It’s a Mystery!
I read (and watch) a lot of mysteries --so many that I am always vaguely surprised that I have never stumbled onto a corpse – after all, in my “book world” the bodies are just everywhere!
Although I read a lot of mysteries, I have my preferences – for instance, I’m not crazy about the serial killer sort or cozies. I prefer series to stand-alones and I like my mysteries to be fairly substantial.
That said, I have one unbreakable rule: when reading series, I have to read them in order. If I can’t find the next book in the series, then that series is dead to me until I do. The internet means that keeping track of mystery series has gotten easier – no more poring over the title lists in the books to figure out what’s next – and my go-to resource is Stop, You’re Killing Me: a website devoted to mysteries.
The Stop, You’re Killing Me site’s tag line is “a website to die for … if you love mysteries” and that pretty much says it all. Each author has a page listing each series in chronological order as well as any non-series titles or other works.
There is also a full character index, extremely helpful when you can remember the detective, but not the author. There is a full range of useful tools to help you find a new series to love including lists of all the major Mystery Awards and a number of indexes like location and historical period.
An aside: I was once on a plane going to San Francisco and reading a book I had been given by a friend. I’m a chapter or two in when I realize that, not only is this a present-day serial killer book, but that the victims are female travelers and the killer is casing the very hotel that I was going to...I gave that book away then and there! I know some people like to get books that take place in the locations they are visiting – and the location index is great for that – but not me!
Here are the first titles in a few of my favorite series (in no particular order) – after all one must start at the very beginning.
Nevada Barr: Anna Pigeon is a National Park Ranger and the park changes as Anna is reassigned during the course of her career.
Track of the Cat
An Anna Pigeon Novel
Elizabeth George: Thomas Lynley, a Scotland Yard inspector and eighth Earl of Asherton. There have been a number of aristocratic detectives – the spiritual descendants of Lord Peter Wimsey (an old favorite).
A Great Deliverance
An Inspector Lynley mystery
Donna Leon: This series was my intro to the hoopla app – so it was a good find on several levels.
I came across a snippet from Hilary Clinton’s speech at ALA: “After this election, one of the things that helped me most—aside from long walks in the woods and the occasional glass of chardonnay—was once again going back to the familiar experience of losing myself in books….I devoured mysteries by Louise Penny, Donna Leon, Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd.”
Aha, I said – I know all the authors on this list except Donna Leon, time to check her out! In less skilled hands the Commissario Guido Brunetti series would qualify as a cozy – but fortunately it rises above.
Death at La Fenice
A Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery
Louise Penny: Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector of the Sûreté du Québec, ends up investigating in the village of Three Pines. In addition to the mystery in each book, there is an ongoing situation – sometimes taking the central focus, but always lurking in the background.
Still life
A Three Pines mystery
Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs, a psychologist and investigator based in 1920s and 1930s London, England. Maisie has a great origin story!
Maisie Dobbs
A Maisie Dobbs mystery
Charles Todd: Mr. Todd is actually a mother/son team…and they have two great series: Inspector Rutledge and Bess Crawford. Both series take place during or shortly after World War I.
A Test of Wills
Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery
A Duty to the Dead
Bess Crawford mystery
Elly Griffiths: Dr. Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, is asked by Harry Nelson, a detective chief inspector, to assist in an investigation… And a series is born.
The Crossing Places
Ruth Galloway mystery
There are many more. Do you have a favorite?
Although I read a lot of mysteries, I have my preferences – for instance, I’m not crazy about the serial killer sort or cozies. I prefer series to stand-alones and I like my mysteries to be fairly substantial.
That said, I have one unbreakable rule: when reading series, I have to read them in order. If I can’t find the next book in the series, then that series is dead to me until I do. The internet means that keeping track of mystery series has gotten easier – no more poring over the title lists in the books to figure out what’s next – and my go-to resource is Stop, You’re Killing Me: a website devoted to mysteries.
The Stop, You’re Killing Me site’s tag line is “a website to die for … if you love mysteries” and that pretty much says it all. Each author has a page listing each series in chronological order as well as any non-series titles or other works.
There is also a full character index, extremely helpful when you can remember the detective, but not the author. There is a full range of useful tools to help you find a new series to love including lists of all the major Mystery Awards and a number of indexes like location and historical period.
An aside: I was once on a plane going to San Francisco and reading a book I had been given by a friend. I’m a chapter or two in when I realize that, not only is this a present-day serial killer book, but that the victims are female travelers and the killer is casing the very hotel that I was going to...I gave that book away then and there! I know some people like to get books that take place in the locations they are visiting – and the location index is great for that – but not me!
Here are the first titles in a few of my favorite series (in no particular order) – after all one must start at the very beginning.
Nevada Barr: Anna Pigeon is a National Park Ranger and the park changes as Anna is reassigned during the course of her career.
Track of the Cat
An Anna Pigeon Novel
Elizabeth George: Thomas Lynley, a Scotland Yard inspector and eighth Earl of Asherton. There have been a number of aristocratic detectives – the spiritual descendants of Lord Peter Wimsey (an old favorite).
A Great Deliverance
An Inspector Lynley mystery
Donna Leon: This series was my intro to the hoopla app – so it was a good find on several levels.
I came across a snippet from Hilary Clinton’s speech at ALA: “After this election, one of the things that helped me most—aside from long walks in the woods and the occasional glass of chardonnay—was once again going back to the familiar experience of losing myself in books….I devoured mysteries by Louise Penny, Donna Leon, Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd.”
Aha, I said – I know all the authors on this list except Donna Leon, time to check her out! In less skilled hands the Commissario Guido Brunetti series would qualify as a cozy – but fortunately it rises above.
Death at La Fenice
A Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery
Louise Penny: Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector of the Sûreté du Québec, ends up investigating in the village of Three Pines. In addition to the mystery in each book, there is an ongoing situation – sometimes taking the central focus, but always lurking in the background.
Still life
A Three Pines mystery
Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs, a psychologist and investigator based in 1920s and 1930s London, England. Maisie has a great origin story!
Maisie Dobbs
A Maisie Dobbs mystery
Charles Todd: Mr. Todd is actually a mother/son team…and they have two great series: Inspector Rutledge and Bess Crawford. Both series take place during or shortly after World War I.
A Test of Wills
Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery
A Duty to the Dead
Bess Crawford mystery
Elly Griffiths: Dr. Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, is asked by Harry Nelson, a detective chief inspector, to assist in an investigation… And a series is born.
The Crossing Places
Ruth Galloway mystery
There are many more. Do you have a favorite?
- Meg, West Windsor Branch
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