I was asked by a Cozy Mystery site reader if I could put up a Lawyers in Mystery Books theme. Here are the mystery book series (that can be found on the Cozy Mystery site) which feature lawyers as their main sleuths:
Jeff Abbott: Whit Mosley Mystery Series
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series
Nancy Bell: Judge Jackson Crain Mystery Series
Terri Blackstock: Newpointe 911 Series
Taffy Cannon (aka Emily Toll): Nan Robertson Mystery Series
John Dickson Carter: Henri Bencolin Mystery Series
Sammi Carter: Candy Shop Mystery Series
Sarah Caudwell: Hilary Tamar Mystery Series
C.S. Challinor: Rex Graves Mystery Series
Mary Challis (aka Sara Woods, Margaret Leek, & Anne Burton): Jeremy Locke Mystery Series
Kate Charles: Book of Psalms Mystery Series
Margaret Coel: Wind River Mystery Series
Kate Collins: Flower Shop Mystery Series
Natasha Cooper: Trish Maguire Mystery Series
Claire Daniels (aka Jaqueline Girdner): Karma Crime Mystery Series
Nora DeLoach: Mama Detective Mystery Series
Lesley Egan (aka Elizabeth Linington, Dell Shannon, & Anne Balisdell): Jesse Falkenstein Mystery Series
Linda Fairstein: Alex Cooper Mystery Series
Ann C. Fallon: James Fleming Mystery Series
Christina Freeburn: Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery Series
Frances Fyfield: Sarah Fortune Mystery Series AND Helen West Mystery Series
Erle Stanley Gardner: Perry Mason Mystery Series AND Doug Selby Mystery Series
Louise Gaylord: Allie Armington Mystery Series
Sally Goldenbaum: Seaside Knitters Mystery Series
Cyril Hare: Francis Pettigrew Mystery Series
Jonnie Jacobs: Kali O’Brien Mystery Series
Sue Ann Jaffarian: Odelia Grey Mystery Series
Linda O. Johnston: Kendra Ballantyne Mystery Series
Leslie Karst: Sally Solari Mystery Series
Sean Keefer: Stand Alone Mystery: The Trust
Diane Kelly: Tara Holloway Death and Taxes Mystery Series
Jane Langton: Homer Kelly Mystery Series
Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant): Pumpkin Patch Mystery Series
Margaret Leek (aka Sara Woods, Mary Challis, & Anne Burton): Stephen Marryat Mystery Series
Margaret Maron: Deborah Knott Mystery Series
Edward Marston (aka Keith Miles & Conrad Allen): Railway Detective Mystery Series AND Domesday Mystery Series
Ralph M. McInerny (aka Monica Quill): Andrew Broom Mystery Series
D. R. Meredith: John Lloyd Branson Mystery Series
John Mortimer: Rumpole of the Bailey Mystery Series
Perri O’Shaughnessy: Nina Reilly Mystery Series
Sara Paretsky: V.I. Warshawski Mystery Series
Barbara Parker: Suspicion Mystery Series
Chessen Parker: Crystal Coast Mystery Series
James Patterson: Women’s Murder Club Mystery Series
Cathy Pickens: Southern Fried Mystery Series
Rhonda Pollero: F. A. T. Mystery Series
David Rosenfelt: Andy Carpenter Mystery Series
Lisa Scottoline: Rosato & Associates Mystery Series
Julie Smith: Rebecca Schwartz Mystery Series
Patricia Sprinkle: Thoroughly Southern Mystery Series
Mary Stanton (aka Claudia Bishop): Beaufort & Company Mystery Series
Shirley Tallman (aka Erin Ross): Sarah Woolson Mystery Series
Robert K. Tanenbaum: Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi Mystery Series
Peter Tremayne: Mystery of Ancient Ireland: Sister Fidelma Mystery Series
Margaret Truman: Smith & Reed Mystery Series
Robert Van Gulik: Judge Dee Mystery Series
Sara Woods (aka Anne Burton, Mary Challis, & Margaret Leek): Antony Maitland Mystery Series
Please feel free to comment if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any corrections.
♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦
Barbara Thompson says
I would like to add William Tapply to the list. His character, Brady Coyne, is a fisherman/lawyer in Boston.
Exellent series if you have not read it.
Barbara
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Barbara, for telling us about William Tapply. (I knew you liked him!)
Ann says
Great list. I’d forgotten China Bayles was a lawyer.
Ann
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I know, Ann. China Bayles is so convincing as an herbalist, that is easy to forget the Juris Doctor degree…
Maria (BearMountainBooks) says
Dang, I was going to say Linda Fairstein, but you already knew!!! You’re too good of a sleuth…
:>)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maria, I love watching Linda Fairstein on television. She is (also) one smart lawyer…
Rabia says
Sally Goldenbaum’s Seaside Knitters Mystery features Izzy Chambers, an ex- attorney.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Rabia. I will go add her to the list right now…
Edie Dykeman says
I didn’t realize there were so many mystery books with lawyers. China Bayles is my very favorite, but Erle Stanley Gardner is right up there as well – actually enjoyed the Perry Mason TV series the best, though. Great list!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Edie, Raymond Burr sure brought Gardner’s Perry to life!
annzee says
William Coughlin wrote two series featuring attorneys in Detroit MI. There are only two books featuring Stoney Walsh, but there are several featuring Charley Sloan who had to leave Detroit (after almost being disbarred) and moves to a small town north of Detroit. Both are excellent series. I’m trying to remember the name of an author who wrote about an attorney in Boston. I think the author’s last name was Rice and he actually was an attorney.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks, annzee, for telling us about the Detroit mystery series…
linda says
I quit watching the TV “Perry Mason” after the episode where Perry lost his first case. I can remember there was so much hype about Perry losing the case that it killed (no pun intended) me to watch anymore. But, that didn’t stop my hubby. He watches old Perry Mason reruns CONSTANTLY!!!!!!!!
Julia says
I don’t think the books are in print anymore, but D.R. Meredith had a great series that revolved around 2 lawyers (the John Lloyd Branson series). One of them, I think it was the last one, was called Murder by Sacrilege, and it is one of my favorite Christmas ones (although I admit it isn’t not very ‘deck-the-halls’)
I’m so glad you mentioned Kate Charles as well – I was trying to think of her name a while back and it just wasn’t coming to me. I forgot there were any lawyers in her Psalms series, though; I guess it has been a while since I read her
Julia says
I just realized I didn’t see Sarah Caudwell listed up there. She only wrote maybe 3 books, and she hasn’t written any in years, but she was a great author…and her books are available on Kindle!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Julia, I just added D. R. Meredith and Sarah Caudwell to the list of attorney mystery series.
Bill says
I just read a lawyer based mystery book. I recommended it to a lawyer friend of mine, but naturally, I forgot the title and the author.
The series is about a lawyer I think in San Francisco. He is a criminal law attorney whose partner is his ex-wife. They have a little girl together. I think his name is Mike and her name in Nina.
The story involves a street person in a seedy section of town who was a promising basketball player. He is terminally ill and is found in an alley next to a wealthy business man who has been stabbed and robbed of $2000 in cash. The bloody knife is in the hand of the street person who is laying next to the body, claiming he was hit on the head. The street person was a former client who got out of an accomplice to murder charge years before on a technicality.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sorry, Bill, this doesn’t sound like something I recognize. Hopefully someone else will know the author/book’s title.
Marlene says
That is one of the Perri O’Shaunessy books.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Marlene, thank you!
Bob R. says
Well, I’m pretty sure this isn’t your guy, but the lawyer in the John Lescroart “Dismas Hardy” series practices in San Francisco and one of those books starts almost exactly as the example you gave. Except that the suspect was kneeling over the body of the wife of the head of detectives….
Della M says
Kate Wilhelm is great..i have listened to all of her books..she is an attorney in the books and always in a mess. But she seems to win her cases..Real good!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Della, for telling us about Kate Wilhelm’s Barbara Holloway Mystery Series.
Paul Powell says
I am searching for the name of a female author I read several years ago, I think at least three mysteries. All took place in Minneapolis-St Paul. The heroine/detective was a lawyer and I believe worked in the DA’s office. There was a Christian-religious theme to the books. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Would greatly appreciate.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Paul, hmm, I’m afraid that doesn’t ring any bells! Hopefully someone else can help you.
Kristen S. says
What about cozy mysteries with Military under the Career category?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kristen, that’s an interesting suggestion – I’ll have to look for examples…
Gayle says
I’m looking for a series I lost track off….woman has a law firm, married to a man who maybe works for a government agency, they have a plane, and she gets involved in solving crimes. The series has been around for a while.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Gayle, I’m not sure, that isn’t ringing any bells. I’ve put it into part of a bigger questions post.
Janis S. says
Gayle, I believe you are thinking of Marcia Muller’s protagonist Sharon McCone. The series has been around for many years.