Series where the Shtick overwhelms the story

[Captain Smith]

I was thinking about long running series where the author has run out of ideas and the book just becomes a replay of shtick and cliches.

That because I recently read or tried to:

1. The last Spenser novel by Parker and the new one by Atkins. It was all quips and no story. Spenser is tough. Susan is beautiful - but they are both 85. Yawn.

2. J. Jance - Brady series. Ok, you have a crappy mom. You have a family - so what.

3. Anita Blake - what more can be said. All plot disappear for endless babble about Anita's orificies and who is a gay vampire. Yuk.

The Bosch books (except for the Hong Kong one), Daveport and Flowers, James Lee Burke - manage to keep some interest. So does Gabriel Allon. While they have backstories - it doesn't overwhelm and there is a plot.

SM Stirling Fire series - how many more books till the reveal - who cares about folks who think they are elves. The Island series was tightly plotted for 3 books. These books - endless. I understand the need to make a buck - but ...

[Inkthinker]

A couple of David Eddings's series, most specifically I recall "The Tamuli", his sequel trilogy to "The Elenium". The first series I enjoyed, but in the second series all sense of threat to the characters was replaced with quippy lines and god-like (in a couple characters' cases, literally) competence in the face of all their enemies.