10. Fear of the Dark, Walter Mosley

Paris Minton, the cowardly bookseller, and Fearless Jones search for Paris's cousin Ulysses S. Grant IV, aka Useless, in 1950s Los Angeles. Intelligent and funny.

9. Travels with Lizbeth, Lars Eighner

Eighner spent three years "on the road and on the streets" with Lizbeth, his dog. A remarkable book and a love story for dog lovers.

8. A Glancing Light, Aaron Elkins

Chris Norgren, museum curator, goes after a gang of art thieves and teaches you interesting stuff about art and its world at the same time.

7. Promise Me, Harlan Coben

Myron Bolitar extracts a promise from two teen-aged girls and winds up in a world of trouble -- with all the old crowd. Top form.

6. Pyramids, Terry Pratchett

Time/Space continuum, pyramids, space warp, Assassins, mummies, sun gods, camels, turtles, : The first Discworld novel that has bored me.

5. New England White, Stephen L. Carter

Good mystery wrapped inside a comedy of manners focused on upper-class Blacks. At over 600 pages, a book to get lost in.

4. Ill Wind, Nevada Barr

Third Anna Pigeon, Park Service law enforcement officer currently stationed at the dwellings of an ancient Navaho peoples. Excellent mysteries and educational, too.

3. A Sleeping Life, Ruth Rendell

Inspector Wexford searches for London identity of a woman found in Sussex wood. Not hard to guess, but a cozy read.

2. Members of the Tribe: On the Road in Jewish America, Ze'ev Chafets

An Israeli journalist, raised in Detroit, returns to travel the U.S. and learn what American Jewry is really like. Perceptive, instructive and entertaining.

1. Blue Blood, Edward Conlon

A third-generation cop's memoir. Conlon writes for The New Yorker and his book reads like a 500-page piece from the magazine; i.e., beautifully.