I mentioned the other day that I’ve been binge-watching a lot of TV. It’s all been crime procedurals like NCIS or SVU. I’ve hardly read a thing since last month’s Readathon, literally only finished one book, and that one a reread (In the Woods – Tana French). Again, another crime procedural. Apparently, this is what I’m in the mood for. Unfortunately, I only really know of two procedural series: French’s series, and the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling. I’d like to listen to something new, however, so I’d love some recommendations, if anyone knows any.
Looking specifically for crime/detective novels rather than thrillers, not too gory but also not too cozy-mystery or formulaic, and well-known enough that I can get copies from my library. If there are audio versions, that’s even better. There are a couple authors I’ve heard about but I’m not sure if any of these would fit the criteria – Janet Evanovich, Louise Penny, Michael Connelly, Elizabeth George, JD Robb, Jane Harper, Cara Hunter. Anyone familiar with any of their series? I’m just not terribly familiar with the genre and thought I’d reach out to my book blogging community for suggestions before I go in blind!
The Zen Leaf 
Out of those mentioned, I’ve only read Michael Connelly, who is one of my favorites, especially his Bosch series. I have heard Louise Penny is good, but I have yet to read her. You probably could find her books easily on audio too.
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I don’t really keep up with the current crime writers as I think they’ve gotten too gory and violent. However, you cannot go wrong with Agatha Christie! She wrote so many mysteries and most of them are absolutely brilliant. The only ones I didn’t much care for are the Tommy and Tuppence novels which are really more spy thrillers. I also really liked Dick Francis, he started out as a jockey and so there’s a lot of horse racing in his novels, though sometimes it’s a really loose connection. You don’t need to know about horses to enjoy his books, however. Ruth Rendell was also a brilliant crime writer and wrote lots of novels, she also wrote psychological thrillers under the name of Barbara Vine and those are excellent, though I did find the earlier ones better.
I also liked the Precious Ramotswe series by Alexander McCall Smith. I liked learning about life Botswana which sounds so interesting. If you’re looking for crime novels in translation I did really like the Icelandic series by Arnaldur Indridason. I also read a Japanese crime novel called Out by Natsuo Kirino and I thought that was really good.
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I absolutely love JD ROBB aka Nora Roberts she does a great job at changing it up for this series and the detective Dallas is an absolute badass. There really is no in between you really, truly either love them or hate them but I’m a big fan for sure and there are tons in the series.
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Louise Penny is SO good! I have only read two or three of her series, but it is high on my list of things to revisit. Crime procedurals without too much gore. It is all about the people. It is about as close to a cozy mystery as I will ever get (even though they are not cozy mysteries).
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Louise Penny’s (I’ve only read the first one or two of her series) are reallllly close to cozies.
I’ve only read the first couple Elizabeth George, but I’d say they’re a little more high brow (the first sentence has the word “solecism” in it). I like them better.
If I could recommend outside your list, I suggest Laurie R King. She has a straight procedural series that starts with A Grave Talent. I’d put Maisie Dobbs (by Jacqueline Winspear) in this category, too (maybe a tad closer to cozy, since she’s not a cop). Or what about going more classic? PD James has some good ones (haven’t read them all); I love Dorothy L Sayers’ Peter Wimsey series, too.
Since this is the genre I mostly live in, I’m not lacking in recs. I can tweak from here, if you want.
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Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions! Hannah – I might pick your brain a bit on FB at some point. 😀
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Sounds good! 🙂
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