Dripping Red Valentines for You

I hope you like it...I can't return it. Image via the creatures in Andrew Bell's head.


Just in case you're feeling thematic and have the time to read (I will), here's a delicious sampler:

CLASSIC
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. A meaty short story, but the rest of any good collection will fill out this spooky meal.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The story of colonialism and good and evil in nineteenth century Africa where a steamboat pilot navigates wild country to deliver an ivory-trading agent and his inventory.

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. WWII British assistant police commissioner Henry Scobie is stationed in a West African town where he struggles with his desires and duties.

THRILLER
Bleeding Hearts: A Novel by Ian Rankin. First published under the name Jack Harvey, this early novel includes a tweaky British assassin being hunted around the UK and United States by an American P.I.

Runaway Heart: A Novel by Stephen J. Cannell. Futuristic tale about disabled LAPD cop Jack Wirta who's hired to help the founder of the Institute for Planetary Justice uncover the corrupt corporations and and government figures involved in a dangerous genetic engineering scheme.

HISTORICAL
Heart of Ice by Alys Clare. In 1194, the body of a traveler coming to Hawkenlye Abbey to take the Holy Water ends up found in a ditch with French papers and possibly the plague.

Hearts and Bones by Margaret Lawrence. Midwife Hannah Trevor investigates the death of girl found strangled on Valentine's Day, 1786, in Revolutionary War Maine.

TRADITIONAL
Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert. A China Bayles mystery about the herbalist and former lawyer in Pecan Springs, Texas, where the high school football coach is implicated in nefarious improprieties.

Cactus Heart by Jon Talton. 50 years after a cattle baron's twin grandsons disappeared, Arizona Deputy Sheriff David Mapstone finds a pair of small skeletons in a abandoned warehouse and uses his background as a history professor to uncover the long-buried truth.

NOIR-ISH
Heart of the Old Country by Tim McLoughlin. Coming of age tale in rough corner of Brooklyn with loads of realistic local flavor.

The Girl with the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block. Caper with two long-con artists and the millionaire target of their real estate swindle.


I haven't read all of these titles. Think of them more as springboards than comprehensive endorsements. However, I would read any of them based on the back-cover blurbage and will probably get to a few more. Categories above are loose, too. Just pointers, not pigeonholes. If you've read any of these or other books that fit today's bill, please share your views in the comments. You have our heartfelt appreciation.