There have been many mystery novel questions but this one is mine...

July 16, 2022 2:31 AM

I enjoy British mystery/detective books, particularly if in an ongoing series. There are obviously many options in this area. What should I read next? Details of what I have read and liked inside!

So here's four authors I've read recently and loved:
- Ann Cleeves: all of her Shetland series, her Vera Stanhope series and the two Matthew Venn books
- Elly Griffiths: her Ruth Galloway series and the two Harbinder Kaur books
- Anthony Horowitz: the Magpie Murders books and the ones he writes with himself as a character with Daniel Hawthorne
- the two Richard Osman mystery books

Thinking about what these books have in common:
- They have a good sense of place with lots of local details.
- They have a cast of well-drawn secondary characters, some recurring and some one-offs, whose motivations and actions feel believable (to me).
- The detectives at the centre of things are written as humans with flaws but without being Extremely Tragic figures who push everyone away and nothing ever goes right and they can't form human connections because they are too obsessed with the case or whatever. They have family and friends and neighbours who care for them even if they are grumpy about it in some cases.
- The tone is kind of cosy-adjacent; not TOO grim/dark but serious things do happen, there's on-page violence but without it being gory or glorified. But overall you don't come away from each book depressed. I don't need a happy ending but it's nice if I don't end the book feeling haunted. This is kind of hard to describe but hopefully people know what I mean.
- They are set in contemporary Britain with various levels of passing reference to current events, and the authors are writing at least one of their series currently i.e. new books are coming out.

I have read all the Ian Rankin Rebus books and they are good but a bit too humourless for me, also the latest ones seem to be mostly bogged down in criminal-underworld type of stuff. Same with the few Val McDermid books I have read. I gave up on the Elizabeth George books for being too depressing/grim. I read at least the first Kate Atkinson Jackson Brodie book, I remember finding it kind of grim as well but maybe I should revisit?

I like the Alan Bradley Flavia de Luce books. I enjoyed the Ruth Rendell Inspector Wexford mysteries and the PD James Adam Dalgliesh books but neither of those are ongoing, obviously. I like the Tana French books set in Ireland, those can get dark but are really well-written.

I get through books quickly if there's a mystery driving me along hence my preference for ongoing series but I'm happy to read one-offs also if there are authors y'all can recommend. Thank you for reading this long-winded ramble about books I like and I appreciate any recommendations!

posted by cpatterson to Media & Arts (24 answers total)

Mick Herron's "Zoe Boehm" books scratch this particular itch for me. 4 in the series, and a couple of short stories in an anthology.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 2:35 AM on July 16, 2022 [4 favorites]

Reginald Hill & Louise Penny might be worth a try.
posted by BoscosMom at 3:12 AM on July 16, 2022 [5 favorites]

Anne Perry seems like a good fit with the rest of these if you can do Victorian.
Elizabeth George also, if grittier.
If you can deal with a fantasy component then Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch and Tana French’s mysteries.
posted by bq at 3:17 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Somewhat weird premise (both of the main characters have a strange property), but I’ve enjoyed all 15 of Anne Cleeland’s Acton and Doyle mysteries published so far. Contemporary, London, cozy-adjacent, solid secondary characters, flawed-human primary characters.
posted by meijusa at 3:30 AM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Harry Bingham Fiona Griffiths series might fit the bill. Also, if you don't mind crossing the channel, try the Inspector Sebag mysteries by Phillppe Georget.
posted by Morpeth at 3:32 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Denise Mina has a woman detective series set in Glasgow, Alex Morrow. It is on the grittier end of things but still hopeful.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:39 AM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

The early-mid Jury/Plant series by Martha Grimes. If you do not want to come away depressed, avoid the Lamorna Wink installment.

Deborah Crombie’s Kincaid/James series.

Maybe a bit out of left field, but Iain Pears’ Jonathan Argyll art history mysteries are lots of fun. First is The Raphael Affair. Set largely in Italy. One of the leads is British, the other Italian.
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 4:00 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Ack! Missed the ongoing part. Deborah Crombie fits the bill. Martha Grimes possssssibly—she’s released something recentlyish but she’s in her 90s. The Argyll series concluded (but is still worth checking out).
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 4:04 AM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

Maybe Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan books, starting with The Burning or Kate Rhodes’s Ben Kitto series (set on the Scilly Isles) starting with Hell Bay.
posted by scorbet at 4:46 AM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

I certainly would recommend giving Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels another try. Tana French's novels, too. Both Atkinson and French are, in literary terms, a cut above McDermid et al.
posted by Agave at 5:19 AM on July 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

Susie Steiner. Sadly she recently died but her Manon novels are wonderful.
posted by BibiRose at 6:17 AM on July 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

John Dixon Carr/Carter Dickson/ Carr Dickson/Roger Fairbairn. Same author. Written in the 30's through the 50's. There are a ton of them!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dickson_Carr
posted by james33 at 6:40 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Seconding Rivers of London. They're just good books, frankly.

Protagonist is a person of colour, so you're getting chunks of introduction into his context and community.

Unlike most British mysteries.
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:14 AM on July 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

I asked a similar question a couple of years ago and got some wonderful responses that I still refer back to.
posted by littlegreen at 8:11 AM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have really enjoyed Faith Martin's writing. Particularly her Hillary Greene series (strong female lead), and her Ryder and Loveday books (interesting older man (Coroner)/younger woman who is an aspiring police officer dynamic). Those are set in the 60's. Her Jenny Starling books go in a much "cozier" direction and include lots of loving descriptions of food as the lead is a travelling cook.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:30 AM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

You probably already know these but just in case you've missed one:
Ngaio Marsh (Roderick Allen) Set in NZ
Gwendoline Butler (John Coffin)
Margery Allingham (Albert Campion)
posted by BoscosMom at 10:26 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Patricia Moyes was a pretty fascinating woman who authored about 20 cozy-adjacent mysteries between 1959 and 1993. I think she fell out of publication for a while, but Felony & Mayhem have reissued the series in both print and ebook formats recently. They feature Inspector Henry Tibbet and his wife Emmy, and are set in the UK and Europe. There are recurring characters (but not cloyingly so), great locations and well-observed contemporary details. It’s not a continuing series (the author died in 2000) but there are certainly enough to sink your teeth into. I just discovered her recently and am halfway through the run… I’d liken her writing to Ngaio Marsh’s. She deserves to be more widely read by a modern audience.
posted by mumkin at 12:04 PM on July 16, 2022 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks for all these recommendations, I'm loading up my Goodreads to-read list as we speak.

I forgot about the Rivers of London series, I've read most of those but haven't kept up with the last couple ones. I also forgot about Martha Grimes, I read all of those many years ago and remember really enjoying them so I should revisit.

If I get through some of these recommendations before the thread closes I will report back but they all look very much up my alley so I'm excited to dig in!
posted by cpatterson at 1:24 PM on July 16, 2022

You might also like the Vinyl Detective series by Andrew Cartmel - contemporary, flawed hero, enjoyable but not taxing or heavy reads and I'd say they fit the cosy-adjacent criterion nicely. The first one in the series is called Written in Dead Wax and the series seems to be still going, there was one released this year.
posted by k_tron at 3:22 PM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

The most recent two Rivers of London are I would argue setting up a new arc for the series so they feel quite different.

I chow through mystery novels and definitely prefer British cozies. My preference is generally for historical though:

Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymples have a great 1920s feel. Her Cornish Mysteries are set in a sort of 1960s Cornwall and have a great elderly woman protaganist.

Alyssa Maxwell's The Lady and the Lady's Maid series are also 1920s but much more small village and class conscious.

Catriona McPherson's Dandy Gilver mid-war novels are wonderful, but I haven't been able to get my hands on more than the first four.

Anna Lee Huber's Verity Kents are satisfying reads.

Ruth Downie is still writing her wonderful Roman British murder mysteries with a medic as the protaganist, starting with Medicus.

Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey novels are great because they're based on the actual mystery novelist's mysterious life and bring a very specific Scottish/London theatre 1920s world alive.

Stephanie Austin's Devon mysteries are pretty good and have a strong sense of place.

Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell novels are absolute nonsense and ripping yarns set in a sort of bohemian regency? Victorian? past England.

And Louise Penny's Qubec novels are not British, but are very very similar in that strong sense of place and small village feel.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:17 PM on July 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

I’ve been really enjoying Damien Boyd’s Nick Dixon series, is still ongoing, latest one just came out. I think the books would meet your description, it set in Somerset and references lots of specific local places/events. Main character definitely isn’t an alcoholic divorced tortured loner type detective. He mostly solves things by taking his dog for a walk on the beach to help him think.
posted by ElasticParrot at 10:18 AM on July 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

You might get on better than I did with Julie Wassmer's Whitstable Pearl Mysteries; they've got the sense of place (Kent), I just didn't really warm to the characters, I think. Nine so far, starting with The Whitstable Pearl Mystery.

Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May mysteries are fantastic though. Set in London, mostly contemporary but the detectives started their careers many decades ago, so occasionally the setting is historical. Twenty novels plus two short story collections, starting with Full Dark House. The sense of place is unparalleled - Fowler absolutely *loves* London, and it shines through. The series is complete as of last year, although there's a quirky companion volume just come out, in which "characters from the series simply wander around the city having conversations about places they love" (quoting from a Guardian article interviewing the author).

Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series is very good and I think would tick your boxes, except that the author died in 2012 so they're not right up-to-the-minute contemporary (or, obviously, ongoing). 24 books, starting with A Clubbable Woman in 1970 and ending with Midnight Fugue in 2009.

I agree that Harry Bingham's Fiona Griffiths books are excellent, but they do have a bit of a nasty edge. There are six of them, and I think the series is complete (there was one a year from 2012 to 2017, and none since). Book 1 is Talking to the Dead.

If you felt like branching into living-memory historical fiction, Elly Griffiths' 1950s-set Brighton Mysteries are good too (I read the first one last month and now have the other five stacked up waiting to go). Start with The Zig Zag Girl.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:10 AM on July 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

I stumbled across the Sam Jones books by Lauren Henderson and find them fun. The last one featuring that specific character was published in 2001 but the author is still alive and I believe still writing. At any rate there are other books on her page with publication dates as late as 2014.
posted by PussKillian at 9:49 AM on July 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Oh, as a quick description, her heroine is a working sculptor who gets involved in mysteries around her. She's a lot of fun.
posted by PussKillian at 9:50 AM on July 18, 2022