DC Public Library discussion

J.K. Rowling has been unmasked as "Robert Galbraith," the author of a new mystery series. Read more about pennames, which are perhaps surprisingly common, here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainme...

It got me thinking about mystery series, a British invention and tradition that is now popular worldwide. Do you have any favorite series? I have too many to name, some gruesome and some sweet and cozy. Some both gruesome and cozy!
What are some mystery series that you'd recommend, and tell us if they are not for the faint of heart!

I read a lot of cozy mysteries. One series I loved was the Tea Shop mystery series by Laura Childs. They were set in Charleston and the protagonist owned a tea shop that catered a lot of events. The first book in the series was Death by Darjeeling and there are around a dozen books in the series though I haven't read the most recent one yet.

I also just read the first book in another cozy series called Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay. It's set in small town Connecticut and features a library director as the sleuth. It was a lot of fun to read and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in that series as well.

Melissa,
I'll definitely check out "Books Can be Deceiving" - I LOVE librarian sleuths! Hence my love for the not-so-popular Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris, better known for her Sookie Stackhouse books. I also read a fun book earlier this year called Killer Librarian which, despite the title, turned out to feature a librarian as detective rather than librarian as killer. It also featured the tagline "when she checks in, somebody always checks out," which didn't actually pertain to the story, but sold me on the book nonetheless.

Maria - I'm definitely going to check out Killer Librarian! Thanks for the recommendation.

I enjoyed the first few Aurora Teagarden books but Harris kept killing off characters I loved so I had to stop reading it :)

As someone who devoured Agatha Christie books, I've recently found the Royal Spyness Series by Rhys Bowen to be a great read-alike. It's set in the 1920's as well, with a spunky main character who is 34th in line for the throne. She gets herself into hilarious situations, while attempting to solve mysteries for king and country.

Tracy wrote: "I like the Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery series by Colin Cotterill which starts with The Coroner's Lunch. Set in 1970's Laos with an elderly Coroner as its protagonist it might appear this book does not..."

Tony from the library turned me onto this series. I spent a few years in Thailand as an early teenager and enjoyed revisiting the region.

Also, I LOVE the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri. Each book echoes various standard themes, but they are enjoyable in their own right.