British Private Investigator

[AnnieSnap]

My favourite genre is British crime fiction, but I especially love those where the main protagonist is a PI. I have loved and devoured all of the Cormoron Strike series, Alex Coombs Hanlon PI (excellent) and Val McDermid’s Kate Brannigan (ok, but not great). Are there any that I’m missing?

Have you tried Case Histories by Kate Atkinson?

Or the Alphabet series of books by Sue Grafton (eg A is for Alibi etc)?

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspeare fir - Maisie is a PI after WW1. I like them a lot.

M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series. But ridiculous at times but a fun series to read.

Now I didn't get on with those at all. I think I must like my Detective books a bit darker

P.D. James's two Cordelia Gray books: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin.

A friend recommended these, but I’m not keen on books set in America. I prefer a British book.

Loved the first few Cormoran Strike books but the whole JK Rowling thing has ruined it for me now ☹️

Last year realised I had never read an Agatha Christie, only seen the films, so I am slowly working my way through a big pile of them. A bit retro but very much enjoying Poirot atm

Have you read the Thursday murder club books? I couldn’t put them down

@CostelloJones JK Rowling has only ever defended women.

What limits me I suppose is I like, British, contemporary and a bit gritty 😳

Try some of Val McDermid’s other series. I started with Kate Brannigan but I also really enjoyed the Lindsay Gordon books (journalist rather than a PI but still solves murders) and the most recent Allie Burns books (two so far, 1979 and 1989). I find the Tony Hill books too gory, but I like Karen Pirie.

I was also going to suggest Sue Grafton and Sara Peretsky, but both are American!

@AnnieSnap i get where you’re coming from but personally some of what she has said is something I can’t align my morals with. Each to their own.

likee I said I also enjoyed the first few strike books.

and I still recommend the Thursday morder club if you haven’t read them

have you read anything by Martina Cole? I’ve enjoyed a few of her books too (especially “revenge” and “the know”)

Thanks @CostelloJones I’ll take a look

I read these a long, long time ago now as a teenager and really enjoyed them at the time. They did tv versions with Helen Baxendale which were so so.

And Lisa Cody Anna Lee books at about the same time. They made those into another so so tv series with Imogen Stubbs.

Also the Loretta Lawson series by Joan Smith are quite a good read. Loretta Lawson is an accidental detective though, she's really a feminist professor. The first book is A Masculine Ending. This was also turned into a tv series (😀) with Janet McTeer and Imelda Staunton as her friend! Quite unusual older professional women friendship story.

Just seen this is an old thread @AnnieSnap !

Anyway they were all reasonably gritty!

@tobee don’t worry. I really happy to still receive recommendations 😀

Peter Grainger DC Smith series - i the first books the character is in the police force, and they are very enjoyable too, but he leaves the force and finds himself working on his own.