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?
My favorites have already been mentioned (C.S. Harris, Deanna Raybourn, Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton books, the Robb In Death series).
Lisa Gardner is great, and if she has a romantic subplot, it ends happily or with the promise of happy (these people have usually just been traumatized, but there’s hope). I think she used to write category romantic suspense, that might be why she’s trustworthy in that respect. She has a lot of long-running recurring characters with romantic plots. Right now she’s writing a lot of books with a character named Flora Dane, and I think she introduced a love interest for her in the last book. Gardner can be dark and a lot of the crimes can be brutal, so if that’s an issue don’t read them. Or read very selectively. The Killing Hour was the first I read, and it has a solid romantic subplot. I also don’t remember it being super gory but it’s been years.
I’ll dip into the TBR pile, although since I haven’t gotten to them yet, I can’t really vouch for these. They look good, though. Anna Lee Huber also has another historical mystery series set just after WWI – the Verity Kent books. First one is This Side of Murder. It looks like the heroine did some kind of intelligence work during the war and now is investigating something to do with her dead husband, who I don’t think is really dead. I also have what I think is the first book in a series by Cheryl Honigford called The Darkness Knows that is set in 1940s around radio. Haven’t read that yet, either, but it appeals enough that I bought it.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh, which I loved. Mystery/thriller set in rural New Zealand, good romantic subplot.
Georgette Heyer’s mysteries are a lot of fun and usually have romantic subplots. No Wind of Blame was especially fun, although it has one of those highly unrealistic Golden Age murder plots; Sayers’ Busman’s Honeymoon has the same kind of plot. The characters make up for the absurdity of it though. Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence books that were mentioned above are also pretty fun, as I remember them. I also remember liking her Why Didn’t They Ask Evans. Christie and other Golden Age writers have some class/race/gender stuff that is uncomfortable, so that’s something to keep in mind.
Definitely seconding Harris’s Sebastian St Cyr series. There’s a slow burn romance across the series that is extremely satisfying. I haven’t kept up with the latest entries but the first 8-9 books I liked very much.
Another vote for Donna Andrews – I LOVED Murder with Peacocks, it was funny as hell, and enjoyed the next eight or so before I got distracted by real life.
If medieval’s your jam, Ariana Franklin has a 4 book series about a female coroner at the court of Henry II. The first is Mistress of the Art of Death and there’s a forbidden romance which spans the series. Word of warning … the last book ends with an extremely frustrating cliffhanger which appears likely to stay unresolved due to the death of the author.
In addition, I can not recommend Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series highly enough. It remains the only series I will pay hardcover prices for. I can’t say anything about the romance without spoilage but the progression across the books rings true.
So many great series mentioned already (and a few to add to my tbr, yay!). I don’t think I saw anyone mention Cheryl Honigford’s Viv and Charlie series. She’s the daughter of a wealthy Chicago family and the rising star of a local mystery series during the golden age of radio (with aspirations to jump to the big screen, naturally). He’s the expert P.I. consultant for the show with whom she butts heads initially (is there any other way?). The first one is The Darkness Knows. Just a trilogy so far, but I keep hoping for news of another one.
These are really old but I remember really liking them and rereading some of them often back in the day.
M.M. Kaye wrote some detective stories set in various parts of the then British Empire, all with a romance at its centre. If I remember well my favourites were Death in Cyprus and Death in Berlin. I have checked and some seem to be available on Kindle, at least on Amazon uk. Off to buy one to check if they have held up the test of time.
I’ve just been reading some mysteries with romantic elements from Kindle unlimited. The Lord And Lady Hetheridge series by Emma Jameson (only the first is on KU) feature a Chief Superintendent of New Scotland Yard who solves crimes in the upper classes while falling for his female Detective Sergeant, who is lower class. He is older, which is only significant to him.
The other series I’ve been reading is the Time into Time series by Louise Allen about a female special constable who travels 200 years back in time to meet up with an earl and solve assorted mysteries. They have to deal with how to have a long distance romance where they can’t control how they meet. I enjoyed the fact that when she’s in the present she spends time researching the early 1800s so that if she goes back she’ll understand what’s going on and fit in better.
Both set in England, if that’s an issue either way.
My first thought on reading this post was an actual cross over book by Nora Roberts/JD Robb – it was how I started reading Nora Roberts books.
If you are curious about the JD Robb series then try Remember When. The first half is Nora Roberts books with a mystery (investigator checking daughter of a diamond thief as a possible tie in with the theft, romance ensues). The second half has Eve Dallas investigating the diamond theft as a result of a murder.
Thank you for this post – my TBR will be going up hugely.
Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series features a has a very nice romance threaded through the series between Judge Knott and. . . no, I can’t go there without spoiling earlier books. Her series is very well written, contains sly humor, extensive family and community connections and a well realized Southern setting.
I also want to mention Charlaine Harris’s mystery series. My favorites are the Lily Bard/Shakespeare books, though there should be a TW for descriptions of rape and violence in Lily’s past.
Finally, I second the Julia Spencer-Fleming mysteries. Not only do they feature a difficult, emotionally intense relationship, but they deal with profound moral issues that give them meaning beyond the mere solution of the mystery.
I like Anne Cleeland’s books featuring Acton and Doyle that begins with Murder in Thrall. (Be aware that the hero could be considered an anti-hero.) I also like Marie Force’s Fatal series.
Charlaine Harris has killed off at least one love interest. My sister discovered that when she watched the TV series and she was Not Happy.
Karin Slaughter, her Will Trent books have an amazing romantic sub plot. Plus she’s just an incredible writer. John Sanford, especially the Virgil Flowers books. And both Jonathan and Faye Kellerman write about long term relationships that are nice to read.
Anna Lee Huber’s Verity Kent is excellent and fits the bill. 3 books so far with one more to come. Tracy Grant’s Rannoch series is also great; there are 18 or so books and novellas to date
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles has a long-running police procedural series featuring Detective Inspector Bill Slider and his wife, concert violinist Joanna. Although each mystery is a stand-alone, to get the full arc of Bill & Joanna’s relationship, you have to read the books in order. Plus, the books have great secondary characters (especially Slider’s DS, Atherton—who has some romances of his own) and wonderful puns & wordplay. Beware: Bill is I happily married to his first wife when he initially meets Joanna; although it is Bill’s wife who eventually leaves him, I know cheating can be a hard no for some readers.
The late Jill McGown wrote a series of police procedurals with Inspector Lloyd and his sergeant, Judy Hill (in a later book, she is promoted and goes to a different precinct). Like the Bill Slider books, each of the mysteries is self-contained but to follow Lloyd & Hill’s relationship, you have to read the books in order.
While not traditional romances, Susan Hill’s on-going Simon Serrailler mysteries follow the various lives, loves, and romantic entanglements of the large Serrailler family. Some family members do die during the course of the series and I’m not sure if Simon ever finds true love, but I’ve enjoyed a number of the books (which can get very dark).
Sorry—Bill is unhappily married to his first wife…
/Proofreading is your friend, DDD.
If you want Golden Age authors, there’s also Ngaio Marsh. Alleyn first meets his future wife in Artists in Crime, and she plays a supporting role in many of the following books. Clutch of Constables is almost entirely from her POV, and is probably my favorite of the series. Their early relationship is sort of like Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane’s, in that they first meet over a dead body and have to move past that before they can consider a future.
And how could I have forgotten Vickie Bliss? I love, love, love, John Smythe.
Oh this is SUCH my jam!
My grandmother and I shared a love of mysteries, and these are some we both loved:
CS Harris’ Sebastian St. Cyr series
Bruce Alexander’s Sir John Fielding series (1811 England)
Candace Robb’s Owen Archer series (1362 England)
Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma series (Ireland 660s)
Ellis Peters’s Brother Cadfael (England / Wales 1140s)
Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series (modern Venice)
Books NOT for my grandmother
Tracy Grant’s Malcom & Suzanne Rannoch as well as The Lescaut Quartet (Early 1800s)
Michelle Diener’s Regency London series and her Susanna Horenbout and John Parker series (1525 England)
Julie Anne Lindsey Geek Girl series <3
Andrea Camilleri's Montalbano series might not quite fit this bill. Montalbano occasionally cheats on his girlfriend, and he is frequently an asshole, but they're fabulous mysteries, and he's actually a compassionate detective who cares deeply about justice.
M/M romance w/ boinking
Charlie Adhara's Big Bad Wolf series (I really love this series)
Layla Reyne's Agents Irish and Whiskey
Josh Lanyon writes a ton of M/M mystery romances, but you might start with Come Unto These Yellow Sands or the All's Fair series.
C.S. Poe's Snow & Winter series has a leading character with a form of colorblindness that also renders him legally blind.
Nicole Kimberling's The Bellingham Mystery Series are novella collections and I really liked them.
I love mysteries, and actually have a much longer list. 🙂
Andrea Penrose also has a Lady Ariana Regency mystery series that has a nicely balanced couple and also features loads of early chocolate descriptions.
In contemporaries, I love Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh, who each have several Oregon based series featuring strong mysteries and evolving romances-and have also written a few books together. These two authors are the only ones I routinely pre-order and then it’s like Christmas when I’m notified it’s been downloaded.
Pat McIntosh’s Gil Cunningham series (medieval Scotland). Murder mystery series with a long relationship arc including marriage (and the arc continues long after the wedding). I think there are 10 so far? Nothing new in a while, and maybe there will be no more… The daily life stuff feels very real without feeling awkwardly “let me show you all the research.” Strong interesting characters. One of my favorite series ever.
Ann Swinfen’s Oxford Medieval mystery series. Pretty slow burn romance. There are only 6 books, and I believe the author has died. The romance finally reached a point of acknowledgement and possible forward movement, but that’s where it stops. Pretty interesting books, but I found the writing more awkward – the research seemed more obvious and less organic to the stories, though sometimes those were the most interesting sections. (I got fairly annoyed with the narrator’s voice, not literal voice, but I might not have noticed if I hadn’t read them all as audio.)
Linda Howard. I really like her snarky “Mr. Perfect”, and “To Die For” and the sequel, “Drop Dead Gorgeous”. And “Burn”, a story of a lottery winner who is forced into a fake relationship on a luxury cruise ship.
I second Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series. And Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters. I like Annette Blair, who has a series about a vintage clothing dealer. Suzanne Enoch has a series about a cat burglar and the millionaire she steals from. The first book is “Flirting With Danger”.
I have to share a series I LOVE, by Mary Anna Evans. Her heroine is a poor mixed race archaeologist, who owns an island off the coast of Florida. Her great grandmother was a slave and managed to hold on to the land through the Civil War. The love interest is a Native American younger man. Lots of books. Lots of archaeology. I should do a book squee about archaeologist Faye Longchamps and her home on Joyeuse Island.
Oh man, OMG, I can’t forget “Fragment”, by Warren Fahy. It’s not exactly a mystery, but there is a ship full of research scientists, and other folk on a reality show. They answer a mysterious mayday signal. From an unexplored island. The island has been isolated for millennia. A whole different set of lifeforms have evolved there. So much science! So much competence porn! I have given away so many copies of this book.
Genevieve Lenard is an autistic genius who works for an art insurance company. Over the series, she amasses a lover and a variety of friends, and each mystery features a work from a famous artist. The author is Estelle Ryan.
I could go on.. this stuff is my catnip. I have more, but I will stop. I need to go re-read some favorites.
Agree with DonnaMarie on the Emmeline Truelove series — I read A MOST EXTRAORDINARY PURSUIT by Juliana Gray last week, loved it, and promptly got the second one — A STRANGE SCOTTISH SHORE. I think it absolutely fits this list. These are paranormal mysteries set in 1905, with lovely banter and falling in love, but not consummation. Like mystery romances in general, the HEA is not resolved in Book 1 – and the paranormal elements get stronger as the books go on. While I greatly enjoyed this series, I’m a little disconcerted that there’s no Book 3 yet. (But since I’m guilty of the same thing in the series I started writing, I’m not going to criticize it, just point it out).
Also, many of the classic Mary Stewart novels have mystery and romance elements — Airs Above the Ground, for instance. But they’re not a series.
Two authors I haven’t seen on this list yet — KATE ROSS (Julian Kestrel series). A lovely Regency-set mystery series, unfortunately cut short by the author’s death from cancer. Not necessarily a romance, but Kestrel is a leading man who deserves one. Also SARAH CAUDWELL (Thus Was Adonis Murdered, etc). These are superb mashups of the epistolary genre/legal mysteries, almost bordering on satire of English-barrister-solicitor stories. In the right mood — the mood in which I wish to be reminded of the days of teletype machines and operators who place international calls for you — I adore them. Like the Julian Kestrel series, I wouldn’t say there’s a couple on the page, but there are definitely intrigues among all the young overworked lawyers.
Catherine Lloyd’s Kurland St. Mary mysteries are great! Regencies with a pair of sleuths who eventually get marriage and keep solving small town crime together.
Seconding the recommendation for Elizabeth Peters, whose other “detectives” include Vicky Bliss (art historian/museum employee) and Jacqueline Kirby (college librarian). In the wake of the RWA debacle, I wonder what Peters might have said—her DIE FOR LOVE mystery is set against the backdrop of an RWA-type writers’ convention and is somewhat tied in to her subsequent Kirby novel, NAKED ONCE MORE. Peters deployed Kirby as a sharp observer of the human character, and the humorous skewering of stereotypes in Romancelandia certainly reflected the era of the “Avon ladies” and the old skool bodice rippers.
I forgot about the Daisy Dalrymple series by Carola Dunn. I like that one a lot. I think Dunn wrote regency romances back in the day.
G.M. Malliet also writes mysteries with romance that I really liked. Though one of them has only two books. The other is about a retired spy turned vicar. I really enjoyed it up until something happens that I couldn’t reconcile with him being a vicar. It’s my own hangup and probably wouldn’t bother most readers unless they’re particularly religious.
I’m looking up all the suggestions that seem like candidates for the TBR pile and have been foiled by at least one that isn’t available digitally. What did we do before downloadable samples?!
This is my favourite rec league, there are so many new mysteries awaiting!
I’m currently working my way through Marie Force’s Fatal series, which starts with Fatal Affair – I think there’s at least 10 books in the series?
Love the Lady Julia Grey and Sebastian St Cyr – Hero is such a good character.
Charles Todd’s Bess Crawford doesn’t really count as it would be a ridiculously slow burn that hasn’t yet eventuated, but I enjoy them anyway.
@Anne Richland, I am both anxious for and dreading Emmaline’s next adventure. I know foreshadowing when I read it.
I second the Carolyn Hart Death on Demand series. Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series, it takes a few books for her to realize she’s in love although everyone already wants that in the first book. Also I don’t consider her cozy mystery but I loved Inspector Monk series and of course charlotte and Thomas Pitt series from Anne Perry
@Anna Richland
Kate Ross’ Julian Kestrel series is one of my all-time favorites. My grandmother and I both adored and and were both terribly saddened to learn the author had died.
I adore the moppet from the first book SO. MUCH.
—-
“If everyone who died with unpunished sins on his conscience came back as a ghost, the living would be crowded out of every home in England.”
“You’re cynical. I thought you would be. Can you sneer?”
“With terrifying effect.”
“Oh, do it, please! I want to see it!”
“I’m afraid you’re much too young to withstand it. I should be accused of stunting your growth–perhaps even sending you into a decline.”
“I wouldn’t go into a decline. I’m robust. My governess says so.”
My TBR has significantly grown now! Andrew Taylor writes some good mysteries. Bleeding Heart Square has kind of some romance in it. His Ashes of London series set in Restoration era London is pretty good–the romance is very slow burn, it’s barely there but the end of book 3 makes me think it’s definitely going to happen.
@Rachael, there is also a prequel for the Fatal series that was written sometime after the series began. One Night with You covers the initial meeting of the two leads. Here’s a link: https://www.amazon.com/One-Night-You-Prequel-Novella-ebook/dp/B00S5J5ZG2?ref=silk_at_search
Diana Killian writes cozy mysteries with lovely, funny, slow-burn romances (very His Girl Friday) – my favorites are the Poetic Death trilogy. The leads are a grad student and an antique dealer with a mysterious past. All set in contemporary England with a million literary references.
I am new to the mystery with romance genre, and I’m excited for all these recommendations!
One of my favorites so far is The Agency series by YS Lee, starting with The Spy in the House. The main character is a half-Chinese female spy in Victorian London. She keeps running into a young engineer during her investigations and they develop a delightful romance.
The Charles Lenox series by Charles Finch features a romance; it’s not the biggest part of the books but I rather like it since it deals with people who are slightly older and have known each other as friends for years. There are also some nice side couples as well, and the entire thing is set in the Victorian era with some pretty interesting nods to the social reform that was happening at the time. The first book is A Beautiful Blue Death. These are some of my favorite stress/comfort reads.
This is a great topic and with all the recs so far I can’t believe I have anything to add but I highly recommend the Anna Blanc Mysteries by Jennifer Kincheloe. There are 3 so far in the series, Anna is a socialite in early 20th century Los Angeles, so an unusual setting for historical mysteries and they are very well researched. Los Angeles itself is wonderfully present in the books which are funny and so well written. Audiobook fans may appreciate knowing they are brilliantly narrated by Moira Quirk.
The Kendra Donovan series by Julie McElwain. A contemporary FBI profiler accidentally gets stuck in 1816 and can’t get back so she finds mysteries to solve while trying to keep the bulk of her knowledge under wraps. I’m not usually a fan of time travel tropes but these are quite good though on the edge of my harrowing deaths tolerance meter, however I am a renowned wimp.
Kate Fansler Mysteries by Amanda Cross.
I’ve only read the first 4 and it was ages ago, they were written in the 60’s thru the 80’s about a NY english professor, and are possibly very dated. But if the sophisticated and slightly pretentious intellectuals who inhabit Iris Murdoch novels or Woody Allen films appeal to you, as they do me, then I recommend them.
Amanda Cross was the pen name of Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, and seems to have been a fascinating person. She was the first woman to receive tenure in the English department at Columbia and was a prolific feminist author of academic studies.
I’ve come up with some more – Stephanie Barron wrote a series of mysteries that feature Jane Austen as the sleuth. Her love interest is implied to be the inspiration for Mr Darcy, but (no spoilers here) he dies in about book five of the series.
Lovers of the Peter Wimsey books might be interested in the continuation of the series by Jill Paton Walsh, which started with the book that Dorothy Sayers didn’t finish and carries on from there. Peter and Harriet have one of those mature affections for each other and such a relaxed but firm way with their sons that the lack of romance isn’t obvious.
Ashley Gardner’s Captain Lacey books are excellent mysteries with a couple of romances. The primary one doesn’t get going until the third of fourth book, but it’s worth the wait!
Another series I thought of was Susan Conant’s series about Holly Winter. For readers who are also dog lovers, Holly grew up with dog breeders/trainers; she now writes for a dog magazine, and she trains and shows dogs, and her love interest/boyfriend is a veterinarian. The romance is lowkey for most of the books (I do remember one later in the series where there’s a bit of a crisis in the relationship and it takes more of a front seat), but the most significant relationship is between Holly and her dog(s). These books taught me a lot about the world of dog shows and also the difference between a malamute and an Alaskan husky.
And since Magpie mentioned Diana Killian who is aka Josh Lanyon I also wanted to recommend the Adrien English mysteries series in case no one has mentioned it yet. One of my favorites. This thread is going to destroy my finances but thanks for all the awesome recs.
Hm this has got to be the most comprehensive list I’ve seen to date, but I might be able to add a few that I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned thus far:
*consults spreadsheet kept specifically for this purpose*
– The Dody McLeland series by Felicity Young (early twentieth century female autopsy surgeon)
– The Hannah Trevor series by Margaret Lawrence (late eighteenth century Maine midwife)
– The Lizzie Martin books by Ann Granger
Lastly, I have to second the Gaslight series/Victoria Thompson recommendation. I haven’t particularly enjoyed her newer series, about a suffragist, but I love love love the main characters in the gaslight series, and I’ve never enjoyed a slow burn so much.
Reading these comments has been like a trip down memory lane for me.