12 Favorite Mystery Series

I'm working on a post for Booklights (inspired by a recent post of Susan's) about my favorite series titles. This made me think about my favorite series titles published for adults, and I decided to publish that list here. What follows are twelve mystery series that have caught, and held, my interest. (Linked series titles go to the first book in each series.) [Update Feb. 25, 2011: Revisiting this list today, I would add Louise Penny's Three Pines series, which I think is getting better and better over time]

• Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series (review of a recent title here)
• Lee Child's Jack Reacher series
• Robert Crais' Elvis Cole series
• Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series
• Jo Dereske's Miss Zukas series (review of a recent title here)
• Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series
• Laurie King's Russell/Holmes series
• Barry Maitland's Brock/Kolla series
• Carol O'Connell's Mallory series
• Julia Spencer-Fleming's Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series (review of a recent title here)
• Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mystery series
• Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series (review of the third title here)

These are series that haven't petered out for me - I'm just as interested to read the 10th book in hardcover (if available) as I was to read the second. They are automatic selections for me. Once new installments are available, I purchase them or request them from my library, and read them right away. There are lots of other series that I have enjoyed in the past, and a couple of new ones that I'm working my way through now, but the 12 here all meet my definition of favorite series (for more on that definition, and what makes a series hold up over time, stay tuned for my Booklights post on Monday).

What are your favorite mystery series?

Comments

[Sheila B.]

Jen, that's a great list! I've enjoyed books in all your favorite series, though I'm not caught up on all of them.

Here's my list (in no particular order):
Julia Spencer-Fleming (Clare Fergusson-Russ Van Alstyne)
Nancy Atherton (Aunt Dimity)
Kerry Greenwood (Phryne Fisher; I also love her Corrina Chapman series)
Laurie R. King (Russell-Holmes)
William Kent Krueger (Cork O'Connor)
Shirley Rousseau Murphy (Joe Grey)
Peter Lovesey (Peter Diamond)
Reginald Hill (Dalziel-Pascoe)
Deborah Crombie (Gemma James-Duncan Kincaid)
Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow)
Lee Child (Jack Reacher)
Peter Robinson (Alan Banks)

I also really enjoy the Barry Maitland and Carol O'Connell series. And among newer series, I love Louise Penny's Three Pines books, with her wonderful detective, Armand Gamache.

--Sheila Beaumont

[Laurie]

Laurie King's Russell/Holmes series is one of my favorites. I think her Kate Martinelli (contemporary police detective) stories are excellent as well.

The Bookman series by John Dunning, about a police officer turned rare book seller, is great (the first two, Booked to Die and Bookman's Wake, are superior to the others).

[Sarah N.]

I tend to prefer historical mysteries though I'm also a Stephanie Plum fan. When my mom lent me What Angels Fear, the first book in C.S. Harris's Sebastian St Cyr series a few months ago, I fell in love. I quickly read through them all and I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment. I'm also a fan of Robin Paige's Victorian/Edwardian mysteries that begin with Death at Bishop's Keep.

[Jenny Schwartzberg]

Great idea! My own favorite mystery series (old and new) in no particular order are:

Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series
Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series
Beverly Connor's Diane Fallon series and her Lindsey Chamberlain series
Sarah Shaber's Professor Simon Shaw series
Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel series
Phoebe Atwood Taylor's Asey Mayo series and Leonidas Witherell series
Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence series
J.D. Robb's In Death series
Catherine Coulter's FBI series
Patricia Houck Sprinkle's Sheila Travis series
Jerrilyn Farmer's Madeleine Bean series
Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series
Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series
Kathryn Lasky Knight's 4 book Calista Jacobs series
Chassie West's Leigh Ann Warren series
Michelle Sagara's Cast in series is a wonderful mixture of fantasy and mystery.

I'm still wistful that Camille Bacon-Smith didn't get to do more books in her two book Daemon series, which was reprinted in 2007 in an omnibus, Daemon Eyes.

I just read a new Urban Fantasy/mystery book by Seanan McGuire, Rosemary and Rue, and loved it. I'll be waiting impatiently for the next one.

I think I better stop now....

[Sheila DeChantal]

This is a great post. I love a good mystery!

[Jen Robinson]

I suspected that this post would be a hit with some of you. There seems be an affinity between mystery fans and children's book fans - I've commented on it before.

Sheila B - our lists have a distinct overlap. Which doesn't surprise me. I have tried Lovesey, Hill, and Robinson, but none of them quite worked for me for some reason. A bit dark, I guess, not so much in violence, but in tone. I'll have to try some of your others, though. Oh, and I have been enjoying the Three Pines books, too. I love Armand.

Laurie, I like the Kate Martinelli series, too. It just doesn't quite grab me the way that Russell/Holmes does. Like you, I really liked the first couple of of Bookman titles. But then I read one that didn't work for me, and I never want back (a sad risk with series books).

Sarah, I like historicals, too. Especially those set around the early 1900s, for some reason. I'll have to check out the Sebastian St Cyr series. I read the first few of the Robin Paige books, but dropped them for whatever reason. I also like Maureen Jennings' Murdoch series, Anne Perry's Monk series, and Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy series. But I like the Victoria Thompson ones the best of the genre.

Jenny, I'm not surprised that we have some overlap. I adore the Julian Kestral series. I was just telling my mom the other day that I remain sad (or wistful, as you put it) that Kate Ross died so young, ending the series abruptly. I've also enjoyed some of the Daisy Dalrymple series (though it faded on me for some reason). I also quite like the JD Robb series - I stopped reading after a dozen or so, but I expect I'll go back to them one day. Such guilty pleasures!

Sheila D, thanks for taking time to comment. I hope you found some familiar titles in the discussion.

It's been a pleasure talking mysteries with you, my kindred spirits.

[Easter Christopher]

I have a soft spot for mysteries with literary detectives. I love the Jane Austen mysteries by Stephanie Barron. I also like a series by Susan Witting Albert featuring Beatrix Potter (a little cutesy, but fun)and the Louisa May Alcott mysteries by Anna Maclean. Gyles Brandreth writes an excellent series featuring Oscar Wilde.

[Jen Robinson]

I've read one or two books each from the Jane Austen and Beatrix Potter series, Easter. I liked them, but found them a bit light for me. I do like the Elizabeth and Darcy series by Carrie Bebris. Will have to check out the Alcott mysteries - I hadn't run across those.

[Kim Kasch]

Guess I've got more books to add to my TBR list . . .

that is the true Neverending Story

[Kate Coombs]

It's not exactly a series, but after reading Hoot and Flush, I tried Carl Hiaasen's adult mysteries and got hooked! He does have recurring characters--my favorite is the insane former governor of Florida who lives out in the swamps. Evanovich's Stephanie Plum is one of my guilty pleasures, though I like Lisa Lutz's The Spellman Files and sequels even more... Oh, and I always buy Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries.

[Jen Robinson]

Yes, Kim, the irony of taking time to make lists of books, instead of just reading books, did strike me. At least there's no chance of ever running out of reading material.

Kate, I never got into Hiassen's adult stuff, but I do love the Spellman books (I didn't list them in my top 12 list b/c it hasn't been around long enough for me to be sure it will stand the test of time). I've passed those on to friends and had a very positive reception, too. I used to read the Sue Grafton books, but stopped on, I think, Q... I could see someday, on a vacation, reading through the last few.

[Sarah Rettger]

Now you've gone and given me more books to read, Jen! I'm just going to have to return the favor and suggest a couple more:

Deanna Raybourn's Julia Grey series
Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series
P. B. Ryan's Gilded Age Mysteries

[Jen Robinson]

Thanks for the suggestions, Sarah. I've been kind of saving the Amelia Peabody series to read one day - I do think that I would like it. Will have to check out the others. So many books... I'd like to take a six month sabbatical and just read. Wouldn't that be amazing?