# Favorite novel series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 6, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191 "2023-12-06T19:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/142 "2023-12-14T23:15:43Z")
I stopped reading Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series because the quality declined over time. The early books were engaging. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/143 "2023-12-14T23:20:21Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But you knew with 20 pages or so left, they’d go crashing to a confrontation… That was my problem with the Scarpetta novels after the first few well-crafted ones, the rest all seemed to hit a point where the editor called up and said “Okay, last warning, the book’s going to press next week with or without an ending!” And poof! Everything gets wrapped up in twenty pages. It was enough to make me give up on the series. . > [@bobsmom101](#): > > I’m glad to see some love for Connelly. As with most series the earlier Bosch books are better IMO, and the TV series doesn’t compare. > > That said, I like his Lincoln Lawyer series slightly better. The movie starring Matthew McConaughey was pretty good, but I didn’t like the casting in the Netflix series and soon lost interest. I’d give the Lincoln Lawyer show another try. It’s the only detective series that my wife’s gotten hooked on. My favorite line in the books is when somebody (his half-brother Harry Bosch, maybe?) says that Mickey’s been full of himself ever since they got Matthew McConaughey to play him in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/144 "2023-12-15T01:05:58Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I feel like every series must jump the shark at some point. Has any series ever not? Rex Stout Nero Wolfe. Now, when another author started writing them, yeah, there was some leaping over aquatic predators. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/145 "2023-12-15T02:28:51Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Let’s not forget another entertaining series by Lawrence Block: Keller, the stamp collecting hitman. Goodness, I’m ashamed to have forgotten to mention him. Wonderful fun. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Makes me wonder what the future books are like. Do they get better? If you didn’t like the first one, you probably aren’t going to like the rest much better. I really like the idea of the drifter with no possessions, defeating the bad guys. Basically as powerful as a force of nature. But he’s clearly WAY over the top. Later books hop back and forth in time, some concern his military service. And there are a couple of recurring characters. But they follow a pretty standard theme. Recher comes to town, minding his own business. Some evil finds him. And he destroys it. And there is something about how the books are written that appeals to me. I’m kinda a “good writing snob.” I will not read books that are poorly written. And IMO, Lee Child’s Reacher books are well written, with a good deal of humor. No, they aren’t classics for the ages. But they ARE well crafted and plotted, with interesting characters. There are MANY thrillers that aren’t. The problems with the later books are twofold. One, in the most recent ones the evil groups he is up against impress me as more unbelievable. But, that might not be accurate, as some of the earlier ones are pretty out there. But the worst problem is that he is turning them over to his brother, who is nowhere near the writer Lee Child is. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/146 "2023-12-15T03:18:33Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Let’s not forget another entertaining series by Lawrence Block: Keller, the stamp collecting hitman. Also the burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Another light-hearted mystery series is the grumpy private investigator Leo Waterman series (12 books) by G. M. Ford. He also has a much darker series (6 books) featuring journalist Frank Corso. Sadly, Ford died two years ago so there won’t be any more. I also enjoy the J. P. Beaumont series (25 books so far) by J. A. Jance. Beau is a character who has actually aged throughout the series. He began as a cop, became a state investigator, retired and now keeps getting pulled back in to solving crimes. Back to light-hearted, Simon Brett has the Fethering Mysteries (21 books so far). The “detectives” are two never aging middle-aged women in Fethering village, where there is an inordinate amount of criminal activity happening. Good for when you just want a cozy read. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/147 "2023-12-15T13:37:14Z")
Going in a somewhat different direction, I STRONGLY recommend Wendell Berry’s Port William books. Wendell Berry is a naturalist and poet. He wrote approximately 10 novels, novellas, and short story collections situated in Port William, a small rural Kentucky community from the civil war thru 2000. Many of the same characters appear in many of the books, but different people and times may be the focus. He writes about the challenges of rural living, the dependence on neighbors, respect for nature, and the challenges to such lifestyles posed by increased mechanization - especially following WWII. He is a wonderful writer, and if you find you like one of his books, together, they can be read as essentially a single novel a couple of thousand pages long. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/148 "2023-12-15T18:30:42Z")
When I posted earlier, I forgot to mention the Longmire novels, by Craig Johnson. Great characters, great writing, great sense of locale. I’m about as far from a small-town Wyoming-ite as you can imagine, and I love these books. Of course they made a TV series from the novels, and IMO it’s pretty crap. The actor they’ve got playing Longmire is spot on, but they fucked up everything/everyone else. If you’ve only seen the show, you’re definitely missing out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/149 "2023-12-15T20:30:51Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Of course they made a TV series from the novels, and IMO it’s pretty crap. The actor they’ve got playing Longmire is spot on, but they fucked up everything/everyone else. If you’ve only seen the show, you’re definitely missing out. I kinda liked the show. I will grab one of the books, thanks. Nope, used copies on Amazon were so cheap, I grabbed the first _two_ in the series. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/150 "2023-12-15T20:48:50Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I stopped reading Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series because the quality declined over time. The early books were engaging. I didn’t keep up with them after the first handful but I agree the first few were quite nice. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/151 "2023-12-16T05:37:56Z")
. Murderbot. . _Murderbot, Murderbot /_ _Oh, Murder, Murderbot…_ . Keep in mind, as a young kid I read nothing but Sci-Fi short stories. But lost almost all interest in the genre as an adult. So for me to try a short book with a “hacked” security droid as the protagonist; and for me to fall in love with said robot, it must be pretty special. The trick is, Murderbot is pretty human. PTSD, neuroses, social anxiety… Not to mention hooked on a video series _(Sactuary Moon,_ a “soap opera on a space station”, where it learns how to react as a human). ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/152 "2024-02-08T22:51:22Z")
when you say Parker, are you referring to author rather than character (Spenser) which everyone ejse is citing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191.md?page=7)