Exceptional Books discussion

List your favorite Police Procedural here.

The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza.

My top police procedural is Peter Robinson's Alan Banks I find him to be a good writer and a good story teller. Lucy @12:10p.m. on9-17-11

Lucy wrote: "My top police procedural is Peter Robinson's Alan Banks I find him to be a good writer and a good story teller. Lucy @12:10p.m. on9-17-11"

A Dedicated Man is Peter Robinson's first detective chief inspector Alan Banks novel, although it was published after Gallows View.

William Wilkie Collins is sometimes credited to have written the first detective novel. Although this claim is often disputed, some of his work is a significant contribution to the mystery genre.

Beginning with a collection of documents, an epistolary novel, The Moonstone switches to character narration to make some explanations.

It has been suggested that Jonathan Whicher, a real detective, is the model on whom Inspector Cuff is based.

Paula Listed:

Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell.

Katie Wrote: "Jeffrey Deaver is always very good at adding twists and turns to his books. They often keep me guessing until the end."

In The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver Amelia Sachs, a rookie beat cop and Lincoln Rhyme, a disabled former NYPD forensics expert try to second guess a serial killer by collecting forensic evidence.

Dorothy Wrote: "Hi, newbie Dorothy again. I really enjoy both Elizabeth George and Minnette Walters-great storytellers, both, and I am told, direct literary descendants of Christie..."

A Scotland Yard inspector and Sergeant, a forensic pathologist and his wife, and a lab assistant work together to solve crimes. A Great Deliverance is the first for Elizabeth George.

Try Minnette Walters' debut novel The Ice House.

Colin Dexter's Cheif Inspector Morse series. The first is Last Bus to Woodstock.

Kate Martinelli, lesbian homicide detective, and homicide detective Alonzo Hawkin in A Grave Talent, the first of the series by Laurie R. King.

[Nora Roberts]/[Eleanor Marie Robertson Wilder] J.D. Robb's Naked in Death with Eve Dallas, a homicide lieutenant in futuristic New York City.

First for series character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner in Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell.

Josephine Tey's first for Scotland Yard Inspector, Alan Grant, is The Man in the Queue.

The first chief inspector Reginald Wexford,
is From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell.

I've always enjoyed Ed McBain's 87th Precinct titles and think that they would be a great addition to the list of top police procedurals. Ghosts and Fuzz are really good examples. Some of the very early ones probably seem old fashioned now as they were written in the late 60's and early 70's, but they are still entertaining and very well written. Surprisingly funny too.

Tony Hillerman's long list of Navajo Mysteries starts with The Blessing Way.

Nathan Active, an Inupiak Alaska State Trooper begins with White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones.

Paul Thomas' novel Inside Dope with Tito Ihaka, Maori detective sergeant from New Zealand.

Scott Young's Matteesie Kitologitok, an Inuit inspector in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, based in the Northwest Territories of Canada in Murder in a Cold Climate.

Adam Dalgliesh, a critically acclaimed poet and Scotland Yard commander created by P.D. James. Cover Her Face is the first.

Georges Simenon's Police Inspector Maigret discusses moral justice with his wife and is helped to achieve it because of his insight to the criminal mind. Inspector Maigret's Case Files Murder: Murder a LA Carte

Linda wrote: "I've always enjoyed Ed McBain's 87th Precinct titles and think that they would be a great addition to the list of top police procedurals. Ghosts and Fuzz are really g..."

Ed McBain absolutely belongs here. (I actually have a physical bookshelf full of his books, starting with Cop Hater).

Almeta, I'm glad to hear it - there seem to be fewer people reading his books now, but I've always loved them. I also love Columbo, so it made me very happy when Jigsaw was made into a Columbo film!!

The first in a series featuring Swedish Inspector Kurt Wallander, Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

Edith Ngaio Marsh with police inspector Roderick Alleyn in A Man Lay Dead, the first St. Martin's Dead Letter Mysteries.

Joanna wrote: ""

In A Dry Season Good choice.