Books like 12 Days — picked by fans

As a child, I read many Nancy Drew books and loved how she solved the clues. During the last couple of years I have developed a deeper interest in mystery and romantic suspense books. I enjoy trying to figure out the clues in other's tales and creating my own. The challenge is like putting a puzzle together for me when I write in this genre. Recently I wrote two short cozy mysteries and a romantic suspense that were published for the Christian market. I have a couple of cozy mystery works in progress that will soon be ready to share with readers. My other books often have hints of mysteries.

As a child, I read many Nancy Drew books and loved how she solved the clues. During the last couple of years I have developed a deeper interest in mystery and romantic suspense books. I enjoy trying to figure out the clues in other's tales and creating my own. The challenge is like putting a puzzle together for me when I write in this genre. Recently I wrote two short cozy mysteries and a romantic suspense that were published for the Christian market. I have a couple of cozy mystery works in progress that will soon be ready to share with readers. My other books often have hints of mysteries.

As a child, I read many Nancy Drew books and loved how she solved the clues. During the last couple of years I have developed a deeper interest in mystery and romantic suspense books. I enjoy trying to figure out the clues in other's tales and creating my own. The challenge is like putting a puzzle together for me when I write in this genre. Recently I wrote two short cozy mysteries and a romantic suspense that were published for the Christian market. I have a couple of cozy mystery works in progress that will soon be ready to share with readers. My other books often have hints of mysteries.

As a child, I read many Nancy Drew books and loved how she solved the clues. During the last couple of years I have developed a deeper interest in mystery and romantic suspense books. I enjoy trying to figure out the clues in other's tales and creating my own. The challenge is like putting a puzzle together for me when I write in this genre. Recently I wrote two short cozy mysteries and a romantic suspense that were published for the Christian market. I have a couple of cozy mystery works in progress that will soon be ready to share with readers. My other books often have hints of mysteries.

I’ve visited Amish communities for years as a tourist. An agent suggested I write it because of my faith in God. The Amish base their lifestyle and traditions on their faith in God, and she felt the books would be more authentic if the author felt the same. I’ve never been Amish, but the topic is fun to research, and some of the Amish are forthcoming in helping me. I love the fried chicken, homemade butterscotch pie, corn pudding, and beautiful quilts they have available when visiting the different Ohio and Indiana communities. They are not my typical audience.

I’ve visited Amish communities for years as a tourist. An agent suggested I write it because of my faith in God. The Amish base their lifestyle and traditions on their faith in God, and she felt the books would be more authentic if the author felt the same. I’ve never been Amish, but the topic is fun to research, and some of the Amish are forthcoming in helping me. I love the fried chicken, homemade butterscotch pie, corn pudding, and beautiful quilts they have available when visiting the different Ohio and Indiana communities. They are not my typical audience.

I write for a living. Have done it all my life—in daily newspapers, magazines, for TV news, as a law clerk to a NYS Supreme Court judge, and as a traditionally published author. I’ve also been an avid reader of page-turning thrillers for decades. It’s why I write in that genre, and why I’ve become familiar with the jaw-dropping twist that turns a story on its head just when you think you know where it’s heading. It’s what I aimed for in my latest thriller, Fool Her Once. It’s just a sheer delight when it’s done well—as it is in the five books I’ve chosen here.

I’m absolutely passionate about suspense stories, especially ones with killer twists. Maybe it’s all the crime shows I watch, but the motives for crimes are so wide and varied, and I love when the unexpected is explored in fiction. I’m also intrigued by stories about missing people and the myriad of reasons behind why they go missing–especially when things aren’t always what they seem. Whether it’s the missing who return years later or hints of them suddenly appear, I can’t help but get wrapped up in a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat guessing what might happen next! I try for great twists in my novels.

Sometimes I have to take a trip back to my reading "roots": gothic mystery and suspense. This list is a deep dive into some of my very favorite vintage gothic authors and ones that I consider to be icons of the genre. These writers formed the foundation not only for my reading tastes but also for who I have become as a writer. The memories of my younger self come flooding back when I revisit these authors and their works as I have done with this list. Some of these novels are hard to come by now but, in my opinion, the older and more beat-up paperback, the better. 

I am a lifelong history lover. I was the kid who hung around the feet of the elders, listening to their stories and learning about the past. That led to a deep interest in tracing family history, which has been a passion since about the age of ten. I still can get lost for hours finding ancestors or reading about their lives. That interest led me to a double major in college and I earned a Bachelor of Arts in both history and English with a two-year degree in journalism. I live a short distance from Oklahoma and one of my favorite pastimes is to go to powwows whenever possible.