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?