Paul Whybrow
Full Member
I've just read my first crime novel by the Swedish writing team of Roslund & Hellström. Sadly, it's the last story they'll write together, as Börge Hellström died earlier this year. I enjoyed their tale of treachery in the Colombian drug trade, 3 Minutes, and will be seeking out their previous work. They've always used numbers in their titles: Pen 33, Box 21, Cell 8, Three Seconds and Two Soldiers.
Authors do this sort of thing to establish a brand. One of the best-known is Sue Grafton's Alphabet Series of detective stories about her protagonist Kinsey Millhone which started in 1982 with A is for Alibi and she's just published Y is for Yesterday.
Other crime novel series that show uniformity in the titling, include Marion Chesney's Agatha Raisin whose name appears in 27 titles, Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who mystery stories extended to 30 titles, and Charles Salzberg has written four detective novels that feature his protagonist Henry Swann's name in the title.
So far, I've written four novels in my Cornish Detective series, and though I intend to say that on the cover, as in A Cornish Detective Story or Cornish Detective 4, I'm wondering if I should also retitle them for harmony. After all, readers often remember the name of the protagonist—Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Jack Reacher and Sherlock Holmes—rather than the name of the author or the exact title of each story.
My Cornish Detective novels are currently called, Who Kills A Nudist?, The Perfect Murderer, An Elegant Murder and Sin Killers. I carefully chose these titles, to catch the eye and intrigue a potential reader, and also to reflect a key element in the plot, almost as a clue to the culprit's identity. Perhaps I should rename the sequels after the opening story's title, making them Who Kills an Innocent?, Who Kills a Mad Woman? and Who Kills a Sinner? It might encourage familiarity and help marketing, even though it would be inaccurate and possibly tedious while making me feel trapped on a production line!
Robinne recently settled on place names ending in 'Wich' for her series of witchy tales.
Have any of you shown consistency, by featuring your protagonist's name, a location or a key element in the titles of your series?
Authors do this sort of thing to establish a brand. One of the best-known is Sue Grafton's Alphabet Series of detective stories about her protagonist Kinsey Millhone which started in 1982 with A is for Alibi and she's just published Y is for Yesterday.
Other crime novel series that show uniformity in the titling, include Marion Chesney's Agatha Raisin whose name appears in 27 titles, Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who mystery stories extended to 30 titles, and Charles Salzberg has written four detective novels that feature his protagonist Henry Swann's name in the title.
So far, I've written four novels in my Cornish Detective series, and though I intend to say that on the cover, as in A Cornish Detective Story or Cornish Detective 4, I'm wondering if I should also retitle them for harmony. After all, readers often remember the name of the protagonist—Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Jack Reacher and Sherlock Holmes—rather than the name of the author or the exact title of each story.
My Cornish Detective novels are currently called, Who Kills A Nudist?, The Perfect Murderer, An Elegant Murder and Sin Killers. I carefully chose these titles, to catch the eye and intrigue a potential reader, and also to reflect a key element in the plot, almost as a clue to the culprit's identity. Perhaps I should rename the sequels after the opening story's title, making them Who Kills an Innocent?, Who Kills a Mad Woman? and Who Kills a Sinner? It might encourage familiarity and help marketing, even though it would be inaccurate and possibly tedious while making me feel trapped on a production line!

Robinne recently settled on place names ending in 'Wich' for her series of witchy tales.
Have any of you shown consistency, by featuring your protagonist's name, a location or a key element in the titles of your series?