It’s no surprise to mystery readers that most authors write series. Readers seem to prefer them and they allow an author to delve into their characters’ personalities over a long period of time.

  But not all authors go the series route. For some authors, finding that one muse they want to revisit time and time again doesn’t happen automatically. Plus, a good string of stand-alone best-sellers allows an author to keep writing.

   But I find it interesting that at least two authors Joseph Finder and David Ellis  – each with stand alone best-sellers – have launched their first  series this year.

    Finder’s novels have shown that business espionage is as gripping, cut-throat and dangerous as political espionage. Finder’s novels have kept me up nights, with plots that compel me to keep reading.

A few months ago, Finder came out with Vanished, which introduced “private spy” Nick Heller. Trained in the Special Forces, Heller specializes in “digging up secrets that powerful people would rather keep hidden.” As usual with Finder’s work, Vanished kept me up late, unable to put down this powerful novel.

   Edgar-winner David Ellis’s legal thrillers have focused more on his characters’ emotional lives than on the intracies of the law. But Ellis’ latest novel  The Hidden Man introduces Jason Kolarich, an attorney with a tremendous backstory.

  So why now? For each of these authors, it’s all in the timing and finding the right character.

   Here’s what Ellis told me in an e-mail: “About half-way through “Hidden,” I realized that I had created a character with whom I wanted to spend more time than just one novel.  Jason is a survivor.  He is a talented attorney who was on the verge of superstardom in the legal community when he suffered a horrific personal tragedy that turned his life upside down, knocking his career off the rails and challenging his faith. 

“Now he views the world differently.  He feels like he has nothing left to lose.  It liberates him to become an outlaw in the legal community.  And it allows me, as his creator, to find any number of ways to place Jason in jeopardy, even let him crash and burn, but still bring him back next time.”

   There’s no doubt that Joseph Finder and David Ellis have made an impact with readers with their many novels. The good news is both Finder and Ellis are just getting started.