Searching for an intelligent crime novel

[Finbar]

Am new to this thread so apologies if this has been done before.,,
I like crime thrillers on TV, BUT any I've read have been frankly pants.
Quite obvious who the killer is OR so obtuse you'd never get it until the last page. Plus the female lead seems to have to sleep with at least one of the potential suspects.
Any suggestions for something a bit more meaty?

Cannot recommend Tana French's books highly enough. Intelligent, beautifully written etc.

The early P D James and Ruth Rendell were excellent.

I gave up on Harlan Coben as they seemed very repetitive.
I enjoy Lee Child though really not what I thought I liked. They are macho American, the hero sleeps with a female character in many of them.
I love Peter Robinson.
If you go earlier then I'd recommend Ngaio Marsh.

Also place marking for when I can write these down!

Agree with pp that Tana French is excellent.

Anything by Tana French. Also i quite like Camilla Lackbergs books- there is an order to them but also work stand alone if you can't get your hands on them in order.

Brainy crime fiction?
Rankin
Cleeves
Susan Isaacs

I like Stephen Booth. He writes novels set in the Peak District, which is very local to me. The early ones are better, in my opinion.

Ruth Rendell/ Barbara Vine.
Margaret Atwood.
Anita Shreve.

So many new novelists, I am so glad I clicked on this! I would also try Poppet by Mo Hayder - very scary stuff. Out by Natsuo Kirino is a novel translated from the Japanese, completely plausible stories of people doing extreme things in extreme circumstances.

Joanna Price has done a couple and they were great. She's a friend of a friend but I'm not biased, didn't realise until I had read them! They are set in Somerset and great female lead.

Great thread thank you I shall try some of these. I've been caught out by a lot of kindle stuff recently.
I really enjoyed Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels, they are not run of the mill crime style.
Ian Rankin is great. I'm re-reading the series at the moment.

V I Warshawski series by Sara Paretsky. Intelligent, feminist detective stories set in Chicago, often with a political background. Detective has aged in real time over the years so is now in her fifties.

Stuart Macbride - his novels set around Aberdeen have such a dark humour. I think it's better to read them in order.

Ruth Rendell. She was a genius!

Yes betty.... I'm a bit sad that I'll never read a new Ruth Rendell again.

Have just started I Saw a Man by Owen Sheers which promises to be very good.

Would second the Ann Cleeves Shetland series.

I read a lot of American crime fiction. Not all of it could be described as intelligent, but Jeffrey Deaver and John Sandford write densely plotted, thoughtful novels. I am also a Karin Slaughter fan.

Lynda La Plante is dreadful! Had to read one once in desperation when I had run out of books on holiday and it had been left behind in the villa - I could see why. Her books are the equivalent of painting by numbers. Ditto Martina Cole.

Def not LJ Ross - clunky, and lots of obvious and incessant romance between the two leads - almost more of a romance with lots of implausible murder thrown in

Second Stuart Macbride - excellent
Also the Serailler series, Ruth Galloway series, Vera series, and Peter May's Black house series and China series

Definitely the jo nesbo books, brilliant

Kate Atkinson - the Jackson Brody series

Blatantly place marking!

Henning Mankell (Wallander)
Denise Mina?

Tana French is a very good crime writer for those who want a little more substance. I really loved her second book, The Likeness but have enjoyed all of her books. Agree that Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books are worth checking out. I wish she would write some more!

Everything by Denise Mina.

Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther books - a career (anti-Nazi) policeman in 1930s Berlin and during the war. Plenty of ethical dilemmas as he tries to survive while retaining his integrity, plus solve the crime.