Some time ago, I picked up a novel at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC, with the odd title of Bruno, Chief of Police. It turned out to be surprisingly good, blending mystery and the unmatchable cuisine of Périgord. Unfortunately, as many series do, its quality faded as the author, Martin Walker, fell into a rhythm.

I raided the library in my condo building recently for books and found number 16 in the Bruno series, A Château Under Siege, which, sadly, was even more boring than some of the earlier ones, with tedious descriptions of life in the French village and without the saving grace of Bruno’s experiments in the kitchen.

But my other selections from the library — which features free books for the taking — were also bad. Lisa Scottoline’s Dirty Blonde, a 2009 standalone thriller from the author of the Rosato & Associates series, about a Philadelphia law firm, involves a new judge with working-class roots and a hidden life. You’d have to be a fan, and I quickly discovered I’m not.

Third time’s the charm? Nope. The so-called queen of Icelandic crime fiction, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, has a third book in her Children’s House series, The Absolution, a 2020 novel featuring psychologist Freyja and police officer Huldar on the trail of a serial killer. I generally like thrillers set in Iceland but I’m not a big fan of serial killers.

Series thrive from a strong sense of place, and France and Iceland (and Philadelphia) are great places. One of my favorite series, from Arnaldur Indridason — which includes the novel Jar City — features Inspector Erlendur in Reykjavik.

It would seem it’s past time to give series thrillers a rest. Walker has made a cottage industry of his Bruno books, an oeuvre that even includes Bruno’s Cookbook: Recipes and Traditions from a French Country Kitchen, which I bought at one point. (I once spent a wonderful week at a goose farm outside Périgueux.)

There are, of course, hundreds of cookbooks on French cuisine, and most of them now with beautiful photos. When I lived in France, I had the opportunity to attend dinner soirées at the home of Martha Rose Shulman, who now writes on food for the New York Times. Maybe the best idea is for me to drop the thrillers and stick with cooking.

Darrell Delamaide is an author and journalist in Washington, DC.