First things first: I have a new Instagram account where you can follow me on all things mystery and detective fiction. I’d love to have you as a follower: https://www.instagram.com/bookshelf_detective/
I remember a Friday evening sitting on my mom’s couch, all alone, sucked into my latest book called “The Weekend” by Christopher Pike. It was the start of my “grown up” books because it had death and it certainly was not going to appear on school assignments any time soon…
Christopher Pike was my introduction into the world of mystery and I read books like “Remember Me” and “Remember Me 2.” In fact, I still have the exact copies I read, but they are not on my bookshelf. Instead, they are tucked away in my keep sake box because they are that special.
From there, I branched out into more and more mystery and ultimately detective fiction. By the time I was 17, I was reading books for serious grown ups. “The Bone Collector” by Jeffrey Deaver was probably the very first. I checked it out from my high school library and was sneaking to read it during tech ed (aka shop) class. (Do schools still have actual books to check out anymore? Leave a comment below!)
Before Christopher Pike, I was used to reading more kid-friendly books like those by Beverly Clearly (“Socks” and “Ramona Quimby” come to mind). I also loved to read poetry and plays in elementary school. I wish I could remember what sparked my interest in Christopher Pike, but it set off a further interest in mysteries I never otherwise would have discovered.