John Sandford, Vince Flynn and David Housewright are the Twin Cities' best-selling mystery writers. But for a beautifully written, engrossing mystery, richly laced with history, anthropology, archeology and music, you can't do better than the books of Erin Hart. Her mysteries usually begin at a bog somewhere in rural Ireland where something intriguing is discovered, and from there they take you all over Ireland and sometimes to St. Paul. Follow her blog (www.erinhart.com) for news of every single bog body dug up in Ireland -- and there are plenty.

Runner-up: John Sandford