If you had to choose just one, which mystery/crime fiction series would you say is your favorite?

[Heather]

I still have my copy of the Complete Sherlock Holmes too. I got it for Christmas years ago. That book is definitely a keeper.

[J. Douglas]

Elvis Cole/Joe Pike by Robert Crais! I enjoy the Jonathon Grave series by John Gilstrap also. They are both downloaded on my Nook, plus I had to buy Gilstrap's non-fiction hardcover for hubby - and he loved it. I'll wander off and read somebody new i.e. now reading The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer, and a few by Daniel Silva i.e. Moscow Rules, but none make me want to keep reading (rather than writing even!) then Cole/Pike.

[Heather]

So hard to choose one but if I had to it would be the Prey series by John Sandford Lucas is my first "detective love" though there are many other series that I enjoy and eagerly await the next installment including.. Elvis Cole by Robert Crais, Roy Grace by Peter James, Gabriel Allon by Daniel Silva, Harry Hole by Jo Nesbo and of course the Reacher series by Lee Child.

[Irenecsi]

Agree with above as for SHERLOCK HOLMES... He is the reason why I started to love the genre and I have collected so many collections oh him: books, TV, research books...and honestly he is the reason why I chose English as my major in university! Btw, my favorite SH on screen is definitely Jeremy Brett!

[Henry]

My favorite would be the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. I especially like when he works with the Mickey Haller.

[Anil]

Has GK Chesterton's Father Brown - starting with Innocence of Father Brown - mentioned yet? If not I nominate the series.

[Anil]

I would put Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, and Father Brown in that order.

[Rhian]

Finally the 3rd Pierre Lemaitre book has been released in English, It's the final book of the trilogy, the other books are called Irene and Alex if anyone is interested it's been a fab series so far

[Eden]

Love Bosch and Reacher but all time favourite is Andrew Vachss' Burke series.

[Ron]

Eden wrote: "Love Bosch and Reacher but all time favourite is Andrew Vachss' Burke series."

I, too, enjoyed the Burke series. However, it did get a bit old after several of them. I've not kept up with it for several years, now, but, someday I'll probably read another one. As I say, a bit of it went a long way.

[Ellen]

Louise Penny. Her books are a cross between mystery and literature. She writes with a fine hand. Her characters are multi- dimensional and her setting, the village of Three Pines, is magnetic.

[Sunnyand71]

I enjoy the Nevada Barr series with Anna Pigeon, Craig Johnson's Longmiere (the television series is great as well), Vince Flynn series Mitch Rapp, Henning Mankell Wallander series and Chet and Bernie mysteries by Spencer Quinn (especially if you love dogs).

[Charlie]

Jené wrote: "Just read an EXCELLENT book by Anthony Horowitz: Moriarty. Excited to read the first book of the series now... this could be my new favorite! Has anyone else read it?"

I can recommend House of Silk - very Holmesy

[[deleted user]]

I'm reading the Kenzie and Gennaro series right now, so I'll have to go with that one. Big fan of Dennis Lehane look to reading the rest of his books after finishing the Kenzie/Gennaro series, reading Gone,Baby,Gone right now, so I have Prayers for Rain and Moonlight Mile left.

[Eden]

Matt wrote: "I'm reading the Kenzie and Gennaro series right now, so I'll have to go with that one. Big fan of Dennis Lehane look to reading the rest of his books after finishing the Kenzie/Gennaro series, read..."

Great choice Matt. And you're in for a treat with Prayers For Rain IMHO.

[Eddie]

Charlie wrote: "Jené wrote: "Just read an EXCELLENT book by Anthony Horowitz: Moriarty. Excited to read the first book of the series now... this could be my new favorite! Has anyone else read it?"

I can recommend..."

I give a 2nd House of Silk.

[Nancy]

Robert Tannenbaum's series would be my one pick today.
[nice to see Leslie Glass's name mentioned..i had forgotten about her but enjoyed all the ones she has written too.]

[D.K.]

Chelsea Cain's Gretchen Lowell series. Creepy, crawley good.

[William]

I've been in an Elvis Cole mood by Robert Crais for a few years.
My former favorite was James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series.

[Barbara]

William wrote: "I've been in an Elvis Cole mood by Robert Crais for a few years.
My former favorite was James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series."

I second James Lee Burke's series :)

[Denise S]

I always say I can't pick a favorite but let's say for today

Stuart Kaminsky's Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov mystery series.

tho usually I might say Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series - at least Rostnikov reads smuggled Ed McBain books

Dorothy Sayers....aiiiii I can't do it lol

[Shannon]

My vote would be for James Patterson's Women's Murder Club with Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles a close second.

[Luci]

I would have to vote for The Blessing Way- The Tony Hillerman Navajo crime series starting with that book. Great mystery series and character portrayals.

[Faith]

I have many favorite series but two are the Ripley books by Patricia Highsmith and the series written jointly by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

[Henry]

Harry Bosch or Department Q series

[Christine]

Karin Slaughter Grant County Series and Spinoff Series Will Trent

Jilliane Hoffman CJ Townsend Series

Both are excellent ! I'm trying to find my next author, but haven't found any similar to these two authors.

[Barbara]

Henry wrote: "Harry Bosch or Department Q series"

I second these also :)

[shanghao]

Poirot! He's a riot and the mysteries have this classic Cluedo-ish feel to them. Always entertaining whenever I happen to reread them.

[Garden]

Elizabeth George had been my favorite for a long time. She writes beautifully, with psychological insight and I really enjoy the characters.

Second other folks on James Lee Burke and Louise Penny, also
Donna Leon. Read JL Burke's "Tin Roof Blowdown" to experience Katrina - very interesting and powerful.

[Amber]

I'm with the people who mentioned Tony Hillerman and Nevada Barr. So much for choosing just one. I also enjoy The Pot Thief mysteries, for a humorous series.

[Ron]

Amber wrote: "I'm with the people who mentioned Tony Hillerman and Nevada Barr. So much for choosing just one. I also enjoy The Pot Thief mysteries, for a humorous series."

It borders on the ludicrous for me to be able to limit my favorite to just one author. There are just too many good ones to do so, really. And, anytime I even try to make a short list of them, when I review it a while later, I'm surprised at the ones that I've left off.

Top ten would be hard enough to do, but, just one is almost impossible.

[Keelan]

I'm a big fan of Tana French, and I also love Laura Lippman, particularly her standalone (non-Tess) mysteries. She has a great insight into human nature.

[Audiothing]

Can't choose but have to choose, oh dear!, Hillerman series is wonderful, Adrian McKintys' The Troubles series is really good, Kinky Friedmans series, really good, but right now my winner is William Shaw Breen and Tozer

[F.]

i've read most of the prey series and the flowers series by john sandford, although the last few prey books were a tad stale, so i stopped reading them. i've read most of the jeffery deaver books as well, and the lee child series. there are good reasons these writers are top sellers, but i'm delighted that hillerman gets some mention.

[Patrick]

James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series is the ultimate.....

[Janice]

Really too hard to pick one, but since I've seen a few of my favorites in this topic, I'm going with Agatha Christie's mystery series (esp. Miss Marple) because her work ideas has been used by many other writers. Need to write down some of those mentioned that I'm not familiar with!

[Ron]

The other day, at my local library, I got reminded of another series that I'd forgotten about. The Nameless Detective series by Bill Pronzini. One if tge books from the series was on display and it reminded me that I need to go back to them and read some more of them. Been quite a while, now.

So many books, so little time. ---Frank Zappa

[Erica]

Great picks here!

Kenzie and Gennaro series by Dennis Lehane is one of the best noir detective series I've read. Favourite book of he series : Gone Baby Gone

Also, I am currently reading the Mathew Scudder series by Lawrence Block. It's quite good. Favourite books of the series so far: When the SacredGinmill Closes and Eight Million Ways to Die

[Pensilvania3317]

Nigel Strangeways series by Nicholas Blake!
I would say the best book of the series is: The beast must die.

[Claire]

I love Jo Nesbo and PD James. Death in Holy Orders is an Adam Dalgleish Novel set on the East Anglian Seacoast of England. Gracefully sculpted prose and brilliantly executed mystery. Classic Literary fiction - what more can I say!

[Neal]

Favorite series is probably Tony Hillerman's Navajo police detective series... terrific stories and characters.

[Ron]

Erica wrote: "Also, I am currently reading the Mathew Scudder series by Lawrence Block. It's quite good. Favourite books of the series so far: When the Sacred Ginmill Closes and Eight Million Ways to Die"

I just recently discovered the Matthew Scudder series and I really like it. I saw the movie A Walk Among the Tombstones and liked it and the character. I knew it came from the series and that one of the books was that name. So, I looked up the 1st of the series, The Sins of the Fathers, and really liked it. I'm only on the 2nd one, Time to Murder and Create, and really just started it.

[Amy]

Just added these from your tip, Ron!

[Ron]

The problem with a question such as the premise for this discussion, "If you had to choose just one, which mystery/crime fiction series would you say is your favorite? ", is that there are just too many to limit down to one. Or, for me, even 5! Everytime I think I've just read a book by my favorite author about my favorite character, I pick up another book and suddenly I have a new favorite author writing about my favorite character.

Doesn't mean this isn't a good discussion, because, it is. Just means that, for me, at least, it's pretty darn hard to come up with a definitive answer. I can't even narrow it down to 5! There are just too many. Right now I'm reading a Matthew Scudder book, Time to Murder and Create by Lawrence Block. So, this week, that series is high on my favorite list. Last week I was reading Persuader by Lee Child, a Jack Reacher novel. So, last week, that was high on my list. I plan on reading a Dave Robicheaux book, Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke. So, when I read it, that will be high on my list.

But, I do enjoy this discussion. One benefit I've gotten from reading here, is that I've been "reminded" of series that I haven't read for awhile and that's good. Hopefully, I've done the same for others.

So many books, so little time, but, it's all good.

[Erica]

Ron you're in for a treat with the Mathew Scudder series ! I also discovered it after watching A Walk Among The Tombstones

I agree there are too many good series to pick just one.

I am now reminded of yet another great series by Ken Bruen The Jack Taylor series. TV series based on the books is currently on Netflix.

[Erica]

Ron you're in for a treat with the Mathew Scudder series ! I also discovered it after watching A Walk Among The Tombstones

I agree there are too many good series to pick just one.

I am now reminded of yet another great series by Ken Bruen The Jack Taylor series. TV series based on the books is currently on Netflix.

[David]

I agree, Ron. It's impossible to pin it down to 1 favorite author.

Author make my favorite list for a variety of different reasons:
1/ Great storytelling.
2/ A main character I care about.
3/ Great action scenes.
4/ Great dialog.
5/ Taut writing.
6/ Interesting plots.
7/ Realistic characters.

[Ron]

Erica wrote: "I am now reminded of yet another great series by Ken Bruen The Jack Taylor series. TV series based on the books is currently on Netflix."

I'll have to look into the Jack Taylor series. I don't subscribe to Netflix, so, I'll probably not see the TV series. My local library has several books by Ken Bruen, but, none in Large print, which makes it a lot easier for me to read. But, I'll keep looking. Maybe some of them are in a not too small of a font and I can still read them. Thanks for the tip.

[Ron]

Quillracer wrote: "I agree, Ron. It's impossible to pin it down to 1 favorite author.

Author make my favorite list for a variety of different reasons:
1/ Great storytelling.
2/ A main character I care about.
3/ Grea..."

Great list, Quillracer. Hard to go wrong on any book that meets that list of requirements.

[Amy]

That is a list to live by, Quillracer! I made the mistake of saying last month that I had been blessed with so many 5 star ratings as of late and like Murphy's law my last few have been lacklustre! Haha