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Which series to start with?
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I like them both but given a choice, I'll grab a Connelly book over a Grafton any day. He is, in my opinion, the best writer on the market.Grafton is very good but (again in my opinion) not in Connelly's league.
Quillracer wrote: "I like them both but given a choice, I'll grab a Connelly book over a Grafton any day. He is, in my opinion, the best writer on the market.Grafton is very good but (again in my opinion) not in C..."
I have to agree. Connelly is arguably the best mystery writer currently writing.
I started watching the series, via Amazon, and didn't like the casting or pilot ... but have never tried the books. After this thread of conversation, guess it's time to crack open Connelly ... !
Be sure to read them in order. Start the Harry Bosch series with The Black Echo and the Mickey Haller series with The Lincoln Lawyer because both characters evolve over the course of the books.He has several 2-book series and a couple stand-alones that aren't quite as good but worth reading.
He also has a book (Crime Beat: A Decade Of Covering Cops And Killers) that is non-fiction.
If you're looking for something set in England, I recommend Deborah Crombie's Kincaid & James series starting with A Share In Death.
Donald wrote: "I started watching the series, via Amazon, and didn't like the casting or pilot ... but have never tried the books. After this thread of conversation, guess it's time to crack open Connelly ... !"Donald, what series? Is there a tv series of one of Connelly's books?
M.L. wrote: "Donald wrote: "I started watching the series, via Amazon, and didn't like the casting or pilot ... but have never tried the books. After this thread of conversation, guess it's time to crack open ..."Guess I mean pilot; Amazon did a pilot, "Bosch", that I watched part of on Amazon, when they aired all the pilots for people's opinions (for free). Didn't care for it, or the character as played by the actor.
At least, I THINK it was called "Bosch". Turned me off to reading the novels, though.
I saw that about Bosch but didn't get the right channel to see it. Can't remember the star either.
The Steve Hamilton series featuring Alex McKnight is awesome.Ditto for the Robert Crais series featuring Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.
Karin Slaughter Grant County or Will Trent series, Debra Webb Faces of Evil series or Casey Hill Riley Steel series....these are my addictions :-)
Tess Gerritson' s Rizzoli and Isles is good. Way better than the show. Kate Watterson has Detective Ellis MacIntosh. Alex Kava has Maggie O'Dell. Alison Gaylin has Brennan Spector. She is a detective who has that disorder where you can remember every single moment of your life. They are very good. David Rosenfelt has a series about a lawyer but he also has some good stand-alones. Yes, Debra Webb is good also.
Rhys Bowen has three series, one in Wales, one in historic New York, and a series set in England. All are terrific, well written and heavily researched.
A little late to the discussion but whatever series you have started, you can safely dump it for Dennis Lehane's Kenzie & Gennaro series. Lehane's books are not only great mysteries but actually have relate-able characters. Second on my list would be Michael Connelly though he is not in the same league as Lehane.
Alafair Burke has a couple of good series. J. A. Jance has Ally Reynolds which is good. Melissa Miller's Sasha McCandlish is very good as is Theresa Regan's Lizzy Gardner series.
Debbie, J.A Jance's has the Joanna Brady series which is also good. Local, Arizona if I remember correctly.
Georgia wrote: "Debbie, J.A Jance's has the Joanna Brady series which is also good. Local, Arizona if I remember correctly."You do.
She also has the J. P. Beaumont series set in Seattle - also good.
Four series I would never miss a book from:Dennis Lehane - Kenzie & Gennaro series
Robert Crais - Elvis Cole & Joe Pike series
Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch series (and the Amazon pilot captured him perfectly)
Michael Connelly - Mickey Haller (Lincoln Lawyer) series
Also have to add Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series (a little lighter, but still great fun)
I would go with Michael Connelly or Harlan Coben
I've written a set of mysteries called The Henry Wood Detective series. It takes place in 1955 and is a bit of a throw back to the old noir detective books, except it has one tiny science fiction element.The first book has 200 reviews on Amazon and seems to be well liked. :-)
Brian wrote: "I've written a set of mysteries called The Henry Wood Detective series. It takes place in 1955 and is a bit of a throw back to the old noir detective books, except it has one tiny science fiction e..."Brian - Will definitely give it a look...
Thanks all! Here is an update on my reading, I read triptych by Karin slaughter and it was definitely exciting and very good! I'm now reading a is for alibi by Sue grafton and I'm having a hard time getting into it, there is too much description of unimportant things I'm finding... I might give up and give one of your other suggestions a try :) Thanks again!
Kayla wrote: "Thanks all! Here is an update on my reading, I read triptych by Karin slaughter and it was definitely exciting and very good! I'm now reading a is for alibi by Sue grafton and I'm having a hard tim..."Don't give up on A IS FOR ALIBI. If I remember correctly, it was slow getting started, and maybe that book was a little slow, but Grafton's series is wonderful. Love them! You'll be glad if you stick with it.
If you want to be in for a long but very satisfying haul, read Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. (Or to warm up: start with the Jessie Stone novels, like I did years ago). The Spenser journey (apart from terrific individual cases in every book) takes you through a long life with love, pain, loss, gain and honor. I read them all in their original sequence and even though it was not necessary, it was worth every page and every minute!
I just finished Still Life in the Inspector Armand Gamache Series. It was so good and loooved it. It is the. first book in the series.The author is LOUISE Penney. I hear that the series just gets better and better.
Another good mystery series is The Inspector Lynley Series by Elizabeth George. I just read the first book in the series A Great Deliverance and it was really good as well.
Our book club read
and everyone loved it and is asking for more Louise Penny.
Mary wrote: "I just finished Still Life in the Inspector Armand Gamache Series. It was so good and loooved it. It is the. first book in the series.The author is LOUISE Penney. I hear that the series just gets b..."It does, Mary. I am now impatiently waiting for my copy of the latest in the series to arrive.
Portia wrote: "Mary wrote: "I just finished Still Life in the Inspector Armand Gamache Series. It was so good and loooved it. It is the. first book in the series.The author is LOUISE Penney. I hear that the serie..."I, too, agree that the Louise Penney series gets better and better.
I am reading the second book right now A fatal Grace, I have a lot of catching up to do since there are 8 more after this one!
Here is a suggestion for those of you that like series of mysteries:I found a book called Organizing Crime. An independent publisher, CrumCreek Press.
2015 ring bound book, it is the guide to over 800 series of books.
They are listed in order with checklist boxes by author, with a description of the main theme and character.
What a find!! I have found a way to know the order of the stories, which ones I've read, and what looks good for next series.
I have gone through and found those books I missed in some, and those I have read all of.
Only living authors in this one, there is another book for classic series whose author is deceased.
Happy Reading!
You should check out mysterysequels.com. The site reviews books by series. This way the reader gets both the books of a series in order and a review of each of the books. Some great reviews of books by this Amato chick . . . Enjoy the site.
Stop You're Killing Me (stopyourekillingme.com) does the same thing, Carmen, listing books by author and main character.
Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers
Books mentioned in this topic
Still Life (other topics)Authors mentioned in this topic
Dennis Lehane (other topics)Michael Connelly (other topics)
Steve Hamilton (other topics)
Robert Crais (other topics)
I finally have a lot more time to read and want to start a mystery series, but I haven't read any before and don't know where to start, there are so many!!! I have been seeing names like Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly a lot.... would anyone recommend either of those, or is there anyone else you would recommend for a first series ?
Thanks all :D