Searching for an intelligent crime novel

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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?

I'm a big fan of Scandi-noir, totally agree with the Jo Nesbø recommendation. I think the Harry Hole novels are excellent. The Wallander novels are also much better than the Ken Branagh adaptations on BBC

Other Scandi authors worth a read are:
Håkan Nesser - the Van Veeteren series
Arnaldur Indriðason - the Erlander series

I also like Peter Robinson - DCI Banks (don't let the frankly dismal ITV adaption put you off)

Denise Mena
Christopher Brookmyre

Arnaldur Indriðason is very good, yes.

Dorothy L Sayers, if you like Golden Age crime novels.
I adore these books, the radio and TV adaptations too. Harriet Walter and Ian Carmicheal, who could ask for more.

Robert Galbraith, J K Rowings' crime series are very good
I like the American series by Faye Kellerman and Jonathan Kellerman, though his latest haven't been quite as good.
Andrew Taylor, very varied novels, some set in the 1950s, some in Post-war Britain.

A big yes to Sue Grafton's alphabet series, the adventures of Kinsey Malone
Sara Paretsky, VI Warshawski is the female PI
The last two were really innovative, great women characters, really good character development over the series.

Shirley McKay, set in Scotland in the C16th ( I think ) A legal advocate, drawn into murder mysteries.

All of the above are novels I will reread again and again. Many are comfort reads 📚 I also enjoy them on Audible, which as I have the Dreaded 2016 Lurgi, is, indeed, a blessing.

I am currently listening to Anne Perry's Revenge on a Cold River. It's ok, but her early works, set in the echelons of Victorian Society and with brilliant character development, are really good.

Excuse repetition of good I am poorly 😊

Andrew Taylor...set in C16th
Sorry!
I do know 1950s are post-War, honestly 😳

I want to add the Shardlake novels by CJ Sansom. Set in Tudor period, excellent

Some excellent suggestions here. I really enjoy Laura Wilson's Ted Stratton series, set during and just after WW2.

Also, in an entirely different vein, George Pelecanos is brilliant.

I was coming on to recommend the Ruth Galloway series too :) really well written and clever. The other one I like recently was the Whisperer by Donato Carrisi, full of twists and impossible to put down.

Another vote here for Fred Vargas. They are so whacky, but I love them.

Seconding Jeffrey Deaver - His Lincoln Rhyme books are fab. Also Susan Hill and Karin Slaughter - but Deaver's are better.

Sara Paretsky

Sabine Durrant

Remember Me This Way
Lie With Me
Under Your Skin

Not a series but three smart crime thrillers and really well written.

PD James - the Cordelia Grey ones especially (An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin).

Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose is also very good.

Just bought Tana French Into The woods on the back of this thread. After reading Peter Mays Lewis series since last week.

I have also read lots of new authors on the back of mn recommendations including Susan Hill and Anne Cleeves. Haven't been disappointed yet!

I have enjoyed reading the Genevieve Lenard series by Estelle Ryan. They might not be a dark as you are looking for, but they are very engrossing. The first one is free on Kindle.

I second Christopher Brookmyre, if you like something darkly humorous and a bit irreverent. "Attack Of The Unsinkable Rubber Ducks" is my favourite. Clever, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining.

Sharon Bolton. Little Black Lies is good and I recently read Daisy in Chains - bit of a slow start but really enjoyed it and it's an unusual plot.
I also like Brian McGilloway.

thankyou for this thread . lots of recommendations here.

are there any that would be described as cosy ctime? not too grusome?

isobell dalhousie series by alexander mc call smith

loved these

Lots of great suggestions already made. I also like Greg Iles - set in Natchez Mississippi.
Agree with the Lynda La Plante and Martina Cole comments. Utter drivel.

jeffrey deaver
mallory series (although the gap between books was seriously upsetting. I think she may have finished the series)
michael connolly (the poet is in my top 3)

I love the early Ruth Rendall and PD James too. Also Dorothy L Sayers. I really wanted to like Margery Allingham as she writes beautifully but found Campion insufferable. Jo Nesbo is great, and I liked the early Fred Vargas but found her later work became too whimsical for me.

I've actually got a bit bored with 'straight' crime novels so have intentionally gone for writers who do more unusual stuff. I've recently read the Bryant and May books (Christopher Fowler), the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch and the Frances Doughty novels by Linda Stratmann. I'm not a fan of revoltingly graphic descriptions of crimes and criminals, more into the stories. Also I'm a sucker for novels set in London - I lived there and it's easy to picture it and get lost in it. Less easy to picture myself in Edinburgh - which is a shame as I know Ian Rankin is a great writer but I just can't get it straight in my head. I can envisage Ankh-Morpork more easily

I came on specifically to recommend Chris Brookmyre but I see Overthinker and Badgers have beaten me to it.

Very clever, very well written.

Not for the easily offended however.

My favourite is "Alls fun and games until someone loses an eye"

They are all brilliant however.

PD James, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham (I do like Campion), Donna Leon (set in Venice, Brunetti is a reflective detective), Agatha Christie, Joy Ellis, Mick Herron. I also really recommend the Slider series by Cynthia Harrod -Eagles...superb.

I buy odd ones via the Kindle deals and have read some authors I have really enjoyed.