For me, the best way to celebrate Independence Day is to celebrate the freedom to read, and the wonderful books I’ve read during the first half of 2021. Happy Independence Day!

I don’t know how many years it has been since Jen Forbus first asked me to share my favorite books for the first half of the year. I always do this with a caveat. These are my favorite books that were published in the months January through June. The list doesn’t include the books I’ve read, and loved, that come out later. I haven’t read Louise Penny’s August release, The Madness of Crowds. I loved Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, and Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger, but neither of those books have been released yet. All three of those books might be on my end-of-the-year list.

Here are the ten books that stand out for me. If I can still remember or booktalk these titles, they made my list. Not all of them, unfortunately, will make the final list of the year. But, I’m grateful for every one of these authors and their books. If you’re looking for an enjoyable book, you might want to check out this list.

In Josh Stallings’ Tricky, LAPD homicide detective Niels Madsen goes rogue in order to help Cisco, a former gang member accused of killing his best friend, a man with Down syndrome. Cisco is now intellectually disabled after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Madsen isn’t convinced he’s a killer, and he certainly isn’t going to turn him over to the sheriff’s department. An action-packed crime novel that will make you think.

When a young pianist dies at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II turns detective in SJ Bennett’s debut adult mystery, The Windsor Knot. With her keen observation and diplomatic skills, the Queen has been solving mysteries for years. Now, on the eve of her 90th birthday celebrations, she turns to her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, to be her “Archie Goodwin”, the legs of the investigation.

Paula Munier’s third Mercy Carr mystery, The Hiding Place, is a tearjerker. Mercy is concerned about her grandmother who refuses to worry when the man who murdered her grandfather escapes from prison and is heading toward Mercy’s grandmother. It doesn’t get any easier for Mercy when Elvis’ original military handler shows up, wanting to claim the dog. Elvis and Mercy helped each other through their PTSD after Martinez, Mercy’s fiance and Elvis’ handler, was killed in Afghanistan. Now, Mercy doesn’t want to surrender the dog she’s grown to love. Mercy must set aside her issues with Vermont game warden Troy Warner to ask for help.

Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis’ family and friends all have important roles in his latest case on the island of Naxos in Jeffrey Siger’s A Deadly Twist. When a journalist disappears while on assignment, Kaldis sends his second-in-command, Yianni, to investigate. When the case turns deadly, Kaldis doesn’t hesitate to bring in the support team he needs in order to find a killer and deal with the on-going conflict between locals and tourism advocates. I love the explosive ending of this book.

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin will undoubtedly be on my final list of the year. It’s s story of London during World War II, but this isn’t the espionage or wartime story you’ve already read. Grace Bennett moved from rural England to London, hoping for an exciting job. Instead, she finds herself working at a dusty bookshop. She’s reluctant since she’s not a reader, and the owner is reluctant because he hates change. But, Grace and others find that books and reading have an important role at a time of air raids and uncertainty. This is a story of the importance of books and bookshops. A tearjerker if you’re sentimental about the value of reading.

Lady’s maid Jane Prescott is back in Mariah Fredericks’ Death of a Showman. She’s returned from a lengthy stay in Europe with the Tylers, only to discover that her dancing partner Leo Hirschfeld has married a chorus girl in his new Broadway musical. When Leo asks Louise Tyler to invest in the show, Jane and Louise are sucked into the world of Broadway. However, the death of the show’s producer means everyone connected to the show is a suspect. I’m sure part of my enjoyment came from the Broadway connection. But, the mystery within the mystery, the story of Jane’s life, is always an attraction.

Again, familiarity may lead me to select Jon Talton’s City of Dark Corners as one of my picks. Talton examines the crime and corruption in Phoenix during the 1930s as he introduces a cop-turned-PI, Gene Hammons. Hammons looks for missing people, common during the Depression and Prohibition. But, his brother, a homicide detective, asks him to look into the case of a young woman whose dismembered body is found near the railroad tracks. Despite pressure and violence, Hammons won’t quit. Talton fills the dark crime novel with real characters and stories behind the growing city of Phoenix.

Christina Lauren’s last couple romances would not have made this list, but I loved all the characters in her latest book, The Soulmate Equation. Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics whiz, but she’s not about to start dating again. However, her best friend signs up for GeneticAlly, a DNA-matchmaking company. Jess can understand data. After a little too much to drink, she finds herself a remarkable 98% match with the company’s founder, a stuffy scientist, Dr. River Pena. As I said, I love the characters, not just Jess and River, but Jess’ daughter, her best friend, and her grandparents. In this case, a happily-ever-after could work for everyone, but, naturally, there are problems first.

I can’t rave enough about Chris Offutt’s crime novel, The Killing Hills. This beautifully written book brings Mick Hardin, a combat veteran now working as an Army CID agent, home to the Kentucky hills. Mick’s wife is pregnant, but they’re not getting along, and he isn’t even living at home. He does have time to help his sister, the local sheriff, investigate the murder of a local woman. It takes someone with Mick’s knowledge of the area, the people and the hills, to deal with the feuding families as he tries to prevent more deaths.

Kristan Higgins’ Pack Up the Moon reminds me a little of Cecelia Ahern’s debut, PS, I Love You. Lauren Park is dying. She and her husband, Joshua are so in love, but they barely make it to their third anniversary before she dies. She knows Joshua, a genius who is on the spectrum, won’t make it through life without her help, so she writes him a letter to open each month after her death, a letter to jumpstart his life. Higgins’ combines Joshua’s story with letters Lauren writes to her dead father, telling about her love and her diagnosis. It’s a book that will make readers laugh and cry. As one reader wrote, she was just “wrecked” after reading this.

I didn’t know how much I would enjoy looking back at my reading for the last six months. I love to do my Treasures in My Closet posts. These ten books really are treasures.