WHERE DONE IT:
MYSTERY SERIES WITH A STRONG SENSE OF PLACE
ALABAMA
GEORGE, Anne
Sixty-something amateur sleuths and sisters Mary Alice and Patricia Anne can’t help but become involved in murder in their hometown of Birmingham
STEWART, Mike
Legal sleuth Tom McInnes solves crimes with nonstop action in Mobile
ALASKA
HENRY, Sue
State trooper Alex Jensen and his dogsled ‘musher’ girlfriend Jessie Arnold cover a lot of ground – much of it breathtaking, deadly wilderness
JONES, Stan
Raised in Anchorage by white parents, Inupiat trooper Nathan Active returns to the tribal village culture and the haunting, treeless tundra of his birth
LANE, Christopher
Inupiat Eskimo Police officer Ray Attla patrols his icy beat on a snowmobile, in these action-packed arctic procedurals
STABENOW, Dana
The real star of two series featuring gutsy, offbeat Aleut PI Kate Shugak and trooper Liam Campbell, is Alaska in all her stunning variety
STRALEY, John
Disillusioned with the legal profession, sardonic Cecil Younger washes up in the soggy splendor of Sitka, where he rights wrongs and writes haiku
ARIZONA
BROWNING, Sinclair
Trade Ellis, a part-Apache, female PI and working rancher, investigates murder
COLE, David
Cybersleuth and part-Hopi hacker Laura Winslow specializes in following the electronic trail of people wanting to stay hidden
JANCE, J. A.
Juggling the demands of her career and her family life, Sheriff Joanna Brady of Cochise County investigates crime and murder
MITCHELL, Kirk
Native American Bureau of Indian Affairs investigator Emmett Quanah Parker tracks crime on the reservation in Arizona and New Mexico with the help of FBI agent Anna Turnipseed
TALTON, Jon
Historian-turned-Deputy Sheriff David Mapstone works in Maricopa County to solve crimes and deal with internal politics
THORNTON, Betsy
A divorced New Yorker, Chloe Newcomb comes to the Dudley police department as a Crime Victim’s Counselor, but finds herself investigating crimes
WEBB, Betty
Former cop and current PI Lena Jones tracks murders in the various social levels of Phoenix
ARKANSAS
HARRIS, Charlaine
Lily Bard is a karate-kicking cleaning lady with a scarred past in small-town Shakespeare
HESS, Joan
Police Chief Arly Hanks seeks out the culprits of various crimes and mayhem in the sleepy Ozark town of Maggody
HESS, Joan
Bookseller Claire Malloy always finds herself mired in a good and true mystery in the college town of Farberville
CALIFORNIA, Northern
CRUM, Laura
Santa Cruz veterinarian/sleuth Gail McCarthy cares for large animals but finds plenty of opportunities to get knee-deep in murder
FOWLER, Earlene
Museum curator and folk art expert Benni Harper of fictional San Celina and her Police Chief husband Gabe Ortiz investigate crimes tied to family secrets in this small coastal town. The quilt patterns on the covers hold the clues!
KING, Laurie R.
San Francisco lesbian homicide detective Casey (Kate) Martinelli and her partner Alonzo Hawkin tackle the most dangerous cases with help from her lover, psychologist Lee Cooper, in these contemporary urban police procedurals
LESCROART, John
Attorney/sleuth Dismas “Diz” Hardy and SFPD detective Abe Glitsky often find themselves at odds in these fast-paced and twisty courtroom drama/police procedurals
MULLER, Marcia
The granddaddy of the tough-as-nails, hard-boiled female PI genre, featuring Sharon McCone
CALIFORNIA, Southern
BARRE, Richard
Ex-Vietnam vet, ex-surfer PI Wil Hardesty teases out the truth in crimes involving the fringe society of Santa Barbara
CONNELLY, Michael
Retired LAPD Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch‘s passion for justice and disdain for corruption land him in some tight spots
CRAIS, Robert
Wisecracking PI Elvis Cole and his lethal sidekick Joe Pike take on LA’s famous and infamous while trying to distance themselves from their troubled past
FARMER, Jerrilyn
Party planner and caterer Madeline Bean, who moves in moneyed Beverly Hills circles, meets up with plenty of crime, scandal and murder, along with a little romance
KAMINSKY, Stuart M.
Tough talking PI Toby Peters takes on murder and mayhem in WW II-era Hollywood – a series that combines fact with fiction and features a colorful cast of characters
MOSLEY, Walter
PI Easy Rawlins is black and shrewd – that’s why he is still walking and talking after 30 years (1930s-1960s) on the mean streets of LA
COLORADO
DAVIDSON, Diane Mott
Caterer and sleuth Goldy Bear delivers murder and recipes in cozy mysteries set in Aspen Meadows
DOSS, James D.
Ute tribal cop and rancher Charlie Moon fights crime in the Four Corners area
DUNNING, John
Cliff Janeway, Denver’s antiquarian bookseller and former homicide cop, tracks crime and rare books
CONNECTICUT
HALL, Parnell
Celebrity author and crossword puzzle maven cum detective Cora Felton always checks her clues down and across to solve the puzzle
HANDLER, David
Mitch Berger, former New York film critic, and policewoman Desiree Mitry, are quite an unlikely pair to be lovers and even more unlikely to become partners in solving crimes, but that they do through their idyllic little community of Dorset
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ANDREWS, Robert
Hard-boiled police procedural featuring homicide detectives Frank Kearney and Jose Phelps
PELECANOS, George P.
Gritty, violent, realistic crime fiction set in inner-city DC, featuring African American PI Derek Strange, Irish-Catholic ex-cop Terry Quinn, and/or bartender Nick Stefanos
RICHMAN, Phyllis C
Food and murder come together in a cozy fashion as culinary editor Chas Wheatley turns the tables on criminals in the restaurants of the District of Columbia
ROOSEVELT, Elliott
A window opens on the political world of DC in the 30s and 40s as Eleanor Roosevelt uncovers murder in the White House and its environs
FLORIDA
BARTHOLOMEW, Nancy
Stripper Sierra Lavotini snoops out crime in Panama City
BUCHANAN, Edna
Crime reporter Britt Montero explores the seamy side of Miami
COHEN, Nancy
Saucy beautician Marla Shore plays amateur detective in Palm Heaven
GARCIA-AQUILERA, Carolina
Cuban American PI Lupe Solano solves crimes while negotiating the Cuban American scene in Miami
HIAASEN, Carl
Assorted criminals, detectives, and loony-toons create havoc throughout southern Florida
KAMINSKY, Stuart
Process server Lew Fonesca acts as an unpaid PI in Sarasota
PICKARD, Nancy
True crime writer Marie Lightfoot solves both literary mysteries and real crimes in Bahia Beach
SANDERS, Lawrence (the series is now authored by Vincent Lardo)
Millionaire PI Archy McNally solves crimes for the wealthy in Palm Beach
WHITE, Randy Wayne
Tough guy and marine biologist Doc Ford solves crimes and fights the bad guys on Sanibel Island
GEORGIA
BERRY, Linda
Policewoman Trudy Roundtree solves murders in Ogeechee with her Police Chief cousin Henry Huckabee in these folksy mysteries
BIRMINGHAM, Ruth
Female PI Sunny Childs prowls the mean streets of Atlanta
HARRIS, Charlaine
Librarian Aurora Teagarden uses her research skills in these cozy mysteries set in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceton
LANIER, Virginia
Amateur sleuth and bloodhound dog trainer Jo Beth Sidden solves murders in a small town near the Okefenokee Swamp using her dogs and her brains
SLAUGHTER, Karin
Coroner Dr. Sara Linton fights serial killers and sadistic murderers in these graphic mysteries set in a small rural Georgia town
TROCHECK, Kathy Hogan
Owner of the House Mouse cleaning business in Atlanta, Callahan Garrity snoops her way into murder along with her eccentric cleaning crew
HAWAII
KNIEF, Charles
Beautiful women always manage to get John Caine, a beachcomber PI, into deadly misadventures regardless of how determined he is to stay out of trouble
SHERIDAN, Juanita
Novelist Janice Cameron and her adopted sister, amateur detective Lily Wu, are drawn into murders and intrigue surrounding the native and Asian immigrant population
IDAHO
McCALL, Wendell (pseud. PEARSON, Ridley)
Los Angeles show-biz detective Chris Klick comes to the backcountry intent on fly fishing and relaxation in nature’s playground, but then the bullets begin to fly
ILLINOIS
BLAND, Eleanor Taylor
Police Detective Marti MacAlister's Lincoln Prairie (a stand-in for Waukegan) and Chicago both feature in her work as cases from both cities frequently intertwine
D’AMATO, Barbara
Freelance journalist Cat Marsala doesn’t just write about crime in Chicago, she solves them
HUNTER, Fred
Chicago cop Jeremy Ransom assists his elderly friend Emily Charters in solving murders around the city
KAMINSKY, Stuart
Experience has its advantages as the aging, but tough Chicago Detective Abe Lieberman investigates crimes, in the Jewish neighborhood on the Northside and the city at large
MATTHEWS, Alex
Oak Park psychotherapist Cassidy McCabe solves crimes as a sideline in a series that’s a combination of cozy (lots of cats) and urban action (her affluent suburb is next to the west side of Chicago)
PARETSKY, Sara
V.I. Warswaski puts the ‘i’ in PI as she unravels cases on the mean streets of Chicago and roots for her beloved Cubbies
WALKER, David J.
Malachy Foley, ex-lawyer turned PI, likes to tickle the ivories as well as tackling cases. In between jazz numbers he takes on cases to help friends and acquaintances around Evanston and the Chicago Area
INDIANA
DAMS, Jeanne M.
A historic cozy series that places the readers in the South Bend of the 1900s with unlikely detective, Hilda Johansson, a Swedish émigré working as a maid for a wealthy family
FROMMER, Sara Hoskinson
Amateur sleuth Joan Spencer finds that life in a small town can be just as dangerous when she solves murders and adapts to her old hometown
McINERNY, Ralph
Two brothers, Professor Roger Knight and PI Philip Knight, learn more than they bargained for as they solve crimes at Notre Dame
IOWA
GORMAN, Edward
Set in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, these nostalgic, small-town mysteries feature Sam McCain, lawyer and part time investigator
KANSAS
HAYES, J. M.
Comedy abounds in the lovingly described landscape of Buffalo Springs as Sheriff English and his half-brother Mad Dog fight mayhem and murder
WEIR, Charlene
Hampstead Police Chief Susan Wren finds that small town intrigues can be deadly
KENTUCKY
McCAFFERTY, Barbara Taylor & Beverly Taylor Herald
Told in alternating voices, twin sisters and amateur sleuths Bert and Nan Tatum solve crimes and often cause double trouble around Louisville
McCAFFERTY, Taylor
Wise-cracking Haskell Blevins leaves the big city of Louisville to become the only PI in small-town Pigeon Fork
LOUISIANA
ABEL, Kenneth
Attorney Danny Chaisson contemporary New Orleans setting in transition and its less progressive outlying areas
ATKINS, Ace
New Orleans musicologist, ex-football player, and amateur PI Nick Travis investigates crimes that always seem to have a musical theme
BURKE, James Lee
Tough guy and sometime-police detective Dave Robicheaux fights crime in Cajun bayou country
COLLEY, Barbara
Cozy series a Garden District backdrop features Charlotte LaRue the owner of a cleaning service that caters to the District’s elite
HAMBLY, Barbara
In 1830 free man of color, musician, and amateur detective Benjamin January solves crimes in antebellum New Orleans
SMITH, Julie
Edgar winner Smith’s Skip Langdon series features a New Orleans police detective and the Talba Wallis series features an African-American PI/Poet
MAINE
BORTHWICK, J.S.
Murder becomes more than academic when English Fellow Sarah Deane and Professor Alex McKenzie discover trouble wherever they wander
GRAVES, Sarah.
For most people, the idea of home repairs SEEMS like murder, but to former Wall Street wiz Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her partner Ellie White, home repair IS murder. They may never know what condition the house will be in, but they can always be sure of a “spare” body floating around!
MEIER, Leslie.
Holiday-themed murder series featuring private investigator Lucy Stone
MARYLAND
CHAPPELL, Helen
Reporter Hollis Ball unravels mysteries in the Chesapeake Bay region with the help of her dead husband’s ghost
COCKEY, Tim
Witty undertaker/amateur detective Hitchcock Sewell solves crimes in urban, blue-collar Baltimore
LIPPMAN, Laura
Former reporter Tess Monaghan works as a medium-boiled PI in Baltimore
TALLEY, Marcia
Hannah Ives is a sassy, humorous amateur detective with quirky family, solving romantic mysteries in various Maryland locales.
WALKER, Blair S.
African American journalist and amateur detective Darryl Billups tracks serial killers in Baltimore
MASSACHUSETTS
BARNES, Linda
Tough-talking, tall, red-haired cabbie Carlotta Carlyle takes readers on a wild ride through the mean streets of Boston
BLANC, Nero.
Yet another series for crossword-lover fans as Private Investigator Roscoe Polycrates teams up with crossword-puzzle editor Belle Graham to super-sleuth across the Bay State
MINICHINO, Camille.
This is a series for those who like a little scientific fact along with their mystery or is that a little mysterious fact along with their science? Either way, retired physicist Gloria Lamerino uses her skills in both areas to get the job done
PAGE, Katharine Hall.
Caterer and minister¹s wife Faith Fairchild always seems to find trouble brewing in the most unlikely places: the basement, a lighthouse, even a bog. An added bonus is Faith’s wonderful New England recipes!
RIGGS, Cynthia.
For readers wanting an island escape, follow the adventures of ninety-year-old Victoria Trumbull as her sleuthing takes her across the lovely landscape of Martha’s Vineyard
MICHIGAN
ESTLEMAN, Loren D.
PI Amos Walker fights bad and badder guys for his clients in a decaying, corrupt Motor City
HAMILTON, Steve
Reluctant sleuth and ex-cop Alex McKnight unravels crime in Paradise, a hardscrabble small town in the Upper Peninsula
HOLTZER, Susan
Between computer consulting gigs, amateur sleuth Anneke Haagen investigates crime on the University of Michigan campus and in the Ann Arbor environs
MINNESOTA
ERICKSON, K.J.
Special Invesigator Marshall "Mars" Bahr may be nicknamed Candy Man, but he’s anything but sweet as he tracks murderers in Minneapolis and navigates the politics of city hall
FLUKE, Joanne
Bakery owner and sleuth Hannah Swenson serves up solutions to deadly events in Lake Eden in this small-town cozy series
GUNN, Elizabeth
Detective Jake Hines is from a small town, but he’s no bumpkin and it takes all his wits to stay ahead of the evil-doers in his blue-collar town of Rutherford
KRUEGER, William Kent
The rugged upper Minnesota lakes area provides an edgy, wilderness backdrop for the investigations of Cork O’Connor, sometime local sheriff, sometime PI
LOGAN, Chuck
Phil Broker, retired undercover cop from St. Paul, finds himself drawn into cases in the extremes of the northern Minnesota climate and terrain in this visceral series
SANDFORD, John
First as a Minneapolis homicide detective and then as an agent for the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Lucas Davenport pursues murderers against bleak wintery settings
MISSISSIPPI
HAINES, Carolyn
PI Sarah Booth Delaney is a failure to her zany family but with the help of a ghost, she makes investigating murder highly successful
HEGWOOD, Martin
PI Jack Delmas investigates crime in Biloxi and the Gulf Coast
MISSOURI
HARRISON, Janis
River City is lucky to have florist Bretta Solomon trumping the local sheriff and solving murders
MacPHERSON, Rett
Genealogist Torie O’Shea uses her research skills to ferret out prime suspects in New Kassel
MARCY, Jean
Private Investigator Meg Darcy, along with her best friend Patrick, and her lover, police detective Sarah Lindstrom, solves dangerous cases in St. Louis
McCLENDON, Lise
Private Detective Dorie Lennox and her boss, Amos Haddam, unravel mysteries among the dark streets, dance halls, and political world of 1939 Kansas City