I'm going through one of those periodic scourings of the bookcases, looking for good homes for old favorites, and luckily I've found a few. These books will live a little longer on warm, dry bookshelves where I can still find them if I really need them. But should you want to try them for yourselves, take a look at these lists:
Aaron Elkins' Gideon Oliver is an anthropology professor living and working somewhere in the Pacific Northwest who, with his wife Julie, keeps unearthing bones that need explaining.
Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael lived in 12th Century England, a veteran of the Crusades now retired to a Benedictine monastery where, as the resident herbalist, he is asked to get to the bottom of many a mysterious death.
Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January is a "free man of color" in the New Orleans of 1830. These are not only fun mysteries, they are also an insight into the New Orleans of that time.
Steven Saylor's Gordianus the Finder puts his hero in touch with the likes of Cicero, the attorney who hires him to find the facts in his murder cases, and through Cicero to many of the other movers and shakers of ancient Rome. Some of the cases are based on actual transcripts of trials in which Cicero took part.
Good reading all, as we head into the dark days of winter.