I'm the author of two police procedural mysteries, a series that features a father/daughter detective team. I write in the traditional mystery genre for the simple reason that I'm a passionate reader of this genre, and always have been. I enjoy the structure of a whodunnit—the pacing, red herrings, clues, plot twists, reveals—and love constructing a multi-layered mystery that is both engaging and suspenseful. I’m a big fan of the masters of this genre: Agatha Christie, PD James, Dick Francis, and Val McDermid. I’m also an avid watcher of police procedural television series, and I’m especially drawn to the darker investigative stories you find in programs like The Killing, Mare of Easttown, and The Wire.
Dead Wind is the third book in Tessa Wegert’s Shana Merchant series, and it’s where I made my entry into the series. It works as a standalone, but I have every intention of going back to books 1 and 2 to fill in the backstory. In this installment, Detective Merchant is getting her sea legs back after a harrowing experience with a serial killer, while trying to solve the murder of a local woman, and sorting out her romantic feelings with her partner. Her complicated life provides another layer to the suspense and makes her an extremely relatable and likable character. There’s a nice cat-and-mouse feel to this novel with a heart-racing denouement.
Senior Investigator Shana Merchant must dredge up dark secrets and old grudges if she's to solve the murder of a prominent local citizen in the Thousand Islands community she now calls home.
"Wegert nicely balances plot and characterization. Fans of Denise Mina's Alex Morrow will be pleased" - Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"Louise Penny meets Ruth Ware in this small town mystery that bubbles with secrets and intrigue" - Charlie Donlea, internationally bestselling author of Twenty Years Later
"An atmospheric, sophisticated thriller with layers upon layers of secrets" - Sarah Stewart Taylor, author of the Maggie D'arcy mysteries
For almost thirty years, I worked as a cop in the back alleys, poorly lit laneways, and forgotten neighbourhoods in Toronto, the city where I grew up. Murder, mayhem, and sexual violations intended to demean, shame, and haunt the victims were all in a day’s work. Whether as a beat cop or a plainclothes detective, I dealt with good people who did bad things and bad people who followed their instincts. And now that I’m retired, I can take some of those experiences and turn them into crime fiction novels.
I really enjoyed this book because it rang true for me.
The new partnership between Det. Scorcher Kennedy and Richie Curran is one that I’m quite familiar with. French balances the challenges of Scorcher’s personal life with the complexities of the investigation at hand very well.
In many ways, this book reminds me a lot of the BBC series Happy Valley (which absolutely nails the policing culture). And that it’s set in Ireland doesn’t hurt!
From Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher, a New York Times bestselling novel that "proves anew that [Tana French] is one of the most talented crime writers alive" (The Washington Post).
"Required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting." -The New York Times
Mick "Scorcher Kennedy is the star of the Dublin Murder Squad. He plays by the books and plays hard, and that's how the biggest case of the year ends up in his hands.
On one of the half-abandoned "luxury developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children…
I am a pediatric emergency physician turned author, and I am passionate about sharing an insider’s view of the emergency room, as well as addressing larger health issues that should be more visible to the general public. The emergency room is a world unlike any other, filled with humor, drama, emotions, and energy twenty-four hours a day, and I like to bring that energy to my stories. I’ve worked in many different medical settings, and every day, I find a new story that is worth sharing.
It takes talent to make a forensic pathologist a hero, but Temperance Brennan is equal to the task.
This is the thirteenth book in the series and my favorite because of the complexity of the plot and investigation. Literature needs more smart female heroes, and Dr. Brennan leads the way. This is a top-notch science-nerd action-thriller at its best.
___________________________________ A gripping Temperance Brennan novel from world-class forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, the international no. 1 bestselling crime thriller writer and the inspiration behind the hit TV series Bones.
Dr Temperance Brennan spends her life working amongst the decomposed and the skeletal. So the newly-dead body she is called to examine holds little to surprise her. Until she discovers it is the body of an ex-soldier apparently killed in Vietnam in 1968. So who is buried in his grave?
The case takes Tempe to the heart of the American military, where she must examine the remains of anyone with a…
The title character, Chicken Nugget learns to be brave and stand up for his family even when he feels small and helpless.
My son loves this book because the evil fox gets what is coming to him and is taken away in a police car so Chicken Nugget and his family are safe again.
Chicken Nugget is a hilarious new picture book by Michelle Robinson and Tom McLaughlin.
My name is Nugget. Chicken Nugget. This is my family. I'm the smallest.
And when you're the smallest, nobody ever listens.
When Nugget's long-lost-cousin Franz turns up, all isn't quite as it seems. There's definitely something fishy - or foxy - about this chicken. This is Nugget's chance to save the day, because sometimes the bravest hero of all is just a little chicken.
History is my passion. I’m a graduate of medieval history from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and post-graduate of London University. Former high school history teacher, and previously held the post of assistant researcher at the Museum of the Diaspora, Tel Aviv. I was commissioned by the Council of Zambian Jewry to research and write the history of Northern Rhodesian/Zambian Jewry. I have lectured frequently on my subjects and have contributed diverse historical articles in newspapers and journals. I have published six books, fiction, and non-fiction.
I pick Rendel’s books because she knows how to get inside the complex workings of the human mind. I have always been a keen enthusiast of Rendel’s crime fiction thrillers. What amazes me is her depth of understanding of human psychology. On the one hand, I just couldn’t put the book down, and yet due to the interest, it evoked I never wanted to finish it. The story revolves around a teenager Liza who is kept away from the outside world in an isolated rural mansion and is completely dominated by her mother. Secrets, murders, and love affairs interlock, twist and turn and evolve into a thrilling page-turner.
A psychological thriller about an isolated young woman and her murderous mother from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Girl Next Door.
Far from London, the isolated estate called Shrove House looms over the English countryside. Inside, two women hide from the world. For sixteen years, Eve has protected her daughter, Liza, from the corrupting influence of modern life, never letting her outside, hiding her from those who visit, and killing to keep her safe. Raised in her mother’s shadow, Liza has never questioned that this is the way things must be—until the night the police come to call,…
Considered one of the foremost explanatory writers and literary stylists in American journalism, Margalit Fox retired in June 2018 from a 24-year-career at the New York Times, where she was most recently a senior writer. As a member of the newspaper’s celebrated Obituary News Department, she wrote the front-page sendoffs of some of the leading public figures of our age. The author of three previous books, Conan Doyle for the Defense, The Riddle of the Labyrinth, and Talking Hands, she lives in Manhattan.
In January 1971, the Scotsman Dougal Robertson embarked with his wife and children on what was to be the dream of a lifetime: an extended sea voyage aboard their 43-foot wooden schooner, the Lucette. Eighteen months later, as she plied the Pacific some 200 miles west of the Galapagos, the Lucette was rammed by a pod of killer whales; the Robertsons had barely enough time to flee the ship before it sank. They spent the next 37 days adrift, first in the ship’s inflatable raft and later, after the raft gave out, in its tiny dinghy. They braved storms, sharks, and the perpetual lack of food and fresh water before they were rescued by a passing ship. First published in 1973, Robertson’s gripping, day-by-day account of their ingenious survival tactics is a classic of the castaway-narrative genre.
In June 1972, the 43-foor schooner Lucette was attacked by killer whales and sank in 60 seconds. What happened next is almost incredible. In an inflatable rubber raft, with a 9 foot fiberglass dinghy to tow it, Dougal Robertson and his family were miles from any shipping lanes. They had emergency rations for only three days and no maps, compass, or instruments of any kind. After their raft sank under them, they crammed themselves into their tiny dinghy.
For 37 days-using every technique of survival-they battled against 20-foot waves, marauding sharks, thirst, starvation, and exhaustion, adrift in the vast reaches…
After picking up a copy of James Herbert’s Lair (the second in his Rats trilogy) back in the early 80s, I decided I wanted to write something myself one day. That day came in about 1990, when I finished my first manuscript, Minstrel’s Bargain. I also wrote another MS around that time called Point of Contact, but nothing happened with these stories and I gave up on my writing dreams to concentrate on bringing up a family. Fast forward to 2015, and I sent the MS for Minstrel’s Bargain to an indie publisher. To my surprise, they took it on, and that book has spawned two sequels, entitled the Prophecy Trilogy.
James Herbert was, for me, the king, and The Jonah is brilliant. Jim Kelso, undercover cop, is a man with dark secrets. Shunned by others in the Police, he is seen as the eponymous Jonah as everything he touches seems to go wrong. Sent off to investigate a suspected drug factory on the coast, Kelso finds himself not only fighting the drug dealers he has been sent to bring to justice, but also with his own horrifying past. Part police procedural, part terrifying horror. Brilliant stuff.
The shadow of the past was always with him. But he never knew what it was, or when it would strike next. In James Herbert's The Jonah, detective Jim Kelso is sent to a small coastal town to investigate drug smuggling and stumbles on a dangerous organization. Suddenly more than just his life is at stake. It's his past, his future, his sanity. Through torture and drugs he discovers the terrifying secret of The Jonah. And learns, in the most horrifying way that it can destroy him as well as others . . .
I’ve been writing my DCI Warren Jones series for more than ten years now. In addition to trying my best to craft a compelling story, with relatable characters, I love the challenge of balancing this with authentic police procedure. All the books and authors recommended here are excellent exponents of this craft. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of them, and believe that they have helped me improve as a writer. I deliberately chose the first in each series, in the hope that you will continue reading to see how the characters evolve.
Sergeant Washington Poe and analyst Tilly Bradshaw are top of many folks’ favourites list.
Like Rachel Lynch’s Kelly Porter series, the setting is largely Cumbria. However, Poe and Tilly work for the National Crime Agency, specialising in highly sensitive and unusual cases (eg serial killers), giving a different spin on the police procedural.
Each book has a compelling and devious central mystery, but the real joy is the pairing of Poe and Tilly. Poe is a clever but taciturn grump, who favours the simple life, living largely off-grid in a stone shepherd’s hut. Tilly is a naïve computer genius, with few social filters.
Put them together and initially sparks fly, before they become close friends. With laugh-out-loud dialogue, these are an absolute pleasure to read.
'A thrilling curtain raiser for what looks set to be a great new series' Mick Herron
Welcome to the Puppet Show . . .
A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District's prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues and the police are helpless.
When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of.
Reluctantly partnered with the brilliant, but socially awkward, civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw,…
My expertise in things adult stems from my 65 years of life on this earth. I have a passion for adult-level writing (not “adult” as in “erotica”) because I was a junior high teacher during the Twilightcraze. It didn’t take long to get my fill of sparkling vampires. I had to retire from teaching because of a disability, which left me with time on my hands. I turned to writing, something I had wanted to do since I was a high school student. I now do freelance non-fiction writing (gotta pay the bills) and writing novels. One is never too old to chase a dream.
If you’re looking for cyberpunk sci-fi on steroids, this is the book for you. The depth of imagination that went into the world-building here is phenomenal.
Not only are you treated to a well-fleshed-out futuristic cyberpunk setting, there’s also some serious tech in play. Once you look past the norms of the social structure of the day – which is nothing short of brilliant – you realize this is also a good, old-fashioned police crime drama. Entertaining, mesmerizing, surprising, shocking.
This book has it all. I really loved the quirks of the language that the characters use. Not only has society changed drastically in Dae D. Shields’ world, but so has the English language. You have to read it to fully appreciate the talent of the author behind it.
The USA is a patchwork of hyper-political city-states and rogue nations.
The police have disbanded.
And somebody's killing Nobodies.
In a searing cyberpunk vision of the future, the sinister Black Devilfish walks the endless rainy streets of an overpopulated megalopolis searching for his own soul.
The bizarre Devilfish power suit belies a hard-pressed insomniac struggling to find meaning in his aimless existence. He spends his nights drowning his sorrows in Lysol sponges, calling a wife he…
Do you see the pattern in the five books I’ve recommended? In each of them, a woman writer explores the darker side of human nature and lures the law-abiding reader to explore it, too. I do not expect to ever commit a murder or to have to cover one up for the sake of a loved one. But could I? Could the person next to me in the grocery store line? Hmmm, I wonder. Traditional mystery stories and police procedurals reassure the reader that in the end, justice will be served and order restored. The women writers of noir/psychological suspense make us contemplate the world very differently.
The Vault is the sequel to A Sight for Sore Eyes. It is a police procedural with the detective trying to identify several dead bodies found in an abandoned coal cellar. The dead seem to have no connection to each other, so the detective must also puzzle out how each of them came to be there. I recommend it because the reader has some fun: She knows the answers to all those questions from having read the first book. It’s a great twist on mystery-as-riddle whodunits.
INCLUDES AN EXCERPT OF RENDELL’S FINAL NOVEL, DARK CORNERS
In the stunning climax to Rendell’s classic 1998 novel A Sight for Sore Eyes, three bodies—two dead, one living—are entombed in an underground chamber beneath a picturesque London house. Twelve years later, the house’s new owner pulls back a manhole cover, and discovers the vault—and its grisly contents. Only now, the number of bodies is four. How did somebody else end up in the chamber? And who knew of its existence?
With their own detectives at an impasse, London police call on former Kingsmarkham Chief Inspector Wexford, now retired and living…
