearing witness.

Set in Toronto, this novel features a hardboiled female detective Vicky Nelson, retired city police, now a private investigator and she is not happy about it. I like Vicky’s kick-ass and capable attitude, even with her failing eyesight. Imagine her surprise to run across a vampire, Henry Fitzroy, on the streets of Toronto, but that’s not all, something is stalking humans and Henry knows it’s supernatural. I am a fan of urban fantasy, the idea there are strange things going on right under our noses and all going undetected fascinates me. I’ve dabbled in this genre and will no doubt return to it. Still, all have a mystery to solve. Vicky doubts her old Toronto police partner will believe them. So it’s up to Vicky and Henry, they must team up, find the evil, and then figure out what to do about it to stop it. 

Travis McGee lives aboard a houseboat he won in a poker game. A self-described “salvage consultant,” he’ll keep half of whatever he recovers for you. Travis locates a stolen boat for a friend, but this offends some South American drug dealers and they put him on a hit list. A subplot develops when somebody leaves little cats made of pipe cleaners on his houseboat. I enjoyed the strong female characters in this book and the non-stop action. The resolution is wonderful and shows a side of McGee the reader has never seen before. This is the last of twenty-one Travis McGee novels written by MacDonald.

Two words for this absolutely primo mystery: John Corey. Corey is the main character in this series by the same name, and Plum Island is the first book in that series by the amazing Nelson DeMille. This is one of those books where I will always remember the actual reading experience. Why? I often read into the wee hours of the night and the entire household was fast asleep. I hit a particular scene (I won’t spoil it), and I simply burst out laughing hysterically. I couldn’t stop, thereby waking everyone up. Turned out, there was a lot of good humor still to come, and the plot was absolutely high intrigue! I always recommend this book to anyone who likes their mysteries with a dash of humor. 

In this cozy mystery Mable and Violet are fast friends and have odd adventures. I think everyone needs a partner in crime, so to speak. This is a series; each book has a different theme, which I like. This story is set in a theatre, a one-act play competition in small town Saskatchewan, Canada. From my experience in little theatre odd things do happen. Like in my writing, this story has humour, intrigue, and enduring friendship. The added bonus, a theatre critic who has it coming. I like figuring out who had the biggest axe to grind and what motives each character is hiding.