Many patrons want to begin reading series books from the very beginning. Here is a handy list of authors, first books, and the lead character or series.

All titles listed are the first book in a series of mystery novels. This is not considered a complete listing of all series mysteries.

• Nevada Barr Track of the Cat - Anna Pigeon
• M.C. Beaton Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death - Agatha Raisin
• Lilian Jackson Braun The Cat Who Could Read Backwards - Jim Qwilleran and Koko
• Edna Buchanan Contents Under Pressure - Britt Montero
• Diane Mott Davidson Catering to Nobody - Goldy Schulz
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle A Study in Scarlet - Sherlock Holmes
• Brendan DuBois Dead Sand - Lewis Cole
• Janet Evanovich One for the Money - Stephanie Plum
• Linda Fairstein Final Jeopardy - Alex Cooper
• Anne George Murder on a Girls' Night Out - Southern Sisters
• Elizabeth George A Great Deliverance - Inspector Thomas Lynley
• Sue Grafton A is for Alibi - Kinsey Millhone
• Tony Hillerman The Blessing Way - Lt. Joe Leaphorn
• P.D. James Cover Her Face - Adam Dalgeish
• J. A. Jance Desert Heat - Joanna Brady
• Faye KellermanThe Ritual Bath - Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus
• Harry Kemelman Friday the Rabbi Slept Late - Rabbi David Small
• Laurie R. King The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
• Dennis Lehane A Drink Before the War - Angela Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie
• Peter Lovesey The Last Detective - Peter Diamond
• Sharon McCrumb If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O - Spencer Arrowood
• Miriam Grace Monfredo Seneca Falls Inheritance - Glynis Tryon
• Perri O'Shaughnessy Motion to Suppress - Nina Reilly
• Katherine Hall Page The Body in the Belfry - Faith Fairchild
• James Patterson Along Came A Spider - Alex Cross
• Ian Rankin Knots and Crosses - Inspector John Rebus
• Kathy Reichs Deja Dead - Dr. Temperance Brennan
• J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) Naked in Death - Lt. Eve Dallas
• Gillian Roberts Caught Dead in Philadelphia - Amanda Pepper
• Elliott Roosevelt Murder and the First Lady - Eleanor Roosevelt
• Lawrence Sanders McNally's Secret - Archie McNally
• John Sandford Rules of Prey - Lucas Davenport
• Dorothy L. Sayers Whose Body? - Lord Peter Wimsey
• Troy Soos Murder at Fenway Park - Mickey Rawlings
• Rex Stout Fer-de-Lance - Nero Wolfe
• Robert K. Tanenbaum No Lesser Plea - Butch Karp
• Margaret Truman Murder at the Kennedy Center - Mackenzie Smith and Annabel Reed (First in Capital Crimes series is Murder in the the White House)
• Kate Wilheim Death Qualified - Barbara Holloway
• Stuart Woods New York Dead - Stone Barrington