Murder Mystery / Police Procedural
SERIES:
The Butterfly Garden
by Dot Hutchison
The first book in this series almost (but not quite) ruined my life, so it doesn’t get entered in that awful and wonderful section of recommendations. However, the story, told in non-linear style, is riveting and is probably so jarring because it could easily happen in real life. The author does a great job describing the butterflies and life in the garden. The rest of the series is also done very well, but the first book is the real attention-grabber. I have read this series a couple times, and I know I will again.
SERIES:
Grant County / Will Trent
by Karin Slaughter
There are actually two series that include one character: Sara Linton. In the Will Trent series, she is Will’s love interest and not the main character. I was hooked with Will Trent, and I love the author’s writing so much that I was interested how Sara was developed. Be forewarned: Karin Slaughter has an extremely graphic storytelling style. Some readers have a difficult time getting past the violent imagery to enjoy the story. I admit, sometimes the descriptions are rough to handle, but both series are absolutely worth reading multiple times, which I have done.
SERIES: In Death
by J.D. Robb
J.D. Robb is actually Nora Roberts. There are currently 57 books in the series, with the 58th due January 2024, and I see no end in sight. Thankfully there is not as much romance in these stories as under her Roberts pen name, but it wouldn’t be a Roberts novel without some of it. The stories are formulaic but extremely interesting, and sometimes I have a hard time figuring out who the murderer is. Each book is roughly 8-10 hours long, so they only take a couple months to re-read each time I want to wander through the stories again. I’m nowhere near tired of this series, or this author, so of course I highly recommend reading these.