Recommendations! Crime/horror/mystery/something else?

[AnotherOriginalUsername]

Help me fill my kindle ready for maternity leave!

I usually read the above genres but am open to suggestions (although probably won't touch chick lit, romance or fantasy!) I have a Kindle and am happy to experiment with new authors. I really cannot get in to the "unreal" - zombies, vampires etc.

Crime/Mystery - My usual go to. I prefer British based.
Horror - I've read a lot of Dean Koontz, Stephen King and that sort of stuff.

Other than that I'm open to suggestions!

I am pilgrim, I recently read this on holiday and it was brilliant.

James Patterson Anthony Horrowich Patricia Cornwall

Hurrah for Gin/Daily Struggles of Archie Adams for light entertainment

Have you read the Cormoran Strike novels? And Sophie Hannah’s novels are interesting.

I also enjoyed the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves, I think.

Am a huge fan of Val McDermid’s books. US crime fiction I enjoy includes Karin Slaughter and John Sandford.

If you want a massive collection of books that are all sort of linked, try Karen Rose - but be warned, they are crime chick lit, for want of a better way of describing them. You know - the feisty heroine is strong and independent but still needs the help of a brusque, damaged, masculine hero...

If you haven’t read Janet Evanovich yet - well, they will see you through maternity leave beautifully! Funny and very easy to read, and there’s about 24 of the Stephanie Plum series now!

The Stuart McBride "Logan McCrae" crime novels set in Aberdeen are fab

Agree with most of the above. I like Ann Cleeve Vera novels as well as Shetland. Just read He said She said, and found not gripping. Black House and sequels excellent. Shardlake if you like historical crime.

Robert Bryndza - Erica Foster books
Angela Marsons - Kim Stone books
Rachel Abbott books

All are excellent. Detective types some a bit gruesome in v small parts but I flick through those!

Just got back from holiday and read the following - all really good:

The tattooist of auschwitz
the cows
House swap
The last thing she told me

Not strictly my genre but just read Little Fires Everywhere-really enjoyed it.

I've literally just downloaded The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Will have a look at the other suggestions in the morning 😴

It’s really good, and based on a true story. Hope you like it! I wasn’t expecting to like The Cows but loved it.

I also like Sophie Hannah (particularly the Culver Valley police stories) and the Cormoran Strike series.

Not UK based, but I also enjoy the J A Kerley Carson Ryder series and Laura Lippman books.

In terms of horror I like Michelle Paver (particularly Dark Matter) and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters is also really scary.

I agree Val McDermid and Stuart McBride write great detective fiction. I love the Peter James Roy Grace series, there are 13 or 14 so far so they'd keep you going for a while. I finished Little Fires Everywhere last night, it was excellent! Tess Gerritsen is another good crime writer I've enjoyed

Another recommendation for Val McDermid - the Tony Hill (Wire in the Blood) series and the DI Karen Pirie series.

The Devil's Dice by Roz Watkins is a detective novel with a funny, likeable female protagonist.

Peter May - the Lewis trilogy, murder mysteries with atmospheric descriptions of the Hebridean setting

And for well-written Victorian-style spookiness, The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell is brilliant.

It's not crime or mystery but a great story - Elmet by Fiona Mozley

Quintin Jardine's Bob Skinner series follows the man and his team from Deputy Chief Constable through to retirement and beyond.

The Rebus Series by Ian Rankin

I just read Sonething in the Water by Catherine Steadman. Read it in a day it was that gripping. Very good.

Elli Griffiths has written a series of books about Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist. Set in Norfolk, they are well written murder mysteries with an excellent continuing story line about the main characters.

Not mentioned yet - Tim Weaver's David Raker series. Really excellent - gripping and just the right level of gore.

Tangerine was good too.

I love Belinda Bauer, British crime writer. I love the hum drum settings in small town Britain and suburbia, and the focus on the victims and their families.

I love the Peter James Roy Grace detective stories.

Also Prescilla Masters - both the Martha Gunn series and the Joanna Piercy novels.

Susan Hill - Simon Serralier series (and if you've never read The Woman In Black, put it to the top of your list!)

Oh - just remembered, amazing books, the first being 'You' by Caroline Kepnes and the sequel, Hidden Bodies. Absolutely addictive.

I have recently read the first two books in the DI Helen Grace series. Not going to lie they were quite far fetched and unbelievable in some parts but they were very fast paced and kept me gripped. I will definitely be reading the rest in the series when I get round to it.

Just finished Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton. It was excellent - haven't had that feeling of really wanting to get back to a story for a while (helped that we were on hols so plenty of time to demolish it in a couple of days!). I'll be trying more of her stuff on the back of it.

How about the Faith Martin series? They're currently being re-published, so they aren't all available on Kindle yet, but 14 out of 17 are. They all have a title that starts with 'Murder ...'

The main character is a female detective, Hillary Greene, and they're really good stories.