There is something to be said for finding a series that you love. The main characters become friends. You cannot wait for the next book because you want to find out what is happening in their lives and what the next adventure will bring. With a great series, you follow the author and wait for the next book with high hopes. When I see an author start a new series, I always hope that this new series will become a series that I follow and love and sometimes I am not disappointed. This month found several mystery authors starting a new series and my hopes are high.

Reading right now:

“Tea & Treachery” is the first book in Vicki Delany’s new series (Tea by the sea series). This new cozy series takes place in Cape Cod where an ex-New Yorker ( Lily Roberts) has moved in order to run a tea shop which is next door to her grandmother Rose’s bed and breakfast. When a real estate developer tries to drive the two out of business in order to develop the land into a golf resort, Rose comes under suspicion and Lily must step in to get her out of trouble.

On hold right now:

Jen J. Danna’s first book in the NYPD Negotiators series is “Exit Strategy.” Danna is an infectious disease researcher and writes a great K-9 series under the name Sara Driscoll. Her latest series centers around NYPD detective and hostage negotiator Gemma Capello. After an armed gunman takes hostages at City Hall, Gemma is called in to help bring the situation to an end.

“Young Blood” by Tricia Fields in the first in her Maggie Wise series. Maggie is a retired homicide cop who becomes involved in the disappearance of two girls believed to be kidnapped by Dr. Oscar LeBlanc who needs plasma from children for his research. Maggie forms a connection to the family and steps in to help solve the mystery.

Camilla Trinchieri’s new Tuscan mystery series starts with “Murder in Chianti.” Former NY detective Nico Doyle moves to his late wife’s hometown of Gravigna, Italy. Not long after his move, he hears a gunshot outside his cabin and upon investigation finds a dead man. He becomes involved in the case and helps the local inspector dig up the dead man’s secrets.

Other Mysterious Things:

Is a spy novel a mystery? Humans love to categorize things (think of the music industry) which means you can spend a lot of time reading about the difference between thrillers, suspense novels, psychological suspense, spy thrillers, and so on. It used to be that a mystery always involved a murder and solving that murder. Today there seems to be a lot of overlap between these types of books and I think that most readers enjoy the overlap. One very well-known overlapping authors is Eric Van Lustbader. He is a prolific writer who has been very busy not just writing his own books but continuing the Bourne series originally by Robert Ludlum. His new series features female DOD agent Evan Ryder and the first in the series is “The Nemesis Manifesto.” In this exciting thriller, Evan must stop an organization dedicated to killing her fellow agents and ultimately destroying the United States. I think that both mystery fans and spy novel fans will enjoy this new series.

I love months when my favorite authors have new books coming out. It makes my life so much easier. Right when we need a distraction from covid-19 here is just a taste of the amazing books available this month.

Reading right now:

“Outsider” by Linda Castillo is the 12^th book in her Kate Burkholder series. This is a great series where police officer Kate Burkholder moves back to her home town of Painters Mill, Ohio to become the Chief of Police and finds herself dealing with so much more than she could have ever imagined. Having growth up Amish, Kate understands the local Amish community as well as the duties of small town policing. In this latest novel, Kate is called in on a traffic accident only to find that the driver is a former friend named Gina whom Kate attended the police academy with. Gina has been forced to run for her life so she seeks out the one person she trusts to help her.

On hold right now:

One of the all time funny legal mystery series stars Andy Carpenter and believe it or not author David Rosenfelt has just released the 21^st book in the series. “Muzzled” finds Andy once more coming to the aid of (guess what?) a dog. His dogs Tara and Sebastian rule his life so how can he say no to helping a friend who finds a dog that seems to belong to a murder victim until the victim calls up wanting his dog back. While the man says he is in hiding from the danger that could get him actually killed, he loves his dog enough to risk his life. How can Andy say no to a man who loves his dog that much?

“The Revelators” is the tenth book in Ace Atkins’ Quinn Colson series. Ten books ago when Quinn returned from Afghanistan to his home town in Mississippi to find his uncle, the county sheriff, murdered, he solved the murder and got elected to take his uncle’s place as county sheriff. Flash forward to find Colson in rehab after the criminal empire that he has been trying to take down for years almost murdered him. He wants revenge and he wants to end the power that this group has over his state. With the help of some old friends, Quinn sets out to face his greatest enemy. How could anything sound more exciting than that?

The father and son team of Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman has teamed up again for the third book in the Clay Edison series. “Half Moon Bay” finds the deputy coroner dealing with a new baby when the remains of an infant is found by developers demolishing a local park. These remains could be part of a cold case from 50 years ago which tore a family apart and finding the body and solving the case will bring to light secrets that will continue that process.

Other Mysterious Things:

Not all mystery readers like Science Fiction, but if you are going to like a Science Fiction series it would be this series about Harry Dresden who is a wizard and a private investigator. Author Jim Butcher’s series starts out as a paranormal mystery series but as it goes along the fantasy part becomes more complicated. Butcher hasn’t added to this series for six years and I was beginning to think it was over. I am thrilled that the 16^th book is finally available and that the 17^th book is not far behind (with a September release date). The first book which came out in 2000 was “Storm Front” and the current book is called “Peace Talks.” I am over the moon happy to have two more books in this series to look forward to and hope for more. Give this series a chance, you might find you love it as much as I do.