Well-written detective fiction

[StalkerEx]

I've been reading the Cormoran Strike books and enjoying them, but I'd like something written slightly better. Apart from Agatha Christie, which detective stories would you recommend? I've never really read much of this genre, but need something fairly light to get me through a tough few months.

I really enjoy the Susan Ryland series by Anthony Horowitz, very Agatha Christie-ish.

Just finished a really good one called Murder in Arundel by Ruby Vittorino Moody. Reckon she's a name to watch!

Sue Grafton
robert Crais
Harlen Coben
lee Child.

I was about to recommend Stuart McBride and his DI Logan series set in granite city, thry're a bit gory but not overly procedural'.
Very readable (what is it about Scottish noir?) and I love his boss, DCI Roberta Steel. I could see her being played by the wonderfully batshit Scottish actress Michelle Gomez from Green Wing (Photo)

Nicola Upton’s Josephine Tey series. Tey was a real life Scottish crime author and has been mentioned by PP. Upton has written Tey as the central character in a crime series. I love them all and always look forward to the new release. There’s a lot of really interesting real history in the series.

Totally agree, so good to hear from someone else that’s found them. The character of D.C. Smith accompanied by his gradually shared back story is so compelling and nuanced.

Anthony Horowitz. Close to Death is good as are the Magpie/Moonflower Murders.

Yes these are fab!

Am on holiday and have borrowed from hotel bookshelf
The Close by Jane Casey a Maeve Kerrigan novel
And On Laughton Moor the first Catherine Bishop book by Lisa Hartley and enjoyed both

Great thread, I’ll be back to take notes.

Nothing original from me - I’m a big fan of Christie and Sayers in particular, and also enjoy Georgette Heyer’s detective stories very much. The solutions are a bit guessable but they are very soothing books that have got me through some difficult times. I like Edmund Crispin - especially, in Love Lies Bleeding, the big dog Mr Merrythought. Crispin is worth reading if you enjoy the ridiculous.

Other Golden Age faves are Josephine Tey and Ngaio Marsh, but they do make you realise how un-snobby Christie was. Anthony Berkeley is a new favourite of mine. The Poisoned Chocolates Case is a good one to start with. I also like John Dickson Carr and his locked room shenanigans.

Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series is very good fun. There’s also the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. These series are a bit repetitive but enjoyable and the detectives have fun sex lives which is a change from the norm!

Depending on how strong your stomach is feeling, you might enjoy the book Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence by Bill James. It’s a very well written, pithy and gripping whizz through US crime history, its reporting and public perception. Highly recommended.

There’s also the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. These series are a bit repetitive but enjoyable and the detectives have fun sex lives

which the heroine describes as "perfectly splendid", I seem to remember!

I particularly enjoyed the scene in which the kidnapped heroine dons the skimpy outfit insisted upon by her dastardly foe... over the top of her decent flannel combinations.

I’ve read a few of the Amelia Peabody books, but haven’t felt impelled to finish the set.

I’ve read a few of the Amelia Peabody books, but haven’t felt impelled to finish the set.

Like most (all?) long running series, I think the books do decline in quality as they go on.

Some real life archaeologists make appearances. I think it's a pity the series didn't continue up to about 1930, then Agatha and Max Mallowan could have appeared!

I love these and completely agree on gratuitous violence. The worst book for that I’ve ever read was Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter. Truly disgusting and I’d never read anything by the author again.

I recently read the first Marlow murder club and found it very thinly written. A poor imitation of the Thursday murder club.

I recently enjoyed the Dublin Murder squad series by Tana French. Very well written and an interesting premise in that a minor police character from one book always becomes the main character in the subsequent book.

I'm quite enjoying the Serailler books by Susan Hill.

I've only read one Karin Slaughter book but I had to abandon it because it made me feel sick.

@SundayTulips - I have got both the first Marlow Murder Club book and all the Richard Osman detective books in my to-be-read pile, so I'll be interested to compare them.

I bought the Marlow Murder Club book because I'd watched and enjoyed the TV series, and I love Death in Paradise, so was hopeful that I'd enjoy Robert Thorogood's books.

I really enjoy police procedural type crime books - L J Ross's books, set in Northumberland, Ann Cleeves' Shetland and Vera books - where the focus is on how the crime is solved, rather than prurient, gory details of the crime.

Some great recommendations here! I’d add Celia Fremlin into the mix. I read Uncle Paul recently and it was great - like a cross between Kate Atkinson and Agatha Christie.

Yes, she was an excellent writer.

I enjoy the Shedunnit podcast, which is about Golden Era detective fiction

Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. A mystery with a difference.

This was so highly thought of on here I was terribly disappointed! A bored detective in a hospital bed makes other people do his research after he decides arbitrarily that Richard III looks nice, therefore he mustn’t have killed the Princes in the Tower.

It’s a bit more deep than RIII “looking nice” - the whole point is Grant’s gift for faces.

I file it under historic rather than detective fiction on my kindle, though 😀

Haha @InheritedClock I had exactly the same experience and still don’t get why it’s supposedly so good.

I am currently reading all the Strike novels, half-way through The Ink Black Heart at the moment and am absolutely loving them, even though I usually prefer classic detective fiction as I find the more modern, forensic crime novels a little gruesome for my taste!
As mentioned above, Dorothy L Sayers is worth a read, her Wimsey novels are well from a literary standpoint but I do sometimes feel they lack the cleverly constructed mysteries of Agatha Christie. Her characters are well realised but her whodunnits a little uninspiring.
A modern series I do enjoy is the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, really charming books set in Botswana with delightful characters and really heartfelt storylines. The books rarely feature serious crime and are more focused on the resolution of small domestic problems facing regular people. However, while I think they are well-written I'm not sure if they would meet your literary standards as I also thought the Strike novels were very well-written for their genre!