Historical fiction
Masters of Rome - Colleen McCullough
This is the series I'm currently reading, so that I've only read the first book but what an amazing book it is. It lead to sleepless nights and stolen reads during the days. A must-read for anyone fascinated by Rome, it follows the Roman Republic from 110 bc to about 27 bc and chronicles the lives of many of the major historical figures of the period Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Gaius Julius Caesar and all their women. Of course, there's many more, having read only the first book, these are the familiar ones to me right now. McCullough's writing style is very informal and the books are filled with a tome of information from everyday Roman life, to political and war machinations, to the religions and faith of the Romans. Complete with a comprehensive glossary, detailed maps, drawings of homes and even sketches of busts of her major characters this is a wonderful find. The series in order consists of The First Man in Rome, The Grass Crown, Fortune's Favorites, Caesar's Women, Caesar, The October Horse and Antony and Cleopatra. This is very heavy reading, the first book is about 900 pages long in hardbound form and I think the size only increases after this one.
Detective fiction
For the series included here, I've read the first couple of books and really loved them. Time and other constraints have prevented me from continuing, but I WILL get there one day :)
Inspector Lynley Series - Elizabeth George
This is a favorite series with Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the Earl of Asherton and his working class Seargent Barbara Havers. They belong to Scotland Yard and solve murders in present day London & England. The crimes are often complex & gritty, related to contemporary topics, and the characters all go through intense emotional and psychological angst. Very heavy reading, some of the books often leave me low for a couple of days but they are great reads for all that. Being mystery, the series dont have to be read in order but I would recommend doing so because of the complicated and ever-changing relationships between the characters. The series in order are A Suitable Vengeance, A Great Deliverance, Payment in blood, Well Schooled in murder, For the Sake of Elena, Missing Joseph and a Google search should reveal the rest :)
William Monk Series - Anne Perry
Another psycho-drama series, Anne Perry's 18-th century mystery series is fantastic. Featuring William Monk, the tortured police inspector who has lost his memory and isi now a private investigator, the series follows Monk's investigations, alongwith his personal quest to find himself and his relationship with Nurse Hester Latterly. The complete list is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Monk
Thomas Pitt Series - Anne Perry
The hero here, Inspector Thomas Pitt is not as tortured as William Monk, but from a working class background and married to Charlotte who is his social superior, Anne Perry again creates a fantastic mystery series with complicated mysteries and compelling characters. The complete list can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pitt_%28fictional_character%29
A few other good ones I can reccommend are Just William series by Richmal Crompton, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Doublas Adams, the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell, Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy Sayers and the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris.
Will update this list, if and when I can think of any more, until then .... happy reading!!
PS ... For people who havnt found out yet, diary has a limit of 5000 characters :(
