Looking for a nice mystery/detective series, preferably a long one to read as a palate cleanser in between my heavier lit fic/non-fiction/scifi reads. It doesn't need to be "cozy" or anything – I'm just looking for interesting characters and smart, clever mysteries.
What are some series you would recommend?
by keepfighting90
23 Comments
The Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley, the Leaphorn and Chee books by Tony Hillerman, the Armand Gamache books by Louise Penny (through *How the Light Gets In*, they get kind of goofy after that)
Quality + Quantity for my money = Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffrey Deaver.
Quality and hope for a greater quantity is Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole series.
Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series – she is twenty books in, first book is called Still Life.
C.S. Harris’ Sebastian St. Cyr series is also about twenty books long if you like historical, first book is What Angels Fear
For something a little more lighthearted, try Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell mysteries, starts with A Curious Beginning.
Anne Perry has a series set in Victorian England that have reached a conclusion, although she still writes books set in the same universe. The books aren’t long, but there’s a lot of them and should be read in order. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt.
Adrian Mckinty’s Sean Duffy books are really good.
I’m a longtime fan of the Rebus series by Ian Rankin.
The Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly starting with The Black Echo is excellent!
David Rosenfelt – Andy carpenter series. Is on book 32 now I believe. Easily read as stand alone but a great series.
The Joe Sandilands series by Barbara Cleverly. The first one is The Last Kashmiri Rose, set in British India in 1922. Later books are set in India and then in England.
Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves. Smart, not too heavy, and plentiful
JD Robb’s In Death series is over 60 books and still going.
It does deal with some very heavy trauma for the main character, Eve Dallas, so if >!sexual abuse/child abuse!< is a no-go for you, you’ll want to stay away from them.
The Dalziel and Pascoe series by Reginald Hill is one of my very favourite series. The earlier books are a bit weaker, unfortunately, so it may be better to start in the middle to see how good they get before going back to the start.
John Sandford Prey series (Lucas Davenport), segueing into his Virgil Flowers series, and then the Letty Davenport (Lucas’ daughter). You’ll be occupied for quite a while. The three characters overlap on a number of books as well.
Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald.
There are 21 books published between the early 60s and mid 80s. A lot of the books are 200-250 pages, though some of them are longer.
McGee was a new kind of PI/detective after characters like Sam Spade, Mickey Spillane, and Nero Wolfe. This is one reason to read them. The series served as a model for many other writers who came afterward. And McGee is a terrific character. They are also good and the latest editions have blurbs from Dean Koontz, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, and more. I’m in the midst of re-reading them.
P D James
Ruth Rendell
Nero Wolfe
Ngaio Marsh
Has to be the Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout. Well written, great characters and unexpected plot twists. Could not recommend them more.
The Barker & Llewelyn series by Will Thomas is one of my favorites. It’s set in Victorian London and has charming characters. I enjoyed how you get more of their backstories throughout the series. I haven’t read the most recent few, but it starts strong. I can’t believe it’s up to 17 books – I remember waiting for the 4th!
Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series
Sue Grafton’s “ABC Mystery” series in which female PI Kinsey Milhone solves murders and other crimes in a fictional small California town in the 80s. I love them, and tragically Grafton died before writing “Z”, but there are 25, from “A” to “Y”, all great. I wouldn’t say they’re cozy, but they’re not *not* cozy – nothing too graphic or violent, with a nice cast of characters and fun setting.
Dresden files
Lawrence Block has two great series: the Matt Scudder (NYC private eye) books that began in the 1970s and continued for decades; and the more comedic Bernie Rhodenbarr books about a burglar.
Elly Griffith has several series – Ruth Galloway, present day anthropologist; Harbindur Kaur, present day police detective; Brighton Mysteries, 1950s after the war, police detective and his magician friend. I’ve enjoyed all these series, but some are longer series than others.
Dorothy L. Sayers is one of the two grande dames of the Gold Age of mystery. I can’t recommend her Lord Peter Wimsey series highly enough. The first one is Whose Body?.
Someone else has recommended C.S. Harris already. I’m seconding that most emphatically.