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Hi All
I've always been attracted to a series featuring the same characters because I enjoy the pleasure of characters who evolve and change over time. So my short list of favorite authors includes (among others) Robert B. Parker, Patrick O'Brian, Larry McMurtry, Tony Hillerman, Donna Leon, Louise Penny, and most recently Jacqueline Winspear.
Which authors do you think to the best job allowing their characters to evolve and change over time? (I'll share my perspective later.)

Hi Tom:
Are we limited to that list? If so, I'd agree with Robert B. Parker and Patrick O'Brian, and certainly Tony Hillerman. I haven't read the others. Each of those, however, develop their characters in different ways. Patrick O'Brian, as much as I enjoyed the series, develops them as is needed for the overarching plot, but not as much in terms of creating fully rounded characters. Robert B. Parker is a good balance of those, while Hillerman goes well in depth in creating rounded characters that you could almost predict behavior for. I would add Craig Johnson in the Longmire series. Forget the TV series, as good as it is (I've watched it twice!), but the character development in that series of a pretty wide range of major and minor characters is fantastic. I would throw in a great handling of the sub-plots.

Hi P:
Absolute "Yes" to Johnson's Longmire. And I agree about O'Brian, much as I was an addicted fan of his novels. We see O'Brian's characters, especially Jack and Stephen, through others' eyes, but rarely do the characters themselves look inward. I do suggest you take a look at Louise Penny and Donna Leon. I'm currently reading Jacqueline Winspear's Masie Dobbs series. Too soon to tell how well Winspear has Masie evolve over the series, but I like the novels.

Hey, Tom:
Thanks for the response. Are there particular titles? I'll add them to my list. Good observation about O'Brian's characters being shown mostly from the outside; I think that's true, and it naturally limits the development. Still amazingly fun and cool books to read, though. I was just as enamored with them as you probably were! But then... I'm a nautical kinda guy!
Please throw a couple of titles for Penny and Leon. I want to add them to my list of to-reads.
--Wes

How about James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux? I've followed Dave's (fairly traumatic) life story for nearly 20 years.
It's been fascinating to watch the aspects of his character where he has mellowed over time... and where he hasn't!