The most recommended police books

I've read quite a few Maigret's now, but this is my favourite so far. As a detective, Maigret is the opposite of Columbo. There's never "just one more thing here". In fact, there's rarely any questioning at all.

By his very presence, Maigret seems to invite confessions, for the 'villains' to bottle everything up in fear of interrogation only for themselves to let everything out. It's a tour de force of sustained suspense to keep a novel at that bubbling point, and the plot here is intricate and tragic; essentially, a man who has worked his way up to have everything but through egoism and happenstance can't find the right people to share it with.

And even more tragic, he finds himself harking back to those simpler times, undoing his status. There's much to relate to here, and the prose is knife-edge sharp.

Another cautionary story. This story shows that the Nazi movement is growing worldwide and that governments need to keep these organizations under wraps before allowing them to carry out their own agendas. 

When a mistake causes an international incident during a US Presidential visit to Norway, Detective Harry Hole is placed out of sight in the Federal Police Department, until matters settle. Unable to sit still, Harry investigates a neo-Nazi group and comes across someone practicing with an exotic rifle that would only be used to assassinate someone. Now he must identify both the target and the killer.

Graham's village mysteries are dark reflections of the villages found in Agatha Christie, and she is especially good at looking under the rocks and finding what's crawling behind the idyllic villages. Chief Inspector Barnaby is the perfect British sleuth, both tough and intelligent. She does a terrific job of finding the problems that drive us in everyday lives, in this case, the secret passions that hide at an amateur production.

Can I make this list and not include a golden-age detective story set in a country house at Christmas? This one has all the ingredients required for an afternoon by the fire, looking out at the wintry weather—a locked room, an appealing detective, and a cast of people compelled, rather unwisely, to spend Christmas in each other’s company. "If you ask me, there very likely wouldn’t have been a murder at all if it hadn’t been for him getting ideas about peace and goodwill, and assembling all these highly uncongenial people under the same roof at the same time.” 

I love this book because it’s the best fictional example I’ve ever seen of a character’s disability being eclipsed by his talent. Lincoln Rhyme is paralyzed, but his talent as a criminologist is far more important—and Deaver showcases Rhyme’s genius and passion as often as he details the difficulties of disability.

I find the book’s mystery compelling and the characters well-written, and I couldn’t get enough of the relationship between Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs. I’ve never seen a better portrayal of a partnership based solidly on mutual respect and admiration. I’m so grateful for how this story demonstrates that disability doesn’t need to stop you from making a real impact through the gifts and talents you’ve been given.

Character transformations do it for me every time and boy, does this book deliver. Rachel escapes a religious community knowing what she wants and unafraid to go for it. She recruits Ben to take her virginity without telling him, and when he finds out, fireworks ensue. He’s initially an unworthy hero with a cynical heart, but we gradually see him become a better man with her.

Anything by Anne Calhoun delivers great steamy scenes, but in this particular book, Rachel’s discovery of sex, with Ben to teach her, is off the charts. Anne draws you in from the first word. Their undeniable chemistry is engrossing. Couple that with complex characters and a beautiful story between two very different people, and you have a barnstormer!

If you aren’t ready for Scandinavian Noir, perhaps you’d like a dose of Scandinavian Blanc. Alexander McCall Smith excels at mysteries on the lighter side—which isn’t to say this book isn’t very strange, with its own hints of darkness. Detective Ulf Varg and his colleagues solve crimes that are deemed too weird for the regular police: a possible werewolf menacing a spa, a non-lethal knee-stabbing, and a missing (imaginary) person. AMS’s great gift is imbuing small puzzles with weight and humanity. And if the human cast here isn’t off-kilter enough for you, be reassured…there’s also a dog who can lipread in Swedish.

Cross Her Heart starts with a truly gripping opening – and the story doesn’t slow down from there. 

Family, fear, love, duty, and what happens when you’re willing to risk it all to do the right thing are the main components of this story. 

Bree finds herself restructuring her life and learning a lot about herself in the process. The whole story carries you through some rough patches in Bree’s life and ends with a completely satisfactory finish. There are so many threads to follow into the next book because you really want to see what happens to the characters. It ends well and yet you still want more.

For my last pick, I’ve chosen a novel published near the end of the Golden Age (roughly the 1920s through the 1950s). Author and solicitor Michael Gilbert set his novel in the chambers of Horniman, Birley, and Craine. After the death of the firm’s senior partner, a hermetically sealed deed box is opened, revealing the corpse of Marcus Smallbone, a co-trustee with the late Mr. Horniman of the valuable Ichbod Trust. With the help of newly qualified solicitor Henry Bohun, Chief Inspector Hazelrigg sorts through a maze of lies and misdirection to uncover the surprising perpetrator and motive. Martin Edwards, in the foreword to the Poisoned Pen Press edition, said, “The book blends in masterly fashion, an authentic setting, pleasingly differentiated characters, smoothly readable prose, and a clever puzzle.” 

Though this is Penny’s first in the “Three Pines” series featuring CI Armand Gamache, I’ll confess that I initially read it out of order. I picked up a later Penny book and liked it well enough to go back and start from the beginning.

This book feels like a debut. The writing is good, but not quite as sure-handed as more recent books (which makes sense). It introduces us to Armand Gamache, a seasoned detective if ever there was one, and to the cast of characters in Three Pines.

By the time I finished it the first time around, I’d become a legit Gamache fan-girl. This series is one of the few that I’m so enamored with that I pre-order forthcoming titles. ‘Nuff said.