What's on My Keeper Shelf?

I love to read, and I never go anywhere without a book in hand. But I'm highly selective about what I choose to read. Over the years, I've accumulated a list of go-to authors whose books never disappoint and whose works I eagerly await. Here, in no particular order, are three of those favorites and why I return again and again to their works.

#1 – Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Breathing Room, First Lady, It Had to Be You, etc. – Complex, fully realized characters whose sometimes wildly inappropriate actions are always properly and expertly motivated and who have a deep and authentic backstory.

#2 – Deborah Crombie, Duncan Kincaid, Gemma James (A Share in Death, Bitter Feast, etc.) series – Careful world-building, engaging characters that have become a family, and seamless interweaving of past and present so that the anatomy of a crime can be traced to the root cause.

#3 – Elizabeth Peters, The Amelia Peabody mysteries – The creation of characters, relationships, and settings sufficient to sustain a thoroughly fascinating series set during the archeological heyday in Egypt.

What are your favorites?