Carlotta Carlyle series.
An ex-cop, now a cab driver in Boston, Carlotta has a wry sense of humor and a self-deprecating style. She gradually grows into the role of PI while encountering a cast of outrageous characters. 

Theresa MacLean series.
Theresa is a forensic scientist based in Cleveland who is a crime scene analyst. She often finds herself embroiled in cases in which everyone has a motive and everyone is a suspect.

Kate Shackleton series.
Set in 1920s Yorkshire, this series features Kate Shackleton, a young First World War widow who has developed a reputation for finding people.

Jane Arnold series.
In her 70’s, esteemed “Sister” Arnold is an expert fox-hunter and Master of the Hunt Club in Jefferson, Virginia. Unlike British hunters, American hunters love the thrill of chasing after the fox with no intent to kill. She has an intuitive understanding of animals as well as humans and solves mysteries involving both.

Britt Montero series.
Cuban-born Britt Montero, like her creator, covers the Miami police beat for the local paper, keeping one step ahead of the cops and one step closer to danger.

Ursula Blanchard series.
Ursula is a Lady-in-Waiting and undercover spy in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. She uses her considerable skills and wit to uncover mysteries and thwart various plots against the Queen and her realm.

Irene Kelly series.
Set in the Los Angeles area, Irene Kelly is a reporter with fierce integrity. Detective Frank Harriman is her lover and friend in these taut thrillers with exciting action and clever dialogue.

Ellie Haskell series.
Ellie is an interior decorator who solves mysteries along with her husband, Ben, a writer and chef. Joining them are Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell, a pair of dotty sisters and owners of the Flowers Detection Agency. Outlandish characters enliven the stories, and the titles are puns on literary classics.  

Kate Burkholder series.
Kate, who grew up in an Amish community, left after a series of brutal murders shattered the English/Amish residents. Her Amish background, combined with her big-city law enforcement expertise, make her the perfect candidate for the open position of Chief of Police. She returns to her old community believing that she has come to terms with the past, but murders are still occurring, and Kate must deal with them in these thrillers.

Eleanor Swift series.
Eleanor Swift, along with her sister Maddy, run A Slice of Delight, a small-town Southern pizzeria in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Besides serving delicious pizzas and sandwiches, murders pop up from time to time, much to their dismay. The series includes pizza recipes.

Miss Marple series.
Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster who lives in the quiet village of St. Mary Mead, is deceptively dotty and fragile looking. With her sharp eyes and intelligence, though, she knows human nature and helps to solve crimes that have the police stumped.

Jane Jeffry series.
Jane is a recent widow and single mom living in suburban Chicago. She has a good knowledge of human nature, which helps in her crime-solving adventures. The titles in the series are all puns on famous works, e.g., Bell, Book and Scandal. 

Regan Reilly series.
Regan, daughter of famous mystery writer Nora Regan Reilly, is no stranger to high society, having grown up in private schools and gone on many European jaunts. She's also a private eye who gets around, with cases taking her to such places as Oxford, Miami Beach, and Aspen. She’s able to handle herself in all types of situations without too much difficulty because of her "natural-born pluck."

Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries series.
Ever since Josie left a high-paying job in New York to set up shop as an antiques appraiser on the rugged New Hampshire coast, her life has not gone exactly according to plan. She has a booming business, good friends and neighbors, and even a promising romance, but dead bodies seem to appear too frequently. Josie finds herself ferreting out the truth, defending her reputation, and trying to keep her business running smoothly, all while trying to put down roots in her new community.

Dixie Hemingway series.
This series centers around the life of a former policewoman turned pet-sitter, in the Gulf-side city of Sarasota. The series has interesting recurring characters. (Following the author's death, the series has been continued by her son, John.) 

Gourmet Girl series.
Chloe Carter (known in chatrooms as “GourmetGirl”) is a food connoisseur and survivor of failed romances. She is forever on a quest for the perfect meal and the perfect man. She plunges into the gourmet restaurant scene as an amateur sleuth and discovers a cutthroat world of killer competition, stormy love affairs, etc. Set in the Boston area, the series includes recipes.

Coffeehouse series.
Clare Cosi owns the Village Blend coffeehouse in Greenwich Village, where coffee and crime are always brewing. Recipes are included.

Emma Lord series.
Emma is the owner/publisher/editor of The Advocate, a newspaper in Alpine, Washington. Emma is spunky, humorous, and independent. She gets assistance with her investigations from members of the community. Murders in Alpine seem to happen in alphabetical order beginning with The Alpine Advocate. 

Bed and Breakfast series.
Judith McMonigle Flynn is the innkeeper of a B&B in Seattle. Bodies keep turning up in this series, and Judith is a reluctant sleuth. She also has a zany cousin who tends to get her into  trouble whenever they're together. 

Dorothy Martin series.
Dorothy is a retired American schoolteacher now residing with her second husband, Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, in England. Her outspoken American ways can cause some wincing on the part of her husband, but she is a good amateur sleuth who helps solve crimes in the London area.

Goldy Schulz series.
The series follows “Goldy Bear” Schulz, a caterer in Colorado, as she solves murders and tries to keep her fledgling business afloat. There's a nasty ex, a little romance, and some wonderful recipes in these mysteries.

Constable Molly Smith series.
Set in the fictitious town of Trafalgar, British Columbia, Molly is an unusual protagonist for a crime series. She is rarely the primary character when it comes to breaking cases (at least not in the beginning novels); however, it is Molly who elevates the series from standard procedural fare to a memorable series. 

Daisy Dalrymple series.
The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple has taken a job as a journalist to ensure her independence -- an unusual step for the daughter of a viscount in 1922. Her investigations often take her abroad in this series of well-drawn characters, snappy dialogue, and interesting plot twists.

Stephanie Plum series.
Employed by her cousin Vinnie, Stephanie is a bounty hunter. She's a spunky combination of Nancy Drew and Dirty Harry. Set in New Jersey, the mysteries have a supporting cast of characters, some of whom are hilarious.

Hannah Swensen series.
Hannah, in her early thirties, has flaming red, frizzy hair and two love interests -- a detective and a dentist. She is the owner/operator of an independent bakery and coffee shop called The Cookie Jar, located in the fictitious town in Minnesota.  She and her young assistant, Lisa, make everything by hand, but when Hannah is not baking, she gets involved in solving murders.

Mrs. Pollifax series.
Emily Pollifax, a widow in her sixties, decides one day to leave her comfortable apartment in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and join the CIA. She is very likely the only spy in literature to belong simultaneously to the CIA and a local garden club.

Seaside Knitters series.
Isabel "Izzy" Chambers is the owner of a knitting shop in Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, where a diverse (eccentric) group of women congregate each week to form the Seaside Knitters. Izzy and her knitting group work together to solve the latest local murder.

Kinsey Millhone series.
Millhone is a tough-talking and resourceful former police officer who often uses her police connections to assist her with her cases.

Home Repair is Homicide series.
Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree abandons Wall Street to buy a charming, but dilapidated, house in Eastport, Maine. Fast becoming a home repair expert, she and her son soon discover that even life in a calm seacoast village has its share of murders.

Phryne Fisher series.
Glamorous, terribly fashionable, and handy with a pistol, the Honourable Phryne Fisher, often referred to as “Miss Fisher,” is the main character in this series of detective novels. Phryne is a twenty-eight-year-old wealthy aristocrat who lives in Melbourne in the late 1920s. With support from her maid, Dot, and other able assistants, she solves all manner of crimes. The capable Miss Fisher can fly a plane, drive her own car, and sometimes even wears trousers. Displaying bohemian panache, she also manages to maintain class and style. These popular stories have been shown on PBS’s Mystery series.

Ruth Galloway series.
Ruth, a quirky and sharp-tongued anthropologist, lives happily alone and enjoys digging in the remoter parts of Norfolk. She is occasionally called in by the police to help investigate newly discovered bones that have been uncovered in a variety of circumstances and in various settings.

Puzzle Lady series.
Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, is a syndicated newspaper columnist for crossword enthusiasts. Quirky, hard-drinking, and photogenic, she appears in TV commercials to pay the bills. She's been married several times, loves to smoke and gamble, and is an avid reader of mystery novels. As an amateur detective, she lands in the thick of things when she undertakes her own investigations to solve mysteries.

Harper Connelly Mystery series.
Harper Connelly survived being hit by lightning and has what you might call a strange job -- she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who has passed and share that person’s very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she is providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living, but she is sometimes treated like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her is her step-brother, Tolliver, who acts as her manager and sometimes bodyguard. She has become expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out quickly.

Burren Mysteries series.
These Irish historical mysteries tell the history of Ireland through the Iron Age, Brehon Law, and Monastic, Viking, and Elizabethan ages. The series heroine is Mara, the brehon of the kingdom of the Burren, who serves as both an investigating magistrate and a law school professor.

Bailey Ruth series.
Bailey Ruth loves to return to earth as an emissary from Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions. There is a problem, though – she is a bit of a loose cannon as far as ghosts go -- e.g. forgetting to remain invisible and alarming earthly creatures — so she is far from the top of the list of her department head’s Heaven-Sent Rescue Express. Still, she does get sent on assignments occasionally.  She was always good at solving mysteries when she was alive, so why not now, when she is dead?

Jane Lawless series.
Jane is a lesbian restaurateur and amateur sleuth in the Minneapolis area. She and her smart-mouthed best friend, Cordelia Thorn, find themselves entangled in local murders. The mysteries contain culinary elements.

Abbot Agency series.
Bea Abbot and her husband had been running the highly successful Abbot Agency for many years, but when he falls ill and dies, she is pressured by her Member-of-Parliament son to retire. Bea is so tired from the long years of nursing her husband that all she wants is peace and quiet and to have her pretty Victorian house in Kensington all to herself. What she gets are a couple of young lodgers with troubled backgrounds and an old friend banging on her door, asking for help. What she ultimately gets is murder! And that scenario launches the series. Other crises follow in subsequent novels, and Bea tends to take on cases in which the client is reluctant to involve the police.

Claire Malloy series.
Claire owns a small bookstore in a college town. Her husband was killed years ago when he was hit by a chicken truck. Her teenage daughter frequently talks in CAPITAL LETTERS. Claire has a dry, rather droll, witty style and is frequently at odds with her detective love interest as she becomes involved in her amateur investigations. Of course, there is a collection of odd friends who often get Claire into trouble. 

Arly Hanks series.
Arly is the Police Chief of Maggody, Arkansas, population 775, half of whom are named Buchanan. She returns to her hometown of Maggody from New York after a messy divorce. Arly's attempts to nab wrongdoers in a town filled with odd-ball characters provide unending chuckles.

Sheila Malory series.
Mrs. Malory is a plain-spoken woman residing in the little seaside town of Taviscombe, England. A middle-aged widow, she putters among charities, neighbors, chores, and pets, and ends up stumbling over bodies or tracking missing persons. While there are some similarities to Miss Marple, Mrs. Malory is younger and has a much more hopeful and warm-hearted approach to people. 

Maggie MacGowen series.
Maggie MacGowen is an investigative filmmaker/amateur sleuth from Los Angeles. Her documentary filmmaking takes her all over the world.

Loon Lake Fishing Mystery series.
Featuring Police Chief Lewellyn (Lew) Ferris and her pal, “Doc” Paul Oborne, the series is a mixture of murder, mayhem, and fishing in the north woods of Wisconsin.

Haley Randolph series.
Witty, smart, and chic, Haley is a professional fashionista and event planner for the Stars. She starts out working part-time at a department store in Los Angeles but soon becomes entangled in solving murders while dealing with challenges in her personal life. She is an engaging amateur sleuth.

Lady Darby Mystery series.
Lady Kiera Darby is recently widowed and living at her sister’s estate. When someone in the house is murdered, she becomes an amateur detective with an unlikely partner. The series is set in Scotland in the 1830s.

Odelia Grey series.
Odelia is a plus-size, middle aged, paralegal. She has a habit of stumbling into mysteries that are very complicated. Settle in for some twists and fun with some great characters.

Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes series.
A "protégé" of Sherlock Holmes, Mary Russell is who Holmes would be if the Victorian detective were young, female, and of the twentieth century. Holmes is Mary’s “mentor” in the early novels.

Judge Deborah Knott series.
Deborah Knott, an attorney and the daughter of an infamous North Carolina bootlegger, is known for her knowledge of the region's past and is popular with the locals. Despite her 11 older brothers to contend with and her rebellious past, she has finally settled down and returned to her home county to practice law. Her romantic life is much less under control.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.
Set in Botswana, Precious Ramotswe, a "traditionally built" lady, sets up her own detective agency, becoming the nation's first female detective. Along with a cast of wonderful supporting characters, she takes on a variety of private investigations.

Savannah Reid series.
Originally from Memphis, full-figured fashionista and private investigator, Savannah was working as a cop in Southern California until she was fired. Trained in karate, she sets up her own private detective business in California. This mystery series has a food theme.

Lucy Stone series.
Lucy is a part-time newspaper reporter in the fictional town of Tinker's Cove, Maine. Not only does she sew and bake, but her four children also keep her on the run. Despite her busy schedule, she still manages to get tangled up in solving local murders. This series is holiday-themed.

Sharon McCone series.
Generally credited with being the first liberated female private detective of the modern era, this series helped pave the way for later independent female investigators. McCone is a likable-enough character and refreshingly down-to-earth, especially in the early books. She's a level-headed investigator with a tendency to get a bit too involved in her cases.

Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series.
Magdalena Yoder, the owner/operator of a Mennonite inn in Pennsylvania, caters to sophisticated urbanites looking for charm and Amish ambience. The stories, each with a tasty selection of authentic Pennsylvania Dutch recipes, are embellished with a cast of memorable characters.

Someday Quilts Mystery series.
When her fiancé announces he's calling off their wedding, heartbroken twenty-five-year-old Eleanor “Nell” flees New York City for her grandmother's home in quaint Archers Rest in upstate New York. In this small town, Nell’s life revolves around the quilt shop, Someday Quilts, and the members of the shop's quilting circle, who become involved in some amateur sleuthing.

Sister Mary Helen series.
Sister Mary Helen, at seventy-five, had resisted retirement. She feared she'd find only prayer, peace, and a little pinochle, but she was wrong. Her new “career” is solving crimes in the San Francisco area.

Faith Fairchild series.
A clergyman's wife, Faith has been transplanted from New York City to a sleepy town in Massachusetts. A part-time caterer, her natural curiosity of people leads her into situations where she ends up crime-solving. Faith's recipes are included.

V.I. Warshawski series.
Lean and athletic, Vic, as she is known to her friends, is a gritty, independent private investigator in Chicago. After earning a law degree from the University of Chicago, and after serving a short stint as a Public Defender, she becomes a private detective specializing in white-collar crime. Her investigations regularly have her pursuing cases that affect her friends, estranged family, or individuals bullied by the upper crust of Chicago.

Amelia Peabody series.
Amelia, a Victorian Egyptologist, starts out as a confirmed spinster, suffragist, and scholar. She later marries and produces a second generation of archeologists. Besides uncovering and solving mysteries, many of the books are set in real places with historical people appearing in the plots.

Lois Meade series.
Lois, a local cleaner in a small English village, has a close and intimate knowledge of many of its inhabitants. Danger lurks close by as Lois becomes embroiled in the deeply hidden passions and emotions smoldering beneath the facade of idyllic village life.

Temperance Brennan series.
Dr. Temperance "Tempe" Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who investigates human remains at crime scenes when the flesh is too degraded for a coroner to obtain evidence (victims of arson, mutilation, advanced decomposition, etc.). She is a native Chicagoan who grew up in the Carolinas and is one of only fifty board-certified forensic anthropologists in North America. Told in the first person, the reader learns more about her past and family connections as the series unfolds.

Eleanor Roosevelt series.
The First Lady, because of her position and her worldwide travels, finds herself embroiled in murders no matter where she goes. Eleanor becomes a wonderful, Miss Marple-like sleuth. The novels are populated by the renowned historical figures she encounters.

Suzie Fewings Genealogical Mystery series.
This series combines mystery and genealogy. Suzie is a keen genealogist who discovers interesting secrets in her families’ roots back in England. She helps others with their research too, and often uncovers secrets better left buried.

Knitting Mystery series.
Kelly Flynn, a consulting CPA, begins a brand-new life when she leaves Washington, DC, to investigate the death of her aunt in Colorado -- and stays. She just happens upon mysteries or murders to solve, but along the way she is introduced to a host of knitting friends, who meet at a yarn store called The House of Lambspun. Each book includes a knitting pattern and a recipe from a dish featured in the story.

Reverend Clare Fergusson series.
Clare Fergusson is the priest at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Miller's Kill, New York. Nontraditional in every sense, she's not just a "lady," she's a tough ex-Army chopper pilot, and nobody’s fool. When a mystery appears at her church door, she meets with the town's police chief, Russ Van Alstyne, who's also ex-Army, and a cynical good shepherd for the stray sheep of his hometown. As they start investigating, they discover a world of trouble, and an attraction to each other.

Bess Crawford series.
Set in World War I, Bess Crawford is a resourceful British army nurse who becomes involved with murder investigations while she serves in both Britain and France. Her strength comes from her upbringing as the daughter of a career Army officer posted to India. From an early age living amongst other cultures she develops a sense of duty and compassion to serve.

Josephine Tey series.
This series is a tribute to one of the most enduring, popular writers of crime. The author successfully incorporates the life of Tey into crime fiction's past.

Lena Jones series.
Lena, who grew up in many foster homes, was once a young troubled victim. Set in the Scottsdale area, this edgy investigative series exposes real-life crimes and the reasons local and federal officials want those crimes to remain under wraps.

Bailey Weggins series.
Bailey Weggins is a sassy true-crime writer for a leading Manhattan women's magazine who turns amateur sleuth in these fast-paced, suspenseful thrillers.