trisonic Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I've been through my local library listing of British authors in the mystery/crime section (yep, I'm hooked on this stuff). I like authors like Stuart McBride but also enjoy "cosy mystery" type stuff when I'm homesick.......I'm not up to date, generally on post 20th century authors. Please recommend some..........thanks! Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Hi Pete Have you tried Christopher Brookmyre? Another Scottish author, sometimes absurd but with a lot of dark humour and can be savagely funny. Can be patchy, but definitely start with "The Sacred Art of Stealing" and also consider "One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night", "Boiling a Frog", "All Fun and Games until Someone Loses an Eye", "Snowball in Hell" and "A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil". Avoid "Pandaemonium" until you've read a few others, if you like him at all that is. Read with a Glaswegian accent (like Taggart). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Brookmyre is *brilliant*. What about Peter Robinson and Mark Billingham (Sleepyhead is especially good)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcastle_central Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Pete, I have a real taste for Ian Rankin's Rebus novels. They create a wonderful image of a seedy Edinburgh (and environs) underbelly. And the character of Rebus is a wonderfully grumpy old sod. Jonathan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branwell Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I'd agree on Rebus ... and Stephen Booth's 'Fry & Cooper' series is worth a try - set in the Peak District and very brooding, though the last couple have been slightly disappointing. And then there's Reginald Hill and the 'Dalziel & Pascoe' books - been around a long time, but highly recommended. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 Thanks, a couple of good ideas! I've read: Hill, Booth, Rankin and Robinson (plus McBride, of course). Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 7, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2011 There's also the 'Railway Detective' series by Edward Marston. Set in the 1860's the railway aspect is extreamly well researched. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I'll certainly add another recommendation for Mark Billingham - if you like Rebus, then Billingham's Thorne will be just the job. Also mentioned on this site before are Edward Marston's Railway Detective series. Definitely verging towards the "cosy crime" genre, but a good, pretty easy read with some interesting characters and locales. I've also read and enjoyed a few of Val Mc Dermid's books - think of her as a British Patricia Cornwell (and I only say that because PC is probably better-known, worldwide), and you'll know what you're getting. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adams442T Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 If you want a selection of less run of the mill, but first class writers try: Philip Kerr's excellent stories about Bernie Gunther, an honest German cop, caught up in the pre & post-war Nazi Germany. C.J Sansom's Shardlake series, a lawyer threading his way between King, State and truth in Tudor England Malcolm Pryce's noir and funny Aberystwyth series Jason Goodwin's Otterman Empire, Yashim, stories Michelle Spring, the Laura Principal series Any John Harvey, Resnick novel That should keep you quiet for a while! (If you want to know, how I know, part of my work is reviewing Crime Novels (it's a hard life but someone's got to do it!) All these are so good it makes me want to give up writing my own! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Davis Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Andrew Martins Jim Stringer Novels?, another Railway detective but the series starts off with him as a Fireman and follows him through Railway Police at York, and the last novel has him at the Somme as part of a Railway Pals battallion 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Thanks for more suggestions. I've already looked for Marston but he seems unavailable over here at present (without going crazy, I mean). I think Val McDermid is MUCH better than Pat Cornwell - in her later books the good guys are riddled with extreme (and unlikely paranoia) and the bad guys all seem to be members of Mensa - I find this truly irritating. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chriswright03 Posted August 8, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 8, 2011 I have recently come across Simon Kernick and have read 3 or 4 so far. They are perhaps best read in order if you can work it out via the dates of publication as they seem to build on the characters in them. It is mostly based around the work of SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) that is the new version of the National Crime Squad which replaced the Regional Crime Squad that I worked in for 4 years. So I do have an insight into the writings and from my memory he is fairly accurate and in one book does even mention one case that I was involved in which took me a little by surprise. He obviously has good contacts within the Police and his writing style is engaging and believable. Well worth a read and I am steadily wading through them when I can find them. Have found a couple in charity shops and some from people at work who have come across him as well but I will not hesitate to buy them new if I have to. Via RMWeb Amazon of course. Regards Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Colin Posted August 8, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 8, 2011 Andrew Martins Jim Stringer Novels?, another Railway detective but the series starts off with him as a Fireman and follows him through Railway Police at York, and the last novel has him at the Somme as part of a Railway Pals battallion Another vote for Andrew Martin, I read his first novel (set mainly around Nine Elms) recently and am now looking for the others. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Another vote for Andrew Martin, I read his first novel (set mainly around Nine Elms) recently and am now looking for the others. It's worth looking in the remaindered book shops (is there one called 'Bookworks'?)for both Marston and Martin; I've picked up a number of them there. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 8, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 8, 2011 I have read all seven of Marston's 'Railway Detective books and passed my copies on to a friend. He is on holiday at present but when he returns hopefully I can get them back and pass them on to you Pete. It all depends on the postage costs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Phil, That's very kind of you but I believe the postage will be too high (in my experience). Do list the 7 full tiles and I'll be more diligent in seeking them out over here. That way you'll be able to keep them for reference too......(which is important in case any of them go out of print...) Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 8, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 8, 2011 Here is a list of the 'railway detective' series >> http://www.edwardmarston.com/colbeck.html I have just discovered there is a new eighth novel called 'Blood on the Line'. Page down and you will find a chronological list on the right hand side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Cheers, Phil! Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Craig Holden Jefferson Parker RD Wingfields Inspector Frost series? I don't know if you are into Alternate History, but (assuming you can get hold of it ) Randall Garretts "Lord Darcy" series - A single Volume containing all the stories should be available through Baen Books - some info http://www.webscript.../0743435486.htm You may find some suggestions here http://www.lovereadi...d-Thriller.html and more suggestions, though I wouldn't agree with all of them by any means, http://www.telegraph...re-you-die.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vac_basher Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Agatha Christie? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted August 8, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 8, 2011 If you like an occult/supernatural slant to a mystery, try Phil Rickman, particularly the Merrily Watkins series. She's not a detective but a diocesan exorcist! He also wrote two as Will Kingdom. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Thank you for all the suggestions! I do prefer comtemporary fiction. Think Dennis Lehane "Mystic River"- which I recommend to anyone. I've tried Phil Rickman/Merrily Watkins and found his character profoundly irritating!!!!! That's just me, I don't believe in supernatural stuff. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Hi, Any of Graham Hurley's "Faraday" novels. A comtemporary Morse, well possibly but a deal grittier than Morse. Set in Portsmouth. My only comment would be to read them in order as they do then make more sense. Something a bit off the wall - Charles Stross's Halting State and Rule 34. Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerbertHopkins Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Hi Pete, I'm currently working my way through the Inspector Banks novels by Peter Robinson and am really enjoying them. Banks is an ex London cop who has transferred to a small town in the Yorkshire dales which seems to have a phenominal murder rate! The stories are full of twists and turns, not to mention the odd red herring, and really keep your attention right to the last page. I understand that Ian Rankin speaks highly of them, which is no bad recommendation. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 Thanks, I have actually read all the "Banks" books and enjoyed them! All the ones I can get hold of over here, I mean.... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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