One thing about being the books editor – I have the privilege of sorting through a lot of review copies.

And before I started doing this I was oblivious to a pervasive publishing trend – the mystery series tied to hobbies, pets, professions and other niche interests. I had no idea that there were, for instance, knitting mysteries.

Here are a few other genres in my basket right now:

The embroidery mystery.

The “magical cats” mystery.

The Victorian craftsperson mystery.

The “crime of fashion” mystery.

The Southern beauty shop mystery.

The cupcake bakery mystery.

The Algonquin Roundtable mystery.

The ghost hunter mystery.

The talk radio mystery.

I was beginning to wonder what would be the ultimate unlikely mystery genre – and then this crossed my desk: “Drip Dead,” by Christy Evans, a plumber’s apprentice mystery. It features “plumbing tricks and tips” and is actually pretty entertaining.

Yet I’ll bet, if we put our heads together, we can think of some even more unlikely mystery genres.

Let me throw an idea out here to get you started: A co-ed badminton league mystery. Share your ideas.

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