Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
Today’s prompt is: Genre Freebie (Pick a genre and build a list around it. You could do historical fiction featuring strong female leads, contemporary romance set in foreign countries, mysteries starring unreliable narrators, lyrical fiction books in verse, historical romance featuring pirates, Gothic novels with birds on the cover, etc. There are so many options!)
So today I picked mystery books with a reporter as the protagonist.
And no, I am not going to name my own! Ha! I didn’t even actually think of my book when I thought of the prompt. I was thinking of how my family has been connected to newspapers for more than 25 years now, with me having been a reporter for 14 years and my husband now being a reporter and editor of a newspaper. My brother also used to be an editor and reporter.
None of us has been involved in murder or crime mysteries, but we have had to dig information out for stories. I think that is why reporters can be good main characters for mysteries. They are digging for the truth so they have a reason to snoop — that’s the theory anyhow.
This list includes protagonists in any kind of media/journalist field and there may be books or series I haven’t read yet so I can’t vouch for the clean level of every one of them. I’ll let you know if I haven’t read them yet and you may have to do some research on your own if you aren’t familiar with them. I have a mix of cozy mysteries and regular mystery/thrillers.
- Jim Qwilleran of The Cat Who series…
I have to start this list with my favorite cozy mystery series about a reporter as the main character. I absolutely love newspaper reporter/columnist Jim Qwilleran and the mysteries he stumbles into with his cats Koko and Yum-Yum. This series is an oldie but a goodie and comfort reads for me.
2. The Replacement Child by Christine Barber (have not read)
Description: Late one night, Capital Tribune editor Lucy Newroe receives a tip from Scanner Lady, an anonymous reader who frequently calls with police scanner tidbits. When Lucy checks out the tip, she discovers Scanner Lady has been killed. That same night, the body of a seventh-grade teacher, Melissa Baca, is found at the bottom of a local bridge. As Lucy and police detective Gil Montoya hunt down the culprits in each murder, they discover their cases are intertwined in the most intimate ways.
3. The Henrie O. Mystery series by Carolyn G. Hart (have not read but very interested)
An online description: “The Henrie O book series is a cozy mystery series by author Carolyn Hart, featuring retired, tenacious newswoman Henrietta “Henrie O” O’Dwyer Collins, who solves murders while traveling the world. The series, which began in 1993 with Dead Man’s Island, combines travel and murder mysteries, with Henrie O investigating cases in various locations like private islands, resorts, and cruise ships.
4. Puzzle Lady Mystery series by Parnell Hall (have not read, but watched the show)
This one isn’t a reporter but a woman who works as a crossword puzzle writer in syndicate for newspapers. There is a show on PBS/BBC based on this series now.
Online description of the first book: When Benny Southstreet, a small-time hustler with a big-time gift for constructing crosswords, accuses Cora of stealing one of his creations, it’s clearly a case of mistaken identity…until Cora’s own attorney files a plagiarism suit against her. To add to the enigma, when Benny is found dead, the police charge Cora with his murder!
At the heart of the matter is the not-so-little white lie Cora has been living for years: assuming the grandmotherly public face of her publicity-shy niece Sherry, who designs crossword puzzles and publishes them under Cora’s name—aka the Puzzle Lady. It turns out that Sherry’s and Benny’s cruciverbalist paths had recently crossed, resulting in the current incriminating conundrum.
As if Sherry’s wedding engagement jitters and a nasty battle over missing antique chairs weren’t enough to deal with, now Cora has to solve the ultimate mystery: how to keep the secret of her identity without losing her life. Because not only does all evidence point to Cora, but someone seems to want her dead. It looks like a riddle with no answer. Luckily for Cora and Sherry, that’s their favorite kind!
5. Front Page Murder by Joyce Tremel (haven’t read but want to)
Online description: This is a WWII-set mystery about Irene Ingram, whose newspaper publisher father has gone to work as a war correspondent. She’s the editor-in-chief in her father’s absence, and that rankles some men in the newsroom. She also ruffles feathers when she starts asking questions about the death of the paper’s star crime reporter. (source www.crimereads.com)
6. A Dash of Death by Michelle Hillen Klump (have not read):
Description: Laid off journalists are a staple in real life, and it was good to see Klump reflect this reality in her book. Samantha Warren lost her investigative reporting job and her fiancé — but she’s starting a new mixology company and is featuring her homemade bitters at an event. Someone turns up dead and one of Samantha’s drinks was poisoned with oleander. This book features lots of investigation and great descriptions of the Houston food scene. (source www.crimereads.com)
7. Off the Air by Christina Estes (have not read)
Description: Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, splitting her time between covering general assignments—anything from a monsoon storm to a newborn giraffe at the zoo—and special projects. Jolene investigates the murder of a controversial talk show host, who died under suspicious circumstances. Jolene conducted his final interview, giving her and her station an advantage. But not for long… (source www.crimereads.com).
8. The Poet by Michael Connelly (haven’t read, but just a heads up for more clean readers, Connelly’s books usually have harsh language, violence, etc.)
Online description:
Reporter Jack McAvoy is obsessed with stories about murder and death. But when he comes across the work of a serial killer — a particularly terrifying one — it forces him to investigate a story that might make him the next victim. Incredibly plotted, and really … scary. The killer leaves a calling card with a quotation from Edgar Allan Poe. Yikes. Connolly is the master of suspense.
9. White Collar Girl by Renée Rosen (haven’t read)
Online description: It’s 1955, in the city room of the Chicago Tribune. And in walks a woman. A female cub reporter. Can’t you picture it? If that isn’t perfect enough, she refuses to be relegated to society news and manages to unearth some secret information about Mayor Daley. It’s about ambition, politics, and the struggle of smart women in an antagonistic workplace and it’s completely entertaining.
10. Three Words For Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Amazon Description: Three cities, two sisters, one chance to correct the past . . .
New York, 1937: When estranged sisters Clara and Madeleine Sommers learn their grandmother is dying, they agree to fulfill her last wish: to travel across Europe—together. They are to deliver three letters, in which Violet will say goodbye to those she hasn’t seen since traveling to Europe forty years earlier; a journey inspired by famed reporter, Nellie Bly.
Clara, ever-dutiful, sees the trip as an inconvenient detour before her wedding to millionaire Charles Hancock, but it’s also a chance to embrace her love of art. Budding journalist Madeleine relishes the opportunity o develop her ambitions to report on the growing threat of Hitler’s Nazi party and Mussolini’s control in Italy.
Constantly at odds with each other as they explore the luxurious Queen Mary, the Orient Express, and the sights of Paris and Venice,, Clara and Madeleine wonder if they can fulfil Violet’s wish, until a shocking truth about their family brings them closer together. But as they reach Vienna to deliver the final letter, old grudges threaten their
reconciliation again. As political tensions rise, and Europe feels increasingly volatile, the pair are glad to head home on the Hindenburg, where fate will play its hand in the final stage of their journey.
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I also post a link-up on Sundays for weekly updates about what you are reading, watching, doing, listening to, etc.
Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.
You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.
