Recommended Crime Novels

I thoroughly enjoy Michael Connelly. He is a former LA Times crime reporter, very experienced and very detailed in his writing. His newest work is his first law story ... Lincoln Lawyer... and one of his best. I also highly recommend reading his non-fiction book Crime Beat which is actually some of his newspaper stories on actual cases compiled into a book. It really helped me a lot to read how he worked his angles on his crime beat stories to capture readers' attention in the newspaper and how he used that when he moved on to fiction. I believe he is the true successor to the Dectective Noir authors of the 40s and he is great. His Harry Bosch books are fantastic and award winning. Mr. Connelly also has a great website. www.michaelconnelly.com

For a humorous side of the crime genre, try Carl Haaisen -- another newspaper guy - from Florida ... Hilarious ...

And for an even different angle to the crime genre, adding some sci fi and fantasy to the mix, try Glen Cook's Garrett books. They are hard to find -- all but I think one or two are out of print, but you can find them on e bay. However don't be shocked when you pay 30 bucks for a 4 dollar used paperback. Mr. Cook has quite a devoted and ever growing fan base.

I love Carl Hiaasen's books - too funny!!!

You might want to try true crime, too - try Truman Capote's In Cold Blood for a real chiller (true crime written up by a top fiction writer)

The ex-cop, Joseph Wambaugh just bowls me over. Whether its non-fiction or fiction. The Glitter Dome, Black Marble, The Choir Boys (I think) and many others.

Tri

If you like crime/noir, check out Andrew Vachss and Ken Bruen.

Michael Connelly
James Ellroy
Jeffrey Deaver
John LesCroart
Dennis LeHane
George Pelecanos
Elmore Leonard
John Connolly...crime/PI with hints of supernatural

DVGuru said:

Thanks for the replies. I'll be sure to check out those authors. Just out of curiosity, what exact genre--or sub-genre--would Elmore Leonard fall under? I come from a filmmaking background and genres are pretty straightforward with movies. Now that I'm reading more, I've noticed books can get technical when it comes to classifying genre. I find my own novel to be close to Elmore Leonard, so I'd like to know exactly what genre I'm writing in.

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Leonard is probably the mostly purely 'crime' writer of the bunch. His books tend to focus on the crime where others will focus on the solving or prevention of.

Well, it could also be that I just haven't read many books that focus on that side of the crime world. There must be others like Leonard out there. Ellroy focuses on police but his characters are almost universally corrupt and the difference between good and bad guys is pretty marginal.

DVGuru said:

Interesting. I would've thought for sure there would be more writers who wrote stories purely about criminals. I'm a fan of Elmore Leonard, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese, so I tend to write mainly about criminals. I'm wondering if the lack of novels of that nature is because authors are more interested in the characters who solve crimes, or if publishers just don't want Elmore Leonard style stories.

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Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series has a serial killer as a protagonist... and, yes, he kills people. These books are good, not great.

Carol O'Connel's protagonist, Mallory, is a sociopath though she is a cop who uses her powers to help the good guys. These books are brilliant.

I would second the suggestion of Ellroy, particularly early Ellroy.

Most of mob fiction has Soprano-like protagonists... criminals with everyday problems.

I've always heard of them referred to as "capers" or "caper novels" as far as genre goes.

Not sure if that's obsolete or not -- a google turns up some results but nothing I've read.

If you're already reading Elmore Leonard, you're reading the best. He's definitely crime fiction, and focuses a lot of times from the criminal's POV, or someone on the fringe of criminality, maybe someone flirting with a scam that gets caught up with something bad. I've read about six of his novels and find his writing to be the most pithy with the best dialogue.

The other suggestions in this thread are great. I agree with Carl HIassen and Michael Connely, both great crime writers; Hiassen leans more towards Leonard, while Connely (I've only read Lincoln Lawyer so far) seems to come more from the good guy's POV.

James Ellroy is also fantastic. His Black Dahlia and LA Confidential rock. Just ordered a couple more of his novels. He comes more from the PI/cop POV, but with very engaging characters, well-rounded and flawed--boy, are they flawed! His amount of detail regarding the job of a policeman and the research/detail behind his period settings are so good and believable they intimidate me completely from writing a police procedural, especially one set in a past decade.

Don't forget the classics... Raymond Chandler and Dashell Hammett started it all for today's guys. They're both a little heavy-handed with their description (a sign of their times), but their characters and plotting are top-grade.

Walter Mosley
Chester Himes
Jason Starr
Ken Bruen
Charlie Stella
Victor Grischler

Anything coming out of Hard Case Crime book publishers.