a "very british" mystery series

[to_love_a_rose]

A while back my friend recommended to me a mystery series. I can't get in touch with her right at the moment, so I was hoping maybe you guys could help me figure out the series.

Your clues:
- The detective is a woman (I'm pretty sure she's not an official detective with the police).
- I believe they're fairly recent. They may even still be coming out with new ones.
- They're contemporary, not historical.
- It's all "very British", whatever that means.

Hopefully this can help narrow it down a little. I'm not much of a mystery fan and don't know much about the genre, so it's possible that what I've described is half the books on the market. I would like to track these down if I can, because I've been in the mood for something like this, and I trust her judgement when it comes to books. (Our book collections are so much alike it's scary.)

Any help is very much appreciated. :)

Edit: I think I found her. It was P.D. James.

Comments

[scifisentai]

Hm, set around Victorian time or so? Is this what you're looking for? It may not be, as it's a steampunk alternate Victorian era, but it's all that springs to mind for me. Sorry if it's not much help. ^.^

ETA: Bah, I need to pay more attention. The detective in this isn't a woman, so it's probably not what you're after, sorry. :/

[to_love_a_rose]

Nope, these were contemporary novels, not historical. I've edited the post to reflect that. Thanks anyway. :)

[scifisentai]

No worries. ^.^

[jehanne1431]

I'm not a mystery fan, either, but I am familiar with one author, though I don't know that she can be said to have written a series.

Jennifer Lee Carrell. She wrote a Shakespeare mystery set in modern times, Interred With Their Bones. Her main character is female, but not a detective, and you can't get much more British than Shakespeare. She has another one of the same type coming out in a few months, with the same main character (so maybe it is a series).

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but there it is. With a link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Jennifer%20Lee%20Carrell

[to_love_a_rose]

I think I found her: P.D. James. But I'm going to look at the other books people have linked to also. Thanks much. :)

[falena]

Val McDermid has written two different series that could fit the bill: the Lindsay Gordon mysteries and the Kate Brannigan mysteries.

Can't think of anything else, sorry.

[to_love_a_rose]

I think (thanks to another comment) that it's P.D. James I was looking for, but I'm going to take a look at all the other people that were suggested too. Thanks much! :)

[mackiedockie]

P.D. James comes to my mind for a relatively contemporary British woman detective, including 'An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'. If contemporary includes the last 40 years or so *g*.

[to_love_a_rose]

I think that might be it! The name sounds very familiar and I'm almost positive that's the author she mentioned. Thanks very much. :)