The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Hi guys!
Does anyone have any good detective books? I’m into the ones that fare on a darker side and love a good detective series however i feel many detective books are becoming the same thing, the killers always fit the same profile.
I’m looking for some dark, twisted crime books any ideas would be great thanks.

Hi Beth


Some good books that come to mind are:


Val McDermid. She is simply one of the finest crime writers around, and her Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series are very dark.


John Connolly's Charlie Parker series is superb. I understand that it becomes supernatural later in the series, which isn't to everyone's taste, but is absolutely superb.


Dennis Lehane goes to some very dark places with his Kenzie and Gennaro books, starting with A Drink Before the War.


One of the finest thrillers I've ever read is The Straw Men by Michael Marshall, a novel about serial killers which manages to also poke fun at the serial killer worship culture.

I will echo the recommendation for Dennis Lehane's novels featuring Kenzie and Gennaro. Great stuff.

If you like unlicensed private eyes / detectives with an edge, then I would track down the Matt Scudder novels written by Lawrence Block, starting with THE SINS OF THE FATHERS.

If you like dark subjects, I would look for the Burke series by Andrew Vachss, which features a NYC outlaw who lives under the radar while taking jobs that often have him brushing up against some truly wicked characters. First book is called FLOOD.

For homicide detectives working in Los Angeles, the best of the lot is the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly, starting with THE BLACK ECHO.

For the city of Detroit, the best private eye in the business is the Amos Walker series by Loren Estlemen, which has been going strong since 1980. First book is MOTOR CITY BLUE.

If your setting is Russia, then go with GORKY PARK by Martin Cruz Smith. It is the first book in his Arkady Renko series featuring the best homicide detective in Moscow.

Back to southern California: check out the four book series written by T. Jefferson Parker which features LAPD officer Charlie Hood as he goes after gun smugglers and drug cartels along the Mexican border. First book is L.A. OUTLAWS.

Set in Washington DC, check out the PI team of Derek Strange and Terry Quinn as they take on cases in the dangerous areas of our nation's capital. First book is RIGHT AS RAIN.

If I think of some others I will pass them on later. Hope this helps :-)

Your best bets are James Ellroy's LA Quartet and James Lee Burke's Robicheaux series. Ellroy is synonymous with dark and bleak and his staccato prose is unique. Burke however writes crime rather than mystery, the focus is on the character's journey rather than the whodunnit. The mystery is not really important in his Dave Robicheaux books but Burke's prose is the best the genre has ever seen. His writing is absolutely brilliant.

I will also second Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Genarro series and Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series. Block is more consistent than Lehane but Lehane's highs are much higher. You must also read Lehane's standalone Mystic River, one of the best crime books of all time.

You can go old school and seek out hard-boiled noir. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are the obvious masters. Chandler is the better writer by some distance of the two. James Crumley is a nice addition to the genre in the late 1970s. But Crumley was an alcoholic and only his first couple of books are any good. Both Chandler and Crumley say interesting things in an entertaining manner when they are firing on all cylinders.

If you want dark crime book instead of mystery James Wambaugh's The Choirboys is essential reading. And also a couple of Jim Thompson's books. Both are laugh out loud funny in places but their humor is pitch dark.

Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch is good when it started but now they are just paycheck books. He is considerably less dark and hence most popular. Try him if Ellroy or Wambaugh is too bleak for you. John Connolly and George Pelecanos are second tier crime writers. Connolly has made a career of being a budget James Lee Burke and Pelecanos is a shadow of Lehane. So if you are just starting out, there are better bets.

Enjoy. Happy reading.

Hey

Try Agatha Cristie or Wilkie Collins in classics.

To Love and Be Wise bt Josephine Tey is also good choice since the killer is not portrayed as the crazed, psycho evil. The Daughter of Time is another good novel.

Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse novel series are also good tribute to good old English detective novels. Try The Wench Is Dead, or The Dead of Jericho

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

These are all great recommendations. A classic which is different from the movie is IN A LONELY PLACE by Dorothy B. Hughes. Dennis Lehane definitely. Josephine Tey should be on everyone's list. Harry Bosch rocks the dark. If you're looking for dark, google "noir."

Hi Beth! Since your looking for dark, twisted crime books, nordic noir should be right up your street. There are many good authors in this genre, but in my opinion the star is Håkan Nesser. Camilla Grebe, Anders de la Motte, Karin Fossum and Ane Riel are also well worth reading.

The Man in the Crooked Hat by Harry Dolan

Tone wrote: "Hi Beth! Since your looking for dark, twisted crime books, nordic noir should be right up your street. There are many good authors in this genre, but in my opinion the star is Håkan Nesser. Camilla..."

I agree with Tone! You want dark, they're as dark as they get. One of my favorite authors is Yrsa Sigurdardottir. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and these can really spook you.

Valerie wrote: "These are all great recommendations. A classic which is different from the movie is IN A LONELY PLACE by Dorothy B. Hughes. Dennis Lehane definitely. Josephine Tey should be on everyone's list. Har..."