Suggest some good, well written detective fiction for me?

I third Rebus. Well written, great characterisation, amazing sense of being rooted in time and place. each novel stands alone but there is also an overarching narrative.

I love the way his later novels are set on specific dates. I was visiting Edinburgh for a significant birthday on the days Rebus did his last case and retired. (Saddo, but made it special for me, I read it thinking I was there! on that street! and like the poster above it almost felt like I could have bumped into him)

If you want classic crime fiction what about Eric Ambler? He is kind of the granddaddy of detective fiction. Mask of Dimitrios is great and Send no more Roses

I second Donna Leon

Let me be the next to recommend Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus. The novels are so much more than police procedurals although they are certainly cunningly plotted. Spanning more than two decades they really do chronicle contemporary society and current events through the jaundiced eyes of a thoroughly decent if depressive detective. As Ubik mentioned above, Rankin's style does alter over the years...bit like a good wine or malt..pretty fine to start with but gets so much more refined, complex and worthwhile over time. I especially enjoyed the ones he wrote in the early to mid 2000s....interesting social/geopolitical context and fascinating character development... Rebus had morphed from a bit of a cipher in the early novels to a fully formed personality - so believable that when I'm up in Edinburgh visiting my sister in Bruntsfield I fully expect to bump into him in Costa or Montpelier's...mmm, think I'm making the classic mistake of conflating character and creator.

Also well worth making the acquaintance of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie.

For something entirely different and down the other end of the country on the South coast, Simon Brett's Fethering mysteries are a good easy read, well plotted and with some amusing social observation. Enjoyable!

Ah - my very favourite genre!

Lee Child - Jack Reacher series (don't watch the film..!)
Robert B Parker - Spenser series. These are wonderful and there a loads of them.
Robert Crais - Pike and Cole books. Brilliant. Am gutted I've read them all now :(
Val McDermid - any of hers
Christopher Brookmyre - harder to get into but really clever.

I second Jo Nesbo

Sherlock Holmes

agatha Christie

The Falco books by Lindsay Davies are good if you don't mind historical (Roman). The first one is the Silver Pigs. The radio dramatisations are really good as well- they have them on radio 4 extra every so often.

Sophie Hannah? Last couple are a bit dire, but earlier novels are quite gripping

YY to Peter May's Lewis Trilogy.

Dorothy L Sayers?

Donna Leon - all set in Venice & the bonus is that the main protagonist/detective (Brunetti) is not an alcoholic & has a happy marriage to a strong feminist wife (Paola). I'm just re reading them from start of series & really enjoying them second time round.

Love Stuart mcbride, but as an ex police worker from Aberdeen I actually know who he based his characters on!!

I've started reading Ian rankin's rebus series start to finish on nightshift. They are great. Although the first one was written in 1985 and rankin's style of writing has changed a but since then

The John Shakespeare series by Rory Clements are similar to Shardlake by CJ Sansom, but in Elizabethan times.

Stuart McBride is good too.

Shardlake is good.

Have you read any Scandinavian stuff? I liked Wallander (Henning Mankell, lots of them) best but if you wanted retro then the Inspector Beck ones are a good read, set in 60s Stockholm. Written by a couple, Sjowall and Wahloo.

How did I forget jack reacher! American yes but good. Bit samey if you binge on them though.

Have you tried camilla lackberg? Swedish crime. interesting but not too gory. I really like her.

Somebody on here - can't remember who, sorry - recommended Catriona McPherson's Dandy Gilver series.
I've read 5 of them so far and have really enjoyed them.

I've really enjoyed everything I've read by Nicci French (husband & wife writing dynamic duo) especially the Frieda Klein series.

My DH has been reading the Lee Child Jack Reacher books and he thinks they're good.

Oh and dh has read many George gently books if the tickles your fancy. It's a bit slow for me!

Recent hits for me have been...

The Mathew shardlake series by c j Samson ( historical base but really they are just well written murder mysteries with nice interweaving plots).

The Lewis man trilogy by peter may - gritty but not in the same way as my usual Jeffrey deaver. DH enjoyed these and he doesn't do the American stuff At all.

And branching out in another direction - forensic anthropology from Jefferson bass body farm is great(though American it's much better than the Bones books) and the English equivalent the David hunter books - author escapes me at the moment.

Ian Rankin's Rebus books are quite addictive!

Jo nesbo, the harry hole series

How about Jim Kelly - interesting, well-written, set in the Fens. I think the first in the series is The Water Clock.