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You do have two categories to play with so you could list both books as mystery and action. Or something similar. Then there's the seven key words. As a reader a genre change wouldn't bother me because when I get the chance I read different genres anyway. Just make both genre options accurate to what you've written people don't like it when you've written romance for instance but called it horror or something.

Mingling those two genres to me wouldn't be bad. But I've no idea if there are "rules"

I think your core genre should be the same and one of the additional ones could be different.

Agree with Carole.

I find it very tricky. Some people won't have a problem going from a crime mystery to an action book with the same characters and story arc. But there's bound to be some that would. If you get the categories and the blurb right when you publish, it should alert readers to what kind of book it is and leave the choice to them.

I would lean more towards writing them the way you feel they should be written rather than trying to fit into a mould. But I am not that experienced. So anything I come out with is merely my opinion.

Very interesting. This sounds like something I would ask. I would say although your second book falls under a different genre then your first if the characters are still the same and the books plot is still similar to the first then naturally the second book could still be considered in the same genre as the first. As someone stated, you can always add genres so yes they could be different but they can still be a series.

Fascinating question and responses. In my urban fantasy series 'Penny White', the first two books had a mystery to solve. The third book is more action adventure, and the fourth one is more of a psychological arc. So far most readers have stuck with me.

I think if the characters are compelling, people will continue with them.

But then, my favourite TV programme is 'Doctor Who', and the stories range all over time/place/mood.

It's a good question. I have a similar situation with my current series but it seems readers are happy with it. The first book involves a murder mystery and has almost no romance, the next books have romance and no murders, then the last books have murder mysteries again :).

Based on what you have said here about your books, I think it would be best published as a series. It leaves you some flexibility with whether you want to write more books for it (I originally thought I would only write two books for my series...now it's at eight books long) and the readers who enjoyed the characters of the first book will likely want to read about them in more situations. Good luck :).