Crime Caper Review: Exploring new genres?

Some of the more eagle eyed followers will have noticed that over the last the couple of months I’ve been reading and reviewing books as part of the Transworld Crime Caper. This was an initiative that hoped to spread the world of a number of authors first books, (hoping that we’d get hooked on the series I suspect!) and give some publicity to the older books on the shelves. After all the hype surrounding new books, it’s been good to highlight some good books that have been out for a while. J

All the books were from the crime or mystery genre, an area I enjoy but tend to overlook to go for Urban Fantasy and paranormal books. But I got thinking about the number of paranormal or UF which do have a mystery, crime or investigation that is a key plot point. In fact it’s crucial to most of the stories I read, so why don’t I read more ‘straight’ crime novels? Especially as all three of the books I did read for the Crime Caper all hinted at the supernatural world. Full Dark House was set in a theatre with a villain who appeared to disappear and move through walls. Mistress of Death had science and witches confused, while Sacrifice had Viking legends play an important role in the story. The lines between genres have always been blurred at best, but perhaps the difference between a regular crime book with supernatural hints and a supernatural story with crime is more a matter of perspective?

What do you think? Are there any books that you think could straddle the two genres? For myself I plan to try more crime books that may have a supernatural hint to them – any recommendations? J