Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was a kid, I've devoured books. But I have to be perfectly honest here and confess that my taste has always run to genre fiction. Mystery. Science fiction. Adventure. Fantasy. Suspense. That sort of thing. I’ve never been one for “serious” literature that addresses the miseries of modern life. Non-fiction, as well, is rarely on my reading docket. I prefer action…intrigue…humor. So when I started writing novels, that’s where I went. There are my three canine cozy mysteries, the first of which is noted below; and my historical mystery series. Under my real name, D. R. Martin, I wrote a ghost adventure trilogy. 


I wrote

The Karma of King Harald

By Richard Audry,

Book cover of The Karma of King Harald

What is my book about?

When springtime arrives in New Bergen, so do the tourists and antiquers. This year, though, there are some unwelcome visitors.…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Gun, with Occasional Music

Richard Audry Why did I love this book?

Jonathan Lethem’s first book is, perhaps, not as well regarded as some of his later works. But it blew me away back in the ’90s—with a black humor that satirized both noir mystery and science fiction. I still love it.

The future is totalitarian. Everyone is stupefied by mandated memory-deadening drugs. Karma scores must be kept up, or you’re put in the freezer—literally. Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf gets hired to tail a cheating wife. But things go sideways when the client turns up dead. The cops suspect Metcalf. He encounters many a shady, seedy character, including animals given human-like intelligence; such as Joey, the kangaroo hitman. And whodunit? I think the answer is shocking…and hilarious. I think you’ll think so, too.

By Jonathan Lethem,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Gun, with Occasional Music as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first novel by Jonathan Lethem (author of the award-winning Motherless Brooklyn) is a science-fiction mystery, a dark and funny post-modern romp serving further evidence that Lethem is the distinctive voice of a new generation. Conrad Metcalf has problems. He has a monkey on his back, a rabbit in his waiting room, and a trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. (Maybe evolution therapy is not such a good idea). He's been shadowing Celeste, the wife of an Oakland urologist. Maybe falling in love with her a little at the same time. When the doctor turns up dead, Metcalf finds himself caught…


Book cover of The Quiche of Death

Richard Audry Why did I love this book?

I’ve been an M. C. Beaton fan since forever and realized that a cozy mystery doesn’t need to be trite and treacly. They can be tart, saucy, sarcastic, and cuttingly funny. Agatha Raisin’s debut misadventure is a good place to start.

Agatha, a London PR exec, has a chip on her shoulder the size of Surrey. But when she retires to the Cotswolds, she wants to fit in and make local connections. Why not enter a quiche in the local baking contest? (A store-bought quiche, in fact—typical Agatha.) A judge samples it and drops dead. Many a chuckle and hoot ensue, as headstrong, abrasive Agatha doggedly follows the clues of a clever murder and navigates the baffling complexities of village life.

By M.C. Beaton,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Quiche of Death as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Every new Agatha Raisin escapade is a total joy' ASHLEY JENSEN

'No wonder she's been crowned Queen of Cosy Crime' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'A Beaton novel is like The Archers on speed' DAILY MAIL

The first Agatha Raisin mystery from bestselling author M. C. Beaton

__________________________

Revenge is a dish best served warm...

High-flying public relations supremo Agatha Raisin has decided to take early retirement. She's off to make a new life in a picture-perfect Cotswold village. To make friends, she enters the local quiche-making competition - and to make quite sure of first prize she secretly pays a visit…


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Book cover of Trans-Mongolian Express

Trans-Mongolian Express by David L. Robbins,

In the harrowing aftermath of Chornobyl's meltdown in 1986, the fate of Eastern Europe hangs by a thread.

From Beijing, American radiation scientist Lara, once a thorn in the Russian mob's side, is drawn back into the shadows of the Soviet Union on the Trans-Mongolian Express. She isn't alone. Anton,…

Book cover of Native Tongue

Richard Audry Why did I love this book?

If rolling on the floor laughing your ass off is your thing, then Carl Hiaasen is for you. This was my entry into whack-job Florida crime capers, and it still puts me in stitches.

The carousel of nuttiness starts spinning when two rare “blue-tongued voles” are nicked from Amazing Kingdom of Thrills, a low-rent theme park. Bouncing off each other is a crowd of madcap and/or menacing characters. The racketeer park owner. The two boneheaded thieves. An enviro-radical granny. An oversexed dolphin. A security chief hopped up on steroids. An actress who plays a goofy park critter. A gonzo former Florida governor turned eco-guerrilla. And, as the only normal person in sight, an ex-journo PR flak. Now, just climb aboard and hang on.

By Carl Hiaasen,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Native Tongue as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author comes a novel in which dedicated, if somewhat demented, environmentalists battle sleazy real estate developers in the Florida Keys.

"Rips, zips, hurtles, keeping us turning the pages at breakfinger pace." —New York Times Book Review

When the precious clue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake…


Book cover of The Eyre Affair

Richard Audry Why did I love this book?

The place is definitely not of this universe. Literature—not sports and movies—dominates the culture. Thursday Next is a special agent in the Literary Detection branch. She tracks down forgers and whatnot. More notably, she can enter the worlds of fiction. Literally rub elbows with, say, a living, breathing Madame Bovary. But in this adventure, she has to prevent the snuffing of another protagonist…Jane Eyre. An arch-villain aims to snatch Jane out of her novel and erase her from all literature; then start croaking other famous fictional characters. And only Thursday can stop him.

For my money, Jasper Fforde’s first novel is a little masterwork of mystery, wit, and weirdness. And believe me, there are far more treasures in it than my description even hints at.

By Jasper Fforde,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The Eyre Affair as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Meet Thursday Next, literary detective without equal, fear or boyfriend

Jasper Fforde's beloved New York Times bestselling novel introduces literary detective Thursday Next and her alternate reality of literature-obsessed England-from the author of The Constant Rabbit

Fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse will love visiting Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it's a bibliophile's dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic…


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Book cover of Return to Vienna: The Special Operations Executive and the Rebirth of Austria

Return to Vienna by Peter Dixon,

"Captain Charles Kennedy" parachuted into a moonlit Austrian forest and searched frantically for his lost radio set. His real name was Leo Hillman and he was a Jewish refugee from Vienna. He was going home. Men and women of Churchill’s secret Special Operations Executive worked to free Austria from Hitler's…

Book cover of McNally's Secret

Richard Audry Why did I love this book?

“I poured a few drops of an ’87 Mondavi Chardonnay into her navel and leaned down to slurp it out.” Thus begins the first adventure of Archie McNally, Lawrence Sanders’s foppish gumshoe. I first heard of him on a golf course not too far from his Palm Beach digs. I’ve been a fan ever since.

Think of Archie as the love child of Bertie Wooster and Sam Spade. He tootles around town in his red Miata, sleuthing for his barrister father and hiding his extracurricular ding-dongs from girlfriend Connie. Along the way, he rubs elbows with the one percent and collars crooks. And at day’s end, he can be found sipping martinis at the Pelican Club. I wish I could join him.

By Lawrence Sanders,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked McNally's Secret as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Archy McNally, Florida dilettante private investigator, is asked to make some discreet inquiries when the much-married Lady Horowitz loses some valuable stamps. He doesn't take the case seriously until the first suspect dies. From the author of "The Seventh Commandment" and "Capital Crimes".


Explore my book 😀

The Karma of King Harald

By Richard Audry,

Book cover of The Karma of King Harald

What is my book about?

When springtime arrives in New Bergen, so do the tourists and antiquers. This year, though, there are some unwelcome visitors. Extortion. Arson. And murder.

After a desolating divorce, Andy Skyberg has gone home to New Bergen. All he wants is a decent job and a loyal dog. But fate has something else in store, when his big mutt King Harald starts sniffing out murder and mayhem. It then falls to Andy to channel his inner sleuth and make sense of it all. Throw into this mix one legendary (but lost) ebelskiver recipe…a gimlet-eyed church lady…a van full of federal agents…a crusty old socialist…and a beloved iguana—and you have all the fixins for The Karma of King Harald.

Book cover of Gun, with Occasional Music
Book cover of The Quiche of Death
Book cover of Native Tongue

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