Day 3 - Your Favorite Series

I started doing a 30-Day Book Meme on Sammi Carter's blog a couple of weeks ago. It's not actually a 30-Day meme with me. More like a 30-ish-week meme. Because I'm easily distracted, and something else may come up that I'd rather talk about, or should talk about ... or whatever.

In case you're interested, you can find Day One here.

And you can find Day Two here.

Today's prompt--or should I say this week's prompt--is to discuss my favorite series.

Naturally, I have more than one series that could fit here and, naturally, it's a bit of a chore to figure out which one I should rate as #1.

There's the fabulous Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I haven't read all of the books in the series, but I've enjoyed every one that I have read. Amelia is a delightfully unreliable narrator and I love her view of the world, her family, and especially of herself.

There's the Candy Shop Mystery series by Sammi Carter and the Piece of Cake Mystery series by Jacklyn Brady, not to mention the Fred Vickery Mystery series by yours truly. Some might argue that I'm a bit prejudiced and it would be true. I am. But I love each of these series and every character in them, so I include them here.

How could I list any series without including Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple books? Though not series as we think of them now, they remain among my favorites and probably always will. Of the two sleuths, I think I prefer Miss Marple--at least I did when I was younger. I need to read them again to find out if my perspective has changed.

I could go on and on, but I suppose I should get down to the nitty-gritty of it and just deal with the issue at hand. If I had to pick one series and label is my favorite today, it would be he Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths.

Ruth is an interesting protagonist--a normal sort of woman who carries a few extra pounds and who doesn't always do everything exactly right, which is why I relate to her. She has self-doubt that rings true to me, as opposed to the made up kind of self-doubt you find in so many books. The character needs a flaw and the author provides one, but it never really rings entirely true. Ruth is a forensic archaeologist who is frequently consulted by the police on cases. Her relationship with DCI Harry Nelson and his wife is interesting and, again, truthful. Griffiths' writing is clean and precise and evocative and it transports me into Ruth's world with every single book.

I stumbled across the series at the library one day and began with the 5th book in the series, A Dying Fall. I enjoyed it so much I went back to the beginning and read them all, reading #5 again when I got to it in order. Though the book stood alone beautifully, when I read it as part of the series, I enjoyed the story all over again with my new understanding of the series and the characters.

I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment!