OK, I’m a huge mystery reader. Mostly series. Right now I’m between books and looking for something new. Stuff I’ve read (and really enjoyed) include (in no particular order):
Author - Series Character
Martha Grime’s Richard Jury books
Peter Robinson’s Alan Banks books
Harrod-Eagles - Bill Slider books
Jane Haddam - Gregor Demarkian books
Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James books
Elizabeth George - Havers and Linley
Clare Curzon - Mike Yeadings
Simon Brett - the Feathering books (Jude and Carol) I read most of the Charles Paris books but got tired of him.
Anne Perry - the Monk books and the Pitt books
Marcia Muller - Sharon McCone
Grafton - Kinsey Millhone
Elizabeth Peters - Amelia Peabody
Lisa Scotolline - Benni Rosato
Michael Kahn - Rachel Gold
Julia Spencer-Fleming - Claire Fergusson
Julie Smith - Skip Langdon, Talba Wallis, Rebecca Schwartz
Karen Kijewski - Kat Colorado
Sarah Paretsky - V.I. Warshawski
Kathy Reichs - Tempe Brennen
Just to name a few. Any suggestions? I read a lot of stand-alone mysteries, too, but for some reason I really gravitate towards the series. I’m a librarian so I tend to read all the review sources (and I get leads on new stuff there) but I’m a bit behind in my professional reading lately.
Robert B Parker’s Spenser series
Bill Prozini’s Nameless
And there’s a bunch that I can’t recall at the moment…
I would suggest any book by Dick Francis. He has written a few about the same character, but all his books deal in some fashion with horse racing in Britain, and they have a very similar structure, and some were so good I couldn’t read them fast enough.
Here’s a cool site that lists every private eye series character ever.
How about Patricia Cornwell’s “Kay Scarpetta” series? I find it much better than the Tempe Brennan stuff by Kathy Reichs. The series has declined a bit, but everything up to (and including) “Black Notice” is really good. The newest book “Trace” is supposed to be as good as the beginning of the series again, I have just ordered it today.
Not really a series, only 2 books so far: “The alienist” and “The angel of darkness” by Caleb Carr are very good.
I also enjoyed the “Lincoln Rhyme” novels by Jeffrey Deaver.
I realized this is probably a little briefer than it needed to be.
I was following the OP’s style. The books in the series are (in order):
[ul]
[li]Mallory’s Oracle[/li][li]The Man Who Cast Two Shadows[/li][li]Killing Critics[/li][li]Stone Angel[/li][li]Shell Game[/li][li]Crime School[/li][/ul]
I have enjoyed the books so far. Easy yet entertaining reads. The heroine can be a bit much at times but it’s alleviated by the way the other recurring characters view her.
DaddyTimesTwo I know I should read Parker - don’t know why I’ve always been reluctant. Same with Pronzini - although I have to say that reading an entire series where you never learn the main character’s name kinda bugs me. But I’ll add them to the list! Did you know that Pronzini is married to Marcia Muller (author of the Sharon McCone books)? http://www.stopyourekillingme.com is an even better Web site for listing detective and mystery fiction. you can browse by author or character. The BEST site used to be bookbrowser.com - it listed ALL series mysteries in the order they should be read. When the database got sold to Barnes and Noble, they got rid of that part. Stopyourekillingme lists the series, but in published order (which isn’t always the same as the order they should be read). it’s better than nothing, though.
DemonSpawn Yep, been there, done that! I still like Cornwell though I agree they aren’t as good as they used to be. I haven’t read the most recent one mostly because I need to go back and re-read the one before that so that I remember what’s going on. I enjoyed the Caleb Carr books more than I thought I would, but did’nt have much interest in his third (not related) book. I like the Lincoln Rhymes books - read 'em all.
Slingshot I forgot about those! I started the first one years ago and liked it, but got sidetracked before I could keep reading the rest. A brand-new one just came out within the last year (called Dead Famous) so I checked out the first one again meaning to start the series anew*, but had to return it unread as a newborn baby turned out to be more work than I thought. I will definitely add these to my list.
CBCD Yes - I loved the Inspector Morse books. I stopped with The Jewel That Was Ours, though, because for some reason I just couldn’t get into it like the others. I should go back and pick those up again (though I know what happens at the end of The Remorseful Day and that bugs me too).
*I always have to read a series in order. Can’t start in the middle, can’t read the newest one first, gotta read them in order.
These aren’t on your list, and I doubt you haven’t read them, but they’re my favorites, so I’m trotting them out anyway.
The Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters (I’m not listing all of them, but my favorite is The Virigin in Ice. Also check the excellent series by BBC. Yay for Derek Jacobi!)
The Catherine LeVendeur mysteries by Sharan Newman
Kinsey Millhone and Stephane Plum are old friends! I’ve read their latest books just within the past few months.
I read some of the early Leaphorn/Chee novels (right around the time Skinwalkers came out) but never went back - I don’t know why. I liked them but for some reason didn’t keep up with the series. I should try again.
My mom talks about the Travis McGee series - that’s the one where there’s a color in every title, right?
As for Ellis Peters - I read her non- brother Cadfael mysteries (some are stand-alones and some feature Inspector George Felse) but for some reason never read these. I’m not sure why. Perhaps I was turned off by the medieval slant (but I was younger then - now that seems cool). I’ve heard of Newman’s series but haven’t read any. Which of the two (Peters or Newman) would you suggest reading first?
With Newman, it’s important to read them in chronological order. Otherwise, when you read the first book, a big fatty secret will be spoiled. The first book is called Death Comes as Epiphany – with special guest appearance by Peter Abelard! After that, I think the books are published in chronological order, so you can just follow the list of books on the inside cover or on the site you linked to.
As for Brother Cadfael, you can start with the first published book, but the rest of the books are capable of standing on their own, though it’s been a while since I’ve read them. The first book is A Morbid Taste for Bones and establishes the characters pretty well. My favorite is The Virgin in Ice, which is the third or fourth book. I imagine the poster Brother Cadfael might come and weigh in.
Okay, out of the two series, given the books you’ve listed in the OP, I’d say go with the Newman. Cadfael’s fantastic, but Catherine LeVendeur is definitely more in line with the modern female detective, even if she is buried in twelfth century France.
Ooh, I’ve got a few suggestions.
Laurie R. King’s wonderful wonderful wonderful Mary Russell novels. They are, no don’t roll your eyes, the story of a 15-year-old girl who gets taken on as an apprentice by Sherlock Holmes. They sound horrible, I know. Someone whose opinion I trust suggested them and I, with a timid heart, read them. I was in love by about 1/4 of the way through the first novel: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. I can’t recommend them enough, and you like the Pitt novels so historical settings are okay. Right? gazes wistfully at screen
Kate White’s Bailey Weggins books:
If Looks Could Kill A Body to Die For 'Till Death Do Us Part
Bailey is a true crime writer for a Cosmo-like magazine. I like the character enormously.
Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole books. Elvis starts out as a wisecracking detective, but the series turns darker and more complex as it progresses. I started this series only after my husband bought a couple of Crais’s books at mark-down. I remembered the name, then saw him (Crais) posting on usenet and exchanged a few posts. That brush with fame inspired me to read the books my husband had brought home. The series starts with The Monkey’s Raincoat, but I’ve never read it.
Margaret Maron’s Judge Deborah Knott books. Again, I haven’t read all of them, but I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read. They are set in the Deep South and do a good job of evoking that atmosphere. Deb is a very nice character, the only daughter in a family of something like a billion. The south isn’t like England, but I think of Grimes as an atmospheric writer, so that’s why I thought of Maron.
Another atmospheric writer is Sharyn McCrumb. Miss Purl McKnittington, have you read Margaret Frazer’s Dame Frevisse books? Or the Owen Archer books by Candace Robb?
Most of the mysteries I read have been mentioned already, but I thought I’d pop in with Charlaine Harris’ Shakespeare series. In order, they’re Shakespeare’s Landlord, Shakespeare’s Champion, Shakespeare’s Christmas, and Shakespeare’s Trollop. Not too heavy, and not too long and dull. I hate it when the mystery is so deep and the reader gets so few clues that I haven’t a hope of solving it myself, so I enjoy these immensely. Kind of like Kinsey Millhone in small-town Arkansas.
If you have any interest in horror/fantasy mysteries, I also like Harris’ Southern Vampire series–Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, and Dead to the World.
No, I haven’t. But I’m scribbling down the names and slapping them on my monitor. I sort of burnt out on books after finals in May. I haven’t read anything new since then . . . sigh I’ll put these on my list, though.
Miss Purl McKnittington OK, I’ll try the Levendeur series first! Sounds interesting!
jsgoddess I’ve read King’s stand-alone books and the Kate Martinelli series as well (wish she’d write more of them) and oh, the first 2 or 3 of the Mary Rusell series as well. Not sure why I soured on them. I just recently read the first one (Beekeeper’s Apprentice again) and remembered that I had liked it, so will try again. Yes, historical settings are OK! I think the age difference between Holmes and Russell just started to bother me a bit - don’t know why I did like the first two in the series. I’ve never heard of the Weggins or the Crais books -will check those out, my curiousity’s piqued. As for Judge Deborah Knott - I just finished High Country Fall yesterday! I’ve read Sharon McCrumb’s books, too - the older stuff and the newer Appalachian-themed stuff too. Haven’t checked for a new one for a while.
Draelin I love the Shakespeare series. Have you read her other non-vampire series? The main character is Aurora Teagarden - a librarian. I haven’t read the Southern Vampire series but since I like the other two series so much I should probably try it.
The Margaret Frazer books are extremely detailed and feel authentic to me in a way that few historical mysteries do.
The Owen Archer books are a little harder to quantify. I would recommend strongly against reading them out of order. That’s how I started and I spent too much time being baffled by Robb’s references to past events. If you’re interested, I wrote a review of the first Robb book I read, A Spy for the Redeemer.