87th Precinct vs The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Two crime fiction series side by side, straight from the catalog data: 87th Precinct is the longer series (43 books vs 21 books); The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is the more recent one, starting in 1998. There's no wrong answer — pick the shape that fits your reading appetite, and Shelfmark will keep your place in either (no account needed).
| Statistic | 87th Precinct | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Evan Hunter | Alexander McCall Smith |
| Books | 43 | 21 |
| Published | 1956–2005 | 1998–2020 |
| Books per year | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Start with | Cop Hater (1956) | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998) |
| Reading order | Full 87th Precinct order → | Full The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency order → |
Numbers come from the Shelfmark catalog (Wikidata + Open Library). "Books per year" is catalogued books divided by the publication span — a rough cadence, not a quality score.