Please help me find a gripping crime novel

[Pimpleonanelephant]

If I like:
Mark Billingham
Peter James
Tana French
Rachel Abbott
Val McDermid
Stuart McBride
Lee Child

Never been able to get through an Ian Rankin book, though. Can you please help me find another author? I only listen to audiobooks and much prefer an narrator to be from our side of the water than an American narrator.

Im going round in circles looking for the next listen but nothings grabbing my attention!

I really enjoyed the Helen Fields DI Callanach series. It's a good police procedural and was recommended to me by Mumsnet. Perfect Remains is book #1

I enjoyed 56 Days and The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard. I think she's written a few others too.

Angela Marsons Kim Stone series-read them in order-there are 15 of them and they are superb!( a little like Helen Fields but in my opinion so much better)

Ruth Rendell and PD James are for me head and shoulders above most crime writers, many of their books are just brilliant novels and absolutely transcend the crime genre.

Mel Sherratt - all set around Stoke
The Beck novels - scandi crime set in 1950s pre mobile phones and computers
The Wallander books

@Meduse

Angela Marsons Kim Stone series-read them in order-there are 15 of them and they are superb!( a little like Helen Fields but in my opinion so much better)

Oooh I will add her to my list, thank you! I've been getting loads of good recommendations from this thread.

Sunburn by Laura Lipman.

Fantastic characters, taut plotting - a modern day film noir.

Another vote for Cara Hunter, really enjoyable

I liked "The girl on the train".

Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford novels are brilliant. My personal favourites are An Unkindness of Ravens, Kissing the Gunner’s Daughter, Simisola, and Harm Done. Also the DI Fawley series by Cara Hunter as someone else has mentioned.

A Place of Execution by Val McDermid may be the single best crime novel I’ve ever read.

'That Night' by Gillian McAllister

Reading this at the moment and it is absolutely gripping. And yes, I am reasonably fussy and don't always agree with 5 star reviews.

I'm just over 55% through this on my Kindle, and will definitely be considering leaving 5 stars for this one.....

Alan Johnston ex labour mp. His first crime novel and I couldn't stop reading it. The Last Train to Gypsey Hill it's all about Russian crime gangs in London

John Sanford's 'Prey' series. I think the first one is called Eyes Of Prey.

There are tons of them and the all feature a detective called Lucas Davenport and are excellent.

Slight tangent but try Mick Herron's Slough House series. They're spy novels, but with a thriller element. They're very dry, with a caustic, cynical voice -- the concept is that spies get sent to an 'administrative oubliette' in disgrace if they cock up. And the characters are excellent (if horrible people, for the most part). The first one is Slow Horses.

And the narration is by Sean Barrett, who is outstanding.

(He also does the Jo Nesbo Harry Hole series, which is probably closer to your brief -- Scandi noir.)

I like many of the authors you mention! As well as Nicci French's Frieda Klein books. Anthony Horowitz's crime novels (Magpie Murders, The Sentence is Death etc) and Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway books which have already been mentioned, I also have enjoyed two historical crimes series - Laura Shepherd Robinson's Blood & Sugar and Daughters of Night, and Andrew Taylor's James Marwood and Cat Lovett series (starts with Ashes of London).

I'm just working my way through the Dr Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. They're set mostly in North Norfolk and there are thirteen books so far. I think they're excellent and Val McDermid is apparently an avid fan too. I definitely recommend starting with the first - The Crossing Places - and listening in order. I'm currently on number eight. I think they become more gripping and complex after the first one, which is still very engaging and, obviously, introduces all the main characters and starts to weave their relationships together. Ruth is a forensic archaeologist.

Helen Fields Perfect Series
JD Kirk DCI Logan Series
Jane Casey Mauve Kerrigan Series
Kerry Wilkinson Jessica Daniels
Marsali Taylor Cass Lynch

I love Elly Griffiths!

I liked all of Nicci French's earlier ones, Safe House, Secret Smile etc, but gave up once they started the "series" and I think Red Room was the single one after which I've found them all a bit meh.

Likewise, early Sophie Hannahs and Mark Edwards were good but have got silly and wtf respectively as time has gone on.

The more traditional detective series: Cara Hunter, Ann Cleeves, etc are good, well written and satisfying but they're not going to keep you up till 3 to finish.

The only one recently that's done that was Rosamund Lupton and Three Hours but jeez her others are bad.

Cormoran Strike (imo) has fallen foul of the nobody-dares-suggest-JKR-could-do-with-editing.

All the "psychological" thrillers, (same front cover regurgitated along with the "they thought it was their perfect house until the psycho friend moved in next door") all meld into one after a while.

I'd love to find a "can't put down" one too.

Worth listening to the Tartan Noir podcast as well to get some ideas.

@bookworm14

Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford novels are brilliant. My personal favourites are An Unkindness of Ravens, Kissing the Gunner’s Daughter, Simisola, and Harm Done. Also the DI Fawley series by Cara Hunter as someone else has mentioned.

A Place of Execution by Val McDermid may be the single best crime novel I’ve ever read.

I agree with much of this. I read A Place of Execution first on a flight, and didn't want the flight to end. I've read it several times since. Crime writing at its best. Ruth Rendell and also PD James. Can actually WRITE. That's what does my head in with many of the churned out psycho nutter thrillers. The writing is atrocious.

I’ve really enjoyed MW Craven’s Washington Poe series. If you like Stuart MacBride I think you’d enjoy those too.

@Geamhradh. Totally agree with you about Rendell and PD James as writers. I have re-read many of their books many times over which I simply cannot imagine doing with many other writers in the genre. Their characterisation, evocation of place and atmosphere, commentary on society and just plain craftsmanship are streets ahead. Would love to hear if other fans of theirs have found anyone they think compares. I've read one or two from many of the writers mentioned and some were good, even very good in terms of story, pace etc but some of the other elements were missing

I'm loving LJ Ross at the moment. I've downloaded as many as possible and am on book 7 now. The first one, Holy Island, seemed a little slow but that may have been me at the time. Since then they've picked up pace with each book and I find them very difficult to put down. They are very atmospheric and perfect t for autumn. Start at the beginning as Holy Island is followed by two more that move the undercurrents forward. Those undercurrents are still in book 7 and was h book finishes in an unfinished way so that you want to read the next one. Essentially they are all linked although you could read them as stand alones if you wanted but you'll enjoy them more in order.

[quote theleafandnotthetree]@Geamhradh. Totally agree with you about Rendell and PD James as writers. I have re-read many of their books many times over which I simply cannot imagine doing with many other writers in the genre. Their characterisation, evocation of place and atmosphere, commentary on society and just plain craftsmanship are streets ahead. Would love to hear if other fans of theirs have found anyone they think compares. I've read one or two from many of the writers mentioned and some were good, even very good in terms of story, pace etc but some of the other elements were missing[/quote]
Reginald Hill (Dalziel and Pascoe) and also Colin Dexter with Morse I think both come close as far as the writing and acute observational skills are concerned.
Neither still with us, sadly iirc, so we've had our lot from them.