Why Readers Love Books in a series ~ Win a copy of Hiding in Plain Sight

If you’re a voracious reader you’ve probably noticed books are either written to stand-alone or to be part of a series. Series have grown more popular over the years and are preferred by authors and readers alike. There are several reasons why mysteries and suspense are usually part of a series. Readers develop a fondness for favorite characters and don’t want to leave them behind after a single book. Authors love the fact they can jump right into the story without starting from scratch creating memorable people out of strangers. Sometimes readers fall in love with a particular town or setting. Who could forget Jessica Fletcher as she solved crimes in Cabot Cove, ME or Debbie Macomber’s charming Cedar Cove, Washington? Many of us started out with either The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew as children and then graduated to R. L. Stine mysteries. I’ve since enjoyed Agatha’s Christie’s famous private investigator, Hercule Poirot, as he brought criminals to justice in exotic locations around the world. Lately I picked up the first of a seventeen-book series by Louise Penny in which Chief Inspector Armand Gamache solves crimes in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, outside of Montreal. I only discovered Louise Penny in the last few years, so it was fun to see how she began her series with Still Life.

Here’s a little bit about the story, Still Life. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.

Look for Still Life at your local library or you can buy it from Amazon HERE

You don’t have to look far to find great series from my fellow suspense sisters. Each of them has a new series available now. In my own four-book series, Secrets of the South Mysteries, investigators in the Price Agency track down criminals—while falling in love—in charming southern cities.

All four of the Secrets of the South Mysteries: Midnight on the Mississippi, What Happened on Beale Street, Magnolia Moonlight and Sunset in Old Savannah are available in e-book at Christianbook for $9.99 HERE




Leave me a comment, readers, as to your favorite series over the years for a chance to win Hiding in Plain Sight, first in Marked for Retribution mysteries. You must leave an email address and US readers only.

Happy Reading! ~ Mary Ellis