Top 10 Los Gatos Library Mystery Novels

1. Portobello, Ruth Rendell

Walking to the shops one day in London's Notting Hill, 50-year-old Eugene Wren discovers an envelope on the street bulging with cash. A man plagued by a shameful addiction, Wren hatches a plan to find the money's rightful owner.

2. The Sentry, Robert Crais

Dru Rayne and her uncle fled to L.A. after Hurricane Katrina; but now, five years later, they face a different danger. When Joe Pike witnesses Dru's uncle beaten by a protection gang, he offers his help, but neither of them want it-and neither do the federal agents mysteriously watching them. 

3. Kind of Blue, Miles Corwin

When a legendary ex-cop is mudered in L.A, the pressure's on to find the killer. Lt. Frank Duffy needs his best detective on the case, but his best detective, Ash Levine, quit a year ago. 

4. Outwitting Trolls,  William Tapply

Brady Coyne is a Boston attorney who focuses on a few private clients and the legal drudgery of their everyday life, which leads to a generally unexciting life. Brady, however, gets a call from an old friend and former neighbor, a man from his past. 

5. Nine Dragons, Michael Connelly

The murder of John Li, a South L.A. liquour store owner, hits LAPD Detective Harry Bosch hard, and he promises Li's family that he'll find the killer. As he uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad--a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S. 

6. Back Spin, Harlan Coben

The boy was born and raised on the tony Main Line. But he vanished on Philadelphia's mean streets. For Myron Bolitar, his client, golf superstar Linda Coldren, comes first--and that means unraveling the mystery of her son's kidnapping. 

7. Dead Like You, Peter James

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is forever haunted by the unexplained disappearance of his wife, Sandy, nearly ten years ago. Ever since she went missing, he’s been consumed with finding out what happened to her. 

8. Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear

Lady Rowan Compton first met Maisie when, at thirteen, she went into service as a maid at her ladyship’s Belgravia mansion. A suffragette, Lady Rowan took the remarkably smart youngster under her wing and became her patron. She encouraged Maisie to study at Cambridge, and was aided in this by Maurice Blanche, a friend often retained as an investigator by the elite of Europe when discretion and results were required. It was he who first recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts. 

9. Ten Big Ones, Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum, girl bounty hunter, the terror of Trenton, the bane of her boyfriend Joe Morelli's existence, and the delight of her crazy grandma's heart, is in the wrong place at the wrong time--as usual. 

10. Other Eyes, Barbara D'Amato

Blue Eriksen is a famous forensic archaeologist based at Northwestern University. She and her team are traveling the globe, testing mummies to research the use of hallucinogens in the development of ancient religions. 

—Compiled by Los Gatos librarian Henry Bankhead