72 books like Recipes for Love and Murder

The tropical atmosphere of contemporary Medellin, Colombia is the setting for the first book in the Nikki Garcia corporate espionage thriller series. Still reeling from her young son’s tragic death, savvy international auditor Nikki Garcia accepts an assignment to investigate fraud allegations at the Colombian affiliate of a multinational corporation. I loved Nikki’s sharp-edged inner voice and canny observations.

The impeccable cultural details really caught my attention. For example, right in the first scene, Nikki watches a wealthy businessman light a cigar. From the Churchill brand to the way he lights it with a strip of cedarwood to the way he makes her wait, not only could I see the scene in my mind’s eye, but I could smell the tang of burning wood and tobacco and resent his snobby attitude. So. Well. Done.

Infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is long gone from Medellin, but his dangerous legacy is not… show more.

This book really came as a surprise; the kind of surprise where you can’t turn the pages fast enough. For one thing, the setting is completely unique. It’s China, but not Beijing or another location that Western audiences would easily recognize. No, the first Inspector Lu Fei mystery takes us to Raven Valley, outside Harbin, China in a cold and unlovely part of the country.

Lu Fei is the deputy chief of the Public Security Bureau there, where a young woman’s murder upends the cycle of boredom and drinking. Both security and Communist Party officials from Beijing descend on Raven Valley and Lu is soon caught between his old boss in Harbin, who hates his guts, and the upwardly mobile Beijing officials who will take credit for his work if he solves the murder and stick a knife in his ribs if he doesn’t.

Having studied China during my 30-year… show more.

I love the combination of a historical mystery with a little-known location, but this book also charmed me with a spare but fluid writing style. Ceylon in the 1930s under British rule (today Ceylon is the independent nation of Sri Lanka) sets the first book in the addictive Inspector Shanti de Silva mystery series in a riveting yet mostly overlooked moment in history. Add a superbly written cast of characters and set them at odds against each other, and I’m hooked on the whole series.

De Silva is the head of a 3-person police force in the smallish city of Nuala where he must straddle the divide between the local population and his British bosses. Reports of a cruel tea plantation owner lead to a missing worker and the owner’s suspicious debt. A dubious business associate, a frazzled wife, and a chatty mynah bird all combine to add layers of… show more.

The South Pacific nation of Fiji is a magical place, as I found out many years ago on a scuba trip that evolved into a circuit of the main island of Viti Levu. For tourists, the island chain offers the gold standard of tropical paradise resorts, but the story for the Fijians is considerably more complicated. The islands are widely scattered, race relations led to government coups, economic opportunities are limited, and old ways are under pressure from modern expectations.

Using cultural elements like canoe racing, as well as a foreboding sense of the conflict inherent in Fijian life today, Fiji becomes a marvelous place for trouble. I could almost smell the hibiscus! And the sunscreen! This story nearly had me booking a flight before I was halfway through.

Fiji’s complexities are woven into the plot, which would be impossible to set anywhere else. Modern beach fun and age-old traditions… show more.

Before her mega-hit Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn penned this diabolical noir set in the deep South. It’s an edgy story, presenting a gallery of disturbed characters—including the deeply troubled protagonist, a journalist who returns to her hometown to report on the murders of two young girls.

Some books I forget a week or two after reading, others just stick with me for a year or more, and some leave bootprints in my mind forever. This is one of the latter.

Ellie Stone, a young alcoholic newspaper reporter in 1960s New York, makes her own rules while searching for a killer. The series is an incredible window into the era and the protagonist is superb. Booksellers, publishers, authors—we all know who James Ziskin is—simply one of the most decorated mystery authors writing today. This series has won so many awards, I can’t begin to list them all here. In spite of this, James Ziskin remains a secret to most readers. This baffles me and the only thing that can explain it is that we happen to be in that one alternate universe where James Ziskin, who is a bestselling author in every other multiverse, randomly hasn’t caught fire in this universe. Yet.

Invisible City is the first book in Julia Dahl’s Rebekah Roberts series. Julia Dahl cleverly weaves together Jewish culture and a murder mystery, using a rookie journalist as her main character.

I think journalists make great detectives in crime fiction, with their investigative skills, enthusiasm, communication skills, persistence, and perseverance. They bridge the gap between amateur sleuths and the police (not that different from a private investigator).

Invisible City portrays journalists in a positive light and also provides an insight into an unknown world, with a non-judgmental portrayal of the ultra-religious Hassidic Jewish community in Brooklyn. I enjoyed following the main character’s personal journey too.

Thriller writer and contemporary ‘queen of crime’ Val McDermid draws deeply on her own years as a tabloid journalist to bring fictional reporter Allie Burns to life during the winter of discontent. This unputdownable tale of a newspaper investigation into matters of life, death, and corruption is so evocative of a 1970s Glasgow newsroom that I could practically smell the fags and taste the whisky. More Allie Burns stories are promised, and I for one can’t wait.

Before Game of Thrones became a cultural touchstone, Martin was known as much for his horror novels as for his fantasy. The Armageddon Rag follows the reunion of 1960s prog-rock legends The Nazgul, who broke up after their lead singer, Patrick Hobbins, was assassinated onstage. When a wealthy promoter introduces the surviving band members to a Hobbins doppelganger who seems to be possessed by the spirit of the late vocalist, it becomes apparent that the Nazgul are the unwitting center of a ritual to bring darkness to a world that rejected the light and love of the Sixties. Vivid characters, flower-child nostalgia, and an ominous vibe combine to make this an absorbing read.

Dani Pettrey is the master of suspense and romance! So if you’re wanting a story that will thrill you in alllllll the feels, this is it! It’s the first of a trilogy and has characters you will fast be drawn to. She doesn’t hold back on the action or the suspense. Pettrey provides us with a story that is fast-paced and designed to be read with your eyes half-closed holding your breath for the next high-octane moment. And her heroes? Don’t get me started. (insert all the heart emojis here)