Can anybody recommend a couple of good British police procedural authors? I have plenty of American ones (Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Deaver, Thomas Harris, James Patterson, etc) but I'm looking for authors from across the pond. I know P.D. James has a series with police officers and not private detectives like Agatha Christie. Thank you!
British Police Procedurals
- Thread starter the_wild_bamboo
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dpaterso
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I read a bunch of Ian Rankin's novels and found them atmospheric (set around Edinburgh) and satisfactory. They made his crusty detective MC, Rebus, into a fairly decent TV series.
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Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse novels are worth a look. Also made into a very good TV series as well as two spin-offs in more recent years.
What Derek said above about Ian Rankin. I am a big fan, too. I also like Sarah Hilary's Marni Rome books. (See Someone Else's Skin) I am fed up of women being brutalised on the page - makes me downright queasy these days - and Hilary goes out of her way to avoid bog standard tropes. I think her books are very subtle and a patch above the herd for the way she pares away motivation to show the psychology of the characters.
Have a look at Harry Bingham's Fiona Griffiths books. His writing style is engaging and by the end I had swallowed his bonkers premise for his main character without a peep. (See Talking to the Dead)
It's a private eye, so not a police procedural, but you might consider novels by Robert Galbraith, featuring Cormoran Strike. (See The Cuckoo's Calling). I believe the Galbraith novels were ticking along with modestly respectable sales and then someone outed J K Rowling as the author, at which point sales took off, and now there is a series on the telly starring Tom Burke.
Hope you find something to like.
Have a look at Harry Bingham's Fiona Griffiths books. His writing style is engaging and by the end I had swallowed his bonkers premise for his main character without a peep. (See Talking to the Dead)
It's a private eye, so not a police procedural, but you might consider novels by Robert Galbraith, featuring Cormoran Strike. (See The Cuckoo's Calling). I believe the Galbraith novels were ticking along with modestly respectable sales and then someone outed J K Rowling as the author, at which point sales took off, and now there is a series on the telly starring Tom Burke.
Hope you find something to like.
dpaterso
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You know, we watched that and enjoyed it, and I hadn't a clue about the origin or the author until now.
-Derek
Rowling was pretty pissed off at the breach of trust by her solicitors and sued. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25575269
Actually, it seems I was wrong about the modest sales, because the Beeb was interested in picking up the TV rights for the first book, before her identity was known.
I do have the first Rebus novel and have read the second, I just remembered. Both were good, and will look more into them.
Thank you, I'll take a look at them. There was a couple I saw on Amazon and used their take a look option and read the first few pages, and, man did they stink. There were at least three or four I looked at in a row and I could not get past page two--there was even one of them I gave up after the first paragraph.
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Thank you so much, all! It's been helpful. If there's more, please feel free to throw it my way!
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Thank you so much, all! It's been helpful. If there's more, please feel free to throw it my way!
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Anne Cleeves' Shetland and Vera Stanhope novels, although in the first of the Vera series, The Crow Trap, the eponymous copper doesn't appear until well into the book. Both have been made into tv series.
Val McDermid has two procedural series, one of which gave rise to Wire in the Blood on telly.
Reginald Hill, Peter Robinson, Adrian McKinty, Peter May...there's a gazillion more, but I'll have to look through my library, which is currently distributed across the floor.
Perhaps have a look at the CWA (Crime Writers' Association) Dagger shortlists for some ideas.
Val McDermid has two procedural series, one of which gave rise to Wire in the Blood on telly.
Reginald Hill, Peter Robinson, Adrian McKinty, Peter May...there's a gazillion more, but I'll have to look through my library, which is currently distributed across the floor.
Perhaps have a look at the CWA (Crime Writers' Association) Dagger shortlists for some ideas.
This. She's the queen of crime from the other side of the pond. This side we have Louise Penny; cozies with a taste of maple syrup.
-cb
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