Recommended Reads, Series Edition

Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson here. As regular MCW readers know, I’m semi-retired. What you may not know is that since I no longer care to travel far from home and can no longer do jigsaw-puzzles because of arthritis in my fingers, my primary leisure time activity is reading. No surprise there, I suppose. I read the occasional new-to-me books, but the majority of my choices are actually novels I’ve already read at least once, and most of them are part of a series.

Today, lacking inspiration for anything more complex, I thought I’d share some of my favorites. With colder weather coming on, picture yourself reading a mystery series from the beginning or reading linked books in the romantic suspense genre while curled up in front of a warm fire with your pet-of-choice sharing a comfy chair.

First up, a series that was new-to-me until BritBox decided to film the first one. Val McDermid is one of the queens of crime fiction writing and I’d read some of her single titles before, but when I started the Karen Piries I was instantly hooked. She’s the head of a cold cases unit of the Scottish police force. I’ve read all seven and am eagerly awaiting #8 in December. #6 (Still Life) and #7 (Past Lying) are my favorites so far—total page-turners.

original paperback cover

I’m currently working my way through two historical series re-reads. In mystery I’m enjoying my seventh reading of Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody books (archaeologists in Egypt in the late nineteenth century), starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank. Yes, seven, although a couple of those (since 1985) have been listening to the audio books rather than reading my tattered old paperbacks. I also have some titles in e-book format. I’m alternating that series with Mary Jo Putney’s excellent Lost Lords tales. These are stories of romantic suspense set in the Regency era and are packed with action and adventure. Lots of spies and treasonous plots to go with the love stories. The hero of each is a graduate of a school for aristocratic boys who were a bad fit for other institutions. Although each book has its focus on a different couple, the characters from earlier books reappear in each of the later ones. If romance novel love scenes aren’t your cup of tea, you can always skip them and enjoy the rest. The first is Loving a Lost Lord.

 

This is the one I’m rereading as I write this

And of course I can’t write about rereading series novels without mentioning that I spent a good part of the past year re-reading all 60 (yes, sixty) In Death novels by J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts). Set in the not-too-distant future in New York City, where Eve Dallas is a homicide detective, they are definitely not cozy. Again, mystery purists can skip the sex scenes, but it would be criminal not to give this series a try. The first is Naked in Death.

another original paperback cover

If you enjoy following characters through more than one book, all these series are worth a read. Other suggestions anyone? Feel free to comment.

Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett has had sixty-four books traditionally published and has self published others. She won the Agatha Award and was an Anthony and Macavity finalist for best mystery nonfiction of 2008 for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries and was an Agatha Award finalist in 2015 in the best mystery short story category. In 2023 she won the Lea Wait Award for “excellence and achievement” from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. She was the Malice Domestic Guest of Honor in 2014. She is currently working on creating new editions of her backlist titles. Her website is www.KathyLynnEmerson.com.