63 books like Partner in Crime

By J.A. Jance,

Here are 63 books that Partner in Crime fans have personally recommended if you like Partner in Crime. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of My Sister's Grave

Arthur Coburn Author Of Murder in Concrete

From my list on women facing dark and dangerous obstacles.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an ex-lawyer, ex-army officer, and ex-Hollywood film editor who loves stories about females in danger who dig deep to solve problems and survive. I can’t claim to be an expert, but I marvel at the breadth of female styles–from delicate, feminine, and sweet to brave, adventuresome, and tough. I have edited films about various women characters, from Charlize Theron’s killer in Monster to Cate Blanchett’s spiritual medium in The Gift and Diane Lane’s brave romantic survivor in Under the Tuscan Sun. I have three successful step granddaughters: an accountant, a lawyer, and one getting a PhD in computer studies. Smart, talented, and interesting women people in my life.

Arthur's book list on women facing dark and dangerous obstacles

Arthur Coburn Why did Arthur love this book?

I loved this book despite the butterflies in my gut as I read of Tracy Crosswhite’s pain about her sister, Sarah, missing for years. I shared Tracy’s pain about the devastating murder trial.

I rooted for Tracy’s hard work to become a homicide detective so she could track down killers. And I squirmed when authorities found Sarah’s body in the Northern Cascades in Washington State and when Tracy learned dark secrets about her past.

By Robert Dugoni,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked My Sister's Grave as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book in the series that has garnered millions of readers across the globe, from New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah's disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn't believe that Edmund House-a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah's murder-is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.

When Sarah's remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains…


Book cover of The Seattle General Strike

Adam J. Hodges Author Of World War I and Urban Order: The Local Class Politics of National Mobilization

From my list on the U.S. Red Scare of the Russian Revolution and WWI era.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a professor of modern U.S. history and have spent my career researching this list's fascinating era. This moment began our modern political history. The first Red Scare in the United States, erupting in the wake of World War I and the Russian Revolution, was a conflict over the definition and limits of radicalism in a modern democracy and the limits of its repression. It was also tied to other seismic questions of the era that remain relevant, including how far the fights of women and Blacks for opportunities and rights that other Americans took for granted could succeed, whether to end mass immigration, the meaning of ‘Americanism,’ the extent of civil liberties, the limits of capitalism, and the role of social movements in the republic.

Adam's book list on the U.S. Red Scare of the Russian Revolution and WWI era

Adam J. Hodges Why did Adam love this book?

The Seattle General Strike was the local event that escalated a national Red Scare at the beginning of 1919 and caused a wave of panic that the Russian Revolution was coming home. Friedheim is great at explaining how this extraordinary event occurred, sketching the key factions in the city, and narrating the drama of the big moments. This classic account of strikers running a city until the troops were called in, first published in 1964, is back in print in a great new edition with photos.

By Robert L. Friedheim,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Seattle General Strike as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"We are undertaking the most tremendous move ever made by LABOR in this country, a move which will lead-NO ONE KNOWS WHERE!" With these words echoing throughout the city, on February 6, 1919, 65,000 Seattle workers began one of the most important general strikes in US history. For six tense yet nonviolent days, the Central Labor Council negotiated with federal and local authorities on behalf of the shipyard workers whose grievances initiated the citywide walkout. Meanwhile, strikers organized to provide essential services such as delivering supplies to hospitals and markets, as well as feeding thousands at union-run dining facilities.

Robert…


Book cover of Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place

Patricia E. Rubertone Author Of Native Providence: Memory, Community, and Survivance in the Northeast

From my list on Indigenous survivance, place, and memory.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an anthropological archaeologist specializing in the Indigenous cultures of the Northeastern United States. My research intersects archaeology, anthropology, history, and Native American and Indigenous Studies to explore settler colonialism, landscape and memory, and Indigenous survivance. I’ve always been interested in cities, maybe because I’m city-born and raised and have spent my academic career at an Ivy League university in Providence. I read these books because I’m fascinated by place-based stories of Indigenous survivance in cities and elsewhere that challenge omissions and misconceptions about their colonial experiences in the popular historical imagination. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have!

Patricia's book list on Indigenous survivance, place, and memory

Patricia E. Rubertone Why did Patricia love this book?

This book is about the enduring presence of Native people in Seattle, a city located on the traditional land of the Duwamish Tribe that promotes its Indigenous heritage but marginalizes its living Indigenous residents.

Thrush challenges the myth that Indigenous people are not part of the history of modern U.S. cities and, if present at all, are merely ghostly remnants of the pre-colonial past. His is a smart, insightful, and engaging place-based, collaborative history of Seattle filled with powerful images of streetscapes that made me think about settler-colonial cities in a new light.

By Coll Thrush,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This updated edition of Native Seattle brings the indigenous story to the present day and puts the movement of recognizing Seattle's Native past into a broader context. Native Seattle focuses on the experiences of local indigenous communities on whose land Seattle grew, accounts of Native migrants to the city and the development of a multi-tribal urban community, as well as the role Native Americans have played in the narrative of Seattle.


Book cover of Girls Burn Brighter

Laurie Frankel Author Of One Two Three

From my list on how sisters are great but also a pain in your ass.

Why am I passionate about this?

I like books about big families, especially unusual ones, but I have only one sister and only one child, so when I set out to write about these families, I read about them first. We place so much importance on how kids are raised, what kind of childhood and home life and family they have growing up, what gifts and what challenges they’re bestowed by genetics, history, identity, society, circumstance. Siblings usually share all or at least most of these markers and yet turn into often wildly different adults. It’s also true that all those fine sibling balances – love/hate, adored/annoyed, admired/appalled, alike/different – are great fun to read and write.

Laurie's book list on how sisters are great but also a pain in your ass

Laurie Frankel Why did Laurie love this book?

The sisters in Girls Burn Brighter aren’t related by blood or family or tradition or history. They are sisters in ways much more profound and important and life-changing and path-determining than that. This beautiful novel traverses continents and cultures to prove blood ties and family ties have nothing on sister ties.

By Shobha Rao,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'A treat for Ferrante fans, exploring the bonds of friendship and how female ambition beats against the strictures of poverty and patriarchal societies'
Huffington Post

An electrifying debut novel - the story of the unbreakable bond between two girls driven apart, and their journeys across continents to find each other again.

Poornima and Savitha, born in poverty, have known little kindness in their lives until they meet as teenagers. When an act of devastating cruelty drives Savitha away, Poornima leaves behind everything she has ever known to find her friend.

Alternating between the girls' perspectives as they face apparently insurmountable…


Book cover of You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone

Annie Wood Author Of Just a Girl in the Whirl

From my list on teen girls finding themself in the midst of chaos.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a Hollywood native, writer/actor/mixed-media artist/creative compulsive. When I was a kid, I was really close to my older brother who was an addict. Unfortunately he never stopped using and died too young. I dealt with it by allowing the experience to inspire me. In my recent young adult novel, Just a Girl in the Whirl, the father character is inspired by him. I express myself through all art forms in order to make my way in the world and I love reading about other female characters who do the same! I’m a lifelong optimist and I love feeling inspired and inspiring others to love themselves, find the humor in everything, and create! 

Annie's book list on teen girls finding themself in the midst of chaos

Annie Wood Why did Annie love this book?

This book is about twin Israeli-American teenage girls whose mom has Huntington’s disease and the different ways they go about handling that as individuals and how it affects the sister’s relationship. I love the way religion is handled in this book, with each sister’s different take where it concerns their Judaism. It’s about life, death, and sisterhood. I loved it. 

By Rachel Lynn Solomon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

Eighteen-year-old twins Adina and Tovah have little in common besides their ambitious nature. Viola prodigy Adina yearns to become a soloist-and to convince her music teacher he wants her the way she wants him. Overachiever Tovah awaits her acceptance to Johns Hopkins, the first step on her path toward med school and a career as a surgeon.

But one thing could wreck their carefully planned futures: a genetic test for Huntington's, a rare degenerative disease that slowly steals control of the body and mind. It's turned their Israeli mother into a near stranger and fractured the sisters' own bond in…


Book cover of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Nova García Author Of Not That Kind of Call Girl

From my list on books that make you belly laugh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I want to tackle the profound challenges some new mothers face. Who’s read a funny book about postpartum depression? Probably no one! My novel fills the gap. I suffered from postpartum in silence, afraid of the stigma it might bring. I hope this relatable story normalizes postpartum, sparks conversations, and drives change. I also wanted to write something with a Latina in the starring role. People of Latino descent suffer from many hurtful and inaccurate stereotypes. Increasing positively portrayed Latinos in fiction is personal for me. I’m exceedingly proud of my Latino roots and hope it comes through in my writing.

Nova's book list on books that make you belly laugh

Nova García Why did Nova love this book?

Bernadette can be difficult to like, but that's partly why I love her character. She's unapologetically authentic with sharp edges and a serious dislike of Seattle. Rather than grimace at her put-downs of my hometown, I laughed because she included inside jokes only Seattlites would understand, and there was a granule of truth in all of it.

I'm intensely interested in the challenges and rewards of motherhood. Portraying it as something emotionally draining and frustrating, utterly consuming and ultimately wonderful, Maria Semple captured what many of us experience using Bernadette as her medium.

By Maria Semple,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked Where'd You Go, Bernadette as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A misanthropic matriarch leaves her eccentric family in crisis when she mysteriously disappears in this "whip-smart and divinely funny" novel that inspired the movie starring Cate Blanchett (New York Times).

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect; and to 15-year-old Bee, she is her best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette vanishes. It all began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle --…


Book cover of Greywalker

Sarah J. Sover Author Of Fairy Godmurder

From my list on dicks in urban fantasy (detectives, that is).

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m Sarah J. Sover, and I adore smashing genres together, especially when there’s magic involved. My first book, Double-Crossing the Bridge, is a comedic fantasy about drunk trolls pulling a suicidal heist, and my new release, Fairy Godmurder is like Jessica Jones with sparkle. The novels are wildly different from each other, but they both exist in the crime-fantasy sphere, where I can delve deep into character motivations, explore wrongs in the world through a fantastical lens, and play with well-loved tropes, inverting and subverting in unexpected ways. I love that this is a growing genre, and I hope I get an influx of suggestions added to my own TBR tower because of this list!

Sarah's book list on dicks in urban fantasy (detectives, that is)

Sarah J. Sover Why did Sarah love this book?

After a near-death experience, PI Harper Blaine gains the ability to navigate the occult world of magic. But the realm between our world and the next is filled with monsters. Some are malicious, but some are looking to hire. The concept of the Grey is fascinating and slightly terrifying to me. Harper deserves to be on this list because only a true badass could survive her client list.

By Kat Richardson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Meet Harper Blaine. She also sees dead people...Harper Blaine is a small-time private investigator trying to earn a living when a low-life savagely assaults her, leaving her for dead. For two minutes, to be precise. When Harper comes to in the hospital, she begins to feel a bit ...strange. She sees things that can only be described as weird-shapes emerging from a foggy grey mist, snarling teeth, creatures roaring. But Harper's not crazy. Her "death" has made her a Greywalker - able to move between our world and the mysterious, cross-over zone where things that go bump in the night…


Book cover of Summit Routes: Washington's 100 Highest Peaks: Routes for Hikers, Scramblers, and Climbers

Eric and Matthew Gilbertson Author Of Twins to the Tops: The Quest for the North American Country High Points

From my list on peakbagging and highpointing.

Why are we passionate about this?

We are twin brothers that like climbing mountains and peakbagging around the world. Our goal is to climb the highest mountain in every country on earth, and we’ve so far gotten up the highpoints of 139 countries out of 196 total. We got started doing long bicycle tours in Europe climbing country highpoints on the cheap after graduate school at MIT. Recently we've climbed some of the most difficult country highpoints in the world like Pik Pobeda (24,406ft), the Kyrgyzstan highpoint, Noshaq (24,580ft), the Afghanistan highpoint, and K2 (28,261ft), the Pakistan highpoint.

Eric's book list on peakbagging and highpointing

Eric and Matthew Gilbertson Why did Eric love this book?

For any peakbagger living in the pacific northwest, the ultimate list of peaks is the hundred-highest mountains in Washington. This is the only guidebook dedicated to this list of peaks, and this was our primary resource when climbing these peaks. The authors have organized the peaks into “slams” where they figured out the optimal grouping of peaks to get the most out of any trip. They give excellent route descriptions and time estimates, which are very important for trip planning. 

By Scott Stephenson, Brian Bongiovanni,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Summit Routes takes you to the apex of Washington's 100 highest peaks. From easier trail routes to true wilderness experiences, from just beyond the pass to the top of Mount Rainier, this guide shows the way with detailed approach and route descriptions, photos with route overlays, and itineraries that group peaks into multiday outings. Whether you are a hiker or an experienced climber, Summit Routes will get you into the mountains and on top of the world.


Book cover of Twilight

Vicki-Ann Bush Author Of Alex McKenna and the Geranium Deaths

From my list on paranormal books for talking with the dead.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was very young, I’ve had experiences with the paranormal. Whether it be a soft graze along my cheek or a spirit standing in front of me, I’ve always been drawn to things behind the veil. Joining the world of the living with the dead comes natural for me, and reading the genres of paranormal and fantasy is like a cup of hot tea on a chilly winter afternoon.

Vicki-Ann's book list on paranormal books for talking with the dead

Vicki-Ann Bush Why did Vicki-Ann love this book?

I fell in love with the characters. Even the ones I didn’t necessarily like, I wanted to read more about.

More importantly, for me, this book came out at a time when I was having difficulties in my own relationship. The idea of being apart from the one person I thought would be forever shattered me. Reading Bella’s emotions for Edward and the crushing heartbreak she felt, was like reading about my feelings on the pages of the book.

Of course there’s vampires and I love all things vampire.

By Stephenie Meyer,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Twilight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

When 17 year old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town.

But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella.

Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility…


Book cover of Green River Killer

Chelsea Cain Author Of Heartsick

From my list on read alone in the dark.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a taxidermy-loving vegan who had a pet cemetery as a kid. So, I guess you could say I’m a bit of a Wednesday Adams. My airplane reading? Forensic pathology textbooks. When my first thrillers were published, a lot of people were surprised. “You seem so nice!” they said. “You’re so funny and happy!” Here’s a secret: thriller writers are some of the most jolly people I know. We get it all out on the page. We get to murder people for a living. So, if you cut me off in traffic or don’t RSVP to my Evite, it's no big deal. I won’t get upset. I’ll just kill you later...in a book. 

Chelsea's book list on read alone in the dark

Chelsea Cain Why did Chelsea love this book?

Plot twist! It’s a graphic novel. Jeff is the son of Tom Jensen, who was literally the last detective on the Green River Killer Task Force. I grew up in the PNW, and the Green River Killer was at large from when I was ten to when I was thirty. This case inspired many aspects of my Archie Sheridan series—including the notion of spending a career looking for one killer and the obsession that might stem from that.

I know a lot about this case, but seeing it in graphic novel form and from the POV of the kid of a pivotal detective was such an eye-opener. It’s a chilling book and a reminder of the humanity at the periphery of these crimes. 

By Jeff Jensen, Jonathan Case,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The story of one of America's most notorious serial killers and the true detective who cracked the case is revealed in this true-crime graphic novel unlike any other! New introduction by Brian Michael Bendis.

Throughout the 1980s, the highest priority of Seattle-area police was the apprehension of the Green River Killer, the man responsible for the murders of dozens of women. In 1990, with the body count numbering at least forty-eight, the case was put in the hands of a single detective, Tom Jensen. After twenty years, when the killer was finally captured with the help of DNA technology, Jensen…


Book cover of My Sister's Grave
Book cover of The Seattle General Strike
Book cover of Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place

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