82 books like A Thin Dark Line

By Tami Hoag,

Here are 82 books that A Thin Dark Line fans have personally recommended if you like A Thin Dark Line. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Gone Too Far

Kel O'Connor Author Of Broken Bits

From my list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of romantic suspense since I was a teen (many decades ago) and started writing my DAG Team Series in 2016. I adore everything about this genre – the puzzles, the intrigue and how they affect the budding relationship between the main characters. Dating is difficult when you are trying to catch a killer or on the run! Despite the central mystery, the focus is on the romance between the couple. The issues serve to add a layer of non-sexual tension. 

Kel's book list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope

Kel O'Connor Why did Kel love this book?

To get the full story of Sam and Alyssa’s love story, start with the 1st book in the Troubleshooters series, The Unsung Hero. However, this is the best book of that series! Former lovers, they now need to work together to solve a complex case that puts them on the run. Forced Proximity is my favorite romance trope.

By Suzanne Brockmann,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gone Too Far as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Troubleshooters: They Never Let You Down. The sixth addictive romantic suspense novel in New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters series, filled with thrilling adventure, excitement and passion. In GONE TOO FAR, ex-lovers Lieutenant Sam Starrett and FBI agent Alyssa Locke find that sometimes the only way to the truth is to break the law...

Whilst Lieutenant Sam Starrett's career as a Navy SEAL has gone from strength to strength, his private life has turned into a mess. Waiting for his divorce papers was always going to be tough but Sam's life turns into a nightmare when he arrives…


Book cover of Shadows At Sunset

Kel O'Connor Author Of Broken Bits

From my list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of romantic suspense since I was a teen (many decades ago) and started writing my DAG Team Series in 2016. I adore everything about this genre – the puzzles, the intrigue and how they affect the budding relationship between the main characters. Dating is difficult when you are trying to catch a killer or on the run! Despite the central mystery, the focus is on the romance between the couple. The issues serve to add a layer of non-sexual tension. 

Kel's book list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope

Kel O'Connor Why did Kel love this book?

Every one of her romantic suspense books is a masterpiece! Coltrane cares for nothing and no one until he meets Jilly and Jilly cares too much for her messy family and the crumbling Hollywood mansion they live in. There is a fun secondary mystery and love story involving the two ghosts who died in the house.

By Anne Stuart,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shadows At Sunset as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

House of Shadows
The house on Sunset Boulevard has witnessed everything: from the infamous murder-suicide of a ’50s starlet and her lover, to the drug-fueled commune in the ’60s, to the anguish of its present owner, Jilly Meyer, who is struggling to preserve the house and what’s left of her wounded family.

Man of Shadows
Coltrane is a liar, a con man and a threat to everything Jilly holds dear. He is also her hated father’s right-hand man, a gorgeous, loathsome snake who doesn’t care whom he uses to get what he wants. And he’s made it clear he wants…


Book cover of Thick as Thieves

Kel O'Connor Author Of Broken Bits

From my list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of romantic suspense since I was a teen (many decades ago) and started writing my DAG Team Series in 2016. I adore everything about this genre – the puzzles, the intrigue and how they affect the budding relationship between the main characters. Dating is difficult when you are trying to catch a killer or on the run! Despite the central mystery, the focus is on the romance between the couple. The issues serve to add a layer of non-sexual tension. 

Kel's book list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope

Kel O'Connor Why did Kel love this book?

Another author who always hits the mark! This is one of her newest books and I was blown away by all the twists that came out of nowhere. The couple must team up to find out who the killer was from a decades-old robbery that affected them both.

By Sandra Brown,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Thick as Thieves as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this tantalizing thriller from a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a woman uncovers lifelong secrets as she searches for the truth behind her father's involvement in a heist gone wrong.

Twenty years ago in the dead of night, four seemingly random individuals pulled the ultimate heist and almost walked away with half a million dollars. But by daybreak, their plan had been shot to hell. One of them was in the hospital. One was in jail. One was dead. And one got away with it.

Arden Maxwell, the daughter of the man who disappeared all those years ago—presumably…


Book cover of Shiver

Kel O'Connor Author Of Broken Bits

From my list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of romantic suspense since I was a teen (many decades ago) and started writing my DAG Team Series in 2016. I adore everything about this genre – the puzzles, the intrigue and how they affect the budding relationship between the main characters. Dating is difficult when you are trying to catch a killer or on the run! Despite the central mystery, the focus is on the romance between the couple. The issues serve to add a layer of non-sexual tension. 

Kel's book list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope

Kel O'Connor Why did Kel love this book?

Kidnap victim takes a repo agent and her child hostage in order to discover who blew his cover and is trying to kill him.She finds him locked in the trunk of a car she is repossessing. Daniel needs to find his kidnappers and find out how they found him in protective custody.  I liked how Samantha worked hard to provide for her family and her courage in this odd situation. Again, features forced proximity!

By Karen Robards,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shiver as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When she swore off love, he was the last man she imagined would steal her heart.

If driving a tow truck through the seediest part of town with a gun beside her means putting a roof over her son's head, then single mother Samantha is going to be the best repossession woman on the books. But when she hooks her truck up to a flashy BMW, the last thing she expects is to find a beaten, bloody man in the trunk - or to be catapulted into a terrifying fight to survive.

Daniel knows the drug runners who kidnapped him…


Book cover of The Tin Roof Blowdown

Mary Maurice Author Of Burtrum Lee

From my list on exciting your imagination.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always enjoyed the intrigue of the mystery and the constant back and forth of the twists and turns offer in a well-written novel. The tremor of my nerves at the base of my neck as I try to figure out the culprit and their intentions, has always enticed my imagination. To, me, those sensations are mind stimulating, and are only born through reading.

Mary's book list on exciting your imagination

Mary Maurice Why did Mary love this book?

The Tin Roof Blowdown shows us New Orleans, and the surrounding areas the days after Katrina raged havoc. Taking into account the lives that have been traumatized as crime and murders increased nine-fold. Detective David Robicheaux of Iberia Parish finds himself in the midst of a murder in an old-time neighborhood, as he tries to figure out if the murder of a local black boy during a robbery was racially motivated or not. The details and stories of this horrific tragedy show the bleakness of the aftermath and that not only did many reach their deaths, but how many who survived died also. No order exists as Robicheaux tries to unravel his latest mystery.


By James Lee Burke,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Tin Roof Blowdown as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'His most gripping thriller to date.' Mirror

Hurricane Katrina has transformed New Orleans into a violent wasteland. Criminals capitalise on the devastation as survivors wait for help that never comes.

David Robicheaux - his city in ruins -- is tasked with investigating the murder of a pair of looters: is it a simple case of 'stand-your-ground', or something altogether darker? The dead men's accomplice holds the key but he has disappeared to escape the people hunting him.

As Robicheaux uncovers a brutal catalogue of greed, torture and murder, his own family is threatened, and the ravaged city provides the perfect…


Book cover of Devious

Claris Lam Author Of Winner Takes All

From my list on mysteries stuck in isolated areas.

Why am I passionate about this?

Mystery fiction was one of my favourite book genres growing up. I especially enjoy reading mysteries taking place in remote locations, since it narrows down the suspects to only the people present there. Having the cast isolated from the rest of the world creates a special kind of pressure on them to find out who committed the crime. These mysteries also often involve ensemble casts and deep and complicated relationships between characters that are fun to keep track of. Reading these mysteries, including the ones in this list, inspired me to write my own! I’ve written and self-published two amateur sleuth murder mystery books, and I’m currently writing my third one!

Claris' book list on mysteries stuck in isolated areas

Claris Lam Why did Claris love this book?

Devious might bit a bit heavy-handed with the religious references, but it makes sense given its location and the types of murders occurring in this book.

I enjoyed how the author worked those references into the overall mystery with not just the location, but the clues and other discoveries along the way. There also is a big twist behind the true killer in this book that I really enjoyed reading, too.

I wish I could explain it in more detail, but that would give away major spoilers! 

By Lisa Jackson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Devious as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOWHERE IS SACRED. NOWHERE IS SAFE.

Fans of Karen Rose and Nora Roberts will love Lisa Jackson's chilling new novel about a killer striking in the holiest of places.

Sister Camille, a troubled novice, is found garrotted in St Marguerite's cathedral. Bentz and Montoya discover this case is close to home - Montoya knew Camille previously as his brother's girlfriend and they even know the prime suspect: the priest Frank O'Toole, father of Camille's unborn child.

When more nuns are brutally slaughtered by someone who seems to know their darkest secrets, Bentz is sure Father O'Toole is their man. But…


Book cover of The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square

Peter B. Dedek Author Of The Cemeteries of New Orleans: A Cultural History

From my list on the history of life, death, and magic in New Orleans.

Why am I passionate about this?

Being from Upstate New York I went to college at Cornell University but headed off to New Orleans as soon as I could. By and by I became an instructor at Delgado Community College. Always a big fan of the city’s amazing historic cemeteries, when teaching a world architectural history class, I took the class to the Metairie Cemetery where I could show the students real examples of every style from Ancient Egyptian to Modern American. After coming to Texas State University, San Marcos (30 miles from Austin), I went back to New Orleans on sabbatical in 2013 and wrote The Cemeteries of New Orleans. 

Peter's book list on the history of life, death, and magic in New Orleans

Peter B. Dedek Why did Peter love this book?

I discovered and used The World That Made New Orleans as a source for my book.

Upon opening the book, I was gleefully surprised to discover what an informative, interesting, and fun read it is. Sublette describes the French origins of the city in the early 1700s which involved wild parties, debauchery, tragic exploratory expeditions, and a massive Ponzi scheme that used Louisiana and the fictional gold mines there to defraud most every rich person in France, eventually crashing the entire French economy.

He then took me on a thrilling journey through the Spanish and early American periods to quadroon balls, Congo Square, and so many other fascinating places. I knew the city’s history was interesting, but reading The World That Made New Orleans blew me away. 

By Ned Sublette,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The World That Made New Orleans as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Named one of the Top 10 Books of 2008 by The Times-Picayune.  Winner of the 2009 Humanities Book of the Year award from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. Awarded the New Orleans Gulf South Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award for 2008. 

New Orleans is the most elusive of American cities. The product of the centuries-long struggle among three mighty empires--France, Spain, and England--and among their respective American colonies and enslaved African peoples, it has always seemed like a foreign port to most Americans, baffled as they are by its complex cultural inheritance.

 

The World That Made New…


Book cover of The Axeman

Louise Hare Author Of Harlem After Midnight

From my list on capturing the magic of jazz.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved jazz ever since I learned to play the clarinet as a child. My two great loves in life have been music and books, so it made sense to combine the two things and write novels with a link to jazz. These books are some of my favourites with a jazz theme. I promise that even if you’re not a jazz fan, these are all excellent novels, to be enjoyed with or without music playing in the background!

Louise's book list on capturing the magic of jazz

Louise Hare Why did Louise love this book?

A young Louis Armstrong as an amateur detective – if that concept doesn’t draw you in, I’m not sure what will!

The year is 1919 and there’s a terrifying serial killer on the loose in New Orleans. This is the first installment in Celestin’s City Blues Quartet. I love all four books but The Axeman is probably my favourite because of the New Orleans vibe. You get jazz, mafia, Pinkerton detectives, crooked cops, and a taste of the macabre. 

By Ray Celestin,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Axeman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Ray Celestin skillfully depicts the desperate revels of that idiosyncratic city and its bizarre legends in his first novel, THE AXEMAN." - The New York Times Sunday Book Review (Marilyn Stasio, Crime Columnist)

The Axeman stalks the streets of New Orleans...

In a town filled with gangsters, voodoo, and jazz trumpets sounding from the dance halls, a sense of intoxicating mystery often beckons from the back alleys. But when a serial killer roams the sultry nights, even the corrupt cops can't see the clues. That is, until a letter from the Axeman himself is published in the newspaper, proclaiming that…


Book cover of The Yellow House: A Memoir

Marlene G. Fine and Fern L. Johnson Author Of Let's Talk Race: A Guide for White People

From my list on the experiences of Black people in the US that white people don’t know but should.

Why we are passionate about this?

We grew up in predominantly white communities and came of age during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. As academics, we focused on issues of race in our research and teaching. Yet, despite our reading and writing about race, we still hadn’t made a connection to our own lives and how our white privilege shielded us and made us complicit in perpetuating racial inequities. We didn’t fully see our role in white supremacy until we adopted our sons. Becoming an interracial family and parenting Black sons taught us about white privilege and the myriad ways that Blacks confront racism in education, criminal justice, health care, and simply living day-to-day. 

Marlene and Fern's book list on the experiences of Black people in the US that white people don’t know but should

Marlene G. Fine and Fern L. Johnson Why did Marlene and Fern love this book?

A memoir that haunted both of us about Broom’s love for the New Orleans house she grew up in, her family, and a neighborhood torn apart by the institutional racism embedded in banking practices, zoning laws, highway development, and other corporate and government policies and practices.

Broom’s mother purchased the house in 1961 in a then “promising” neighborhood. Over the years, the neighborhood was cut off from the city by the growth of the interstate highway, which left this largely Black area in decline from years of indifference by New Orleans elected officials. The house was eventually destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

The book provides a harrowing description of the destructive effects of institutional racism.

By Sarah M Broom,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Yellow House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION

'A major book that I suspect will come to be considered among the essential memoirs of this vexing decade' New York Times Book Review

In 1961, Sarah M. Broom's mother Ivory Mae bought a shotgun house in the then-promising neighborhood of New Orleans East and built her world inside of it. It was the height of the Space Race and the neighborhood was home to a major NASA plant - the postwar optimism seemed assured. Widowed, Ivory Mae remarried Sarah's father Simon Broom; their combined family would…


Book cover of French Quarter Fiction: The Newest Stories of America's Oldest Bohemia

Jen Pitts Author Of The Key to Murder

From my list on getting to know mysterious New Orleans.

Why am I passionate about this?

My love of mysteries began with Nancy Drew books. As I read more mysteries over the years, I finally decided it was time for me to write my own. A setting came to me immediately—New Orleans. I fell in love with the city through the Anne Rice and Julie Smith’s books. To write my cozy mystery series, I read all kinds of books. I read them for pleasure, but to make sure the details are correct in my books, The French Quarter Mysteries. I’m able to enjoy New Orleans through my sleuth, Samantha. It’s the next best thing to being there myself.

Jen's book list on getting to know mysterious New Orleans

Jen Pitts Why did Jen love this book?

No matter where I visit, I always try to buy a book about the town.

I never come home from a trip to New Orleans with one. It doesn’t matter whether it’s non-fiction or fiction, novels or short stories. French Quarter Fiction is a collection of short stories featuring my favorite part of the city, The French Quarter.

The variety of authors and stories is incredible and features such different views and aspects of this amazing neighborhood.

By Joshua Clark,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked French Quarter Fiction as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Branching across every genre, from mystery and romance to flash fiction and prose poetry, this anthology of works by preeminent writers on the heart of New Orleans features a previously unpublished story by Tennessee Williams, as well as stories by Richard Ford, Ellen Gilchrist, Robert Olen Butler, Andrei Codrescu, Barry Gifford, Poppy Z. Brite, Julie Smith, John Biguenet, Nancy Lemann, and Valerie Martin, among others. The characters in these works find themselves everywhere from Sarajevo on the eve of the First World War to Algiers Point just across the Mississippi River, but their stories are all anchored in the French…


Book cover of Gone Too Far
Book cover of Shadows At Sunset
Book cover of Thick as Thieves

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Louisiana, New Orleans, and police?

Louisiana 118 books
New Orleans 137 books
Police 258 books