How the Light Gets In question

Thanks everyone for these suggestions. After having read all of Louise Penny's books in the last 2-3 months, I find myself a little ruined for the authors I usually enjoy. Her storytelling is so vivid that I'm struggling a bit to find someone new of equal caliber!

Elizabeth George: Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers.

I second Maisie Dobbs (Jacqueline Winspear), the Julia Spencer-Fleming series and the Sebastian St. Cyr series by C. S. Harris, but also suggest William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Conner series, William like Louise Penny is a wonderful storyteller.

Jonathan Argyll series of art history mystery novels by Iain Pears is smart and the characters enjoyable.

The great delight of discovering Louise Penny is surpassed only by the great sorrow of realizing she has ruined you for everything else.

Nevertheless, while there is no one else quite like Penny, there are lots of books out there to enjoy.

I liked Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series set in Alaska. I also liked the Julia Spencer-Fleming books. The early Patricia Cornwell books on Kay Scarpetta are very good. The Cormaran Strike books by J.K. Rowling are good. Laura Lippman has some goods books.

Only read the first of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series. So impressed with her characters and the atmosphere she creates. Just finished the sixth in Tana French's Dublin murder squad series. If you haven't read any of these, I highly recommend. Author is a stand-out in her field.

Thank you for all of these suggestions because my husband and I both feel bereft without Gamache and crew. I also recommend Donna Leon; I love her Commisario Brunetti. I have picked up several and they stand on their own but on the few times I've read a couple sequentially; I enjoy it a bit more as I see him and his family grow.

Ruth Randell insp. Wexford series

This is a great question. I definitely recommend the Julia Spencer-Fleming series. She, along with Louise Penny, are my favorite authors. I would read Julia's books in order, they are fantastic.

I see no one has suggested Deborah Crombie. I'm on #12 and I think there are 16. Set in the UK but written by a ... wait for it ... Texan! I was gobsmacked! hahaha She did live in London. The books are great and follow the lives and careers of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, who continue to develop along with the series.

Also, if you haven't listened to any of the Gamache novels, please do. The narrator is wonderful. Absolutely perfect for Gamache who is Francophone but learned english at Cambridge ...I think.

Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling) is 2 books into a very good series as well. Cormoran Strike is an interesting guy!

Can anyone help me remember the author/series that involves a contemporary rural French police officer? He lives in a cabin above the small town, and there's some emphasis on food and drink as part of the story. Worth reading if you enjoy Louise Penney, if only I had more info! Thanks.

Tana French: The Dublin Series

Ruth Rendell: Inspector Wexford

The Commissario Guido Brunetti series by Donna Leon is great. Set in Venice, the main character is similar to Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Very well written and engaging characters.

I second Elly Griffiths and the Maisie Dobbs series, and would add the Sebastian St. Cyr series by C.S. Harris. I really liked the early (first five or six) Clare Fergussen books but haven't enjoyed the last couple as much. Charles Todd has a couple of series that I flew through, one with Bess Crawford and the other with Ian Rutledge.

Peter May (Lewis series), Anne Cleeves (Shetland series), Jim Kelly (Dryden series), Elly Griffiths; historical ones include those Laurie R. King (Sherlock & Mary Russell), Deanna Raybourne (Brisbane series) & Imogen Robertson (Westerman series)

I second the Amelia Peabody series and agree with Barbara Rosenblat as narrator - Amelia is a lighter series and quite funny. I love the family.
I have also enjoyed Maise Dobbs, but less so as it proceeds.
A modern series I like is the Clare Fergussen / Russ Van Alsteen series by Julia Spencer-Fleming, and for Victorian, the William Monk series and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, both by Anne Perry.
The next Three Pines is due this month!

Try Ann Cleeves. I've only read the Vera series, but they're quite good, with no gore. Brief descriptions of the body, and straight into a whodunnit, and no really gory deaths. The stories are more stand alone than Louise Penny's, but worth reading. Ann Cleeves has another series about a detective on the Shetland Islands which I have yet to read, but perhaps the small town setting will have some of the same appeal as the Louise Penny books.

Adding to this, I've since read some of the Shetland series, and they have some continuity. You might also try Vicki Delany. She's also Canadian and her Molly Smith series takes place in small town BC with recurring characters. They focus on the relationships between the characters and are light on gore.

Oh, completely forgot the Maisie Dobbs series (Jacqueline Winspear). It is wonderful! I think I read one almost immediately after the other it was that good. Lovely characters, linear story and interesting historical perspectives of WW1.

I love Richard Jury, (Martha Grimes) largely because of the continuing stories with the peripheral characters, but nothing surpasses the exquisite dance between Gamache and the characters of Three Pines and the linear story from book to book. And it's just so well written. There was an obit in the Times last week of a mystery author Dorothy Salisbury Davis, anyone familiar with her work? As for other series there are the biggies: Martha Grimes, PD James, Ann Granger, Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky…that seem more focused on the writing than the gore which was the main reason I stopped reading Jonathan Kellerman.

Elizabeth Peter's AMELIA PEABODY series. You have to start with CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK and go from there.

I you decide to listen to the audiobook version of this series, please get the one that is narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. She's the best when it comes to this series. The other narrator for this series is Susan O'Malley. She maybe a good narrator for other book, but not this series once you have heard Barbara Rosenblat. She is Amelia and Company.

I too am desperate for another series equal to this one. I haven't found another author who has both several books in the series AND wonderful mysteries that focus on the characters rather than blood, guts, and gore. SUGGESTIONS? Thanks to all who shared suggestions. I have gotten 1 from several of the different series to see if I can find another GREAT one. Thanks for all the suggestions!

I am writing these all down and will investigate. Haha. I miss Inspector Gamache and the people of Three Pines so much and am ready for more, more, more. I recommend everything by Elizabeth George. Dreamy characters, intense plots, expert writing.