Patricia Cornwell

Ms. Cornwell rocketed to fame with Postmortem, her first novel featuring Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia.  Scarpetta works with the police--and sometimes on her own--to solve crimes through forensic science. Scarpetta is an unforgettable character and I've enjoyed all the books in the series.
 

Minette Walters

I've only read a couple of books by Ms. Walters but they were both excellent. If you enjoy fairly complex mysteries with a British setting, Ms. Walters is worth a try. Her latest, The Shape of Snakes, was especially inventive with its use of documents, email, and even photographs to unravel a twenty year mystery.
 

Elizabeth George

Ms. George is another British author and easily one of my very favorite mystery authors.  She has a terrific London mystery series featuring Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Constable Barbara Havers.  The plots are interesting and intricate but the real joy is getting into the minds of the main characters--especially Havers.  She is one of my favorite popular characters.
 

Amy Tan

I don't read a lot of general fiction by women authors but Ms. Tan is one I read and enjoy.  Her books are beautifully crafted and invite you to get to know her varied characters intimately in both the past and the present.  Her latest, The Bonesetter's Daughter, is a wonderful look at the relationship between a mother and her daughter.
 

P. D. James

My queen of the British mystery is Ms. James.  Now eightysomething, she continues to write terrific whodunits.  Her main series stars Commander Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard and the books in that series have all been enjoyable but my favorite series features Cordelia Gray.  Ms. Gray has inherited a one-man detective agency and--with little experience--tries to run it.
 

Sue Grafton

It all began way back when with A is for Alibi.  And, what an enjoyable ride it has been getting to know kooky Kinsey Millhone, private eye, as we tag along in her old VW Bug while she goes about solving her latest mystery.  Grafton is now up to P is for Peril and I'm wishing there were more letters in the alphabet.
 

Mary Higgins Clark

America's mystery queen is probably Ms. Clark.  Widowed young and with children to raise, she started writing to make ends meet.  Where Are the Children?, her first book and still one of her best, insured she would never lack for money.  Her formula of putting a woman on her own in peril makes for wonderful suspense--and has made her one of the richest authors in the world.
 

Anne Tyler

I always look forward to Anne Tyler's novels. She writes mostly about families and couples, usually with a Baltimore setting.  Her books are wonderful slices of life filled with characters you care about from the very first pages. Back When We Were Grownups, her latest, looks in on the large Davitch clan and, specifically, Rebecca Davitch, who is looking for love after being a widow for thirty years.
 

Laura Joh Rowland

Ready for something really different?  Ms. Rowland has a terrific mystery series going that is set in seventeenth century Japan.  Samurai-detective Sano Ichiro, Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, is our main character and his title pretty much covers everything he is called upon to investigate in his job as the shogun's main policeman.  The mysteries are good but what sets this series apart is the fascinating world of medieval Japan.
 

Edna Buchanan

Winning my vote for the most unappreciated woman's mystery writer is Edna Buchanan.  Try one of her books and see if you don't agree.  She has a great series going featuring beautiful, single, witty, thirtysomething Britt Montero, a Miami newspaper reporter who usually works the crime beat--and always ends up in the middle of the story she is covering.  In the latest, You Only Die Twice, Britt looks into the mystery of a woman who has seemingly been killed twice.
 

Sandra Brown

If you like Mary Higgins Clark I think you will also enjoy Ms. Brown's novels.  She started as a romance novelist but over the years she has developed into a writer who appeals to both men and women--especially with her suspense novels.  The formula is usually a woman in some sort of peril but the shorelines and locations are wonderfully varied.
 

Anne Perry

Ms. Perry has been writing two Victorian London mystery series.  One of them features Thomas and Charlotte Pitt.  Thomas is a policeman and Charlotte is his wife.  Private investigator William Monk and his wife Hester, a nurse, are the main characters of the second series.  In both series, the men are usually trying to solve a murder mystery--with the able help of their wives.  The plots are interesting and the mysteries usually have me fooled but what I like best about Ms. Perry's books is her careful depiction of life in Victorian England.
 

J. K. Rowling

Ms. Rowling has become one of the most famous writers in the world with her 'Harry Potter' series.  At one time I believe she had three of her novels on The New York Times bestseller list--and then she was summarily banished from the list.  Some darn Muggle decided that her books were only for children.  Hogwarts!  They may appeal to kids but why should they have all the fun?  I've enjoyed every one of her books and I normally don't even read fantasy novels.  Start with the first--Harry going off to wizard school--and see what you've been missing.
 
 

 

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