An imperfectly gathered list from here https://bsky.app/profile/kissane.bsky.social/post/3ld2wspkmz22f
Seeking: Non-Cozy(tm) not also not completely nihilistic literary-ish mysteries or detective stories (not crime fiction) with fantastic audio editions. I’ve exhausted the usual suspects ranging from Chandler and Sayers and Tey through CJ Sansom’s too-gruesome but wonderful Shardlakes.
Love perfect dialogue, complex relationships (whatever kind), and thematic and plot elements I won’t twig to by chapter two. Bonus points for winteriness, genre-crossing, beautiful prose, light comedy, historical if done extremely well.
No police procedurals please.
And I should say that “mystery” doesn’t even need to be the primary genre—I love Katherine Addison’s Witness for the Dead series. I just need something with elements of puzzle to feed to my brain so that it doesn’t go other less helpful places rn.
Books from the recs I can vouch for as especially On Vibe
- The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (just read bc of a rec in thread, SO GOOD)
- Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway
- Dublin Murder Squad Series and others by Tana French (some obviously are police books but some are not)
- The Witness for the Dead Series by Katherine Addison
- Claire DeWitt Series by Sara Gran
- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
- The City & The City by China Miéville
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (technically police, but…)
- Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
- Ancillary Justice series by Ann Leckie
- The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
- Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
- The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
- The Scholars of Night by John M. Ford
Books I want to look into
- Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
- Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
- Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
- The Verifiers by Jane Pek
- I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
- Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary and The Dubious Hills by Pamela Dean
- Evander Mills series by Lev AC Rosen
- Inspector Rostnikov Series by Stuart Kaminsky
- The Alienist and Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr (idk how police-y these are)
- The Cobweb by Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George
- Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell
- The Borgia Portrait by David Hewson
- A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders
- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
- The Fever, Dare Me, Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott
- This Body’s Not Big Enough for the Both of Us by Edgar Cantero
- The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
- The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
- Death at the Sign of a Rook by Kate Atkinson
- Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson
- Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
- Sarah Tolerance series by Madeleine E. Robins
- Kestrel by Kate Ross
- Ruth Galloway Series by Elly Griffiths
- Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
- Cadfael Series by Ellis Peters
- The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
- The Veronica Speedwell Mysteries by Deanna Raybourn
- Thursday Murder Club Series by Richard Osman
- The Greenwing and Dart Series by Victoria Goddard
- Benji Golden mysteries by David Handler
- Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovitch
- The Benjamin January Series by Barbara Hambly
- John Dickson Carr mysteries
- James Lee Burke Mysteries
- Spenser mysteries by Robert Parker
- Burglars Can't Be Choosers by Lawrence Block
- The Judge and His Hangman by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- Suspicion by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- The Erast Fandorin Series by Boris Akunin
- Nero Wolfe Series by Rex Stout
- The Marcus Didius Falco Series by Lindsey Davis
- Five Decembers by James Kestrel
- Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen
- Lessons in Bird Watching by Honey Watson
- Benjamin January series by Barbara Hambly
- Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
- The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
- Charlie Parker series by John Connolly
- Albert Campion series by Margery Allingham
- The Trees by Percival Everett (not sure how police-y)
- Garrett, P.I. series by Glen Cook
- Small Change books by Jo Walton
- John Bannville’s mysteries (some as Benjamin Black)
- Amos Walker series by Loren Estleman
- Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
- Five Decembers by James Kestrel
- Deer Season by Erin Flanagan
- The Dead Detective by Christopher Dow
- John Cardinal series by Giles Blunt
- Sunburn, And When She Was Good, What the Dead Know, Tess Monahan series by Laura Lippman
- The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
- Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters
- Anne Perry’s Victorian-era mysteries (various titles) also as Madelyn Sanders
- Dianne Day series set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco
- Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh
- Bryant and May Peculiar Crimes Unit series, Christopher Fowler
- Slow Horses Series by Mick Herron
- The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
Straightforwardly police books and crime novels afaik
- The Harry Hole Series by Jo Nesbø
- Inspector Gamache Series by Louise Penny
- DC Smith series by Peter Grainger
- Lynley and Havers series by Elizabeth George
- Peter Diamond Series by Peter Lovesey
- Detective Inspector McLean series by James Oswald
- Maeve Kerrigan series by Jane Casey
- Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby
- Maigret Series by Georges Simenon
- Will Trent and Grant County series by Karin Slaughter
- Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly
Just author names
- Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine (so good)
- Laura McHugh
- Marcie Rendon
- PD James
- Kinky Friedman
- Dervla McTiernan mysteries
- Christian White mysteries
- John Dickson Carr mysteries
- Sophie Hannah
- Ross MacDonald
- Ken Bruen
- Dean Koontz (welp)
- Richard Price