Good Winter Reads

Last year, a friend introduced me to Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper murder mysteries. I'm normally not into that genre of book however, I do love my Law & Order and am a former history major. Why does that matter with these books? Well, because the entire series follows a New York DA and throughout each book you learn a great nugget of NYC history. The only thing I regret is that I started the series totally out of order. I started with Death Dance (lots of info on NYC arts scene throughout the ages), then read Bad Blood (learned about the city water tunnels and felt really claustrophobic), and then moved onto Entombed (one of my favorites - learned a ton about Edgar Allen Poe).

I just finished Cold Hit. I thought it was pretty good and there were so many red herrings that I couldn't guess who the murderer was. I also liked how the Gardner museum heist got numerous mentions - woohoo local crime! Now, I'm starting Final Jeopardy. The funny thing about her books are that they are tough to start because you're always given a ton of background into the DA's office and NYPD inner workings and a random rape trial that never gets mentioned again. But once you get through the first couple of chapters, you seriously can't put the book down. I gasp out loud and say, "Ooh!" as I read. The one part I really hate is the lame damsel in distress bits. The main character always has to be chased or threatened at gunpoint in each book. By the last book, she better have signed up for self defense lessons or have a gun!