This Rec League came from our very own Sarah:
What mystery series do you recommend that would also appeal to romance readers? Genre crossover is a lovely thing, and many, many romances feature a (delicious) mystery element. But for this Rec League, I’m looking for those books that are marketed and sold predominantly as mysteries that would also appeal to romance readers, especially books that romance fans might not be aware of.
Amanda: Obvious options aside, like Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock and Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell.
Sarah: The Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a good one, as there’s a slowly evolving romance over each book. And Amory Ames ( A | BN ) is a good fit for this one, too, though instead of a romance, it’s the repair of a marriage. I’ve mentioned those before, and they may likely already be more widely known.
I think part of the danger for me as a romance reader treading out into mystery is that I fear for the romantic protagonists, if there are any!
Elyse: Rhys Bowen has several historical mystery series with romance elements!
Tara: There’s a two-book f/f series by Lee Winter called On the Record. The first book has two celebrity reporters who can’t stand each other. They’re both at the same tech company launch in LA and notice that there are 30+ sex workers there from Nevada and there’s something weird about a missing pallet of pink champagne. They work the story together, more twists happen, and a great enemies-to-lovers romance happens along the way. In the second book, Under Your Skin, they’re getting married and there’s a mystery around subdermal chips.
I love this series so much because it balances mystery with romance very well. The dialogue is also very snappy, reminiscent of movies like His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story.
Sarah: HELLO.
Tara: Yeah, they’re super fun and have one of my all-time fav couples.
Shana: I would recommend Sue Ann Jaffarian’s Odelia Grey series. ( A | BN | K | AB ) They’re lighthearted mysteries about a plus-sized paralegal and her diverse group of friends, with a central romance that builds over the first few books. The couple later solve mysteries together. The hero uses a wheelchair and the disability rep is strong.
Sarah: HELLO AGAIN.
Sneezy: Oh HAI!!
I haven’t thought of anything yet, but this is already shaping up to beat my wallet into a pulp
Catherine: Are the Peter Wimsey novels that feature Harriet Vane too obvious? Starting with Strong Poison, in which Harriet has been accused of her lover’s murder and Peter is nowhere near as romantic as he thinks he is, moving through the tension and bitterness and secret codes of Have His Carcase to the gorgeous, Oxford-set Gaudy Night, which really is at least half romance, and a very good one, too. And then Busman’s Honeymoon, with a murder set just as Harriet and Peter are beginning to figure out married life. There are a few short stories set after this, too, but I don’t recall their names…
On a very different note, Kerry Greenwood always includes romantic subplots in her mysteries – her actual heroines, Phryne Fisher ( A | BN | K | AB | Au ) and Corinna Chapman, both settle down (for an extremely unconventional version of this value, in the case of Phryne) with their lovers fairly early on, but there is almost always a set of lovers to be helped in the stories.
EllenM: Oh man this is my JAM. Super agree with Lady Darby; I have to say i’ve been less invested in the books since the main couple got married.
The Wrexford and Sloane mysteries by Andrea Penrose ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) also have a lovely slow-burn romance that seems like it’s going to resolve somehow in the next book (book 4). I’ve also started reading and enjoying the Bess Ellyott mysteries ( A | BN | K | AB ) (set in the Tudor era, heroine is an herbalist) and it seems like there’s a romance shaping up.
Sneezy: Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline might fit the bill, but it definitely straddles the line between suspense, mystery, and paranormal romance.
It’s an ownvoices Métis novel building on Metis’ Rogarou stories. Joan has been looking for her husband Victor, who has been missing for close to a year, when she sees him trying to bring people to Jesus…as Reverend Eugene Wolff. He doesn’t even recognize her.
I had to flip to the end! I feel like while it isn’t a cliffy, I WANTS A SSSSSEQUEL!!!!!! WHERESSS ISSSS IT????? Which is likely a result of my romance-minded view where I want EVERYTHING to be tied off with a big red bow at the end. Plus I was sweating and reading through my fingers, so maybe the way it ended was the point.
For the romance part of the book, without spoiling anything, I will say Joan and Victor fight hard as fuck for each other.
Anyway, it’s touted as the #1 best selling book in Canada in 2019, and I can definitely see why. It’s by the same author who wrote The Marrow Thieves.
Which mysteries do you think would appeal to romance readers?
Georgette Heyer’s murder mysteries tend to have strong romantic elements in them (except Penhallow, which is much darker).
The In Death series by JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts) should definitely be included. While each book is a murder mystery, there is romantic relationship development throughout the series.
Minette Walters comes to my mind. I like The Ice House, The Dark Room and The Sculptress. Very intriguing and well-written.
Note: Unless I call it out, these books are in first person POV.
Kat Grant series by Jennifer Ashley. The heroine’s a cook, so there’s also a lot of talk about food.
Lindsey Davis’ Flavia Albia series. Albia is the adopted daughter of Falco from the other series, and now she’s an investigator too. I love both Albia and her guy.
Barbara Nickless’ Sydney Parnell series. She’s a railroad cop, a veteran of the Iraq wars, and has a military dog named Clyde. Note: These are fairly dark mysteries.
Darcie Wilde’s Rosalind Thorne series. The romance is a really slow burn and sort of a triangle, but it’s a good series. 3rd person POV.
Renee Patrick’s Edith Head series. Lillian, the narrator has a romance going on. All the 1940’s Hollywood stuff is fun.
Maggie Robinson’s Lady Adelaide series. The ghost of Adelaide’s philandering husband has to help her in order to atone to get into heaven. This is set in the 1920’s and her romantic interest is an Indian detective. 3rd person POV.
Ellis Peter’s Cadfael series as a romance in each one even though it is a different couple each time. Her writing is wonderful and it is also fun to see the politics within the abbey and the growth of one couple throughout the series.
Julia Spencer-Fleming’s series is wonderful in this regard (and in every regard, really.) Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James by Deborah Crombie. And Lauren Willig’s series for sure.
C. S. Harris’ Sebastian St. Cyr series – I highly recommend. Also Raybourn’s Julia Grey series. I am not as fond of Tasha Alexander’s series but it is enjoyed by others.
These might fit the request:
Ellie Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series (12 books in series so far)
C S Harris’ Sebastian St. Cyr series (15 books in series so far)
Gregory Ashe’s Hazard and Somerset mysteries or his Shaw and North’s mysteries. Both are amazing mysteries with great romance!
Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig) wrote cozy mysteries with a romance at the heart. Try the Sarah Kelling series, featuring a Boston Brahmin and a Jewish insurance fraud investigator. As Alisa Craig, she wrote a series about a RCMP. She died about 15 years ago, but most of her work still appears to be in print. I haven’t re-read any recently but have fond memories of them.
Kelley Armstrong’s Casey Duncan/Rockton series is sooo good. It is an off the grid town in Canada where people can disappear away from their troubles for a few years. Casey and her boyfriend Eric are the law in the town. Eric is a great character!
P.B. Ryan’s Nell Sweeney mysteries – set in Post Civil War Boston. Six books. Nell is the amateur sleuth who is an Irish maid/companion to a rich Bostonion matron. Her love interest is the eldest son. The series is a complete series at ends in an HEA in the last book.
David Handler’s Berger & Mitry series – Cozy/ amateur sleuth mysteries set in a coastal Connecticut island community. Main character Mitch Berger is a Jewish movie critic his love interest is Dez Mitry, a female black state trooper.
Judith Smith-Levin’s Starletta Duvall mysteries. Starletta is a detective so the books are somewhere between police procedural and mysteries. Starletta is African American. Her love interest in the books is the ME. There are only four books because, sadly, Ms. Smith-Levin passed away before she could write any more and the last book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Sigh. But they are good reads.
I second the Rockton series! I just finished the fifth in the series and it may be my favorite. Also Raybourn’s Julia Grey series. I just did a re-read.
Any of the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries by Agatha Christie. In fact the first book they appear, THE SECRET ADVERSARY is pretty much a straight romantic suspense novel with a happy ending and everything.
The other five books in the series basically follow them all throughout their marriage, including when they are in their fifties or so and all their children are grown. I will warn that these books are older, so I might check the reviews to make sure they don’t contain tropes and such that wouldn’t fly today .(I don’t remember Agatha Christie writing anything too terrible, but it’s been a long time since I’ve read her stuff )
They’re old-school, but the Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels series and stand-alones all have mysteries and some romance (generations of romance for the Amelia Peabody books and there are a lot of them!)
I apologize for the double post , but I have to make a correction, there are actually only five Tommy and Tuppence mysteries, some of which are short stories. Like I said it’s been a long time since I read any Agatha Christie.
Longtime reader, first-time commenter (waves to all). This is one of my favorite sub-genres. I highly recommend the Lizzie Hardwicke series by Georgina Clarke. Set in Georgian London, heroine is a sex worker, excellent romantic undercurrent, also very well-plotted mysteries and historical details. I had such a book hangover after finishing the second one (which is the most recent, though I think a third is on the way.)
I’m also a big fan of a lot of the series others have referenced – Lady Sherlock and Veronica Speedwell of course, but I also really like the Wrexford & Sloane series. The writing is a little bit uneven but the plots are great and have a pretty unique angle (scientific discoveries/quirks) and the slow burn romance is lovely. Thanks for all the new recs – off to check out Bess Ellyott now.
Just a quick repeat recommendation of the Charlie Adhara Wolf series. Each book builds an overall romantic arc and the mysteries also build to larger issues across the series. Can’t read these out of order, but they’re well worth reading. M/M and shifter.
I can’t believe my luck that no one else has mentioned Sheri Cobb South’s John Pickett series! He’s a Bow Street Runner and his first case is solving the murder of the husband of the woman he loves from afar.
What got me onto that series is the work of Sarah Waldock, who has a lovely set of novels and short story collections based on the life of Jane Churchill (nee Fairfax). In the first book, Frank Churchill is murdered. (I also recommend Sarah Waldock’s work for other categories.)
The Deborah Crombie Jemma James / Inspector Duncan Kinkaid series are excellent and a romantic relationship develops over time. It’s great.
I LOVE Dorothy L. Sayers, especially Gaudy Night (A++.) Readers new to her should be advised that many of her books contain Golden Age British Yuck. Stereotypes & casual anti-Semitism will pop up randomly, so wade in with your protective boots.
One of my all-time favorites is A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King (A++.) This is the book in which Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes come to grips with how their relationship will move beyond mentorship to partnership. Contains respect, & all the competence porn.
Content warning for spousal violence & forced drug use.
The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry. It’s the first book in a series with a housemaid and a medical student solving crimes in 19thC Edinburgh. It’s really great if you’re also into history of medicine. The second one, The Art of Dying, is even better imo. Be warned though, book 3 isn’t coming out until 2021!
Ooh, I have a brand new series out that is this *exactly*! DEATH COMES TO CORNWALL is a cozy mystery set in… well, Cornwall, in a pretty village currently being used as a TV location. A gorgeous actor, the black sheep of the village, a thieving cat… the first book is out now: mybook.to/DCTC
The Monkeewrench series by P B Tracy. Unusual heroine and police detective hero. The city of Minneapolis is almost a character too. Well written and well plotted.
she hasn’t written this series in a while but there are about 15 books. Earlene Fowler’s Benni Harper series, Gabe is a hottie. Also, Jill Churchill’s Jane Jeffrey’s series. And of course my favorite mystery writer Elizabeth Peters, her Amelia Peobody generational love stories with parents and later on their son’s love interest but also her Vicki Bliss series, John is a great romantic interest.
Yes, second Amelia Peabody by Elizabeth Peters (who has a PhD in Egyptology!) light on the romance but big on the fun. Also loved Laurie R. King, also lighter on the romance but, as stated before, big on the competence porn.
I just started Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mysteries series. It’s fun without making light of the serious situations involved. I love the protagonist, Clare Cosi. She’s late thirties and a divorced mom. I can see budding romantic plots brewing (ha) and there’s lots of coffee/food porn, which is a bonus!
I second MirandaB’s recommendation for Jennifer Ashley’s series! Death Below Stairs is the first book. I’m crossing my fingers for a BBC/Netflix adaptation because it’s just a fantastic period piece.
“I think part of the danger for me as a romance reader treading out into mystery is that I fear for the romantic protagonists, if there are any!”
THIS! So many times in mysteries the romance doesn’t pan out. One of them ends up as a victim or only appears in one book to give the detective a sad history. Sometimes it’s even a red herring and the lover is the bad guy. What I usually do for series is check the synopsis and reviews for the most recent book to see if the love interest is still around.
I don’t really read mysteries for the mystery plot. I only read them if the detective is interesting and I want to read about them.
Ooh, this is catnip to me! I was a mystery reader first and came to romance late. Others have already mentioned my favorite mystery writer, Elizabeth Peters. Her Vicky Bliss series was my gateway to romance.
Also, I second the recommendation of Charlotte MacLeod’s Sarah Kelling/Max Bittersohn mysteries. Other series with a romantic couple at the center:
Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series
Gillian Roberts’ Amanda Pepper series
As for authors with unconnected books with romantic elements, I echo the recommendation of Ellis Peters. My fave is The Devil’s Novice.
Another mystery author who often has romantic subplots in her standalones is the recently departed Mary Higgins Clark. My favorite of hers was Loves Music, Loves to Dance.
I’ll try to remember more and look for my old mysteries.
In a more humorous vein, Donna Anderson’s “bird” series has a romance at its core, starting with Murder with Peacocks, but like the J. D. Robb Eve Dallas series, part of the pleasure is the expanding cast of supporting characters. Dorothy Cannell’s THe Thin Woman also was the first in a series with a romance.
This is by far my favorite sub-genre!
I definitely agree with the recommendations for the Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series, Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey and Veronica Speedwell series, and Penrose’s Wrexford & Sloane series. These are all so good and the slowburn romances are delicious.
I also would add Lynn Messina’s Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries. Beatrice Hyde-Clare is a shy spinster who solves crimes and grows into herself. In the first book she stumbles upon a murder at a house party and thinks it was committed by the pompous Duke – spoiler, it wasn’t! And, who would have guessed, but it turns out there might be more to the Duke than she first thought! In the later books, she continues to solve crimes and the Duke helps (there are 5 books). My favorite part is how supportive the Duke is of her. He lets her take the lead and offers assistance, but only jumps in when necessary. My only complaint is I get a little annoyed with her low self esteem (there’s only so many times I need to hear how plain she is or how she doesn’t deserve the Duke). Other that that, I love them!
I’ve been meaning to try the Amory Ames series since Sarah talked about it. I love the Corinna Chapman books. They’re very good in audio. Jennifer Ashley/Ashley Gardner is supposed to have a new Roman era mystery series coming out. She wrote a novella that’s, I think, a prequel. It’s in an anthology called A Soupcon of Poison.
Charlotte MacLeod wrote several series were the main detective character meets someone and they become a detecting couple – the Peter Shandy series (New England ag college), the Sarah Kelling series (Boston blue-blood fallen on hard times), the Grub-and-Stakers (garden club), the Madoc Rhys series (a Mountie whose family gets him involved in mysteries). I’ve listened to the Peter Shandy series multiple times.
There’s the Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews. I’ve only read the first one but I liked it and from what I can tell it follows their married life. Sarah Graves’ Home Repair is Homicide series has an element of romance. It’s closer to thriller than cozy IMO, but I have a low tolerance for thrillers especially when I’m listening to them, which I was.
My sister has recommended Dorothy Cannell’s Ellie Haskell series to me. I liked the first one but don’t know if the relationship holds up as the series progresses.
You all are the best! I have so many books now starred in Libby and am so excited to get to them.
@Cyranetta – it’s Donna Andrews. I just don’t want anyone to miss out on her awesomeness because they’re looking for Donna Anderson. One of my favorites is We’ll Always Have Parrots, which takes place at a sci-fi con.
Ooh – thanks for the correction! Agree about “Parrots,”and the one that had me practically in tears with laughter (primarily because of the Affirmation Bears”) was Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon.
It is a slow burn romance, but I love, love the Wisteria Mysteries by Patrice Greenwood. The setting, the characters, the issues the books deal with. If you haven’t read them, I recommend them.
Another recommendation is Dublin Driver mysteries by Catie Murphy. The first book Dead in Dublin is just so satisfying. There is.. a hint of a romance, but it will be interesting to read the next couple of books.
A third recommendation is the Molly Higgins series. The first book Death in Cornwall is just out, and it has a very satisfying mystery along with a HEA.
It’s worth mentioning that Empire of Wild isn’t out yet — current release date listed as July 28, 2020 on Amazon. Six months is a long time from now – I can’t even submit it to my library for purchase yet. So that’s a rather big disappointment; would have appreciated a note on that (and, really, anything that’s being recommended based on an ARC, because most of us aren’t privileged enough to get ARCs before release). Thanks!
I am a big fan of Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight Mystery series that start with Murder on Astor Place. They feature a great slooooooow burn romance.
So, so many good recs in here, and given that this is my all-time-favorite genre – and therefore one I’m always fairly certain I have exhausted – I’m delighted to see a few suggestions I never tried.
First of all, emphatically endorse recs for Dorothy L. Sayers. I re-read the entire Wimsey/Vane series at least once a year. The language can be a bit dense at times but they’re so atmospheric and good. Gaudy Night is my favorite book of all time.
I really really enjoyed the “Madam of Espionage” series by Carol Carr that started with the eponymous “India Black.” Sadly, it seems the publisher didn’t pick up any more titles after the initial 4-plus-a-novella, so you’re left a bit hanging with respect to the developing relationship, but it’s a fun pairing between a madam-turned-sleuth and a fairly uptight gentleman from the war office.
Also, they fall more in the category of “suspense” than mystery, but I cut my up-all-night reading teeth on Mary Stewart novels, and other than some vaguely regressive 60s-vintage tropes they mostly held up on a recent re-read. This Rough Magic and Airs Above the Ground are particular favorites.
Now to go back and comb this thread for any I might have missed…
I’m the only one reading Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope series? Seriously? Set in WWII London, they are great reads, often featuring real life personalities like Winston Churchill, the Roosevelts and the young princesses. I’m sure I mentioned this in the last New Releases post, as the next one is due ANY DAY NOW!!!, but she is no plucky heroine going from adventure to adventure. She’s been nearly broken a few times along the way, and is clearly suffering from PTSD. For instance, in the newest book she’s taken a break from spying to defuse bombs in London. I can not recommend these enough.
I don’t know that it fit’s the bill exactly, but Juliana Gray has taken a departure from historical romance with her Emmeline Truelove Series. Aside from the mystery and romantic elements, there’s time travel. They actually start off with Emmeline working for a character we’ve met in her previous historical romance series, the Duke of Olympia, but these take a BIG departure from previous books.
I’m pretty sure all the others I’m following are already listed, or SBSarah has already mentioned them, but I’m going to third?, fourth? the Rockton books from Kelley Armstrong. She also recently put out a stand alone, Where Ever She Goes, which was really good. Main character sees a child being abducted, but no one believes her. What’s a woman with mysterious past to do? Also, big potential for possible series.