Here are three good mysteries I can recommend to readers. I particularly liked "The Sacred Bones."

Ties That Bind

By Philip Margolin

Harper, 2008, $9.99

Amanda Jaffe is asked to take on the defense of Jon Dupre, a drug dealer who also owns an "upscale" escort service.

He has been accused of murdering a U.S. senator as well as his previous attorney.

She isn't crazy about the idea (wonder why?) but agrees to it. Dupre insists he is being framed, claiming that the attorney attacked him -- and he does have defensive wounds that bear that out.

But why would this attorney want to kill his client?

The answers Amanda seeks can be found in interesting places-- some of them with the area's elite citizens.

Amanda puts herself at risk while digging into events that happened many years ago.

This is a fast-paced read that is difficult to put down. Of course, I like all of Margolin's books.

The Sacred Bones

By Michael Byrnes

Harper, 2008, $7.99

A thriller with religious overtones, "The Sacred Bones" proved to be a real page-turner for me.

An ossuary (stone burial box) is taken from a crypt beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Readers will pretty much get the idea that the bones in that box could possibly be those of Jesus.

The ossuary ends up in a laboratory in the Vatican City, where Charlotte Hennesey, an American geneticist, and anthropologist Dr. Giovanni Bersei have been brought to study it.

Meanwhile, members of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths are clashing back in Jerusalem.

The book is filled with exciting characters, including a Vatican hit man.

Index to Murde r

By Jo Dereske

Avon, 2008, $6.99

This was the first book of this particular "cozy" mystery series that had crossed my path, although I understand it's the 11th to be published.

Helma Zukas is a librarian, organized and pretty conservative as you might imagine. She lives in the small town of Bellehaven.

Helma's friend, Ruth Winthrop, an artist, is her polar opposite.

Two of Ruth's paintings have been stolen. Each of the paintings features some special connection to an ex-lover.

It's obvious that someone thinks Ruth knows something, although Ruth has no idea what she's inadvertently put into her art.

When Helma and Ruth start digging too deeply in search of facts, it becomes pretty obvious that someone wants Ruth dead -- and if Helma wants to get in the way, they don't mind killing her as well.

As is the case with all cozy mystery series, this book is filled with lots of "characters." I'd like to go back and read the earlier books to see how they all fit in. (I know librarians have a reputation to uphold, but I do think Helma needs to loosen up a bit.)

Contact Faye Dasen at fdasen@thepilot.com or 693-2475.