Crime Fiction

Historical crime

Read Paul Doherty then try…

Cool Crime…Nordic writers

Read Henning Mankell then try

Prime Suspects

Walter Mosley
Creator of the hard hitting, thought provoking and vivid world of Easy Rawlins and 1940's LA. Racial politics, masterful suspense and cracking stories.

Elmore Leonard
Fast talking crystal cut dialogue from super cool characters. Many have been made into films ('Get Shorty' , 'Out of Sight') but the books are best!

Ruth Rendell
Great psychological insight and brilliant comment on human behaviour make for some of the most gripping and chilling detective novels - often presided over by the fascinating Detective Inspector Reg Wexford.

Carl Hiaasen
Plastic surgery , the Gulf Stream, eco warriors, big game hunting, congressional politics - Hiaasen creates madcap set pieces full of seedy characters battlign it out in his native Florida. Criminals and corruption race to crazy conclusions when they invariably hit self destruct!

Reginald Hill
Perhaps best known for his Dalziel and Pascoe novels, Reginald Hill is a master of crime fiction. Mixing comedy and tragedy, classic and contemporary references his books can really get your nerves jingling!

Ian Rankin
Sometimes it seems everywhere you turn there is someone is reading a Rankin novel! Nearly always featuring Inspector John Rebus and evoking Edinurgh and urban Scottish landscapes so vividly they inspire Rebus tours, these multi bestsellers hardly need introduction but surely deserve a read.

Graham Hurley
Hurley has lived in Portsmouth for twenty years and has done huge amounts of in depth research into real life police procedures and cases. The result is stunningly evocative and realistic crime novels dealing with highly contemporary issues - and page turning plots.

Peter Robinson
Intricate plotting and strong resolutions make for very satisfying contemporary thrillers. Robinson places his detective in the Yorkshire Dales so we also get a beautiful sense of setting and landscape.

Partners in crime

• Simon Brett - The stabbing in the stables

  An author still on good form with the next in his stylish Fethering series…there are lots of Simon Brett fans around and this won’t disappoint.

   

• Andrea Camilleri - Rounding the mark

  Increasingly disillusioned with his government and the world in general, Inspector Montalbano is considering retirement. He is starting to feel his age, and even his favourite restaurant has closed. But when he bumps into a dead body during a bracing swim, his detective instincts are aroused once more. The 7^th title in this Sicilian detective series.

   

• Thomas H Cook - The murmur of stones

  A family tale of schizophrenia, suspicion and death…from a master of the psychological suspense novel.

   

• Susan Hill - The risk of darkness

  A superb novel which looks at the effects of crime as much as the crime itself. It is a gripping story of a kidnapping but you might want to read the first two of the earlier Simon Serrailler novels first.

   

• Andrew Martin - Murder at Deviation Junction

  Featuring an Edwardian railway detective, Jim Stringer, this series is gaining a real following. In this story Stringer gets involved in a murder case that becomes a battle for his career and his life.

   

• Faye Kellerman - The garden of Eden and other criminal delights

  Thirteen short stories, some featuring characters from her series…a must for her fans

   

Watching the Detectives

Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Inspector Morse and countless other well loved TV detectives began life in short stores and novels.   Why not check our your favourites in print. - and don't forget you can borrow the DVDs from libraries too!

Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Valley of Fear, The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Novels include: The Murder at the Vicarage, The Thirteen Problems,  A Caribbean Mystery, The Body in the Library

Inspector Morse - Colin Dexter
Novels include: Last Bus to Woodstock, The Dead of Jericho, The Way Through the Woods, The Remorseful Day

Dalziel & Pascoe - Reginald Hill
Novels include: A Clubbable Woman, Bones and Silence, Pictures of Perfection   

Cadfael - Ellis Peters
Novels include: A Morbid Taste for Bones, The Sanctuary Sparrow, The Heretic's Apprentice, The Holy Thief

Hercule Poirot - Agatha Christie -
Novels include:  The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on the Orient Express, Cards on the Table, Five Little Pigs  

Adam Dalgleish - P.D. James
Novels include: Cover Her Face, Death of an Expert Witness, Devices and Desires, Death in Holy Orders

Rebus -Ian Rankin
Novels include: Knots and Crosses,The Black Book, Dead Souls, The Naming of the Dead

Inspector Lynley - Elizabeth George
Novels include: A Great Deliverance, Playing For The Ashes, In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, With No One as Witness

Chief Inspector Barnaby  - Caroline Graham
Novels include: The Killing at Badger's Drift, Death of a Hollow Man, Death in Disguise, Written in Blood, A Ghost in the Machine

Inspector Adam Banks - Peter Robinson
Novels include: A Piece of My Heart, Strange Affair, The Hanging Valley, In a Dry Season

Jack Frost -R.D. Wingfield
Novels include:Frost at Christmas, A Touch of Frost , Hard Frost