So, I'm late to the detective genre, and came at it all wrong. I've read every Stephen King book (minus Shining and Dr. Sleep) and eventually hit Mr. Mercedes. I loved that trilogy so much I wondered if I'd like other detective novels. Plowed through Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and all of Holmes (even started the The Beekeeper's Apprentice/Mary Russell series). I cannot STAND the traditional noir detective cliche of a lonely, borderline alcoholic detective or private eye that shacks up with dames and would rather shoot or punch his way out of a case. I got several books into the Cormoran Strike series before 1) it turned into a maudlin unrequited romance series that occasionally "solved" cases, and 2) I couldn't abide Joanne Kathleen as a person any more.
I need non-traditional detectives. Holly Gibney is one of the greatest characters I've read in a long time and love her (despite her eponymous book not containing much actual detective work). I love Poirot and Marple. Holmes is charming, but the Sherlockian trick of making you feel stupid for not putting together evidence is wearisome. I even tried David Baldacci's John Puller series for a different take (CID, not civilian) but those descend into action hero BS.
Help a brother out, Reddit.
by davidlondon
34 Comments
Oh, and I loved the Stieg Larsson Lisbeth books, but the so-called trilogy of trilogies went down hill FAST. They stopped being about investigation and turned into action hero, Neo-style hacker 007 BS. She jumped a motorcycle through a damn window into a room full of machine gun-wielding stormtroopers. Stieg would NOT have approved.
If you like scifi, “Infinity Station” by Mur Lafferty! Interesting detective and three good books.
Consider the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers.
Pynchon’s _Inherent Vice_
Ever tried Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next novels? The first one is called *The Eyre Affair* and I’m rather enjoying myself halfway through. It’s a bit on the fantastical side, but still feels largely pretty real-world overall.
The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
Gnomon by Nick Harkway
Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis.
Detective series set in ancient Rome. Good stuff and fun reading.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
If you’re bored of traditional noir, maybe try Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway. Sci-fi and sooooo wild. The novel explores themes of class division, the consequences of genetic manipulation, and the nature of humanity in a world where the rich can buy extended lifespans and immense physical power😁
Have you tried the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves? I loved her Vera mystery series and keep thinking of trying her Shetland one as well.
Bad Monkey, by Carl Hiaasen
Still Life by Louise Penny
These are series names:
Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Flavia de Luce
The Cat Who
Castle Knoll Files
The Spellman Files
Agatha Raisin
Lord Peter Wimsey
Amelia Peabody
And, I personally loathed them, but people love them and since you are newer to the *sub-genre, I think you’d really like them: Thursday Murder Club
*Mystery has a million subgenres and your tastes are leaning “cozy mystery” (or cozy adjacent at the very least.) So try looking up books in that subgenre, rather than just detective or mystery as a whole.
Edit: This post from r/cozymystery the other day may be of interest too: https://www.reddit.com/r/CozyMystery/s/geq1a7lTUm
The Barsoom project series – 3 books i think – by Niven
Dirk Gentlys detection series by Adams
How about Mrs. Pollifax? Retired widow who decides to work for the CIA. Not so much detective, I guess, as much as adventure with things that need solving, but it might fit.
While Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series does have a lonely male protagonist, he’s much more cerebral and realistic than what you’re referring to. Some of the plot centers around his difficult relationships with his artist father and his teenage daughter, he worried about his weight and his cholesterol, there’s a lot of relevant social issues addressed in the stories (like anti-immigration sentiment in Sweden), and there’s very little shooting his way out of any situation. One of the things I like about them is that they don’t always wrap up nearly. Sometimes there are puzzle pieces that never do fit in, for example.
Frank Burly
Try the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith, starting with Gorky Park (as usual, the book is far better than the movie)…
Oh, forgot to mention, I’ve read everything by Tana French and loved them all. Dublin Murder Squad was refreshingly different in tone. I truly believe women write crime different than men and Tana French is a master.
Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers!
I’ll suggest some detectives that I just like spending time with in case someone clicks.
First, the older stuff, Golden Age or therabouts:
Someone who is kind of a blend of Miss Marple and Poirot is Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Silver.
Elizabeth Daly’s Henry Gamadge is fun. There are some rabbits he pulls out of his hat, but he’s much more understated than Holmes or Poirot.
The Mr. and Mrs. North books by Frances Lockridge are kind of a blend of golden age cozy and light police procedural. And I find them very funny most of the time.
For somewhat more modern (I think these started in the 90s), the Gregor Demarkian books by Jane Haddam have a stoic and somewhat grumpy ex FBI guy solving crimes. I think he’s great and the cast of characters, mostly Armenian-American, that builds up around him is a hoot.
I loved the first expanse novel. Sci fi noir detective story.
Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson – a translator of alien languages works to solve her alien boss’s murder
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann – a flock of sheep try to solve the murder of their shepherd
The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry – a journalist travels across the multiverse to prevent the same person’s death in different realities
The Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley – a precocious 11 year old chemistry prodigy solves murders in her small village after WWII (despite her age, the books are written for adults)
Try, Every Dead Thing by John Connolly. Atmospheric, angry, driven, noir. I wouldn’t say supernatural but it skates pretty close.
Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke. Especially the audiobooks!
Kurt Wallander too!
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams
Dana Stabenow Kate Shugak series. The Kinsey Milhone series Sue Grafton. VI Warshawski Sara Paretsky . Elizabeth George Inspector Lynley. Brother Cadfael medieval monk detective Ellis Peters. The Name Of The Rose , Umberto Eco.
Ok…hear me out. The Hollows by Kim Harrison. A witch, a living vampire, and a pixie who open their own supernatural detective agency. It doesn’t get more non-traditional 🙂
Could go way back and try The Thinking Machine stories by Jacques Futrelle. He’s quirky and irascible and every bit the genius Holmes is, but a bit like House M.D. too.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adam’s
I recently discovered the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley and am loving it. She is an eleven year old girl chemist in 1950 post war England with a dead mother and neglectful father and she is a bit sociopathic in a good way.
IQ series. Very non-traditional. I cannot remember author or book names.