Heart Sick by Chelsea Cain

This was a book that I never would have picked up, as I don't generally go for the serial killer murder mystery type stories. But it was one of the Best Books of 2007, on a couple of different lists, so I decided to see what the fuss was about.
The story follows detective Archie Sheridan, who is on medical leave as the book begins, as a result of his encounter with the serial killer Gretchen Lowell, who confessed to dozens of murders after torturing Sheridan for a week. Sheridan is called back on duty when another serial killer begins kidnapping girls, but no one really knows if he can handle it. He and Lowell have a demented relationship still, and he is wounded in more ways than one. The other main character is a columnist for the local paper, Susan Ward. Archie agrees to allow her to profile him for the paper, and in some way he hopes this will help him begin to heal. As they track down the killer, their stories become more and more woven together.
I really liked the characters of Archie and Susan, both written very well. They are rather original and have character details that make them very endearing and knowable to the reader. Cain sets them up to work well together in sequels, which may or may not be written, I haven't heard. The character of Gretchen Lowell is not nearly as original as reviews make her sound. Maybe I just haven't read enough serial killer thrillers to know what is supposed to be original. She almost seems contrived. The story itself, the mystery, is not as mysterious as the reader hopes either. It becomes relatively obvious, and resolves itself in a way that is not entirely original, or even interesting. While the characters of Archie and Susan are intriguing, and the story has potential, it does not live up to it, and I probably will not be looking for a sequel.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

I at first thought that this book might end up on my "books I gave up on" list. I gave it 50 pages or so, and wasn't sure how much more I was interested in reading. But then I picked it up again. And somehow, slowly, I was sucked into the story in a way that I was not expecting.
As a general rule I do not go out of my way to read mysteries. I am just not a big fan. This book is a murder mystery, but it does not really feel like one. The world that is created by Chabon is so interesting, and full of depth, as are his characters, that it doesn't even really matter what the story is about. The story takes place in Sitka, Alaska, but it is a fictional Sitka. The world of The Yiddish Policemen's Union is different from this one in that instead of resettling in Israel, the Jews ended up in this part of Alaska. But there is still the dream of returning to the Holy Land. That dream shapes the mystery as you go deeper into it.
The murder happens right at the start of the book, on the first or second page. Solving the murder becomes the main focus of the detective, Meyer Landsman. As we get to know Landsman, he endears himself to us, in his struggles to simply make it through the day. He is at a low point in his life, and this case is what he latches on to to drag himself back from the brink of depression. While reading, I really did forget that this was a murder mystery. I just wanted to read more about Landsman, about his world and his relationships. But the mystery part of it is unexpected, and very well done as well.
This book took some getting into, a little bit of effort to keep reading it. But once you find yourself captured, it is well worth the finish.