I tend to write a lot of mystery/suspense/thriller plots into my romances. This is a current list of books I have on my shelves next to me.  I’ve got more in boxes.

Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist.

I have an older edition than the one pictured.  It’s a good book, interesting  and not dry.  There’s cases involving current and “cold” murders, mass graves and unburied bodies.

In that same line is Hard Evidence: How Detectives Inside the FBI’s Sci-Crime Lab have Helped Solve America’s Toughest Cases. I think the title pretty much covers any explanation of the book.

A couple text books share that space:  Police Field Operations (2nd Ed) and Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation (5th Edition).  I snagged both at a used book store… no way would I pay $80 for my law books, much less research books.

I have Swat Team: Police Special Weapons and Tactics, which is not so much a text book as an informational manual for those who might be interested in the profession.

And I Love a Cop, a “self-help” style book written for families of law enforcement.  What’s nice about that book is it talks about the stressors in a police officer’s life and job and how the police culture does/does not deal with it.  You’ll see that book come up in All or Nothing (Book 3 of Nicky & Brandon) due out the end of this month.

Then there are my mass market paperbacks.  Most written by cops some by journalists.  Each one has a unique perspective or tale to tell.   There’s Cop World (San Diego), The Making of a Detective, What Cops Know, L.A. Secret Police and A Cop’s Life.  Those are my mind candy.  I can read one in a day (or less if I’m on a plane).  Each of them gives me an insight, no matter how small, into how law enforcement officers think and what they encounter on the job.

In honor of Halloween, I’m dragging out the links to my favorite sites and books. 

 Websites

• Spooked.  A gay ghost hunter’s snippets of life and the afterlife. — I have this one on feed it amuses me so much.  Not only does he talk about his ghost hunting trips and gay ghosts, he gives travel tips for staying at gay freindly haunted inns and bed & breakfasts.
• Divinafe Santeria Botanica Lots of cool occult paraphanalia (not just Santaria) and a few spells listed on thier site.
• The Chancery House.  Honestly, just a fun place to tour around.  Thier resident ghost pages contain reports of ghost hunting trips.  Tons of rooms with fun things to explore.  Graveyard greeting cards.
• The Dark Side of the Net.  If you’re looking for it and it’s spooky dark or unusual, you’ll probably find a listing for it here.
• Ghost Source.  You can search archives for people’s accounts of encounters with ghosts, the paranormal and the unexplained.

Books

• Death Makes a Holiday From acclaimed cultural critic David J. Skal, an in-depth look at one of the most popular-and perplexing-holidays in America. Using a mix of personal anecdotes and brilliant social analysis, Skal examines the amazing phenomenon of Halloween, exploring its dark Celtic history and illuminating why it has evolved-in the course of a few short generations-from a quaint, small-scale celebration into the largest seasonal marketing event outside of Christmas.
• The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead.  This book takes the reader on a vast, alphabetic tour of the psychosexual, macabre world of the blood-sucking undead. From Vlad the Impaler to Barnabas Collins to Dracula and Lestat, it supplies nearly 500 exhaustive essays illustrated with more than 250 photos. A very thorough unearthing of the vampire through the ages, this guide relies on a collection of 2,000 titles on vampires, digging deep into the lore, the myths, and the reported realities of vampires and vampire legends from around the world.
• Illustraded Anthology of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy. This is the largest and finet collection fo the iconography of theoccultism every brought together in one book.  Some 376 illustarions, many of them full plates, were slected by the author from manuscripts, rare books, private collections and museums.  Those selected are the most curious, characteristic and rare graphics characteristic and rage graphics depicting socercery, magic, astology, cheiromance, cartomancy and alchemy — the universe of the occult.
• The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Magic.  The author has deliberatley avoided a sensation approach and her very readable text includs entries ranging from All Hallows Eve and Black Mass to the Salem Witches and Voodoo.  It is illustrated by 32 full color pictures and 200 in black and white.