I’ve got two book recommendations for you – or rather, a series of books – The Naturalist Series by Andrew Mayne. If you’re into crime and mystery, and like a bit of science (explained in a fathomable manner) thrown in the mix, then you’re going to love these books.
If you read my blog last year, you probably noticed I’m an avid reader. I managed to devour 43 books last year in an attempt to ascertain I was spending my down time feeding my brain something more constructive than my Instagram feed or Netflix.
And I’m certain all my reading is doing me good. Through books based on true stores, I’m given new perspectives on life and the world I live in, not to mention how reading improves my vocabulary and writing (which is another thing I’ve always been passionate about).
Then there’s books like the two I’ve read most recently: The Naturalist and Looking Glass by Andrew Mayne, which have taught me a thing or two about science.
The Naturalist Series
Let’s backtrack for a second. The aforementioned books are a series. I came across the first one, The Naturalist, a few weeks ago while perusing Goodreads for my next read. It being a mix of crime and mystery, it was inevitably going to be a hit with me. But, aside from the topic of crime and mystery, Mayne has sprinkled The Naturalist with a bunch of science stuff too, and it’s explained in terms that I can understand and which make the book all that more interesting.
So, what’s it even about? Professor Theo Cray is brought in for questioning following the suspected murder of a former student of his. He’s soon released as detectives determine the death to be a result of a bear attack. But, as a computational biologist, Theo sees something the detectives have missed. His determination to find the truth takes him on a field trip to Montana where he suddenly finds himself in the middle of an investigation into the bloody killing of not only his former student – but several more young women. Theo uses his scientific intuition in a rush to uncover the killer, while struggling to get the police to understand that this isn’t a series of bear attacks.
Exciting, no?
Lucky for me, the sequel to The Naturalist was released on March 13th this year, which coincidentally happened to be right around the time I finished the first book. As if meant to be, I dove right into Looking Glass. And it did not disappoint. As with the first book, Looking Glass is the same apt combination of crime, mystery, and science. This time, our main man Theo Cray is contacted by the father of a boy who went missing 9 years prior. No clues or traces of what happened were ever found by detectives. But with his way of thinking, Cray soon finds traces his predecessors failed to see and realises this missing boy is likely one of many to have been taken by the same man in the LA suburb of Compton – the Toy Man. Said to be an urban legend to scare kids, Cray is the only one to take the story of the Toy Man seriously and pursue who he believes to be the source of the missing children.
My only disappointment? That there’s not more books in the series yet!
What are you currently reading?
