Hi mystery fans! After finishing the great Truly Devious trilogy I thought I’d round up some mystery series that have completely wrapped up for those who don’t like never ending series or are completist who wait for the series to finish before starting. Plus, if you’re stuck inside because of crappy weather, marathoning a series is always a nice option.
Darko Dawson series by Kwei Quartey: For procedural fans who like to travel the world here is a great series set in Ghana that finished with its fifth book. I love reading procedurals set outside the US because I love seeing how laws, courts, police institutions differ, along with how crimes are different/similar. I also love seeing different cultures, all things this series has while following a great character: Detective Inspector Darko Dawson. You not only get to watch Dawson work on different cases, including ones that take him outside of Ghana to small towns, but you also get to know his family and personal relationships. You watch him grow from Inspector to Chief, and I personally really liked the way the series ended–which is all I’m saying because spoilers, obviously. (TW all I remember is rape, sorry.)
Truly Devious trilogy by Maureen Johnson: This is an awesome series with two brilliantly done cliffhangers (which I had to wait out but you do not!) and a series ending that wraps up the mysteries the way all the great mysteries do by laying it all out for you. You get a past and present mystery, an elite school, nods to the mystery genre, and a girl very knowledgeable in true crime who is determined to figure out what happened then and now. Stevie Bell is selected to attend Ellingham Academy, but, more than getting an education, what she’s determined to do is solve the school’s eighty+ year mystery: why was the founder of the school’s wife and daughter kidnapped and what happened? But Bell is going to have to overcome anxiety, getting to know her roommates, a present campus murder, and more… This is a series perfect for fans of the mystery genre! (TW anxiety attacks/ child death/ addiction/ suicide mentions/ past rape cases discussed)
Trouble trilogy by Stephanie Tromly: Here’s another trilogy that has a main past mystery running through the series and each book has its own current mystery. Zoe Webster is the new girl in town and school but dealing with that quickly becomes easier than dealing with Digby, the super annoying boy who’s decided she’s going to help him solve the mystery of his little sister who went missing years before. Along the way they’re also going to stumble on other mysteries in need of solving, build a friendship, and possibly more. If you like quick and witty dialogue, along with opposite personality pairings, this is a great series to curl up with.
The Agency series by Y.S. Lee: Here’s a four book series for fans of historical mysteries, the Victorian era, character driven novels, and spies. Mary Quinn is an orphan who is rescued and educated and, at age 17, learns that Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls has a mission with an all-female investigative unit, which Mary is about to become a part of. Her assignment is to pretend to be a lady’s companion to get information on cargo ship disappearances from the wealthy owner’s home. Follow Quinn through danger, romance, and cases including for Queen Victoria who is dealing with a thief in Buckingham Palace! This is an enjoyable series that gives girls and women power at a time when they didn’t have much.
My last two will be honorable mention series because they both have an *: Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone/alphabet series and Karen Kijewski’s Kat Colorado series. Sue Grafton’s series is great and a long marathon that begins with a 32-year-old PI in a Santa Barbara like city in 1980s California. (Review) It gets an * because sadly Grafton passed away so the series ends at Y is for Yesterday.
I discovered the Kat Colorado series while on vacation as a kid: the home we were staying in had a huge bookcase with a sign inviting us to read what we’d like so I inhaled books on the beach. Kat Colorado was the first difficult woman PI I fell in love with: she was mouthy, stubborn, ate terribly, had inappropriately timed humor, drank too much soda, and was not great at relationships. This one gets two *: It’s out of print so you have to go the way of library/used books; I technically still haven’t read the ninth, and final, book in the series because I was so angry at the eighth book ending. I’ve reread this series several times over the years and always have the same reaction–please note, I am a ridiculous human being. Either way this series will always hold a special place in my mystery loving heart.
Recent Releases
The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao (I am obsessed with this cover and it’s high on my TBR! The novel follows the sole survivor of a wealthy family after her sister poisoned them all.)
The Janes (Alice Vega #2) by Louisa Luna (The Two Girls Down sequel is here and once again you get a great detective pairing on a child sex trafficking case.) (TW Child murder/ sex trafficking/ torture/ fat shaming/ a dog gets shot)
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg (Currently my libro.fm listen: This is one of those true crime cases that the journalist blends memoir with investigating the history of the region, people, their own life, and the case–two girls murdered as they were hitchhiking on their way to a peace festival.)
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See 2020 upcoming releases. An Unusual Suspects Pinterest board. Get Tailored Book Recommendations!
Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.
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If you’re bummed that usually only the first book in a series gets put on sale, it’s your lucky day because the sequel in Stephen Mack Jones’s action packed PI series August Snow is $1.99: 