Best Detective/Mystery Series

Can't wait for the next one!
Can't seem to add just authors so I randomly chose a book.
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21

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22

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23

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 453,092 ratings
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24

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25

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26

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27

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28

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29

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 76,256 ratings
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30

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31

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32

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33

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34

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35

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36

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37

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38

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39

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40

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41

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42

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43

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44

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45

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46

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47

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48

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49

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50

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51

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52

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53

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54

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55

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56

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57

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58

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59

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60

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61

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62

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63

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64

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65

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66

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67

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68

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69

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70

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71

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73

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74

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75

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81

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82

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84

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87

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88

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89

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90

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91

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97

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98

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99

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100

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2,165 books · 2,321 voters · list created August 15th, 2008 by Mary Todd (votes) .
Tags: mystery
374 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Mary Todd 128 books
30 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3378 books
860 friends
Colleen 1620 books
42 friends
Ashley 5185 books
540 friends
R. 282 books
103 friends
Kathleen 276 books
11 friends
Shirley 295 books
6 friends
Rhonda 3052 books
40 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 54 (54 new)


message 1: by A...B (new)

A...B
Never read this one yet, but w0ould be very interested to know your impressions about it.
What did you find the most intriguing, philosophically provoking, and unforgettable about the book?


s•u•n•s•h•i•n•e «§KENZ§» I've never read any of these.


message 3: by Karen (last edited Aug 16, 2008 06:21AM) (new)

Karen Syed The Missing Locket by Mary Cunningham and the others in the series, is for children and it is great. Two young girls travel back in time to meet their relatives. It is an adventure and is a great way to help kids understand how they came to be. History is power.


message 4: by Skyler (new)

Skyler Grey I've not ready any of these... yet. But I certainly am intrigued enough that I think I would greatly enjoy them.

The blurbs alone were well written which is something I look for when deciding on a new book, along with lots of twists which I love in stories.

:)



message 5: by Mary Todd (new)

Mary Todd Thanks for voting...I haven't read Sansom and am on the way to the library to pick one up!


message 6: by Marc (new)

Marc >>I've never read any of these.

Ah, but would you like to?


The Singer of All Songs why is the list hogged by tamora pierce!


message 8: by Jon (new)

Jon OK. So I voted for FINN. Sue me. (But the Garcia Marquez is probably my actual favorite...)


message 9: by Sarah (new)

Sarah What's the first line of FINN? I haven't heard of it.


message 10: by Cherrimae (new)

Cherrimae "UNDER A LOW SUN, pursued by fish and mounted by crows and veiled in a loud languid swarm of bluebottle flies, the body comes down the river like a deadfall stripped clean."


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Probably someone voting on the list added her books, because they like Tamora Pierce? That would be my guess.


message 12: by [deleted user] (new)

=D I love Megan Turner's books, but I wouldn't consider Pierce to be underground, per se. Just not very popular.


message 13: by Rachel (new)

Rachel Oh dear...have never heard of these books before! Yeowch...


message 14: by Ambushedamber (new)

Ambushedamber I read so many of these growing up and own a lot of them! I super strongly recommend some of the authors on this list: Diana Wynne Jones, Meredith Ann Pierce, Peter S. Beagle, Robin McKinley, and Sherwood Smith! All of them are authors i read when young and still adore as an adult!!!!


message 15: by Jan (new)

Jan I can't believe that Colin Dexter wasn't on the list!


message 16: by Judy (new)

Judy Hoell Everyone needs to have FUN books to read. Those listed under Guilty Pleasures are worth the read.


message 17: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Jan wrote: "I can't believe that Colin Dexter wasn't on the list!"

What would you recommend I read first ?


message 18: by Eden (new)

Eden Silverfox It's nice to see a lot of Diana Wynne Jones books on this list.


message 19: by Jan C (new)

Jan C I thought this was for best series? The Thin Man isn't a series. Except for his Continental Op stories, I believe Hammett's novels are standalones. Also, why multiple books from series?

Just askin'.


message 20: by Gail (new)

Gail Tell No One by Harlan Coben does not belong in this list. It's a stand alone novel, and not part of his Myron Bolitar series, which does belong on here. It's a terrific series.


message 21: by Meintantei (new)

Meintantei most people here don't even know what a great detective-series looks like. ^^
detective conan is obviously the best detective-series if you enjoy great shows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-zix1...



however, if you accept low level entertaiment, then i guess these shows above are okay.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads These are books, not TV shows.


message 23: by Ashley (new)

Ashley So no Tana French novels? I am slightly disappointed considering all her novels are of the same series....


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You could add them; it's easy to add books to lists. Up at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


message 25: by Val (new)

Val Weaver good list some surprises but would try most!


message 26: by Caroline (new)

Caroline This is the best list ever! :D


message 27: by Becky (new)

Becky I consider the Stephanie Plum books more comedy than anything else. I don't put her in league with James Patterson that's for sure but she is an entertaining read!


message 28: by Virginia (new)

Virginia Hotchkiss Jan wrote: "I can't believe that Colin Dexter wasn't on the list!"

I agree!


message 29: by Virginia (new)

Virginia Hotchkiss Not a single book by Anne Perry? Disgraceful!
Start with The Carter Street Hangman.


message 30: by Jan C (new)

Jan C Virginia wrote: "Not a single book by Anne Perry? Disgraceful!
Start with The Carter Street Hangman."


Not to be too picky but that's The Cater Street Hangman


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Virginia wrote: "Not a single book by Anne Perry? Disgraceful!
Start with The Carter Street Hangman."


You could add Anne Perry; it's easy to add books to lists. At the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


message 32: by Chris (new)

Chris Charles Willeford, anyone?


message 33: by Gary (new)

Gary With this title, it seems to me that we should be picking a series, not individual books.


message 34: by Denise (new)

Denise Lee I'm struggling to follow the thought process of many of the voters here. The originator said she (he?) could not pick just an author, so had to pick a book to represent the series. Yet people keep adding more books within the same series, so we don't get any real sense of which series people really think belong on the list. Anyone know if Goodreads still requires that a specific book be selected in order to have a list?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Yes, GR requires that a specific book and not an author generally be selected.


lbkingboylegmail.com I love all Carlene Thompson books, my first was "The Way You Look Tonight", and I was hooked. This is not a series however. Another recent Morgan Hannah McDonald is fabulous, though the language can be a bit "descriptive, and harsh" in very few spots. But fekt that I needed to bring that to your attention. only on the bedroom scenes. The series are The Spiritual one, on paranormal, but it had an excellent story. She has another series also. Dying to Tell was the first one from another series, and a different author. She escapes me at this moment, but an excellent series. I just thought I would share a couple with the few if you, and for the one who asked what would I recommend first... Dying to tell.


message 37: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jan 14, 2019 02:46AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) The title says "Best Detective/Mystery Series" . So I agree with Gary on this (although it is not possible to vote for/add a series as a whole, the book voted for/added should at least be part of a series).


message 38: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jul 16, 2020 04:12AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Gary wrote: "With this title, it seems to me that we should be picking a series, not individual books."

Again, some of the books on this list are definitely not part of a series, never mind whether or not they are great books. (Title of this Listopia is "Best Detective/Mystery Series ...)"


message 39: by Geoff (new)

Geoff Miller How are these lists compiled? If it's in order of their star ratings then why do you see booked rated 3.7 above those with 4 or over?


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) @Geoff
As far as I know, the book with the most votes is top of the list.
And in the order in which own your votes are placed, you have some influence too.

But the most votes for a book takes priority.


message 41: by Geoff (new)

Geoff Miller Ah I see. Thank you Booklovinglady. I should have seen that myself really. So the actual ratings have no bearing. That does make it easier to reach the top the longer the book is in print!


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Listopia ordering is not by star rating - it is by how many votes the book received, and how high on each voting list it was. (The first book on a list gets 100 points, the second 99...)


message 43: by Graham (new)

Graham Sharp Can someone explain why this list contains books like the James Bond stories and biographies by various ex-liverpool footballers/managers? Do they not know what the words "detective story" means? Are they actually illiterate?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Eh, nothing phases me at this point. All sorts of books end up on lists where they don't belong. Novels on non-fiction lists. Twilight everywhere.


message 45: by Alexa (new)

Alexa Louise I suspect you're not too enamoured with the Twilight series then Susanna. I am of the same mind myself. I do think there is now a glut of vampire stories of one kind or another, and indeed of what might be classed as fantasy stories. Perhaps this reflects the success of Twilight and Harry Potter. I don't know.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Eh, I could take or leave Twilight. I really was being literal: Twilight (and sequels) is likely to appear on almost any random list.


message 47: by Geoff (new)

Geoff Miller Just looking at the top books in this genre, its good to see the Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books up there, along with other classics by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett - but then where are the Colin Dexter books? Languishing down in the 1700s most of them. Curious to say the least. I seem to remember Dexter won both the golden dagger and diamond dagger award. And yet, there are 2 Stephanie Plum books up there rated higher than The Maltese Falcon and even a Dan Brown novel is in at 66 and the only mystery there is who would vote for one of his worst books?
All very strange.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads It all depends on the tastes of the voters. (For the record, I didn't vote for Mr. Dexter's novels, because I haven't read them yet.)


message 49: by Linda (new)

Linda Dreher Rescuing Reeve by Amy Waeschle was a great book about a sister looking for her step brother in a foreign country with mystery, surfing, romance and some heartbreak. Great read!


message 50: by Alexa (new)

Alexa Louise A Deadly Inheritance by Alan Hodge
this is the new book by Alan Hodge in the Jack Mitchell series. Having read the first 2, I am just aboutto read this one.
I shall review it when done.


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