New Mystery Series

The first book discussed

I started this BLog almost 8 years ago in September 2010 after my wife, Jo showed me how to set it up. My first post was pretty basic, just an introduction and then a list of books I was currently reading. Over the course of the 8 years I've focused on my current reading list, reviews of completed books and highlighting new purchases.

One of my favorite topics of discussion

I've also had a few themes. I featured some of my favorite book stores, had a discussion on my comic book collecting, reminisced about my life as a Military brat and my career in the military (I never finished this one), our house and pets, etc. At the end of the year I usually do some sort of Top Ten Lists; books, music, movies, etc. I spent a couple of months providing a listing of yearly book award winners, Nobel Laureates, etc. starting with the year of my birth until the present. And so on. I think you get the idea. :0)

Most recently, I've been discussing my Goodreads' Author's A - Z List amongst my normal topics. Anyway, to get to the point of this whole palaver, the other day as I added a couple of new books to my various lists, I got to thinking about the various genres that I enjoy. I do enjoy reading almost anything. At one time, I focused on Science Fiction / Fantasy. I couldn't get enough of it. Over the past few years, especially since I moved to Comox in 2010, I've begun to heavily explore the mystery genre. I tend to include spy novels and adventure series under this category, but for the purposes of this new theme, I'm going to try and stick to mystery. I'll include historical mysteries, detective stories, cop - themed investigations, forensic, international, etc.

I spent the other day going through my Goodreads catalogue and started listing all of the mystery series and also authors of standalone mysteries. I also scrolled through this BLog to see if I'd ever featured mystery series or authors. Well, in fact I had. If you're interested you can check out specific posts that I've linked to -

11 November 2010 - Featured Author, Canadian writer L.R. Wright.

2 September 2011 - Featured Author, Donna Leon

7 January 2013 - Featured Author, Ngaio Marsh

8 September 2013 - Featured Author, John D. MacDonald

2 December 2013 - Featured Author, Ellis Peters

27 January 2014 - Historical Mysteries

14 April 2016 - Featured Author, Martin Walker

9 August 2016 - Mysteries Canadian Style

4 June 2017 - Featured Author - Georges Simenon

For at least the last three years, I've had various reading challenges. This year amongst those challenges, I've included two series challenges; the first being to start new series that I've had sitting on my shelf (I've started 15+ so far) and the other being to continue to make progress on series I've been working for a few years (also read 15+ so far). My plan for the next few months is to mingle into my normal posts and my Author's A - Z is to show you some of the mystery series (broken down in various categories) I'm enjoying. Today I'm going to start with those new series that I've yet to start but where I have at least one book on my shelf awaiting my attention. Now when I say series, for the purposes of these posts, I'll include mystery writers of standalone type mysteries. So with all that said, let's get down to brass tacks.

1. James Benn (USA). Benn is an American author, best known for his World War II mystery series featuring fictional Boston Police Department detective Billy Boyle who joins the war and becomes staff investigator for General Dwight Eisenhower. There are currently 12 books in the series. I've got the first book, Billy Boyle so far. Benn has also written two standalone novels set during and after WWII. The synopsis for the first book is below.

"What’s a twenty-two-year-old Irish American cop who’s never been out of Massachusetts before doing at Beardsley Hall, an English country house, having lunch with King Haakon of Norway? Billy Boyle himself wonders. Back home in Southie, he’d barely made detective when war was declared.

Unwilling to fight — and perhaps die — for England, he was relieved when his mother wangled a job for him on the staff of a general married to her distant cousin. But the general turns out to be Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose headquarters are in London, which is undergoing the Blitz. And Uncle Ike wants Billy to be his personal investigator.

Billy is dispatched to the seat of the Norwegian government in exile. Operation Jupiter, the impending invasion of Norway, is being planned, but it is feared that there is a German spy amongst the Norwegians.

Billy doubts his own abilities, with good reason. A theft and two murders test his investigative powers, but Billy proves to be a better detective than he or anyone else."

2. C.J. Box (USA).  American writer Box is the author of two mystery series, one featuring Joe Pickett and the other featuring Cassie Dewell. He has also written a number of standalone novels and short story collections. I've been interested in trying the Pickett series, currently containing 18 novels. I've so far managed to find the 15th book in the series, Endangered. The synopsis is below.

"Joe Pickett had good reason to dislike Dallas Cates, and now he has even more—Joe’s eighteen-year-old daughter, April, has run off with him. And then comes even worse news: She has been found in a ditch along the highway—alive, but just barely, the victim of blunt force trauma. Cates denies having anything to do with it, but Joe knows in his gut who’s responsible. What he doesn’t know is the kind of danger he’s about to encounter. Cates is bad enough, but Cates’s family is like none Joe has ever met."

3. James Lee Burke (USA). American mystery writer, Burke is a prolific author, maybe best known for his Dave Robicheaux series of 22 books. He has also written series featuring various members of the Holland family and a variety of standalone books. I've seen his books for awhile, especially since his are usually displayed next to another favorite mystery author of mine, Jan Burke. When I was doing a BLog series featuring award winning authors, James Lee Burke's books came up as sometimes winners of the Edgar Awards for mystery writers. In 2017 I bought the first two books in his Billy Bob Holland series. The synopsis for Cimarron Rose is below.

"Texas attorney Billy Bob Holland has many secrets in his dark past. Among them is his illegitimate son, Lucas Smothers. When Lucas is arrested for murdering his girlfriend, Holland knows that he has no choice but to try to save the boy, regardless of what it may mean to his own--or the boy's--reputation.

The boy is a country musician, abused by his stepfather and haunted by the possibility that he did, indeed, commit the murder in a drunken black-out. But Billy Bob knows the propensity of the small Texas town to make scapegoats of the innocent, and to exploit and sexually abuse those who are without power.

The dead woman was with Lucas the night she died. Everyone knows that. But they were also with the East Enders--the kids from the good homes with the rich daddies, whose morals are as loose as their pocket-books. Lucas doesn't want Billy Bob to drag the dead girl's name through the mud, but Billy Bob knows that he'll need to do much worse if he is to save his son's life."

4. Steve Burrows (Canada / UK). Canadian mystery writer is noted for his Birder Mystery series, currently 4 books. Burrows was born in England but moved to Canada as a youngster. His first book, A Siege of Bitterns, won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.

"Inspector Domenic Jejeune’s success has made him a poster boy for the U.K. police service. The problem is Jejeune doesn’t really want to be a detective at all; he much prefers watching birds.

Recently reassigned to the small Norfolk town of Saltmarsh, located in the heart of Britain’s premier birding country, Jejeune’s two worlds collide when he investigates the grisly murder of a prominent ecological activist. His ambitious police superintendent foresees a blaze of welcome publicity, but she begins to have her doubts when Jejeune’s most promising theory involves a feud over bird-watching lists. A second murder only complicates matters.

To unravel this mystery, Jejeune must deal with unwelcome public acclaim, the mistrust of colleagues, and his own insecurities. In the case of the Saltmarsh birder murders, the victims may not be the only casualties."

5. Andrea Camilleri (Italy). Italian author, born in 1925, is noted for his mystery series featuring Inspector Montalbano. Since 1994, he's written 26 books in the series, most of which have been translated into English. I've had the first book in the series for a while now and need to get to it. I've also purchased a couple of other Camilleri books, the 3rd Montalbano book and a standalone mystery. The synopsis for the first book, The Shape of Water, is below.


"The goats of Vigàta once grazed on the trash-strewn site still known as the Pasture. Now local enterprise of a different sort flourishes: drug dealers and prostitutes of every flavour. But their discreet trade is upset when two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture. The coroner's verdict is death from natural causes - refreshingly unusual for Sicily.

But Inspector Salvo Montalbano, as honest as he is streetwise and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims, is not ready to close the case - even though he's being pressured by Vigàta's police chief, judge, and bishop.

Picking his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, delicious meals, vendetta firepower, and carefully planted false clues, Montalbano can be relied on, whatever the cost, to get to the heart of the matter."

6. Henry Chang (USA). Chang is an Asian - American author known for his Detective Jack Yu series, set in Chinatown, New York. There are currently 5 books in this series. The synopsis for the 1st book, Chinatown Beat, is below.

"Detective Jack Yu grew up in Chinatown. Some of his friends are criminals now; some are dead. Jack has just been transferred to his old neighborhood, where 99 percent of the cops are white. Unlike the others, confused by the residents who speak another language even when they’re speaking English, Jack knows what’s going on.

He is confronted with a serial rapist who preys on young Chinese girls. Then Uncle Four, an elderly and respected leader of the charitable Hip Ching Society and member of the Hong Kong-based Red Circle Triad, is gunned down. Jack learns that benevolent Uncle Four had a gorgeous young mistress imported from Hong Kong. And she is missing.

To solve these crimes, Jack turns to an elderly fortune teller, an old friend of his, in addition to employing modern police methods. This debut mystery power-fully conveys the sights, sounds, and smells of Chinatown, as well as the attitudes of its inhabitants."

7. Ann Cleeves (UK). Cleeves isn't a new writer for me. I've enjoyed her Vera and her Shetland mystery series very much, both in book form and as TV series. However, I've yet to try her George and Molly Palmer - Jones series of 8 books. I have the 4th book in the series but have resisted trying it until I try the first book. I'll provide a synopsis for the 4h book, A Prey to Murder.

"It was Eleanor Masefield 's idea to sponsor an Open Day at her beautiful Grose Hill Hotel--a celebration designed to raise funds for the protection of the local peregrine falcons that had been her late husband's obsession. But who knew she'd be dead by teatime? Amateur detective George Palmer-Jones, who's always been a little in love with Eleanor, doesn't think it was the tea--and he's determined to find out which human did its preying."

8. John Connolly (Irish). Irish writer Connolly is known especially for his Charlie Parker mystery series. The first book Every Dead Thing won the Shamus Award for best first Private Eye novel. He has written 18 books in this series; I've got 3 of them. He's also started two other series and written various standalone novels. I've provided the synopsis for for Every Dead Thing.

"John Connolly superbly taps into the tortured mind and gritty world of former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker, tormented by the brutal, unsolved murders of his wife and young daughter. Driven by visions of the dead, Parker tracks a serial killer from New York City to the American South, and finds his buried instincts -- for love, survival, and, ultimately, for killing -- awakening as he confronts a monster beyond imagining..."

9. J.T. Ellison (US). American writer J.T. Ellison has written a number of series and also standalone novels. I've read the first book in her Samantha Owen thriller series and have the next two on my bookshelf. I've also decided to try one of her other series, featuring Nashville homicide detective, Taylor Jackson. There are 8 books in the series. I've got the first, All the Pretty Girls. The synopsis is below.

"When a local girl falls prey to a sadistic serial killer, Nashville Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson and her lover, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, find themselves in a joint investigation pursuing a vicious murderer. The Southern Strangler is slaughtering his way through the Southeast, leaving a gruesome memento at each crime scene -- the prior victim's severed hand.

Ambitious TV reporter Whitney Connolly is certain the Southern Strangler is her ticket out of Nashville; she's got a scoop that could break the case. She has no idea how close this story really is -- or what it will cost her.

As the killer spirals out of control, everyone involved must face a horrible truth -- that the purest evil is born of private lies."

10. Frances Fyfield (UK). English writer, Frances Fyfield, has written two mystery series, one featuring Helen West, the other featuring, Sarah Fortune. She has also written standalone novels. I've read one of those so far. I was introduced to Fyfield during my explorations of the mystery shelves at ABC Books in Courtenay. I haven't started either series yet as I've been waiting to find the first book in both, but I may just go ahead and read the 2nd books. The synopsis for Trial By Fire (Helen West) and Perfectly Pure and Good (Sarah Fortune) are below.

"The author of A Question of Guilt returns with another heart-rending mystery featuring Crown Prosecutor Helen West and Detective Superintendent Geoffrey Bailey. The likely place for a crime of passion, but what else could account for the naked body of a woman found in the woods?"

"The author of Blind Date and Staring at the Light pens a taut psycho-drama that explores the dark borders between love and hate. Attorney Sarah Fortune is sent to a seaside town to sort out a family feud over an estate and ends up confronting a ghost from her own past."

11. Lisa Gardner (US). American author Gardner has written numerous thrillers, some featuring FBI profiler, Quincy, some Detective D.D. Warren and also standalone novels. I've enjoyed the first book in the Quincy series and look forward to starting the Warren series. I've got the 4th book in the Warren series, Live to Tell,  of 12 books. The synopsis is below.

"On a warm summer night, in a working-class Boston neighborhood, four family members are brutally murdered. The father—and possible suspect—clings to life in the ICU. Murder-suicide? Or something even worse? Veteran police detective D. D. Warren is certain of only one thing: There’s more to this case than meets the eye.

Danielle Burton is not only a dedicated nurse at a locked-down pediatric psych ward but the haunted survivor of a shattered life. Meanwhile, devoted mother Victoria Oliver will do anything to ensure that her troubled son has some semblance of a childhood.

The lives of these three women unfold and connect in unexpected ways, as sins from the past emerge—and stunning secrets reveal just how tightly blood ties can bind. Sometimes the most devastating crimes are the ones closest to home."

I'll stop here for today as there are still a number of other series to go through. I'll continue alphabetically. Below are a couple of others I'm considering from A - G that I don't yet have any books purchased, but that you might like to check out.

a. SJ Bolton (UK). I'm interested in Bolton's mystery series featuring London Metropolitan police detective constable Lacey Flint. There are 4 books in the series, starting with Now You See Me.

b. Ken Bruen (Irish). I've been enjoying Bruen's noir detective series featuring PI Jack Taylor. I'm also looking forward to getting the first book in his series featuring Detective Sgt Tom Brant /  Chief Inspector James Roberts. There are 7 books in the series starting with A White Arrest (1998).

c. Barbara Cleverly (UK). I've read the first 4 books in Cleverly's mystery series featuring Scotland Detective Joe Sandilands. She has also written 3 books featuring archeologist turned detective, Laetitia Talbot, which starts with The Tomb of Zeus (2007).

d. Garry Disher (Australia). One of my favorite series of the past 3 or 4 year is one featuring Australian police inspector, Hal Challis. I've read the first two books so far and have the next three on my book shelf. I'm also looking forward to getting the first book in his Wyatt series of 9 books. It starts with Kickback. Wyatt is a professional thief and burglar.

So there you go for now. Enjoy your weekend!!!