When to End a Series by Matt Cost

Mainely Mayhem pubbed on November 13th. Less then one week ago. It is the 6th book in my Mainely Mystery Mysteries. And I wonder about doing something I have never done before. Ending a series.

This is new terrain for me, and I am not sure I am up to the task. Goff Langdon, Chabal, Missouri, Richam, Jewell, Bart, Jimmy 4 by Four, and others have become family to me. At the beginning, I thought that six books were a good number to shoot for. Now? I have my doubts.

Mayhem finds Langdon delving into the background of a potential nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States. A man with some shenanigans in his past that Langdon questions whether they are more than a young man pulling harmless pranks or a pattern of abuse that might delve into far more harmful behavior. But before Langdon can dig any deeper, the White House pulls him from the investigation and moves the process forward. Why?

Like a, his dog, with a bone, Langdon cannot let it go. Many hijinks ensue. The plot twists like a Frosty’s donut (that’s a Brunswick reference for those of you not in the know). But in the end, there is a line that ties the first five books together with this one. As I wrote it, completing the book, I just stared at the screen for a long minute. Was this it? Was it over?

I have been tussling with this since writing that last line a year ago. There have been some other projects in the works. I have started two new series. A modern-day Robin Hood story where Max Creed fights for justice on behalf of those wronged by the ultra-wealthy. And a historical PI mystery with Jazz Jones and January Queen set in 1950s Raleigh with significant Civil Rights connotations.

One thing in Langdon’s favor is he still has growth to do. I think? These are mysteries by the book, but really, about the characters arc of growth by the series. To continue the series, something must be shook up or shaken out. Langdon needs to… do what? This is something to be pondered.

Mainely Mayhem was great fun to write and that is a signal that the series should continue. Or is it a sign that it is time to stop? There is plenty of mystery left to be had in Brunswick. Murder She Wrote, Jessica Fletcher, in Cabot Cover, Maine, had 264 episodes. I imagine that there are a few more crimes to be committed, murders pending, and misbehavior to be had in Brunswick.

What say you, readers and writers? When should a series end? Should we wave goodbye to Langdon and his colorful group of family and friends?

About the Author

Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.

Cost has published six books in the Mainely Mystery series. He has also published five books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series.

For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. In April of 2023, Cost combined his love of histories and mysteries into a historical PI  series set in the 1920s, the Brooklyn 8 Ballo series.

Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. They have been replaced in the home with four dogs. Cost now spends his days at the computer, writing.