Here are 100 books that A Dark-Adapted Eye fans have personally recommended if you like
A Dark-Adapted Eye.
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I’ve become fascinated with the unconventional tumultuous world of the 1920s ever since I discovered my grandmother’s box of mementos that led to my debut historical fiction, Whistling Women and Crowing Hens. The lesser-known parts of our country’s history draw me in, and the potential for strong female characters keeps me writing. Before I fell down many research rabbit holes, I thought the 1920s were just speakeasies, fringed flappers, and bathtub gin—while entertaining, it’s only the “big city” side of this transformative decade. I’ve found I prefer reading what everyday townspeople experienced, or how “normal” women became unexpected heroes, or ways people persevered after the turmoil WWI caused. There are so many undiscovered stories to be told!
I love character rich, slow-burn reads and Waters always delivers.
The Paying Guests is set in 1922 London and eloquently (with psychological twists) reveals the effects of post-WWI. During the war, the protagonist, 27-year-old Francis, had found her independence in many liberating ways, and Mrs. Wray, her mother, clung to her genteel social status. Now that her husband and sons are dead, they’re forced to scrub their own floors and take in boarders, i.e., “paying guests,” Leonard and Lillian, a modern lower-class couple, in order to keep their home.
I never suspected what would ensue—from clandestine lovers to empowered women, to murder. Waters paints the changing times, social constraints, and class distinctions with a fine-tipped pen.
This novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Little Stranger, is a brilliant 'page-turning melodrama and a fascinating portrait of London of the verge of great change' (Guardian)
It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.
Winter Journeys is a story of music, memory, and imagination.
At summer’s end, Ilona Miller loses her job. Instead of adjusting her attitude and sending out resumes, she retreats into grief and paranoid imaginings by day and wanders the streets at night. A long-dormant alter ego awakes and prompts a…
I have always been intrigued by missing persons. I wonder how their family copes with having no closure on the situation and how they can live wondering where their loved one is and whether they are dead or alive. I have read these recommended books many times to satisfy this craving. I enjoy a sense of the macabre even though the story may be about mundane everyday topics. This only adds to the sense of dread and wonder. I enjoy the intriguing twists and turns, keeping me on my toes and wanting more until the end. I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have.
I recommend this book and the author’s fabulous writing, comprising of dread and humour (which I love), all rolled into one. Three separate case histories, interlinked, each littered with fabulous, memorable characters. Jackson Brodie, the Detective trying to solve the case, is one of the best, with brilliant detective skills and a haunting personal life.
An intriguing mix of family drama and mystery, giving it more depth than just an ordinary thriller. I have read this book many times, and it’s always new, never boring, and the ending is still a surprise.
Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night. Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack. Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge ...
As someone who’s had a lifelong interest in psychology, especially abnormal psychology, I’ve always been fascinated the small destructions some people inflict on others – sometimes even on themselves. For me the greatest crime is not to kill someone but to reduce them by making their life uncomfortable or unwelcome. The ability to do this is what I would call a “negative skill.” It’s not easy, but some people do it uncannily well, and without caring. Perhaps because this is so alien to me, I remain riveted by stories that portray it, and some cases attempt to explain it. These are a few of those stories.
It’s criminal that Celia Dale’s books are almost all out of print.
Dale dwells in the world of people you wouldn’t look at twice – nice old ladies, sympathetic homemakers, slightly out-of-date romeos – who practice a kind of cruelty that isn’t necessarily obvious to the outside world, but that is nonetheless terrible.
Helping Hand deals with a couple who hurry old ladies to their deaths by means of kindness that’s actually cruel, and a young relative of one of those old ladies, who is herself grotesquely self-centered and uncaring.
Fortunately, the book is saved by the presence of a decent young Italian woman, who provides hope in a black world.
In the past months Mrs Fingal’s legs had grown very weak. She could move from the bed to the chair only if she held on to the furniture. ‘Be careful, dear,’ Mrs Evans would say, beating up the pillows and clearing away all the oddments hidden under them, ‘you don’t want to fall and break your leg.’
This is a tale of ruthless greed, exploitation and suffocating, skin-crawling terror.
Middle-aged Josh and Maisie Evans lead a seemingly unremarkable life. When their elderly lodger Flo dies and leaves them her Estate, they head to Italy on holiday, to take in the…
Winter Journeys is a story of music, memory, and imagination.
At summer’s end, Ilona Miller loses her job. Instead of adjusting her attitude and sending out resumes, she retreats into grief and paranoid imaginings by day and wanders the streets at night. A long-dormant alter ego awakes and prompts a…
As someone who’s had a lifelong interest in psychology, especially abnormal psychology, I’ve always been fascinated the small destructions some people inflict on others – sometimes even on themselves. For me the greatest crime is not to kill someone but to reduce them by making their life uncomfortable or unwelcome. The ability to do this is what I would call a “negative skill.” It’s not easy, but some people do it uncannily well, and without caring. Perhaps because this is so alien to me, I remain riveted by stories that portray it, and some cases attempt to explain it. These are a few of those stories.
Sweet Lina McLaidlaw loves charming Johnny Aysgarth, but Johnny Aysgarth marries her for her money and doesn’t change his gambling, seducing ways one bit once he’s done so.
What makes the book so riveting is that Lina learns exactly what Johnny is like, yet she can’t bring herself to stop loving him. At one point she does leave him, but she voluntarily goes back.
Lina knows Johnny will eventually kill her so he can have it all and, knowing this, she puts herself in the cruel position of waiting for that to happen.
This book was made into a so-so Hitchcock film featuring Cary Grant and a memorable glass of milk, but the book is a riveting, breath-stealing masterpiece.
Before the Fact is a ground-breaking psychological drama of immense power, described as 'one of the finest studies of murder ever written'. Inspiring Hitchcock's classic film Suspicion, this classic title was written in the golden age of crime fiction and remains utterly compelling to this day.
When wealthy but plain Lina McLaidlaw marries feckless Johnny Aysgarth, she is certain she can change him for the better. Despite her hopes, she is soon forced to acknowledge the truth - that he is not only a compulsive liar and a crook but also a murderer. She continues to love him, while fearing…
As someone who’s had a lifelong interest in psychology, especially abnormal psychology, I’ve always been fascinated the small destructions some people inflict on others – sometimes even on themselves. For me the greatest crime is not to kill someone but to reduce them by making their life uncomfortable or unwelcome. The ability to do this is what I would call a “negative skill.” It’s not easy, but some people do it uncannily well, and without caring. Perhaps because this is so alien to me, I remain riveted by stories that portray it, and some cases attempt to explain it. These are a few of those stories.
Pressburger is better known as half of the film duo Powell and Pressburger, but The Glass Pearls shows he missed a career when he went into film.
Karl Braun, the protagonist of this book, is an escaped Nazi living in London some years after the end of World War II. He attempts to have a life, but lives in constant fear of being found and rounded up (yes, the book is aware of this irony).
The “quiet cruelty” comes from the fact that, like it or not, Pressburger’s wonderful ability at portraying Braun’s interior and his fear make the reader invest in him.
You end the novel troubled to discover that you have sympathized with – even wished for the escape of – a Nazi.
For fans of The Passenger, this thrilling tale of an ex-Nazi surgeon hiding in plain sight in 1960s London by the celebrated filmmaker is a lost noir gem, introduced by Anthony Quinn and narrated on audio by Mark Gatiss.
'Stunning: incredibly good, tense and compelling and morally complex.' Ian Rankin 'This extraordinary novel had me hooked from start to finish.' Sarah Waters 'An outstanding novel: gripping, tense and darkly unsettling. ' Jonathan Freedland 'A wonderfully compelling noir thriller and audacious and challenging act of imagination.' William Boyd
Nothing is more inviting to disclose your secrets than to be told by…
I love the thrill of the chase and have always been passionate about the dramatic. In school, I was always the evil sorceress in plays. Later, as a professional actress, I sought dramatic roles or outrageously funny characters. Psychological thrillers fulfill the need to make my world more dramatic than it actually is. I call good thrillers “fudge reading.” Because having them in my life is like pigging out on the best fudge you can find, now, as a writer of psychological thrillers, I try and give my readers a roller coaster ride on daring topics just the way these five writers have inspired me to do.
I became obsessed with the two main characters in this book. You could say good vs. evil, but it’s more than that. For me, this was an existential journey into the tunnels of two people’s minds. I learned everything about the way Captain Delaney’s mind worked and the man he chased, Daniel Blank.
For me, this was the kind of mystery/thriller in which you eventually know more about the characters than they know about themselves. Even more thrilling was how similar they both became in the end. It was like their personalities blended into one man.
I’m an undying, relentless, optimistic champion of right winning over wrong, of justice prevailing over injustice, and of good people and animals (especially horses) being protected, championed, and loved. And I know from experience that all of this is seldom easy when the stakes are high. Couple that with my love of horses, especially Thoroughbreds, and you might understand that I admire main characters who are committed to protecting the innocent and bringing the bad guys to justice, whether that’s in the human or the equine world. And I love learning almost as much as I love people with character, heart, and courage. These books, I think, check all these boxes.
We are back in the world of horses, but this time western horses, not Thoroughbred racehorses. Laura Crum has created a series with a female equine veterinarian—Gail McCarthy—as her main character. I’m drawn to Gail because she’s incredibly competent as a vet, but also wicked smart at sniffing out the bad guys and has the courage to go against the boys very often to do just that. I’m always rooting for strong characters, men or women, and I love it that we women are now catching up in fiction as well as in real life!
This is the first in Crum’s series, but I’ve enjoyed all of them I’ve read. I love the rural setting, and I can almost smell the sweet scent of hay and hear the horses rustling gently in their stalls (which always does my heart good) as I read this book. In it, a dead horse…
While investigating the death of cutting-horse trainer Casey Brooks, supposedly killed in a fall, veterinarian Gail McCarthy uncovers evidence of murder, as well as a hostile girlfriend, an angry former client, and a long-standing feud
For me, games have always been a way of playing mathematics. Every game has a hidden piece of mathematics behind it, and if you can understand that mathematics, I’ve found that it gives you a real edge in playing the game. I travel a lot for my work as a mathematician, and I love to ask about the games they play when I visit a new country. Games tell me a lot about the culture and people I am visiting. My book is my way of sharing my passion for games and mathematics with my readers.
I love chess, and even though I’m not brilliant at it, I really enjoy books where the characters play chess. The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig is probably the most famous, but I really enjoyed this murder mystery with a game of chess at its heart, which beautifully mirrors the plot as it unfolds.
The game is featured mid-game in a Flemish fifteenth-century painting. The modern protagonists analyze it forward and backward to understand the past and future. I loved the fact that the book includes illustrations of the game as it proceeds for the reader to analyze. There are also some interesting allusions to Douglas Hofstadter’s idea of strange loops, which is another one of my obsessions.
The clue to a murder in the art world of contemporary Madrid lies hidden in a medieval painting of a game of chess.
In a 15th-century Flemish painting two noblemen are pictured playing chess. Yet two years before he could sit for the portrait, one of them was murdered. In 20th-century Madrid, Julia, a picture restorer preparing the painting for auction, uncovers a hidden inscription in Latin that points to the crime: Quis necavit equitem? Who killed the knight? But as she teams up with a brilliant chess theoretician to retrace the moves, she discovers the deadly game is not…
Cozy mysteries tend to exist in a simpler world, one without extreme violence and heavy swearing. They are often set in bucolic settings, but they deal with murder! I love many of the cozy tropes—tea, cats, dogs or other pets, family shenanigans, food. I think it’s family nuances that draw me the most to cozies. Whether it’s a romantic comedy or just one full of capers and laughter, cozies are my favorite genre.
You might be wondering why I’m recommending book two of a series. Well, book one was a bit of a mess. While fun and intriguing in spots, it wandered and had trouble ending. It isn’t until book two that the characters who made it out of book one are developed into delightful mystery sleuths. Because of weaknesses in the first book, I would venture to guess some readers never discover the absolute wonder of the Vicky Bliss cozy mysteries.
The characters are hilarious, and the situations and escapades are many. Vicky Bliss is a historian who visits multiple countries but always ends up having to investigate an art heist, a missing heirloom, or a found and fascinating artifact. The plots are well-developed, and the characters are absolutely lovable.
If you are at all familiar with Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody series, you know this author understands intrigue, disguises, subterfuge, and, best…
The voluptuous blond art historian, Vicky Bliss, risks her life to uncover a ring of forgers in Rome, one of whom is an English nobleman she finds dangerously attractive
I love to read about strong, independent, imperfect women who are capable of getting themselves out of their own messes. That's why my female protagonists are strong, independent, imperfect women who don't need a man to save them.
Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta M.D. is a divorced, workaholic, hard ass who drinks and smokes too much–my kind of gal.
I found the depth of detail of the forensic technology used at the crime scene and autopsies–there are a number of those–fascinating. Kay gets into lots of tight places. I scream, “Don't go in there.” Kay is clearly not listening to me or anybody else, but I love the way she gets herself out of her own messes.
A bonus is homicide Detective Pete Marino, a rough diamond who dogs Kay's tracks. Happy to know there are 26 more in the Kay Scarpetta series.
The second book in the Kay Scarpetta series, from No. 1 bestselling author Patricia Cornwell.
'America's most chilling writer of crime fiction' The Times
A reclusive writer is dead. And her final manuscript has disappeared . . .
Someone is stalking Beryl Madison. Someone who spies on her and makes threatening, obscene phone-calls. Terrified, Beryl flees to Key West - but eventually she must return to her Richmond home. The very night she arrives, Beryl inexplicably invites her killer in . . .
Thus begins for Dr Kay Scarpetta the investigation of a crime that is as convoluted as…
