Older women book series in reading order

by Parnell Hall

by Charlene Ann Baumbich

by Rita Mae Brown

Parnell Hall (October 31, 1944 to December 15, 2020) was an American mystery writer, known for the Puzzle Lady and Stanley Hastings series. Hall also wrote the screenplay for the 1984 film C.H.U.D. The Puzzle Lady stories carried crosswords made with Manny Nosowsky and sudoku made with Will Shortz. Writing as J.P. Hailey, Hall produced the Steve Winslow series, and co-wrote Smooth Operator with Stuart Woods. Malice Domestic gave Hall a Lifetime Achievement award in 2019. The catalogue lists 57 books, from Detective (1987) to The Dead Client (2020). Cora Felton, crossword puzzle makers and New York private investigators appear in the subject tags.

Victoria Trumbull, an elderly poet who investigates murders on Martha's Vineyard, is the detective Cynthia Riggs writes. The Martha's Vineyard Mystery series accounts for all 14 of Riggs's catalogued books, opening with Deadly Nightshade (2001) and closing with Widow's Wreath (2018). Titles across the run take their names from plants: The Cranefly Orchid Murders, The Paperwhite Narcissus, Indian Pipes, Touch-Me-Not and The Bee Balm Murders. Nothing new has appeared since 2018, so the series reads as finished.

Joan Medlicott is known for the Ladies Of Covington books, a series about retired women sharing a boarding house in North Carolina. The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love (2000) opens it, followed by The Gardens of Covington (2001), From the Heart of Covington (2002), The Spirit of Covington (2003), At Home in Covington (2004) and A Covington Christmas (2005). Seventeen catalogued titles in all run from Celibate Wives: Breaking the Silence (1992) to Reflections in a River (2011), with two Virgin Islands collections and a Caribbean novel in the early years. Female friendship and older women are the recurring subjects.

May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton (1912-1995), a Belgian and American novelist, poet and memoirist. Sarton came out as a lesbian in the writing in 1965, at a time when that was rare. Poetry opens the catalogue with Encounter in April (1937) and Inner Landscape (1939); novels follow from The Bridge of Years (1946), and diaries make up a third strand. 54 titles are catalogued through 2024, averaging 214 pages, with the 1990s the busiest decade.

Charlene Ann Baumbich has 16 books in the catalogue, published between 1991 and 2012. Humor, parenting and Christian life run through the subjects, along with older women, Illinois and female friendship. Don't Miss Your Kids! (1991) is the earliest title, followed by How to Eat Humble Pie & Not Get Indigestion (1993). The Baumbich series include Dearest Dorothy and Snowglobe Connections, and Dearest Dorothy, Are We There Yet? appeared in 2001. Finding Our Way Home (2012) is the latest book.

Cozy mystery is Elizabeth Spann Craig's form, written in five series: Myrtle Clover Mysteries, Southern Quilting Mystery, Village Library Mysteries, Memphis BBQ Mysteries and Sunset Ridge Mystery. Women sleuths lead the books, and the subjects run to older women, quilting, barbecue, real estate development and North Carolina. Craig's catalogue holds 72 books, from Pretty is as Pretty Dies (2009) to A Dish Best Served Dead (2026).

Lorena McCourtney's catalogue lists 51 books from Promise in Paradise (1979) to Over the Hill (2026). Older women, women detectives and private investigators, Christian fiction, organized crime and motor homes are among the recorded subjects, along with romance. Ivy Malone is a recurring character, with the Ivy Malone Mysteries and the Mac 'N' Ivy Mysteries as series. The Julesburg Mysteries, Andi McConnell Mystery and Cate Kinkaid Files are further lines. Early titles include Bridal Trap (1980), Desert Devil (1981) and Island Fires (1983).

Rita Lakin wrote the Gladdy Gold mysteries, whose detective is an older woman living among retirees. Eleven books are catalogued between Getting Old is Murder (2005) and Getting Old Will Haunt You (2019); the Getting Old titles carry most of the run, among them Getting Old is the Best Revenge (2006), Getting Old is Criminal (2007), Getting Old is a Disaster (2008) and Getting Old Can Kill You (2011). Lakin worked first in television, with 474 produced scripts across 30 productions between about 1962 and 1981, and The Only Woman in the Room (2015) is her memoir of being one of the first women show runners. Lakin was born in the Bronx in 1930 and died in 2023.

Rita Mae Brown

76 books• 7 series

Rita Mae Brown's catalogue reaches 77 books and splits between literary fiction and mystery. Rubyfruit Jungle (1973) belongs to the early work, catalogued under lesbian fiction. The Mrs. Murphy mysteries pair Harry Haristeen with her cats, and the Sister Jane books follow Jane Arnold and fox hunting. Runnymede is a third sequence. Clawed and Dangerous is the newest title, and Pawsible Suspects is scheduled for 2027.

Lucille Colandro and various others are credited on 24 rhyming picture books built on a folk song about an old lady who swallows odd things. There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow (2003) started the set. Later entries swallow a bat, a bell, some leaves and a clover, and Halloween and Christmas are among the subjects. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rainbow! (2025) is the newest, and each book runs to about 32 pages.

Marian Babson was the pen name of Ruth Marian Stenstreem (1929–2017), an American mystery writer born in Salem, Massachusetts, who spent most of her life in London. The novels are short, at a median of 188 pages across 53 catalogued books, and cats turn up in many of them; the publisher's tagline for the work was Murder Most British. The Trixie Dolan & Evangeline Sinclair mysteries pair two actresses as sleuths, with the Perkins & Tate books alongside. Babson took the Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library in 1996 and an Agatha Award.

Augusta Trobaugh is catalogued with 13 books published between 1997 and 2013. Praise Jerusalem! (1997) is the first title, and An Uninvited Guest and Flood! are the latest, both from 2013. Resting in the Bosom of the Lamb, Swan Place, River Jordan and The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society appear in between. Subject tags include African American women, older women, female friendship, social classes, Georgia, the Southern states and World War II. The work is likely complete.

Karen Kingsbury is an American Christian novelist, born in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 8, 1963. Kingsbury worked as a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times and later wrote for the Los Angeles Daily News. Missy's Murder (1991), Kingsbury's first book, grew out of a murder story covered as a reporter in Los Angeles. Kingsbury is a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist. The catalogue holds 115 titles, running to The Christmas Ring (2025), and the series include Firstborn, Sunrise, Above the Line, Bailey Flanigan, Red Gloves and Forever Faithful. Christian fiction and family life recur among the subjects.

Donna Leon

42 books• 4 series

Venice is where Donna Leon sets her police procedurals, and Guido Brunetti is the character the books return to, in cases of murder and criminal investigation. Leon's 42 catalogued titles open with Death at La Fenice (1992) and reach Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life in 2025, with a Brunetti companion volume and non-fiction beside the novels. Leon remains actively publishing.

Sebastian Barry, born 1955, is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet who served as Laureate for Irish Fiction from 2018 to 2021 and became a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2024. A Long Long Way (2005) made the Booker Prize shortlist. The Secret Scripture (2008) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and Costa Book of the Year and was also Booker shortlisted, and On Canaan's Side (2011) was longlisted. The 30 catalogued books run from Macker's Garden (1982) to The Newer World (2026), with McNulty Family and Days Without End as series.

Kathy Herman writes Christian suspense. Murder in small cities is the recurring frame, with policewomen, women sleuths and older women among the investigating figures. Seven groupings hold the 22 catalogued books: the Baxter series, Seaport Suspense, Phantom Hollow, the Sophie Trace Trilogy, Secrets of Roux River Bayou, the Ozark Mountain Trilogy and a set of standalone novels. The run goes from Tested by Fire (2001) to A Treacherous Mix (2018) and is listed as likely complete.