Merely Mystery Reading Challenge Wrap Up

I didn't join too many reading challenges this year. Good thing since I didn't seem to stick to any reading plans ... not really. I love to read mysteries though so managed to read 21 books from that genre which made my participation in the Merely Mystery Reading Challenge, hosted by Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty, fairly successful. I only wish I'd written more reviews and been a bit more social. Oh well, at least I did the reading part of the challenge! Here is the list of mysteries I completed in 2012 (along with my own categories):

Historical Whodunit
A Morbid Taste for Bones (Brother Cadfael) by Ellis Peters
The Winter Queen (Erast Fandorin) by Boris Akunin

Classic Whodunit
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe

Crime
In the Bleak Midwinter (Russ Van Alstyne/Clare Fergusson) by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Bad Boy (Inspector Banks) by Peter Robinson
Forests of the Night by James W. Hall
Another Man's Moccasins (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
The Dark Horse (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
Junkyard Dogs (Walt Longmire) by Craig Johnson
Borderline (Anna Pigeon) by Nevada Barr
Burn (Anna Pigeon) by Nevada Barr

Kinda Cozy Crime
Serpents Trail (Maxie and Stretch) by Sue Henry
The Tooth of Time (Maxie and Stretch) by Sue Henry

Funnier Than Heck Parody
Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich
Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich
Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich

Culinary Mysteries
The Grilling Season by Diane Mott Davidson
Stick and Scones by Diane Mott Davidson
Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson
Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson
Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson

I'd love to have a clear favorite, but each one of these mysteries brought its own pleasure. Sometimes I needed to laugh and the Stephanie Plum books would often leave me laughing until I cried. Other times I needed to curl up with an old favorite feel good cozy or culinary mystery. The historicals took me to other times and cultures. I also read a lot of grittier crime novels, but none of them hopeless like the Noir subgenre. Each of the crime novels had a satisfying ending where justice was mostly served. Of the crime novels, I favored the Walt Longmire books by Craig Johnson. I watched the TV series Longmire this year too. I was a little wary going into the TV series, since I didn't want it to interfere with my reading images, but ended up REALLY liking it. The TV series is not a direct copy of the books but instead captures the characters well and follows the spirit of Craig Johnson's novels. I highly recommend both the book and TV series.

A big THANK YOU to Wendy for hosting such a fun reading challenge!