Detective and mystery stories are by far the largest subgenre in Adirondack fiction. Like romance, mystery began in the Adirondacks during the late 19th century after the area became better known. Detective and mystery stories were written all throughout the 20th century, but the number of books written in this subgenre increased drastically after 2000; 58 of the 104 detective and mystery works were written in the last 14 years. A number of series have been written in recent years, among them Julia Spencer-Fleming’s Clare Fergusson and Russ van Alstyne Mysteries, John Briant’s Adirondack Detective series and Jamie Sheffield’s (SLU class of 1991) Tyler Cunningham Mysteries. The ability of authors to self-publish books through online services has most likely contributed the most to this spike in titles published.
