Five Books For Mystery Lovers

Need a new favourite detective? Look no further.

The Valley Of Wyoming by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1865.

Welcome to Five Books For, a newsletter for people who love great stories. I’m so happy you’re here. First, some exciting news! I’m going to be taking down the paywall on paid content so that everything is free; if you want to support the newsletter with a paid subscription you’ll still be able to do that, but it means that all of FBF will be accessible from now on and your paid subscription will help make that happen. And if you don’t want to, or aren’t in a position to take out a paid subscription then you’ll no longer be missing out on the second newsletter each month. If you want to change your subscription, you can click the button below.

And now onto May’s books. I thought we could celebrate International Sherlock Holmes Day (the 22nd May) with a deep dive into detective novels. Do you have a favourite detective? If not, then I hope that in sharing some of mine, this edition of the newsletter will help you find one. What’s more, since I was finding it so hard to narrow down the detectives to feature, this month will have an extra edition of the newsletter. So this week we’ll cover a few of my favourite male detectives, then next week a few of my favourite women detectives and then on Sunday 26th May we’ll celebrate the whole genre in the (formerly) paid edition. When I’m recommending a detective who has a series of novels, I’ll be featuring the first one in the series so that you can start at the beginning. Sound good?

Okay, let’s dive in!

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.”

Who’s our detective? Where else to begin? We all know good old Sherlock, the original super-sleuth, whether through the classic stories, one of the many TV or film adaptations that have been created or even one of the books that have been written by other authors years later. Extremely cerebral, player of the violin, crack shot with a gun, boxing expert and with inimitable skills in disguise, Sherlock Holmes is the pioneer of the deductive technique and probably the most famous fictional detective of all time. For our purposes today I’ll be focusing on the original stories, available as a complete collection which comprises fifty-six short stories and four novels, all of them brilliant.

So what’s it about? Each story or novel involves a mystery which Holmes and his trusty partner Watson must solve; with Holmes doing the solving while Watson chronicles their adventures. Set in Victorian London, Holmes is a consulting detective who solves mysteries using his powers of observation, rational logic and, of course, his enormous brain. The setting is mostly London although some stories take place in continental Europe and one of the novels spends some time in America.

What’s great about it? Everything. The characters are fantastic - Holmes and Watson are both unforgettable as are many of the other characters, including landlady Mrs. Hudson and of course many of the villains, such as Irene Adler and Moriarty, are almost as famous as Holmes himself. The mysteries are fiendishly clever and cover a wide range of crimes, not just murder - there is also blackmail, theft and treason, amongst other things. Holmes is (often unintentionally) witty and Watson is lovable. It’s also fun to read something which has inspired so many writers and artists and helped to establish the traditions of the genre, while the setting is a classic take on Victorian London, peasoupers and all.

Give it a try if: you love clever mysteries; you love books with great characters; you like books which have a partnership or a deep friendship at their heart; you love heroes who are quirky or outside of social norms; you like classics; you like reading the books which have helped to establish a genre; you prefer your mysteries without gore; you love books set in London, especially where the city itself becomes almost a character; you love stories with great dialogue; you’re looking for something you can dip in nd out of or short stories that will be just a satisfying as a novel.

N.B. The audiobook version of this is narrated by

Stephen Fry

and is absolutely brilliant - he is one of my favourite narrators and he really brings the characters to life. If you have a spare audiobook credit I would recommend getting this, even if you also own the text version, it’s that good.

Gallows View by Peter Robinson

“As he walked home in the steady drizzle, Banks began to feel some of the pleasurable release, the sense of lightness and freedom that was his usual reward at the end of a case.

Before leaving, he had slipped a cassette of highlights from La Traviata, usually reserved for the car, into his Walkman, and now he fumbled around in his pocket to switch it on. He walked down Market Street enjoying the cool needles of rain on his face and hummed along with the haunting prelude. Tourists heading for the car park, merchants closing up for the day, and disappointed shoppers rattling already locked doors all seemed like actors in the opening scene of a grand opera. When the jaunty ‘Drinking Song’ began, Banks started to sing along quietly, and his step lightened almost to a dance.”

Who’s our detective? Inspector Alan Banks, lover of music, ex-Metropolitan police officer, now relocated to the Yorkshire Dales.

So what’s it about? Gallows View is the first in a series of over twenty Banks novels. When we first meet him, Banks has moved from London to the quiet Yorkshire town of Eastvale, hoping for a more peaceful life and more time with his family, but is soon embroiled in multiple investigations which may or may not be connected: a peeping Tom who may escalate to more serious crimes, a series of burglaries and the murder of an elderly woman. As Banks’ personal life becomes more complex and the cases get more serious he finds that Eastvale may not be as peaceful as he’d expected after all.

What’s great about it? Banks is such a great character: well rounded and likeable but also flawed. He’s clever but he solves his cases by working with his team, an assortment of personalities who don’t always share the same outlook but manage to work well together nonetheless. The books are police procedurals in form so as the reader you’re taken along on the journey as Banks and his team work to solve the cases which is very satisfying. The setting of the Yorkshire Dales is spectacular and Robinson writes beautifully in bringing it to life, making it instantly recognisable to anyone who has visited it and evoking it accurately for anyone who hasn’t. Music plays a big role in the books and really brings the novels to life, especially since you can listen to whatever Banks is listening to.

Give it a try if: you love police procedurals; you love books with imperfect heroes; you don’t mind stories which have a darker side; you like mysteries which involve a team rather than a lone detective; you love books with a strong sense of place, especially when it’s a beautiful place.

A Morbid Taste For Bones by Ellis Peters

“‘God resolves all given time,’ said Cai philosophically and trudged away into darkness. And Cadfael returned along the path with the uncomfortable feeling that God, nevertheless, required a little help from men, and what he mostly got was hindrance.”

Who’s our detective? Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk living in Shrewsbury Abbey in the 12th century. A former Crusader, he has taken holy vows and tends the monastery’s gardens, acting as a healer for the order.

So what’s it about? When Prior Robert decides that Shrewsbury Abbey needs its own saint to attract pilgrims, he pulls together a group to visit the grave of Saint Winifred in nearby Wales in the hope that they will be able to secure the agreement of the locals to relocate her to Shrewsbury. Before long, one of the locals is dead and it’s up to Cadfael to find the killer, although the twists and turns that ensue mean that Cadfael will have to use his own moral compass to ensure that justice is done.

What’s great about it? Peters really brings Cafael’s world to life; not just his life as a monk but also mediaeval life in general so that you’re transported back into the past. It was a particularly interesting time in English history when a civil war (later named The Anarchy by historians) was wreaking havoc across the country (and also Normandy, at that time an English territory). The war isn’t the focus of the books at all but it’s skilfully woven into the background context and does influence some of the events that take place throughout the series, although the central mysteries focus in on the day to day lives of the people Cadfael encounters and all the usual motives for murder and crime that we’re still familiar with today. Cadfael is a great protagonist - level-headed, shrewd, kind and practical, his background as a Crusader and the full life he has lived before taking his vows give him a different perspective on the crimes he encounters and also on the Church politics he sees in his monastic life.

Give it a try if: you like excellent historical fiction; you like stories about monks or stories set in mediaeval times; you’re curious about what England was like 1000 years ago; you love a hero who is relatable and wryly worldly; you’re interested in the history of medicine and healing; you like books which explore themes of religion without it being the main arc of the plot.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

“Jackson had never had an allergy in his life (except to people, perhaps).”

Who’s our detective? Jackson Brodie is a private detective who has spent the earlier parts of his career in the police and the military, whose capable and seemingly tough outer shell hide a deep empathy for others.

So what’s it about? Case Histories is our introduction to Jackson Brodie, who is investigating three seemingly unrelated cold cases: the disappearance of a three-year-old girl in the 1970s, the murder of a young woman in 1994 and the tracing of a child who was taken into care after her father was murdered by her mother. As he begins to make progress it becomes apparent that the cases are linked in various ways and that he will finally be able to bring some peace to at least some of his clients.

What’s great about it? If you love literary fiction or just amazing writing, then Jackson Brodie might be the detective for you. Case Histories is the first book in a series of six and each one is beautifully written. Jackson is a compelling character and Atkinson’s writing is beautiful: she really captures the experience of being human.

Give it a try if: you love beautiful writing; you like characters with hidden depths; you love elegant plotting; you love writing which has deep emotional insight; you like books which have a quiet sadness to them.

Open Season by CJ Box

“Joe had always considered individual words as finite units of currency, and he believed in savings. He never wanted to waste or unnecessarily expend words. To Joe, words meant things. They should be spent wisely. Joe sometimes paused for a long time until he could come up with the right words to express exactly what he wanted to say.’’

Who’s our detective? Joe Pickett, game warden for the district of Twelve Sleep, Wyoming. Joe is happily married and a dedicated father to his daughters. As CJ Box writes here, Joe is in many ways an ordinary, fallible guy - he’s not haunted by his past or a heavy drinker, and he’s a terrible shot. And those things are exactly what make him such a great hero for this series of over twenty books.

So what’s it about? Joe is dismayed to find a local hunting outfitter dead in his backyard - even more so because this particular outfitter is someone Joe has had previous run-ins with. When two more outfitters turn up dead and the local police seem to solve the case a bit too easily, Joe suspects that something is wrong, a belief that’s proved right when he finds that the dead man was bringing him an endangered species whose discovery could prevent the construction of a valuable oil pipeline through Twelve Sleep county. Will Joe decide to pursue justice, no matter the personal cost?

What’s great about it? I just love Joe Pickett. He is so likeable and such a good guy, and the running joke through the series regarding his trucks (and the destruction thereof) always makes me smile. The Wyoming landscape of the books is vividly real and spectacularly beautiful and Box does an amazing job of bringing you into the life of a game warden, a profession I knew nothing at all about before I read these books, as well as life in the rural West. Joe’s family life is an important part of the books and also one of the things that makes them great - Box is great at characterisation and Mary-Beth in particular is a great foil for Joe. His friend Nate Romanowski is also a joy to read.

Give it a try if: you love books with Everyman heroes; you like a protagonist with a well-rounded life and character; you love books about nature; you love books where the landscape or setting becomes a character in its own right; you’re interested in learning more about rural life in the American West; you’re tired of detectives with tonnes of baggage and want a more normal hero.

The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

“You’ve got puzzles on the brain.’’

Who’s our detective? Erast Fandorin, often described as the Russian Sherlock Holmes, but actually very different in character and in the way that he solves the crimes he’s presented with.

So what’s it about? The Winter Queen is the first book in another series, and when we first meet Fandorin in 1876 he is very young - only twenty years old, orphaned and left in debt by his father, and working as a clerk in the police force. A mysterious and very public suicide is at first dismissed as an open and shut case, until Fandorin begins to investigate it more thoroughly and realises that the death is just the tip of an iceberg, and that an international conspiracy is to blame. But who is orchestrating it, and can they be defeated?

What’s great about it? Fandorin is a great character and he really grows and develops over the course of the series. He has uncanny luck and never loses at games of chance, a quirk which he sometimes uses to outwit his opponents and a very fun detail for the reader. The mysteries are always well-plotted and entertaining and one particular aspect of the series which I like is that each Fandorin novel is written in a different sub-genre of detective fiction. This was inspired by Akunin’s wife, who loved detective fiction but felt ashamed of reading it and covered the books she was reading in paper so that people wouldn’t be able to see what it was, the detective fiction available at that time in the USSR being of particularly poor quality. Akunin decided to write detective fiction that would be of a higher calibre and celebrate Russia’s literary style, combining elements he admired from the writing of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. The result is a series of books with a great central character, brilliant storytelling and depth of observation.

Give it a try if: you love reading books in translation; you love heroes who have an unusual advantage; you love Russian literature; you love historical fiction; you’d like to learn more about Russia during this time period; you’d like an entry point into Russian literature which is more accessible than the classics; you love great storytelling; you love adventure stories.

Thanks for reading!

I hope you found something good to read here. As ever, I’d love to hear if you’ve read and loved (or indeed hated) any of the books here, and whether you have a favourite detective. You can reply directly to this email or leave a comment by clicking the button below.

I’ll see you next week with a special edition on some of my favourite women detectives!

Happy reading,

Kate