Need a new crime / thriller writer please?

[diabolo]

I am a voracious reader and I have run out of books / authors and really, really need you to recommend someone to me, (preferably with a huge back catalogue that I can really get my teeth into).

I've read everything by: Val McDermid, Ruth Rendell, Karin Slaughter, Tess Gerritsen, Patricia Cornwell, Agatha Christie, Mary Higgins-Clark, Jeffrey Archer, Lee Child, Jo Nesbo, Sidney Sheldon and Michael Connelly.

Is Reginald Hill worth pursuing? (I loved the Woodcutter) but haven't read anything else by him.

What about Mo Hayder? I read Pig Island and it made me feel very strange inside. Are her other books so disturbing?

Is there someone I should be reading and have somehow missed?

Please help, I need stimulation.....

Sjowall & Wahloo: Scandinavian, 70s, married and wrote alternate chapters. Quite interesting books. Wrote a set of 10. Hailed as early (or first?) example of detective 'method' novels. I liked them, liked seeing the development of their main character and his life unfolding, as well as the crime plots.

Jux I'm reading those at the moment - just finished number 4 - and really not liking them much. Maybe something has been lost in the translation, but they are very stilted. And, not surprisingly, very dated - the chauvinism is getting on my nerves.

I know what you mean, TheFarSide. I thought they were an interesting snapshot of a different society and a different era. (I was a teenager in the 70s and I remember those chauvinistic attitudes only too well.)

Cody Mcfadyen and Linwood Barclay

plus many of the others that have already been suggested...enjoy your reading just jealous that I don't have time anymore

I am perservering though Jux as the person who lent them to me says they get better ...

I love sjowall and wahloo but the humour and characterization were dry to begin with. If you also read them as the depiction of Swedish society at a period of change they are v interesting.

Of an older period, ellery queen and Rex stout.

Tony hillerman for navajo interest. The great Emma lathen for wall street.
Edmund crispin for post war England.

Donna Leon for.Venice.
Giuttari also for Italy. And camilleri. I think they are both excellent.

I love Tess Gerritsen, how about Martina Cole or Patricia Cornwell?

Sorry, just read that you've already read Patricia Cornwell. What about Mark Billingham?

Thank you to all who suggested Birdman by Mo Hayder
I'm now reading Ritual
Op definitely worth a read I've read all the same authors you have and am enjoying these immensely

More suggestions: Natasha Cooper - her protagonist is a (female) barrister.

David Lawrence is also brilliant. Quite gritty and a Proper Writer (I read tons of crime fiction and there's definitely good, bad and ugly!).

Elmore Leonard is a bit of a special case, not exactly crime but he's also great.

Patricia Highsmith is well worth a look, and for 'golden age' you can't go wrong with Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and Gladys Mitchell.

And if you've read all the Miss Marples, Patricia Wentworth wrote masses of books with a strangely similar maiden lady 'tec, Miss Silver. Old-fashioned by modern standards - Mo Hayder they ain't! - but good fun.

I love Karen Rose she mixes Cops hunting Serial Killer with a bit of romance and lusty Love throw in, so easy to read and hard to put down!

Always overlooked - Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's Bill Slider series. Police procedurals, with a good helping of humour and wit.

I couldn't recommend Robert Goddard these days, I'm afraid. His early novels were really, really good, but the standard began to slip around the late 90s and nowadays they read like Dan Brown-style potboilers. I find it hard to believe that they are written by the same person: the writing style is completely different and the story unfolds at breakneck speed. I haven't bothered to read the latest two or three, but I do reread the early ones from time to time.

All crime fans should sample the sublime Christopher Brookmyre. Preferably in order, but not strictly necessary.

I love Brookmyre. (that's what he makes me do.)

Has anyone mentioned James Lee Burke? Brilliant writing. Start at the beginning though - there are lots featuring his detective Dave Robicheaux.

SJ Bolton is my most recent discovery - quite gruesome, which I like (freak)

And I would steer clear of James Patterson (though I have only read a couple of the Women's Murder Club ones so others could be different) - horrible right-wing propaganda: "Here is the murderer. He is suffering from severe mental health issues and is basically a five-year-old child trapped in a man's body. Death penalty you say? Absolutely. It's the only solution."

Harlan Coben, Nikki French, Peter Robinson, Stephen Booth and Linwood Barclay. Coben and Barclay American but both fast-paced writers. French, Robinson and Booth all English and all really good. Robinson and Booth's books all feature same detectives and French has just started a series. Called Blue Monday. Definitely worth a read.

I like Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski novels too. If you're looking for a slightly different crime novel - The Collector by John Fowles, about a man who kidnaps a beautiful art student, is seriously disturbing.

I echo the recommendation for Denise Mina and John Harvey. Someone must have recommended Ian Rankin but I don't see it. Americans: George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane. Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series would keep you busy for a while. Scandinavian crime - the Martin Beck series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo was written in the 1960s and early 70s but I really enjoyed it. Karin Fossum, Arnaldur Indridason, Henning Mankell.

James Patterson is my currant favourite crime writer, in particular his Alex Cross novels.

Tana French, Reginald Hill, Dennis Lehane

I've recently discovered Graham Hurley. He writes about a detective called Faraday and there are about 11 Faraday novels so plenty to get your teeth into! He has also written several stand-alone non-crime books but I haven't tried any of those yet.
I read one Tana French (In The Woods) and was hugely disappointed. I was racing through the book trying to get to the end and find out what happened - but then one of the main threads isn't resolved!! I was so frustrated I threw the book at the wall.

I just read Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah which is a great psychological thriller. However, I then bought one of her previous books thinking 'hurrah, I've found a new author I like with a back catalogue' and was really disappointed - the same elements and devices all over again. Seems to be a one trick pony. Still, worth reading Kind of Cruel. Also agree with Patricia Wentworth, if you've never read any of hers you are really in for a treat.

In the woods (tana French) was disappointing but the likeness and faithful place are both excellent

Great thread. My new Kindle arrived yesterday and I have downloaded Mo Hayder's Birdman after reading about it here. I love finding a new author to devour!

Sorry everyone for not being back for ages, I didn't realise people were still recommending things for me.

If I live to be 100, it won't be enough time to read all you've recommended, thank you.

In a bizarre twist, I find myself currently reading the "Conqueror" series, by Conn Iggulden, about the amazing Khan dynasty. They are Wilbur Smith-ish and I am devouring them. This is the first and it is brilliant..

www.conniggulden.com/2011/wolf-of-the-plains/