Every so often I will be mentioning a book that I’ve recently read and think visitors to this website may want to consider reading. Some books will be non-fiction and some will be works of fiction. Each will be a book that I especially liked and feel that others would enjoy or benefit from reading.

For the most part, I read non-fiction, but I have always liked mysteries and especially those with noir slants and books that feature hard-boiled detectives. It started when I was in high school and discovered Mickey Spillane’s stories about the adventures of his fictional detective, Mike Hammer. Two contemporary mystery writers are now favorites of mine. One features a tough private detective. The other writes police procedural novels.

Peter Colt has written six novels about Andy Roark, a Boston private detective. His latest is The Banker and, as usual, Roark has his hands full as he investigates and solves a case. With each book in the series, Colt sounds more and more like the late Robert Parker, who wrote so many wonderful books about his private detectives, Spenser and Sunny Randall, and police chief Jesse Stone. Colt, too, is funny and his stories are page turners.

Archer Mayor has produced a long list of novels featuring Joe Gunther and his team of detectives who work for the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Writing Shots Heard Round the World got in the way, so the most recent of Mayor’s books that I’ve gotten to is Fall Guy, which came out in 2022. Gunther and his team is often challenged by multi-layered crimes and the investigations turn up one surprise after another, twists that make his books all the more interesting. You will find that Fall Guy, too, is filled with unexpected pivots and developments.

If you too are into mysteries, I think you will love the works of Peter Colt and Archer Mayor.