World Mysteries and Thrillers discussion

Noir, like in Jo Nesbø/Harry Hole noir (or up to 20 % less noir and darkness in style, but that's the minimum). Not cold noir like the old-fashioned Hammett etc, but modern noir.

Recommendations? Ideally from 'somewhere else' than the usual locations for the crime/thriller/procedural/mysteries, but if it's a good author, any place will do.

So, who female writers write good noir? Suggestions (also for their best books), and comparisons or other causes why they are good and what they care closest to.
I'd be really curious to find something of really Jo Nesbø or Michael Connelly dark.
Also James Thompson noir or Robert Ludlum noir (from The Sigma Protocol or before, not the type in Covert One stuff) would do perfect.
(I guess that I've got a quite dark taste sometimes, and the fact that I can only list a select few for the exact type of darkness/noir I like, doesn't help. E.g. Robert Wilson's Africa stuff would already be a bit too noir..)


So far I have not found any as noir writer as I'd like.. so Karin Fossum didn't cut it, Liza Marklund or Åsa Larsson didn't cut it... And I'd like it to not be too cozy or old lady type of mystery either. Enough action, enough interesting characters...

You named the only ones I know, this is a good question.

How about Sara Parestsky?

Camilla Lackberg. Or go to "listopia" on Goodreads and enter "noir" in the browse by tag search field.

By all means try Tana French. In the Woods is incredible. All sorts of noirish existentialism there, terrific writing and a great whodonit. Also, I just read Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes which was excellent & would be up your alley by the sound of it. Also, The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell has a very noirish vibe.

I'll try French.
I tried Preacher by Camilla Läckberg, and while it had some dark in it, I would not put her to the proper noir category. It had interesting characters, but with all the family stuff all around it, it wasn't noir.

The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid is one of the most 'noir' books I have read by a female author (or indeed, a male author!). As the first in the Hill & Jordan series, tracking down serial killers, you'll be having nightmares for a long time if you continue down this road.

I think I forgot to update this...
Last month I read The Torso and Glass Devil by Helene Tursten , and I'd nearly put that in the proper noir category. Closest to what I've found so far I think.
The crimes and the bad people are very dark and creepy, but the inspector, Irene Huss, is warm and smart. A bit like a Swedish, female version of Brunetti as she too has family life. All the dark and evil in the books gets well balanced with her warmness. So kind of sweet and savory...

One of the best female noir writers is Patricia Highsmith, famous for Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Also, if you want to get into more psychological mysteries...Ruth Rendell is really good.

I really enjoyed Ruth Rendell's Wexford series which, as Anthony says, are excellent psychological mysteries. But when she writes as Barbara Vine, that's when she gets really noir! The crimes are twisted and the characters are suitably bleak.

Minette Walters is another female 'noir' author.

I've given up on Tana French. She is too long winded and at times her plots are absurd. Having said that I read Faithful Place twice which I liked.
There are some awesome Tartan Noir women writers - at the top of my list is Denise Mina.

Barbara wrote: "I've given up on Tana French. She is too long winded and at times her plots are absurd. Having said that I read Faithful Place twice which I liked.
There are some awesome Tartan Noir women writers ..."

Amen about Tana French. I know she gets great reviews but I just can't take her.

Valerie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I've given up on Tana French. She is too long winded and at times her plots are absurd. Having said that I read Faithful Place twice which I liked.
There are some awesome Tartan Noi..."

I bought her last book in hardcover as she was at a local bookstore. The plot was ridiculous. Then my book club was reading The Likeness and because I had read it before, I listened to the audiobook. I had to listen at 150% speed because it just went on and on. And at second go, the plot seemed even more outlandish than the first time.

Oh, no, I just bought a Tana French audiobook, thinking that maybe the first book of hers that I read was an anomaly (meaning, I thought it tedious). Maybe I was too optimistic.

It depends which one you got. I don't really remember In the Woods and as I said earlier I liked Faithful Place.

Here are two French female noir writers now in English: Sylvie Granotier (The Paris Lawyer) and Frédérique Molay (The 7th Woman). The first is a psychological drama and legal procedural, a bit more "noir" in the true sense of the word than the second, which is a police procedural set in Paris. Here's a post on the site She Writes about French femail noir writers: http://www.shewrites.com/profiles/blo...

Leena Lehtolainen wrote "My First Murder" which was just translated into English (from Finnish). She wrote it in 1993 so there are 4 or 5 books in Finnish you can read from. She seems like the girl next door.

If you read Finnish there are a few more than 4-5 books to read:

Ensimmäinen murhani (1993)
Harmin paikka (1994)
Kuparisydän (1995)
Luminainen (1996)
Kuolemanspiraali (1997)
Tuulen puolella (1998)
Tappava säde (1999)
Ennen lähtöä (2000)
Sukkanauhatyttö ja muita tarinoita (2001)
Kun luulit unohtaneesi (2002)
Veren vimma (2003)
Jonakin onnellisena päivänä (2004)
Rivo Satakieli (2005)
Viimeinen kesäyö ja muita tarinoita (2006)
Luonas en ollutkaan (2007)
Väärän jäljillä (2008)
Henkivartija (2009)
Minne tytöt kadonneet (2010)
Oikeuden jalopeura (2011)

Also, there are translations available in Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Lithuanian, Polish, French, Swedish, German, Estonian and Czech.

Thanks Fizzycola, I knew you'd come through. Is she always the girl next door? Wow, they don't put all of them on Goodreads. Lot's of books Anna for you to read.

Well, Lehtolainen was very young when "My First Murder" was written - nineteen I think. She has grown up since, and so have her books lol. She is well known for a long series of crime novels featuring a female detective, Maria Kallio. Many of those books have been made into tv films, too. She is very popular in Finland!

I've read Tappava Säde; not bad, but not noir enough. I might try some of her other stuff if/when I find some somewhere though. :)

Yep, you can't call any of Lehtolainen's books, noir. They are more like classical detective stories, who-dunnits.

If you only like noir, then Lehtolainen probably isn't for you.

Liza Marklund's series is very good.

You might try to find NEFILIM by Åsa Schwarz, which I translated for Sibling Press (UK and Australia) and came out in 2011. I never heard from them again or received a book, but I did see it on Amazon UK. It's a very weird story about environmental "terrorists" and fallen angels and Noah's ark.

try Gayle Lynds

Re Tana French: Glad I saw this discussion. (Earlier in the thread.). I love Tana French. I have read three of the Dublin Murder Squad novels and waiting for the Likeness. I guess you either love her of hate her. Her writing is very intense and haunting. I would encourage anyone thinking about trying one of her books to do it. Some writers I have mixed feelings about. I think Tana French is wonderful!

Wait... Gayle Lynds? Since she's writing some of the Robert Ludlum stuff nowadays, that makes her definitely on the list. I didn't even think it was a female writer...
(Still haven't run to a Tana French book - will try when I find one, while trying to make the to be read mountain shorter)

Some others: Vicki Hendricks, Megan Abbott, Sara Gran, Anonymous-9 (yep, that's her name), and at her best, Joyce Carol Oates (but you have to search a bit. The short stories stand out).

The great Christa Faust did two novels for Hard Case Crime, CHOKE HOLD and MONEY SHOT, with her character Angel Dare.

Try out SNOW WHITE MUST DIE by Nele Neuhaus, Germany's reigning queen of police procedurals, set in the Frankfurt area. Long, complex, and gripping with a great pair of cops.

Ok, adding to my list :)
The title sounds really awesome.

To those great names mentioned above,I would like to add Cathi Unsworth, Flannery o'conor,I-5 by Summer Brenner, Bloody Women by Helen Fitzgerald, Sara Gran's Dope and Come Close, Kate Zambreno's Green girl, Gone Bad by Julie Morrigan. Lastly, check out Amaya ellman who is a new writer and pretty good too.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Sounds like I have my work cut out for me! I was able to find Snow White Must Die at the library, but haven't read it yet. Hopefully I'll be able to find the others.

Apparently Sara Gran has a new book out, Cathy Dewitt and the Bohemian Highway. It's on order at my library.

Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett writes good noirish detective novels set in Barcelona. Can't find them on Goodreads though! Many of them are available in English.

Denise Mina. All day long.

I've never been disappointed with Tana French. But I know a lot of people don't like her. I like a main character where you can get inside her/his head. And where there's a bit of anguish there! That's probably why I like Val McDermid's Tony Hill character. I'm not as enamored of the detective who is basically happy. But that's just me.

Might have already been covered but I'd like to suggest -

Sara Gran (Dope & Come Closer)
Lisa Gardner (The Survivor's Club)
Karin Slaughter (Blindsided)
Val McDermid (The Wire in the Blood)
Kathryn Harvey (Butterfly)
Jilliane Hoffman (Retribution)
Leigh Redhead (Simone Kirsch series is brilliant)
Julie Myerson (Then)

Hope there's some in here you haven't discovered just yet. Enjoy!

I would consider Gillian Flynn. Especially her previous books Sharp Objects and

Dark Places more than her more recent Gone Girl.

I love to see my future authors to try list grow. Keep all the good suggestions coming. Noir, noir, noir female authors.. :)

Fooey on restrictions. These classic names can't go without mention...


Helen McCloy
Margot Neville
Patricia Highsmith
Helen MacInnes
Mary Stewart
Pat McGerr
Jean Ross
Mignon G. Eberhart
Lucille Fletcher
Frances Parkinson Keyes
Mary Roberts Rhinehart
Rosemary Gatenby
Coralie Stanton
Zelda Popkin
Dorothy Simpson
Elizabeth Hely