My favorite author right now is Kate Morton.
(in no particular order)
-The House at Riverton
-The Forgotten Garden
-The Distant Hours
-The Secret Keeper
-The Lake House
Her genre is basically historical fiction, but its so much more than that. All of her books span across a couple generations & each chapter jumps back & forth from 100yrs ago, to 50yrs ago, to a current timeline where someone is trying to unravel a mystery. She is the only author I have read who can successfully jump around like this & keep the story flowing without any confusion. She does give lot of description & her critics say she uses too many words, but I don't agree with that. I don't like overly descriptive books either, but every word she uses has a purpose. She has a unique way of describing life, the basic day to day stuff, to the crazy stuff that springs on you out of nowhere & turns your world sideways. You feel you know how these books are going to end (& you'd be sort of right) but on the last couple pages she twists things just a bit to give you that Holy Crap feeling when you close the book. I love her! When Kate puts out a new book, I don't sleep & the kids have to live off taco bell & cold cereal for the 2days it takes me to finish it.
