Stephanie Plum fans - Need Your Help

[DietCokeLover]

Ok, I am on a reading kick right now. I've read all of the Stephanie Plum books. I've read all of the Kinsey Milhone books (Sue Grafton).

I need a new quirky chick to follow.

If y'all are fans of these kinds of books, who else do you read? I just finished Sophie Kinsella's newest book, Twenties Girl, and it was pretty cute.

I need some ideas!

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

Have you read Sookie Stackhouse books?

[caleymama]

For a fun, light series I enjoyed the True Blood series by Charlaine Harris. I would like to try some of her other stuff too. She has multiple other series.

I've read all the Stephanie Plum books but I'll have to check out the Sue Grafton books. I've seen them but never actually given them a try.

[Canna]

Hi! I'm a big Evanovich fan and also like:

Meg Langslow books by Donna Andrews (sort of bird themed mysteries, protagonist is a blacksmith)
Goldy Schulz books by Diane Mott Davidson (the protagonist is a caterer)
Hanna Swenson books by Joanne Fluke (protagonist owns a bakery and lives in an idyllic - but of course murder-ridden - Minnesota town)

I'll be interested to see what others also recommend. I like mysteries with engaging characters but nothing too stressful to keep me up at night, and these fit the bill. I think the Donna Andrews ones are particularly silly/funny.

[DietCokeLover]

Have you read Sookie Stackhouse books?

No. Is that the character's name or the author's name?

[AbbysMom]

This isn't really an great answer to your specific question but I have 5 mystery-type authors that I love to read and you've named 2 so I thought I'd tell you my other favorites. The one with a woman character is Ann Perry books (the Hester and Monk series of books). Even better are the series of books by PD James and Elizabeth George. Both have great female characters even though they are not the main character.

ETA: I just remembered one that might really fit the bill: Ann Purser writes pretty light mystery's with a female lead (lois Meade). She runs a housecleaning business. The books are: Murder on Monday, Terror on Tuesday, Weeping on Wednesday, etc. I love those books! I'm going to check if my library has a new one now!

[caleymama]

No. Is that the character's name or the author's name?

She's the main character in the True Blood (Charaine Harris author) series I mentioned too!

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

No. Is that the character's name or the author's name?

Character. The "True Blood" series by Charlaine Harris. (http://www.amazon.com/Sookie-Stackhouse-Books-Charlaine-Harris/dp/0441017770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267740383&sr=8-1)

They are funny, kinda dark, but interesting and entertaining.

[boolady]

She doesn't always use the same female character, but Lisa Scottoline writes mystery/suspense type books with strong, funny female leads, usually attorneys. They're set in/around Philadelphia, so I like that, having grown up about 15 minutes from Center City.

[wellyes]

LOVE Sookie Stackhouse. The author is Charlaine Harris, but I sadly do not like her other series.

An oldie but goodie is the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. She's a turn-of-the-century Egyptologist - a female Indiana Jones. Very very fun stuff.

[cvanbrunt]

I also love Diane Mott Davidson. A couple other I read are Jane Cleland and Sandra Balzo. I found these by poking around a great website:
www.stopyourekillingme.com

[ncat]

I've enjoyed the Rei Shimura books by Sujata Massey and the Tess Gerritsen Rizzoli/Isles books. The Bo Bradley books by Abigail Padgett are interesting, too.

[graciebellesmomma]

I love Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Schulz series...
Here is a list of them, in order.

1. Catering to Nobody (1990)
2. Dying for Chocolate (1992)
3. The Cereal Murders (1993)
4. The Last Suppers (1994)
5. Killer Pancake (1995)
6. The Main Corpse (1996)
7. The Grilling Season (1997)
8. Prime Cut (1998)
9. Tough Cookie (2000)
10. Sticks and Scones (2001)
11. Chopping Spree (2002)
12. Double Shot (2004)
13. Dark Tort (2006)
14. Sweet Revenge (2007)
15. Fatally Flaky (2009)


Here is a list of authors that came up when I googled the Goldy books:
Joanne Fluke
Janet Evanovich
Laura Childs
Jill Churchill
Leslie Meier
Carolyn Hart
JoAnna Carl
Mary Daheim
Cleo Coyle
Susan Wittig Albert
Lilian Jackson Braun
Maggie Sefton
M C Beaton
Sue Grafton
Kate Collins

Another series that I really like is Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon:
It's a bit more suspense, spy, etc. and not so quirky. They sort of read like the
da vinci code, as they travel through countries, etc. I love the character. He's an art restorer/reluctant spy....again, reading them in order is a good idea.

Gabriel Allon
1. The Kill Artist (2000)
2. The English Assassin (2002)
3. The Confessor (2003)
4. A Death in Vienna (2004)
5. Prince of Fire (2005)
6. The Messenger (2006)
7. The Secret Servant (2007)
8. Moscow Rules (2008)
9. The Defector (2009)
10. The Rembrandt Affair (2010)

[DietCokeLover]

Thank you for all the great suggestions! Looking forward to my next trip to the library!

[karstmama]

more on the romance-y side, but with some of the snappy dialogue that i like in the stephanie plums, is jennifer crusie. my faves are 'welcome to temptation' and 'faking it'.

[zag95]

Another good "series" is by Julie Smith- "Skip Langdon" is a female detective- books are set in New Orleans! Pretty good!

[urquie]

i really enjoyed the bee keepers apprentice! it's a series... with some better than the others. :)

Sherlock Holmes takes on a young, female apprentice in this delightful and well-wrought addition to the master detective's casework...
http://www.amazon.com/Beekeepers-Apprentice-Segregation-Suspense-Featuring/dp/0312427360/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267838245&sr=1-1