The topic last week is Books From My Favourite Genre. I forgot to write last week, but I have lots of police procedurals to share so will do this list this week instead. I like police procedurals from different time periods, and different countries. I much prefer police detectives to cozy mysteries
Check out That Artsy Reader Girl for other blog posts on this topic, or for future topics.
Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer
Bennie Griessle is South African police officer and Thirteen Hours was the first of his books that I read. And I loved it. I've gone back and now have read all the Bennie books that Meyer has written. Brilliant reads.
Truth by Peter Temple
I read Truth probably ten years ago and I really liked it. It was dark and noir, and once I got used to the slang/Australian accent, it was great.
The Last Policeman by Ben H Winters
A future world with a meteor about to hit the Earth, and one poor cop trying to keep working and keep order. This trilogy was a great blend of police and apocalyptic.
The Trespasser by Tana French
I can't wait for another one in this series, the Dublin Murder Squad. Each book is a stand alone and follows a different detective. Sometimes I feel like French could use an editor, but not enough to stop reading, and her books are getting tighter and tighter.
Birdman by Mo Hayder
Jack Caffrey is a London police officer but is dealing with lots of internal struggles. This series pushed the limit of my goriness factor, much like Criminal Minds the TV show did.
The Dry by Jane Harper
Australia the setting is just as great as the detective, Aaron Falk. Only two books so far, but I'm waiting for some more.
The Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason
Iceland is the setting for many murders and disappearances for the police to investigate and Erlendur is just the cranky detective to do it. This series was a wonderful chance to learn about a different country, and now I would like to visit Iceland.
A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George
Twenty years ago, Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Barbara Havers were my go to police detectives. These are long books, heavy vocabulary, but really well plotted and layered characters as well as British class issues. I read about 12 in the series, mostly before blogging, and they would take me nearly a month to read. I have great memories of these books.
The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry
Another British series but Victorian setting and much lighter and easier to read. The kind of series it was easy to grab one from the library and enjoy. The order didn't matter too much, but there are character developments along the way. More with the British class systems and police officer Thomas Pitt is considered pretty lowly, and much of his advantage is his high born wife Charlotte. Full of the Victorian manners and rules.
Cop Hater by Ed McBain
This is probably the best police series ever written, with apologies to the Martin Beck Swedish series which is considered the original, and I forgot to feature today. There are over 50 books in this series, with many different detectives and New York City is a major piece of the books. I don't even know how many or which books I read, because I didn't keep a record of all that I read way back when I read these.
An interesting feature of this series is that it starts in the 1960s and then everyone continues to grow and age. Maybe a combination of Barney Miller and Hill Street Blues?
