The best ‘can’t miss’ crime books to plunge you into new places away from the norm

As a reader I simply couldn’t have one book without the other. Detective Cruz is the first female detective in Acapulco and fights for every inch of respect in a police department rife with corruption and misogyny in a country where Mexicans don’t trust the police, feeling that no one cares. But Det. Cruz cares. The recurring theme of so many girls gone missing is her passion which occasionally rises up during other investigations throughout the series. As a writer I enjoyed suspense and danger. Carmen Amato makes you feel the heat and taste the food of Acapulco. Best ever female cop protagonist.

Yes, it’s another tough female detective as my fave. Who’d of thought a railroad detective could end up in so much trouble with so much crime and murder going on? It isn’t simply arresting hobos and vandals. The protagonist Sydney Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde make a great pair. Sydney’s time in Iraq serves her well as her toughness comes through, yet she still has her vulnerable side. The bad guys here are really bad and most of the other cops from other orgs are indifferent toward her, believing she’s a lightweight. The added bonus is Clyde, the dog, so if you’re a dog person, it’s a bonus. Read the four book series.

Another crime book that takes you places you never thought you’d venture into. Fesperman creates a sympathetic protagonist Vlado Petric. Vlado, a former homicide detective in Sarajevo, lives in exile but is recruited to return to the place of horrors that have haunted his life. His assignment: help capture an aging Nazi collaborator who has become a war profiteer, surrounded by a sympathetic population who will protect him with their lives. The story is dark and filled with suspense and dread. The Balkans were and are a very dangerous place. As a writer Fesperman creates suspense and fear in a very different place with very different people.

Pelecanos creates a helluva crime story set in Washington, DC. Not so different of a place, right? Ah, but there is the backdrop of the Martin Luther King riots in 1968 and the cops are overwhelmed. Derek Strange is a Black rookie cop and with a white detective Frank Vaughan goes on a manhunt for his brother’s killer. The combination of the two is a great dynamic. Derek’s pretty sure he knows who the drug dealer is who killed his brother and won’t be put off by the riots. Trying to find the killer in the chaos is gripping. A lot of grit in here and tension. This is one story you

I do enjoy a crime novel that spirits me away and this one goes waaay back to ancient Rome. Rich Romans enjoy water via aqueducts from the north. But when tremors from Pompeii reduce the water to a trickle they get really angry and demand to know why. Aquarians tend to all things water and Rome’s big cheese Aquarian is sent north to see if it’s a plumbing issue or something else. Time passes and nothing happens. The Aquarian’s apprentice is forced to go north and find out what is going on. He’s under enormous pressure as every rich family and official want answers and fast. When the young apprentice reaches Pompeii he discovers nothing has been done to resolve the water shortage. And his boss has been murdered! While the apprentice fumbles along, the tension is ratcheted up higher and higher along with the tremors and smoke from Pompeii. It’s the backdrop of the volcano that adds a lot to this one-of-a-kind tale.