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Detective books set in London - suggestions needed quite urgently please?

38 replies

WandaWitch · 13/12/2014 15:04

My elderly Dad is on his own and is stuck in more at the moment due to the weather/cold. He likes reading, but has a very limited type of book that he likes which is only murder/detective stories set in London. He's read all the Peter James, all Kimberely Chambers, all Kath Staincliffe, J Jackson Bentley, all Kim Hunter, all Jesse Keane and all of Lynda La Plante (the only non London author he likes). He has now finished his latest book and is without anything to read and it is getting him down, he gets quite low when his routine is out - he sits to read every evening, his day is very structured, it's the way he copes with being on his own. I have tried a whole range of other suggestions, of books/authors but they're not right. He won't read thrillers just crime/detective and it has to be set in and around London. He's just been on the phone to me again, getting quite upset over this. I know it sounds extreme but it really is a big deal to him, he's never been diagnosed etc. but I suspect he is on the Aspergers spectrum, as there is no flexibility there. He has a kindle, which is on my account so I can buy books and send them to his kindle as he lives a couple of hours away from me, so if anyone can come up with anything I can get it onto there before this evening which fits the criteria I would be eternally grateful?

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Resideria · 21/12/2014 23:39

The Inspector Coffin series by Gwendoline Butler: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwendoline_Butler

cdtaylornats · 21/12/2014 23:23

You might find this list useful

www.goodreads.com/list/show/28529.Best_London_Mysteries

JuxaSnogUndertheMistletoe · 19/12/2014 10:40

Ah, should have refreshed the thread! I see that Aaronovitch has been suggested, and historical won't do.

Could he maybe write his own London detective stories? Plotting one out, at least geographically, could keep him occupied!

JuxaSnogUndertheMistletoe · 19/12/2014 10:36

Oh, and then there's Dissolution and that series, by C J Sansom. Again detective, mainly London, but Tudor times, Henry on the throne etc. They are fantastic.

JuxaSnogUndertheMistletoe · 19/12/2014 10:32

Bryant and May are elderly detectives in London. Can't remember the author Blush

There is also the Ben Aaronovitch series. It's definitely detective, definitely in London, but it's also fantasy so may not be quite his taste. They would offer a slightly different slant, and the London references and descriptions are very evocative - I always want to go back when I read them (want to go back anyway! miss it sooooooo much!). Here

tripfiction · 19/12/2014 10:21

Try this link. These are books (crime novels) all set in London that I have brought together www.tripfiction.com/find-a-book/?location=London&title=Title...&bauthor=Author...&genre=Crime&order=rating You have got some great suggestions from everyone.... hope you find something suitable.

YonicSleighdriver · 13/12/2014 20:34

Yy to "Thrones, Dominations" - it feels less old because it was published and completed in the modern era by a modern writer.

traviata · 13/12/2014 20:29

Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May series

Speckledy · 13/12/2014 20:08

What about the four Sarah Caudwell books? Thus was Adonis Murdered etc.

springalong · 13/12/2014 19:56

Me back again! Elizabeth George - Linley novels. (went off towards the end imnotsoho)

AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves · 13/12/2014 17:52

Come to that, there's Call for the Dead, John Le Carre's first novel, which is set entirely in London and the outer suburbs. Does he stretch to spy fiction? It's really as much of a whodunnit as a spy novel.

DuchessofMalfi · 13/12/2014 17:24

Your dad might like The Murder Bag by Tony Parsons. Set mostly in London and also in a large public school near London. Contemporary setting.

AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves · 13/12/2014 17:00

One of the best crime novels I've ever read is Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham. That's set mostly (but not entirely) in London. It was published in 1952. Most of her books are set at least partly in London, but as they are classics he may already have read them.

I take it he's read all of Conan Doyle? Most of the Sherlock Holmes short stories are set in London. Not modern, of course!

There's a whole list of crime fiction in London here - I see Rumpole is at the top of the page.

Hakluyt · 13/12/2014 16:51

Does he like "golden age" detective novels? Because there's a fantastic book by Jill Paton Walsh that's based on an idea by Dorothey L Sayers. It's called Thrones, Dominations, and some of the action takes place in the secret rivers that run underneath central London. It's available on kindle and I think it's quite cheap.

OttiliaVonBCup · 13/12/2014 16:44

The Nicci French Frieda Klein books.

skolastica · 13/12/2014 16:39

Gordon Ferris, 'Truth Dare Kill'

'Set in post-war London, Danny McRae is a damaged war veteran with no real memory of the events that caused him to become damaged. A former policeman, he's not quite together enough to go back to police work, so he's set himself up as a private investigator. The story opens when a prospective 'case' presents itself to Danny, but even a cursory investigation suggests that there is a hidden agenda behind the proposal - what is it and why has Danny been singled out?

I enjoyed this story. Post-war London is austere, yet friendly and is well drawn. As it's the first outing for Danny McRae, the story is as much his as it is about a mystery to be solved and so we come to learn about the events that caused him to become war damaged. There's obvious homage to Raymond Chandler throughout, yet author Gordon Ferris remains his own man. Excellent groundwork for a developing series on Danny McRae, private eye and a very satisfying weekend read.'

OftheTwilighttheDarkness · 13/12/2014 16:33

Should have the the thread properly, I see Ginrummy has already suggested the Ben Aaronovitch books.

OftheTwilighttheDarkness · 13/12/2014 16:31

Do you think he would like the 'Rivers of London' books by Ben Aoronovitch. The are part police procedural / part supernatural.

bizarre1 · 13/12/2014 16:27

'Angel' series by Mike Ripley London based detective but fairly light hearted so may not suit?

Viviennemary · 13/12/2014 16:02

What about Robert Goddard. I think some are set in London. Thriller type mysteries which are a bit different but some are better than others.

springalong · 13/12/2014 16:01

He may not like these but Jacqueline Winspear Maisie Dobbs series is mostly London based, but also Kent. Set in 1920's

www.amazon.co.uk/Maisie-Dobbs-Mystery/dp/0719566223/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418486149&sr=8-1&keywords=winspear+maisie

Is Martina Cole too rough for him? East End villains, some cops. Can be very crude

SconeRhymesWithGone · 13/12/2014 15:59

Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series: many are set in London.

SconeRhymesWithGone · 13/12/2014 15:58

Some of Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford books are set in London. One is Murder Being Once Done.

WandaWitch · 13/12/2014 15:49

Right, well, that was a more positive conversation - he has books to read this evening now - he will "see if they're any good" and let me know. The routine is on it's way back to being restored.....

Thank you all.....

Am writing all of these names down - for the next time....

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meandjulio · 13/12/2014 15:46

Murder Must Advertise is set in London, I was about to suggest it but see that historical won't do.

How far back would he go - 70s, 80s, 90s? Or does it have to be absolutely contemporary?

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