What’s better than curling up with a mind-boggling mystery book with a cup of tea by your bedside table? Curling up with a mind-boggling mystery book that has a complete series stacked on your bedside table!
Yes, finding a good series to get lost in is every booklover’s dream. And when you can find one in the mystery genre, you’ll be licking your lips in anticipation of the plot twists and late-night “Just-one-more-page” sessions.
11 Best Mystery Book Series to Add to Your Shelves
Without further ado, here are some of the best mystery book series that you can add to your TBR (to be read) pile:
1. The Cormoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith
In case you didn’t know, Robert Galbraith is acutally J.K. Rowling in disguise, so if you loved her Harry Potter books, you will most likely find these books just as un-put-down-able.
Maybe you’ll even find some resemblance between Harry and Cormoran Strike, the cool, smart, and talented protagonist in this series as he struggles with his inner demons rooted in his time in Afghanistan.
2. The Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King
Master horror storyteller Stephen King brings us this terrifying mystery series featuring Bill Hodges, a retired police detective who is on the tail of a man who calls himself Mr. Mercedes—and rightly so, because he runs down several people with a Mercedes.
3. The Claire DeWitt Mysteries by Sara Gran
If you’re tired of routine mystery tropes, this series is for you. Claire DeWitt is one of three female detectives devoted to a French detective’s investigative process on an almost mystical level. Who would’ve thought it possible to treat investigations as a partly magical, partly religious ritual?
4. The Jones Cooper Series by Lisa Unger
Experience a different twist on the detective novel with this series that revolves around the Hollows, a fictional town in upstate New York.
Unger takes a great risk in keeping a few recurring characters, and even relegating Jones Cooper from a main character in Book 1 to only a supporting role in other books. She effectively builds her cases around the same town, even without the anchor of a recurring main character!
5. The Children’s House Series by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
If you’re all for mysteries in exotic locations, look no further than Iceland’s Queen of Crime. Huldar is an amateur detective who brings his cases to Freyja, a child psychologist who treats traumatized children.
How does she resolve her mistrust of the police and desire to protect the children while helping the police solve cases?
6. The Hawthorne Series by Anthony Horowitz
Horowitz reinvents the detective novel with this series through his little meta-games. Just as Watson did to Sherlock Holmes, Horowitz now follows Daniel Hawthorne, a former policeman, around on his cases and writes them up as real crime books.
7. The Nora Watts Series by Sheena Kamal
If you’re looking for a nonconventional detective, Nora Watts is the character for you. Her bleak outlook pairs with her incomparable investigating skills, starting with her first case: the adoptive parents of her biological daughter calls to say the girl is lost, so Watts needs to journey back to her harrowing past in order to save her little girl again.
8. The Aaron Falk Series by Jane Harper
For mystery lovers who prefer a slow burn, this series features an intricately-detailed look into its characters and settings.
Everyone knows that Aaron Falk has dark baggage in his past—because he acts it out everywhere. Take a look at this series if you’re one of those who like lingering and absorbing everything like a slow cup of coffee.
9. The Darko Dawson Series by Kwei Quartey
Check out these mysteries set in Ghana, where the author himself grew up. He shows us an intricate look at the country through his main character, Chief Inspector Darko Dawson, without taking away from the thrill of crime-solving.
10. The IQ Series by Joe Ide
If you consider yourself a hardcore mystery fan, then check out this series. Isaiah Quintabe is a genius who is born in a poor neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles, which earned him his apt nickname IQ.
He’s known for using his brains to get what he wants, and this also lets him earn his living as an unofficial and unlicensed private investigator working for his neighbors.
11. The Roxane Weary Series by Kristin Lepionka
Roxane Weary is past her prime, and grieving for her father doesn’t make things any better; in fact, it sends her spiralling down the bottle.
But despite her own life being in shambles, she’s an expert at gathering and organizing seemingly disconnected clues and solving mysteries to save other people from danger.
Enjoying a Mystery Series
Reading a mystery series is a great way to wind down after a long day, and knowing that you have a new book to devour any time you finish one is always a great motivation to keep reading as long as you want.
If you know a friend who loves mysteries, try gifting them with one of these series, and see the happy smile on their face when they tell you how much they loved it!
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
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- 25 Best Mystery Books That Will Keep You Guessing
Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.
