Last month saw the paperback publication of the very last Alan Banks novel, following Peter Robinson’s death a couple of years ago. One of my favourite crime series (and forget the not very good TV version), so I thought it a good opportunity to see if there are any other fans of crime fiction in the Afterword world – be it cosy, police procedural, noir or just plain nasty!
Apart from Banks – and just focusing on series, rather than stand alone – I have a soft spot for Peter Lovesey’s Peter Diamond series set in Bath, Anthony Horowitz’s Daniel Hawthorne books, and Ellie Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway – amongst many other too many to mention.
Any Afterword favourites or recommendations that I need to add to my list?
Crime Fiction, Anyone?
As an aside, I’ve noticed quite a few Afterworders residing in Australia. Any fans there of Jane Harper and Chris Hammer?
Jane Harper I went off. The Dry was brilliant, as was Force of Nature, but I’ve enjoyed the others less – in fact I gave up on Exiles halfway through. Too much talk, not enough action. I don’t know Chris Hammer, I’ll investigate.
I thought Exiles was very readable, but agree that her previous books were much better.
Yes, I love them both.
Amazon currently have an offer on Chris Hammer’s latest Cover The Bones for £0.99.
Mrs F is the crime fan. She’s not averse to the Police procedural drama (we’re currently watching Silent Witness, however bonkers it gets).
She’s a big fan of LJ Ross, who seems a decent sort, and churns them out with an almost Barbara Cartland regularity.
Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May series always worth a read and reread. Alas no more after Mr Fowler’s death last year.
https://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/about/the-history-of-bryant-and-may
And Malcolm Pryce’s Aberystwyth series.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/398081
Kelley Anstruther’s “Cold Case” series is fantastic. Wisconsin Police Detective Nola Rebus works her way back through the “cold case” archives after finding sinister connections that eventually lead to the violent apprehension of a serial killer. Starting at the beginning is recommended: “Cold Case: Ashland”. Amazon Prime is apparently making the series.
Philip Kerr. I was gutted to finish the last of the Bernie Gunther novels recently. Seriously, no more of these? What a shame. Kerr had such a good idea for this series and executed it brilliantly and at the same time created one of the great flawed heroes in Bernie. Strong recommend.
I’m a fan of British ‘golden age’ crime – roughly, the period between the wars and stretching into the 50s – and some Conan Doyle era crime too (often in short story form in the Victorian era/early 1900s). Freeman Wills Crofts is a favourite – the ‘master of the humdrum mystery’ , all about solid policing and breaking down seemingly watertight alibis – and ECR Lorac is among the best of the ‘British Library Crime Classics’ republished forgotten authors of that era. I’m revisiting Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels at the moment – the audiobook versions read by Hugh Fraser are fantastic. There’s more humour and characterisation in them, or at least some of them, than received wisdom suggests – though I’m tired of the endless TV adaptations.
I haven’t read the Banks novels, but I *did* like the TV version.
I think the problem with the TV version, for many fans of the books, was that it was nothing like the books – particularly the portrayal of Banks himself. Peter Robinson himself was not a fan of the way they were adapted.
Andrea Lowe as Annie Cabbot was nice to look at though
I used to like a bit of Ruth Rendell, but don’t read this stuff any more
What stuff do you read, Dai?
There’s an overwhelming amount of choice once you go down the rabbit hole. I started with Mark Billingham and his Tom Thorne series (another underwhelming TV adaptation). A frustration I have is the ubiquity of the tortured backstory that inevitably plods along from book to book (see Peter May and his Roy Grace books and the massive distraction that was his missing wife.
I’ve read the first 4 Robert Galbraith – I mean how could I not given the Blue Oyster Cult references in “Career Of Evil” – and enjoyed both the books and the TV adaptations. And whilst Richard Osman’s cozy crime seems to make some foam at the mouth I found them quite entertaining. I can also recommend Stuart McBride’s Logan McRae series set in Aberdeen and JD Kirk’s Jack Logan series.
Peter James, Shirley? I agree re the Grace backstory; I kept with them mainly because of the local Brighton refs. Very poor TV adaptation, John Simm as wooden as it gets.
I started on the Mark Billingham ouevre after reading each and every Jack Reacher book, and I’ve almost reached a take it or leave it stage. Phil Hendricks is a great bit player, though.
Never read the Reacher books, but the TV series on Amazon Prime is hugely good fun. Same with AP’s take on Michael Connolly’s Bosch (the early series anyway, the ones after he left the force are pants).
No time for cosy crime bollocks like Midsummer, Death in Paradise and R Osman.
The latest TV Reacher was/is superb (who’s Tom Cruise, again?). The Reacher books – at least before they inevitably got tired, and Lee Child drafted in his son to continue the succession (they’ll make a few million before people catch on that the books are now, in fact, shit) – where was I? – oh, yes, the early sequence of Reacher novels are airport/beach novel gold. Which is why they were such a (deserved) success.
(I tried the Osman books, being an admirer of his smug cleverness on TV, but the rising bile after a few pages caused me to loathe both it and him with the burning fury of a thousand suns.)
Few good title ideas for future Stephen King books there, HP
We got a pile of Osman books given to us over the last few years’ for birthdays and Christmases. One got opened and read for a short while, then they all went to the chazza.
Indeed Peter James. Peter May is a local builder. And not an author as far as I know. Another step towards senility beckons.
The Grace casting is pretty dismal across the board. Dot Cottan as Norman Potting?? Apart from the fact that he conveys nothing of the sleaze of Potting manifests in the book, the entire world watching is saying “hang on why is DI Dot Cottan from Line of Duty now working in Brighton”. “And why is he getting jiggy with that DI from LOD as well”. Were no other actors available?
I’ve got part way through both the Tom Thorne series and Jack Reacher – I think they start to become too similar. I agree that Hendricks is a great character, something sorely overlooked in the TV version. Another opportunity missed.
Actually, there is a Peter May! Did a really good trilogy a while back set in the Hebrides.
The Lewis Trilogy – I found all three excellent and made me want to visit the Isle of Lewis, such was the way he described the place. May has written plenty of other series as well. I like the Enzo books set in France.
I enjoyed the Lewis Trilogy.
I’ve also enjoyed all of Robert Galbraith’s Strike novels, although I thought “The Ink Black Heart” was ridiculously long at over 1200 pages. Interesting subject matter but rather a slog
I also enjoyed the Lewis Trilogy and having now visited the Isle of Lewis a couple of times since can confirm it is very much as described in the books
Agree that Peter James started to tail off, although the last couple were better – and the TV version is pretty good. I like Robert Galbraith, and Richard Osman. Enjoyed the first couple of Stuart McBride, but didn’t like one where the population of Aberdeen was put into pies!
Mrs F’s family are from Aberdeenshire and, if you are what you eat, they are already mostly pie.
I’ve dabbled in crime fiction most of my life, starting with Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh when I was a kid. I discovered Josephine Tey recently – The Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair are worth a read, very much part of the golden era tradition. I go back to Sherlock Holmes when I’m in the right frame of mind, and there are endless Maigret novels by Georges Simenon to rediscover. I’m not a great fan of modern crime novels – I like my murders to be fairly cosy affairs but I do find straightforward police procedurals a bit dull.
A few off the top of my head (loads more)
RECENT (UK)
Allan Parks – Harry McCoy series
Aidan McKinley – Sean Duffy series
Malcolm McKay – Glasgow hitman series
RECENT (US)
US
Patrick Hoffman
S A Cosby
OLD SCHOOL
Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine
Richard Price
George Pelicanos
I’m with you on S A Cosby, whom I think is brilliant.
I also recommend Attica Locke.
I don’t know Patrick Hoffman. I will have to look him up.
The white van is a great place to start
I’ll always be up a Sara Paretsky and though nothing can reach the heights of the first two a Martin Cruz Smith is always an enjoyable read.
Bit rude! Family site, and all that 😳
My wife and I listen to and read a fair number of crime novels, including many already mentioned. A couple not covered so far:
Elly Griffiths and her Ruth Galloway (a forensic archaeologist) series.
Above all, the Frederick Troy books by John Lawton. They span the 30s to the early 60s with fantastic characterisation and detail. The audiobook versions, narrated by Lewis Hancock, are among the best audiobook novels I’ve listened to.
https://www.orderofbooks.com/characters/inspector-troy/#:~:text=Inspector%20Frederick%20Troy%20is%20the,form%20of%20his%20given%20name.
Another vote for John Lawton here. Remember being bowled over by Riptide when I picked it up about 25 years ago
Given the quality of the writing and the scope of the ground covered, I’m surprised he and the Frederick Troy books aren’t better known. Wonder if that’s because he writes books that straddle not only crime, but also historical fiction and espionage
I think I have a John Lawton on my Kindle – I obviously need to give it a go!
Elmore Leonard. Recommended to me by a dear friend and colleague, Jeremy Cameron, himself an author of a series of crime novels set in Walthamstow that are stylistically similar to Elmore Leonard’s books. Jeremy sadly passed away at the turn of the year, but his books should still be available via A*****n. Titles: “It Was An Accident…”, “Vinnie Got Blown Away…” ” Brown Bread In Wengen”, “Wider Than Walthamstow”, “Hell On Hoe Street”. Well worth seeking out.
I’ve spent a lifetime reading crime novels, but have not read a word of Agatha Christie tho’ I enjoyed the Poirot TV adaptations including the one with John Malkowich. I did read all of Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey stories at an early age and later devoured everything by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. More recent faves haves included the following:
Maigret. Finally finished reading all the novels in 2023; a compilation of short stories, “The New Investigations of Inspector Maigret” is waiting on the shelf.
C.J. Sansom’s Shardlake series.
Ariana Franklin’s “Mistress Of The Art Of Death”, first of 4 medieval whodunnits, all worth seeking out.
Donna Leon’s Inspector Brunetti novels.
Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano novels.
Michael Dibdin’s Zen series.
Sue Grafton’s Alphabet novels.
Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski series.
Andrew Martin’s Jim Stringer novels.
+1 Shardlake.
I finished Dominion last night, his althist post WW2 book. Immense.
Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano novels are top notch, especially for Italophiles like myself. The TV adaptation was also very watchable.
Elmore Leonard. Recommended to me by a dear friend and colleague, Jeremy Cameron, himself an author of a series of crime novels set in Walthamstow that are stylistically similar to Elmore Leonard’s books. Jeremy sadly passed away at the turn of the year, but his books should still be available via A*****n. Titles: “It Was An Accident…”, “Vinnie Got Blown Away…” ” Brown Bread In Wengen”, “Wider Than Walthamstow”, “Hell On Hoe Street”. Well worth seeking out.
I’ve spent a lifetime reading crime novels, but have not read a word of Agatha Christie tho’ I enjoyed the Poirot TV adaptations including the one with John Malkowich. I did read all of Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey stories at an early age and later devoured everything by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. More recent faves haves included the following:
Maigret. Finally finished reading all the novels in 2023; a compilation of short stories, “The New Investigations of Inspector Maigret” is waiting on the shelf.
C.J. Sansom’s Shardlake series.
Ariana Franklin’s “Mistress Of The Art Of Death”, first of 4 medieval whodunnits, all worth seeking out.
Donna Leon’s Inspector Brunetti novels.
Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano novels.
Michael Dibdin’s Zen series.
Sue Grafton’s Alphabet novels.
Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski series.
Andrew Martin’s Jim Stringer novels.
Too worn out to be bothered writing anything other than a list so here you go. By no means extensive but all the authors both well known and otherwise included are worth checking out.
James Sallis.
Jake Arnott.
Lou Berney.
Neil Broadfoot.
S.A. Cosby.
Will Dean.
Tana French.
Jordan Harper.
Patricia Highsmith.
Jim Thompson.
Sarah Hilary.
Simon Mason.
William Mcilvanney.
Margaret Miller.
Thomas Mullen.
Fred Vargas.
Ross Macdonald.
James Lee Burke.
Finally, a call out for McIlvanney. He’s superb! I’ve just polished off The Dark Remains, the yarn finished off (in fine style) by Ian Rankin after McIlvanney’s death. I’ve now got the first three Laidlaw stories lined up to enjoy next.
(Rubs hands in glee)
If anyone wants my copy of The Dark Remains before I donate it to my local 2nd hand bookshop, drop me a PM and I’ll post it to you.
Simon Mason yes…I thought the first one was terrific, the second is on the tbr pile.
It’s even better. I haven’t gotten around to his third yet but it’s awaiting my attention.
All this way down before James Lee Burke gets a mention – the finest writer in any genre of the last fifty years!
Close, but no cigar. That’ll be Jordan Harper.
No mention, yet, of Sophie Hannah.
Her adaptations of Agatha Christie novels are good but her own stuff, set in the fictional Culver Valley, is wonderful.
I’m a huge fan of Cornell Woolrich. He had a way of telling a story that was uniquely his own. I have all of the Black Mask collections. Great stuff!
We Yanks like the hard boiled stuff, not the polite parlor mysteries. Black jacks and drinks with a mickey. Tough dames with their own agenda. The cops barking on the trail of an innocent man wanting to pin him for murder… that sort of thing.
Many of the above. I’ll add James Ellroy, sprawling, politically incorrect and always gripping. Try American Tabloid. Very good on Kindle for keeping track of who the flip everyone is
Oh also Don Winslow, recommended by someone here and a firm favourite.
Aside from the other recommendations here, I nominate Peter Temple.
He doesn’t waste a word. The plotting and characterization is fully done, without being pverblown.
He won the Miles Franklin award – not the best crime book in Australia, but the best book overall.
I have limited attention for fiction and novels in particular. I just couldn’t be bothered finishing most that I start. I’m far more partial to short stories and some that I have enjoyed in the crime genre are:
G.K Chesterton’s Father Brown stories: Fun stories, many in the ‘locked room’ genre.
Sherlock Holmes: I enjoy the short stories far more than the novels. They do get ludicrous (Holmes’ disguises as an example) but that is a feature of the genre.
Speaking of ludicrous, the Thinking Machine stories by Jacques Futrelle are fun but the plots hang together by the skimpiest of threads.
The Thorndyke stories by R Austin Freeman are good examples of early scientific realism in the detective genre, and are usually inverted stories where the culprit is known at the start.
I also like the Judge Dee series. While they are technically novels they often involve multiple simultaneous cases.
I run a mile from anything that has a whiff of tweeness, particularly any detective with a ludicrous name.
That’s a pity, as you’d love the Blanche Flange triad by Grace McEachern. Set in gold-rush California, Blanche is the “small person” in a travelling show, and often an unbidden witness to actual events, her perspective giving new slants on old stories. So characters like Doc Holliday crop up routinely. Tombstone Circus, Tombstone Renaissance and Tombstone Spectacle.
Never cared for the Whodunnit form (I hate puzzles) & over time it’s dawned on me that that what I enjoy most about detective fiction is the immersion in the world & opinions ( often social & political) of the author.
I’ve read stacks of LA based crime fiction & feel pretty familiar with the currents that have run through it since it was tiny compared to San Fransisco as a result. Quite odd in some respects, as I’ve never been there & don’t imagine I ever will but I am fascinated by the place, I guess.
The most recent writer to really wow me is Jordan Harper & I strongly recommend ‘Everybody Knows’ & ‘A Lesson In Violence’ , both very hard boiled, world weary & scary – there are whiffs of Ellroy but it’s not a tribute act.
The other two contemporary LA set writers are Joe Ide, whose ‘IQ’ (Isiah Quintabe) series is great – Sherlock straight out of Compton, anyone? – & Ryan Gatiss – in particular ‘Safe’ which is superb & one of the tightest thrillers I’ve read in the last 20 years.
Obviously, sticking with LA, homage must be paid to James Ellroy & Walter Moseley.
Ellroy firing on all cylinders is something to experience & quite hard to articulate if you haven’t read him – but he is very dark & grisly & definitely not for everyone.
Walter Moseley outlines the view of LA from the non white side of the tracks, particularly historically, through his main protagonist, the reluctant gumshoe Easy Rawlins. What I particularly like about Moseley – aside from his huge knowledge that he carries lightly- is that you can imagine his characters brushing past some of Ellroy’s monsters (particularly of the LAPD variety) as they inhabit utterly different worlds but in the same city.
Loved the early Ellroy’s but I lost interest in him when he lost interest in commas around the time of Cold Six Thousand
Another vote for Jim Thompson, Elmore Leonard and Raymond Chandler – superlative crime writers everyone and exemplars of three very different writing styles
You might as well go back to Dashiell Hammett before Chandler, and Ross Macdonald just after to get the Holy Trinity in order. Macdonald’s “Blue City” (as Kenneth Millar) is some kind of exemplar – again, not sure what this word means but it looks good – of the hard-boiled noir. A masterpiece. Also – Paul Cain’s “Fast One” – is the form stripped down to haiku-level brevity. Brutal.
Yes I read the trilogy but it’s diminishing returns.
Ian Rankin….a new Rebus is coming in the autumn.
MacBride, Parks as already mentioned.
Peter James I find a bit variable in quality.
I wouldn’t really class Osman as crime….although the new series later in the year apparently features a father and daughter private detective team.
Thanks to all for the comments and recommendations – clearly a lot to be added to the ‘To Be Read’ pile!
Few more names that I’ve remembered – Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie novels are excellent. And a trio of excellent writers – Robert Edric (with his Song trilogy), Nick Quantrill and David Mark – all make Hull sound like a really dangerous and quite nasty place to live!
A Swedish option. The Martin Beck series by Sjowall and Wahloo. 10 books in 10 years -65 to 75. Very political, an interesting reflection of society at the time and very good. Clearly a major influence on Henning Mankell and better IMHO.
I have been reading the Jack Logan series on my Kindle over the last year. J D Kirk is the author I believe. Very Scottish noir, but some laugh out loud moments. Similar to the Stuart McBride, Logan McRae series.
I’ve nearly finished the final Banks novel. Much improved than the last few which I feel had lost their way a bit.
Val McDermid anyone? I enjoy the Karen Pirie (cold case) series.
I have always been a crime fiction fan and now that I have retired I have lots of free time to catch up on some of my favourite authors. Below are some of my favourites
Ian Rankin
J D Kirk
Paul Charles
Stuart McBride
Douglas Skeleton
Jane Casey
Mark Billingham
Sam Blake
Lin Anderson
M W Craven
Nadine Matheson
Sam Holland
Val Mc Dermid
Steve Cavanagh
Currently reading A grave for a thief by Douglas Skelton
It’s a historical crime story of which this is book 3 and very good so far.
Anyone else enjoy the Graham Hurley books. Set down on the west coast. Good characterisations
Read the first couple of books but I couldn’t get into them properly wrong time & place so might give him another go.
DI Joe Faraday is the main character. A birdwatcher is his usp I recall.* Some spin off books involving a slightly dodgy colleague. I really enjoyed them.
*might be confusing him with DI Roy Grace …
Read the Faraday books a few years back and they were pretty good. Bit of a fall off of quality in the last couple though
Pencilsqueezer mentioned James Lee Burke who I my favourite.
Most of the Robicheaux novels are set in Louisiana and the way he invokes a sense of place is marvellous. It’s an integral part of his novels.
The various Holland family novels are for the most part pretty good too.
Sometimes his excursions into the metaphysical become a little bit wearing, but don’t let that put you off his works.
Seconded on James Lee Burke, Carl.
I read tons of his stuff at a time when remainder shops were awash with them in the late 90s & still return to them when I feel in need of a reading palate cleanser.
As you say the sense of place is brilliantly evoked & the swampy underbelly of Louisiana is consistently exposed when Dave Robicheaux goes sticking his nose in where it isn’t wanted.
There is a formulaic element but I actually rather enjoy it, like donning a pair of comfy shoes.
I am going to mention two crime writers who are well worth looking up and who I don’t see mentioned.
1) Denise Mina – possibly the best living novelist in Scotland right now? Conviction is a fun read and The Less Dead is one of the darkest and bleakest things I have ever read. Extraordinary range and don’t even start me on her brilliant, short historical novel Rizzio. She is genuinely a hugely talented writer.
2) Don Winslow – The Border Trilogy is absolutely extraordinary. Up there with Ellroy at his best. The Force is so fucking great. Never read anything shite by him at all, to the point that I’m scared to keep going with his stuff in case its not as good or in case I run out of stuff to read.
Sadly, DW recently announced his retirement from thriller/crime writing and says that his ongoing trilogy about a US crime family will be his last
Given the uniform excellence of his books up to and Including the Border series, I was hoping DW would go out on a high,
On the evidence of the first two books in his latest series, that’s not going to happen.
I like Winslow a lot, especially The Border trilogy. I wasn’t especially taken with The Force, but I didn’t dislike it.
The pair of novels featuring Boone Daniels are pretty good – though I rate The Dawn Patrol more highly than The Gentleman’s Hour.
The standalone The Winter Of Frankie Machine is also excellent.
Doug Johnstone. The Skelf family business is primarily undertaking. They have a sideline as Private Investigators too. Set in Edinburgh, there are 5 books in the series so far. I have read 4. Definitely in the crime thrillers category with much laughter too, so also in tartan noir.
Loved the skelf books definitely worth a read
Not sure if Caimh McDonnell’s Dublin trilogy (currently 8 books) counts as straight crime fiction, it is however very funny, quite violent in parts and has some seriously brilliant characters.
The best crime novel I’ve read in years is Five Decembers by James Kestrel. It’s a classic noir hued police procedural dealing with a murder investigation. Except the murder happens in Honolulu, it’s December 1941 and unknown to any of the cops a Japanese fleet is already steaming across the Pacific….I read the whole 400 plus page thing in a day, an absolutely riveting read.
Cheers for the heads up, K
Crime-but-not-crime – Luke McAllin’s Man from Berlin series.
Gregor Reinhardt is a German policeman, attached to the Military. The books bounce around a bit -WW1, post war Berlin, but the main setting is Yugoslavia.
They are of a mood, but are excellent reading, and benefit from a second go-round.
I’m currently reading “The Second Murderer” by Denise Mina . It’s a Philip Marlowe novel in the style of Raymond Chandler, and she does it brilliantly. Killer one liners every page, and superb writing.
It was recommended here
https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/05/best-and-thriller-novels-of-2023
For me Don Winslow is quite literally the Don.
Also shout out for the works of S Craig Zahler, perhaps better known as the director of movies Bone Tomahawk, Dragged Across Concrete and Brawl in Cell Block 99. Zahler writes splatter westerns as well as crime, and though they occasionally lack craftsmanship, they make up for it with a worldview that’s truly unsettling. He has a way with violence that’s unique.
I didn’t realise he was an author, I’ll keep an eye out. His films are very striking – with eye watering moments of violence mixed with periods of longueurs.
General question: Does your love for crime fiction transfer to true crime? I have no interest in gory details of solved crimes but I genuinely find some unsolved crimes fascinating in a whodunit sort of way.
A few years ago my brother and mother, both huge consumers of crime fiction, were quite disparaging at my following of the Delphi murder case. Here was a genuine crime mystery: two girls murdered in an urban woodland area used by many others. There was both video and audio of the perpetrator thanks to one of the girls having the foresight to record the man approaching them. The girls were hiking on a disused rail bridge which provided a strong visual motif for the crime. Like some of the Jack the Ripper murders, it seemed incredible that the perpetrator could complete the crime un-noticed, given other hikers in the park.
To me, this was far more perplexing and interesting than any fictional crime could ever be, but to my mother and brother the fact it was real somehow tainted it, despite the strong whodunnit elements.
**For those who don’t know, a suspect was arrested last year for the Delphi crimes and the mystery deepens. He lived near the location and worked locally yet nobody ever put his name forward even though he was quite obviously the man in the video! There has been a fair bit of police bungling and it seems the man came forward in the days following the event to say he was in the location and was then completely forgotten.
No. I just find it generally exploitative.
I respect the fact that others disagree – there was a very good discussion about it on the Shedunnit podcast.
I also feel the same way about tv shows in that genre – see the recent Raoul Moat as an example.
Crime fiction is enjoyable in the same way as (I find) action movie violence enjoyable. A world apart from the real thing.
Of late, many but by no means all programmakers seem to be pulling back from focusing on/glorifying the killers (e.g. Des, excellent though David Tennant was as Neilssen).
Emphasizing the victims rather than the perpetrators, the Raol Moat and Yorkshire Ripper dramas were both excellent examples of this trend.
Except the family of at least one victim of the Moat case objected to the show…
Generally I’m not interested in true- crime, but I did enjoy the mini-series Unbelievable on Netflix which stars Toni Colette in the telling of a story about a teenager, who was a victim of rape, but then people, especially the police, started doubting her story.
Meanwhile other police are on the trail of a serial rapist.
Very powerful stuff.
I’ll stress, I have absolutely no interest in the gory details of murders and no interest in people such as Dahmer, or the Wests because they were caught at the same time their crimes were uncovered. I do have interest in the puzzle aspect of some crimes and examples of brilliant detective work (see Daniel Morecambe and the Golden State Killer foe examples).
Here are a few recommendations.
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy Hughes. Utterly gripping LA set noir.
James Ellroy. The Black Dahlia was the first of his that I read – and it might still be my favourite. Like a lot of his work, this is a queasy mix of police procedural, Hollywood sleaze and stabs of horror. I’d also be tempted to take in the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy the first of which, Blood on the Moon, was adapted to the screen as Cop, a fantastic thriller starring James Woods.
The Robicheaux novels by James Lee Burke are evocative and compelling.
Elmore Leonard can be utterly sublime. I would highly recommend Freaky Deaky, Rum Punch and Kill Shot. 52 Pick is great, too.
Miami Blues by Charles Willford features the world weary Hoke Mosely, a hang dog cop here pursuing a charming killer fresh out of prison.
George Pelecanos doesn’t really put a foot wrong, but I love the Nick Stefanos trilogy.
And the Cartel trilogy by Don Winslow are just magnificent.