Murder-Mysetery Summer

I'm such a bookworm, but over the past couple years I've been steadily disenchanted with reading. I had too much assigned through school to pick up much for pleasure. When I did find time to just read, so many of the books I found were disappointing: too racy and too easy, to difficult, too boring.

A dear friend of mine completely understands, so we bonded together in pursuit of worthwhile books that we would read together, then meet up to discuss (and watch every movie adaptation available!). The only rule is they have to be pleasure books -- we both do enough research reading in our "real" lives. First, we read Emma -- I love Jane Austen.

The next book was my friend's choosing. I'd never heard of it before... but it was altogether facinating. The book is "Rebecca," written by Daphne du Maurier in 1938. The back cover proclaims that it is "one of the bestselling novels of all time!" Once I got into it, I totally understood.

There's something about summer that makes you want a predictable book, but not boring. I've never read mysteries before -- I thought they were dumb cop-and-robber stories with no plot, or all science like many of the popular TV shows. But this was rich storytelling. I found myself thinking just ahead of the characters, trying to solve the riddle. It was predictable enough to follow while throwing enough twists to keep me interested. All wrapped up in well-developed dialoge and a pleasant lack of descriptive romance. I never would have suspected I liked this kind of book if my friend hadn't suggested it (and put the copy in my hand, saying "Read this, it'll take some getting into but you'll love it").

So my question to you: What kinds of books do you like to read? How do you choose a new book / series / genre to try out?