M is for mystery series

When I pick up a book by an author I've not read before, I want to like the book. And if I like the book and it's part of a series, I will go and read the whole series, preferably one right after another. I don't like coming in on the middle, so I'll track down the books leading up to the books if necessary.

When I was in high school, I worked at the local library, which had a really good mystery section, even in the Large Print section. (And what a boon eReaders have been to people who need larger print. It always made me sad that unless you wanted to read Reader's Digest and a small selection of best sellers, your large print options were limited.)

Somtimes the series went on so long that they started to get stale, but I kept with them. Here's a list--in no particular order--of mystery book series I devoured.

Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro Mysteries--I love these books, set in Imperial Japan and they set off a lifelong fascination with the country and the history. The covers were gorgeous too. 

I came to these books by way of the television series: Robert B. Parker Spenser.
Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael--I liked the Cadfael books so much that when I ran out of them, I moved on to the books Peters wrote under her real name, which were  historical fiction and not mysteries.
janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum (By the numbers) I hated the movie, but still think the books would make an awesome television series.
Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels --I love, love, love the Elvis Cole novels and now there are spin-offs for Joe Archer, one of the characters first introduced in the books
Nele Neuhaus' Fairy Tale series--Set in Germany, there are only two books in the series so far, but they're great.
Ed McBain's 87th Precinct books--Forget NYPD Blue, these were the procedurals for me.

William Marshall's Yellowthread Street mysteries (which sparked my desire to go to Hong Kong)
M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series (there's a fantastic TV series starring Robert Carlyle out there, with Danny Boyle writing and directing. I tried reading her "Agatha Raisin series but they were just too "twee" for me).
Catherine Aird's Sloan and Crosby books
Anne Perry's Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novels
And last but not least--Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew and Franklin Dixon's Hardy Boys mysteries. They were the books that inspired my love of reading mysteries and I can still remember saving up my allowance to buy them.

More free books!

I'm serious about cleaning out. Any books I don't give away here are going to the Prison Library Project as donations for their used book store. They sell paperbacks and hardbacks to raise money for their work. If you'd like to know more about them, here's a link.

All you have to do to claim the books is leave a comment on this post and I'll contact you and arrange for shipping (within the United States.)  See here for other packages on offer.

The Laura Joh Rowland package--Five novels in her fantastic Sano Ichiro novels about the Shogun's Most Honorable investigator. The titles are: Dragon King's Palace, Perfumed Sleeve, The Way of the Traitor, Concubine's Tattoo, and Black Lotus.

The Grab Bag Package--a little bit of everything. James Rollins The Doomsday Key,  Michael Gruber's Tropic of Night, Dorothy Miles Disney's Dark Lady (a Crime Club paperback from 1964), Carl Hiaasen's Star Island, Janet Evanovich, Sizzling Sixteen, Janet Evqanovich Smokin' Seventeen,

The Eclectic package--Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues, A. Lee Martinez' The Automatic Detective, She Nailed a Stake Through His Head (an anthology of Biblical Tales of Terror), Precinct 19 (true accounts of NYPD's 19th Precinct), David Manual, A Matter of Roses (first in the Faith Abbey Mysteries), C. S. Graham, The Archangel Project (political thriller set in New Orleans), Mafia Chic by Erica Orloff (a chick lit mystery), Winter Moon (fantasy novella collection with Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee and C.E. Murphy).

And more to come.  Ask and ye shall receive...