Mystery & detective, amateur sleuth book series in reading order

by Jeanne M. Dams

by Jenn McKinlay

Anthony Horowitz

106 books• 23 series

Anthony Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter, born 5 April 1955, who specialises in mystery and suspense. For children and young adults Horowitz created Alex Rider, a 14-year-old British boy who spies for MI6, along with The Power of Five (titled The Gatekeepers in the US) and The Diamond Brothers. The catalogue holds 106 Horowitz books from Enter Frederick K. Bower (1978) to A Deadly Episode (2026). Other listed series include Detective Daniel Hawthorne, Susan Ryeland, Groosham Grange and the Pentagram Chronicles. Horowitz is still publishing.

Laura Childs writes cozy mysteries in three series: the Tea Shop Mysteries, with Theodosia Browning in Charleston, South Carolina, the Scrapbooking Mysteries and the Cackleberry Club Mysteries. Death by Darjeeling (2001) opens the catalogue, which holds 56 books and reaches Death at a Firefly Tea. Buttermint Bomb is scheduled for 2027.

Amanda Flower, born January 23, 1980, in Akron, Ohio, is an American mystery novelist who also writes as Isabella Alan, for both adults and children. Maid of Murder (2010) opens a catalogue of 55 books that reaches Truffle Trouble in 2026, with Strawberry Scam due in 2027. Andi Unstoppable won the 2015 Agatha Award for Children's/Young Adult Book, and Maid of Murder, Andi Unexpected and Andi Under Pressure earned Agatha nominations. Series include Amish Candy Shop Mysteries, Amish Matchmaker Mysteries, Magical Bookshop Mysteries, Farm To Table Mysteries and Katharine Wright Mysteries, and cozy and amateur-sleuth mysteries figure in the subjects.

Cozy mystery with amateur women sleuths is Lauren Elliott's line. The Beyond The Page Bookstore Mysteries include Murder by the Book (2018), Prologue to Murder (2019), Proof of Murder (2020) and A Margin for Murder (2022), and the Crystals & CuriosiTEAS Mystery series sits beside them. Elliott's 15 catalogued titles start with Mixed Drinks to Impress (2017) and reach Epilogue to a Christmas Murder.

Death of a Kitchen Diva (2012) is the first title in the Lee Hollis catalogue of 33 books, which reaches The Actor's Guide to Greed in 2026. Series include Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries, Desert Flowers Mysteries, Maya and Sandra Mysteries and Jarrod Jarvis Mystery. Women food writers, Maine, amateur sleuths and cozy mysteries feature in the subjects. Further titles include Death of a Chocoholic (2014), Death of a Lobster Lover (2017) and Poppy Harmon Investigates (2018).

Karen Rose Smith is an American author born in Pennsylvania whose first romance appeared in 1992. Smith has written for Meteor/Kismet, Kensington, Silhouette and Harlequin, and has indie-published novels and short story collections as e-books. Awards include New Jersey's Golden Leaf Award for short contemporary romance (twice), CRA's Award of Excellence and the Golden Quill for Traditional Romance. The catalogue lists 124 books from A Man Worth Loving (1992) to If Books Could Kill (2026). Mystery lines include Caprice De Luca Mystery and Daisy's Tea Garden Mysteries.

Rhys Bowen is the name Janet Quin-Harkin publishes adult mystery novels under; Quin-Harkin was born in Bath, Somerset, in September 1941. The catalogue gathers 171 books, opening with Peter Penny's Dance (1976) and reaching Vanished in the Crowd (2026), with A Whiff of Scandal dated 2027. Molly Murphy, Her Royal Spyness and Constable Evans are the mystery series listed, alongside teen series carrying the Janet Quin-Harkin byline such as Heartbreak Cafe, Sugar and Spice and The Boyfriend Club. Catalogue subjects run to detective and mystery stories, women private investigators, historical mystery, aristocracy and children's fiction.

Alexander McCall Smith

165 books• 25 series

Sir Alexander McCall Smith, born 24 August 1948, is a Scottish legal scholar and novelist who created The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), McCall Smith was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and worked on medical law and bioethics committees. English-language sales passed 40 million by 2010, with translations into 46 languages. The catalogue lists 165 books from White Hippo (1980) to 2026, including 44 Scotland Street, Isabel Dalhousie, Detective Varg and children's titles.

Amateur-sleuth mysteries fill Lynn Cahoon's catalogue of 90 books. The Tourist Trap Mysteries and the Cat Latimer Mysteries lead, with the Kitchen Witch, Farm-to-Fork, Survivors' Book Club, Haunted Life and Bainbridge Island series alongside. Bookstores, coffeehouses and food trucks supply the settings, in California and Colorado. Cahoon began with The Bull Rider's Brother (2012) and reaches New Year, New Murder in 2026.

Cozy mysteries with a trade attached are Jenn McKinlay's speciality: a library, a cupcake bakery, a hat shop and a resale business each anchor a series. The catalogue reaches 69 titles between 2002 and 2026, including contemporary romance in the Bluff Point and Museum of Literature books and the Decoupage mysteries written as Lucy Lawrence. Stuck on Murder (2009) and Sprinkle with Murder (2010) start the main cozy runs, and Booking for Trouble is the most recent title.

Regency England is where Andrea Penrose sets her work, split between historical mystery and historical romance. Wrexford and Sloane is the current mystery series, preceded by the Lady Arianna Hadley books. Penrose has also published as Andrea Pickens, for the Intrepid Heroines, Merlin's Maidens, Lessons in Love, Scandalous Secrets and Dangerous Liaisons series, and as Cara Elliott for Circle of Sin and Lords of Midnight. The catalogue reaches 51 titles from The Defiant Governess (1997) to The Price of Paradise.

Simon Brett writes English detective fiction across several long-running series. Charles Paris, an actor, heads one; the Fethering Mysteries follow Carole Seddon; Mrs Pargeter, Blotto and Twinks, and the Decluttering Mysteries make up the rest. Brett's catalogue holds 107 books, from Cast in Order of Disappearance (1975) to A Shock to the System (2026), with plays, short stories and non-fiction alongside.

Maine is where Barbara Ross sets her mysteries, the Maine Clambake Mystery series among them, where seafood cooking joins murder in the subject tags. The Death of an Ambitious Woman (2010) opens a catalogue of 23 titles that reaches Torn Asunder (2024). Jane Darrowfield and Chief Ruth Murphy head further series, with short stories and non-fiction beside them. Women sleuths and businesswomen recur.

Sherry Harris writes cozy mysteries with women sleuths, built around garage sales in Massachusetts and, later, a Florida bar. Tagged for Death (2014) opens the Sarah Winston series, followed by The Longest Yard Sale (2015), All Murders Final! (2016), A Good Day to Buy (2017), I Know What You Bid Last Summer (2018) and Let's Fake a Deal (2019). 13 titles are catalogued, including the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon Mysteries, the last being Rum and Choke in 2022.

Jeanne M. Dams is an American crime fiction writer with three mystery series to her name. Dorothy Martin, an American retired teacher living in England, appears first in The Body in the Transept (1995). Hilda Johansson, a Swedish American, leads the second sequence, and the Oak Park Village Mysteries make the third. Thirty-eight books are catalogued, running through A Thief's Folly (2026).

Alexis Morgan writes paranormal and fantasy romance about vampires, immortality, magic and the conflict of good and evil. The catalogue holds 50 books, from Dark Protector and Dark Defender (both 2006) to To Trust a Rancher (2026). Series include Paladins of Darkness, Talions, Warriors of the Mist, Heroes of Dunbar Mountain, Snowberry Creek, Sergeant Joe's Boys, Paladin Strike Team and Abbey McCree Mystery. In Darkness Reborn (2007) and Dark Warrior Unleashed (2008) are among the early titles.

Valerie V.M. Burns has 19 catalogued books, from The Plot Is Murder (2017) to The Next Deadly Chapter (2025), with cozy, amateur-sleuth and women-sleuth mysteries among the subject tags. The author page lists the Dog Club Mystery and RJ Franklin Mystery series, along with a set of V.M. Burns short stories and novellas. Bookstores, retirees, real estate agents and police procedurals appear among the subjects. In the Dog House (2018) and Bookmarked for Murder (2019) are two further titles.

Eve Calder writes cozy culinary mysteries. The Cookie House Mysteries is Calder's one series, and it runs to three books: And Then There Were Crumbs (2019), Sugar and Vice (2020) and A Tale of Two Cookies (2021). Amateur sleuths and women sleuths do the detecting, across novels averaging 320 pages. No fourth title has followed since 2021, and the series is dormant.

Danielle Arceneaux writes the Glory Broussard Mystery series, filed under amateur sleuth, women sleuths, and African American and Black mystery. Two books are catalogued: Glory Be (2023) and Glory Daze (2025). Arceneaux continues the series.