Books like A Matter of Motive — picked by fans

Caroline Popov is promoted to General Manager of the Night Hawk Casino in the California high desert.

I cheered as Caroline didn’t let anyone push her around. If, like me, you’re curious about the real story behind the gaming industry, but a trip to a casino isn’t in your future, this story is right up your alley.

I was blown away by gaming industry pro-Bertoia’s physical description of the casino, the emotional atmosphere that permeates the place, and the characters who play and work there that were so spot on. I checked my wallet to make sure I didn’t lose a bucket of bucks at the Blackjack table.

I absolutely adore the hilarity of physical comedy. So, I was immediately drawn to the slapstick antics of calamitous Trenton, NJ, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

In Hot Six, a homicidal maniac has selected Stephanie as his next victim. Nothing tickles my funny bone more than a hapless heroine who stumbles and bumbles her way into and out of messes. I love that Stephanie never has to look for trouble…it always finds her.

I laughed out loud when Stephanie’s eccentric grandmother set up housekeeping in her granddaughter’s apartment at the same time that Stephanie adopted a dog with an eating disorder. I love the story’s frantic pace and the surreal spots Stephanie gets herself into. 

Nothing much happens in Maggody, Arkansas, so Arly Hanks figures her job as the first female police chief will be a yawn. Life is so boring that the locals resorted to gobbling up every rumor of creatures from outer space invading their burg.

Give me an irreverent protagonist, dialogue dripping with sarcasm, and a zany plot that spits in the eye of society’s absurdity. I love the way life-long Arkansan Hess gleefully makes mincemeat of the hypocrisy of the caste hierarchy often found in small southern towns by reducing them to a parody of themselves.

I’m a happy camper when a Queen of Cozies like Hess pushes a mystery to the brink of merry madness—and then pushes it even farther.

This is a breathless ocean adventure to Mexico, chock-full of international intrigue, a deadly hurricane, and a lovesick whale courting Civil Engineer Hetta Coffey’s yacht.

I laughed out loud at the hilarious antics of zany but lovable characters. Give me a madcap escapade featuring a macho rent-a-Captain with Lucy and Ethel as the crew, on a cruise where whatever could go wrong would go wrong.

I loved the snappy, spicier-than-hot salsa dialogue and snarky banter between sassy Hetta and Jan, her BFF. Add a plot that runs at a breakneck pace, and I bought myself a ticket for a rollercoaster-worthy wild ride that was more fun than whacking a piñata.  

I love this book because of how forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr Adshead and dramatist Eileen Horne reveal what compels people to commit crimes. I enjoyed the variety of the cases described, and the dialogue between Adshead and her patients. By taking me into her forensic psychotherapy sessions she brings the therapeutic encounter with offender patients to life. Although I do very similar work, in prisons and clinics I still learned much from her perspective and was moved by how compassionate, nuanced and rich in detail these stories were, helping me to understand the evolution and treatment of crimes within a social and political context. 

James Lee Burke is now 85 as of the date of this submission and writes every day. As I just turned 76 this month, his remarkable work habits are a goal to which I can aspire. 

James Lee Burke’s writing is filled with memorable metaphors and similes that no one uses quite as well as this Southern man of letters

In Robicheaux: A Novel, Burke reminds us that Robicheaux is plagued by the acts he committed in Vietnam, now manifested in the ghosts of his alcoholism and tendency to violence. Complicating his life even more is the sudden death of his beloved wife, Molly. The New Iberia man who killed Molly is also killed, and colleagues accuse Robicheaux of murdering the man who killed Molly.

Dave Robicheaux is a good man who does not tolerate evil deeds by others, even though he must battle his tendency to react violently when… show more.

I am relatively new to the writing of T Kingfisher and my introduction was the fantastic Nettle & Bone. Her prose is wonderful. Her story is whimsical. Strange magic runs throughout the book as an almost-nun determines she needs to kill a prince with the help of a dust-wife, a disgraced warrior, and a godmother who isn’t very good at her job. I am a complete sucker for faerie markets, in this case the Goblin Market. Her writing style is refreshing, and I have already bought a bunch more of her books.

I really enjoyed the entire 87th Precinct series, wherein Ed McBain creates the American police procedural genre.

Cop Hater, the first in the series, is hard-hitting, fast-paced, filled with complex characters, and captures the essence of a cop’s soul while giving the reader a wonderful glimpse into the world of criminal investigations.

Time to put aside the history and cultural analysis. How could I understand the modern Batman phenomenon without delving into Miller’s classic reimagining of Batman? By his own account, Miller wanted to take Batman and the whole superhero genre out of the realm of kid stuff. Boy, did he ever! This Batman has been called dark and gritty, though Miller supposedly didn’t care for that description. But there’s no question Miller’s work influenced the movies that followed. The book includes the four issues that were originally published separately. 

I loved this book because it blends many religions and faiths and churns out an amazing explanation of the universe and how our realities are created.

I think this was not only an incredibly entertaining book full of fascinating characters and realities, but its spiritual questions and answers just captivated my soul and imagination and expanded my view of life and the universe. I also felt really connected to so many characters in this book and that really made it special.