Southern Mysteries

Well this month our Library Mystery group is going to read Southern Mysteries. I have read so many so I need some ideas. I don't want any that are too cozy and not too hard-boiled. Any help would be appreciated. You guys were great in helping with cold climate mysteries!

I liked Charlaine Harris' Shakespeare series, starring Lily Bard. Set in Shakespeare, Arkansas there are 5 books in the series. I don't think they are considered cozy - Lily's a victim of a brutal crime, but they are tagged that way.

The Tea Shop books by Laura Childs . Margaret Maron's series featuring Judge Deborah Knott. Patricia Sprinkle.

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I highly recommend Margaret Maron's series, as well. It's what I would call "soft boiled"--not cozy, but not hard core, either. Beautifully written.

Also, Nancy Martin's Blackbird Sisters mysteries. They're more...not so much cozy as girly. I wouldn't recommend them if you have a large number of men in the group.

I'll echo the Margaret Maron suggestion and add Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad novels. They don't need to be read in order, so you could start with any book in the series. I'd recommend that you don't start with the newest one, though. I read an advance copy thanks to Early Reviewers and I was disappointed with it in comparison to the earlier books in the series.

Here are a few authors to look for
Joan Hess - the 'Maggody' series
Kathy Hogan Trochek - the Callahan Garrity series
Celestine Sibley - The Kate Mulcay series
Linda Berry - The Trudy Roundtree series
Anne George - the Southern Sisters series
James Lee Burke - the Dave Robicheaux series
Sophie Dunbar - the 'Eclaire' series
Barbara Hambly - the Benjamin January series
Ace Atkins - the Nick Travers series

If you love the Low country.....try Kathryn Wall's Bay Tanner series! I'd start with the first one...In For A Penny. Character, plots and surroundings keep me reading and waiting for each book.

If you like a little mystery with humor....try Ann Ross's Miss Julia series! They are a hoot!

If you like historicals, I would recommend Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January series starting with A Free Man of Color

2nd that on James Lee Burke.

I agree about James lee Burke. He seems to me to be a spiritual and literary heir of Flannery O'Conner.
Margaret Maron's different series are very good as well.

Wow! You guys are great. A lot of great suggestions. Thanks!

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn would be a great read for your library group.

It is set in Missouri if that is far enough south for you. A really good book.

I'd second the Ace Atkins and James Lee Burke choices.

Also, Julie Smith wrote several mysteries taking place in New Orleans. I've enjoyed those.

Vicki Lane writes a series set in the mountains of NC. Her sleuth is a 50-something widow who likes to garden, but these are definitely not cozies, and there's a historical element to them. Signs in the Blood, Art's Blood, and at least two other titles.

Mark de Castrique writes a series set in Asheville, NC. His sleuth is a veteran of the war in the Middle East and is an amputee. Blackman's Coffin and at least one other title.

Chester Campbell writes a series set in Nashville, TN. His sleuth is a husband/wife team, supposedly retired. Deadly Illusions and at least three other titles.

If you like historicals, Suzanne Adair (that's me) writes a series set during the Southern theater of the Revolutionary War: GA, FL, NC, and SC. Paper Woman, The Blacksmith's Daughter, and Camp Follower.

What? No love for Florida?? :-)

Randy Wayne White has a long-running series about marine biologist and amateur sleuth Marion "Doc" Ford (set along the SW coast).

And then there's . . .

John D. MacDonald's tales of Travis McGee and Carl Hiaasen's lunatic crime stories . . . not whodunnits in the usual sense but certainly concerned with crime, detection, retribution, and such. :-)

Florida-lovers, check out Bob Morris's Zack Chasteen series, humorous mysteries that start with Bahamarama. Bahamarama is set on the east coast of Florida and in the Bahamas, and I posted a review to LT about it. Now I need to circle back and pick up the next book in the series.

I loooove Florida. I have a Yankee accent from growing up in South Florida. The Florida Historical Society awarded my first book with the Patrick D. Smith Literature Award. But the mid-80s, I got to the point where I just couldn't live there anymore. Ask any native Floridian how it is. :-)

There seem to be quite a few of the humourous mysteries that get set in Florida. Books by Carl Hiaasen spring readily to mind as does Alligator Strip by Chris Haslam, which I've read recently, and books by Tim Dorsey.

I recommend Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad series, set in the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern Tennessee. The first one is If Ever I Return, Peggy-O, but my favorite is She Walks These Hills.

The Bones series by Carolyn Haines and the Bloodhound series by Virginia Lanier

I agree, Sharp Objects is a good with lots of potential for discussion.
John Hart's books are also set in the South and make good for good discussion.
L.J.

Katy Munger, who lives here in Durham, has a couple of series going. I particularly like her Casey Jones series, set in the Triangle area. The tone is, shall we say, less refined than Margaret Maron's or most other writers'. Lot of fun.

There's also Sharyn McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson series, starting with Sick of Shadows, although that one might skew a little too cozy for your taste.

She seems to have abandoned the series now, but I enjoyed them at the time. They're amusing, and I liked the titles, especially the last: If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him (implicit ending "...I'd be free by now").