100 Books Like A Time of Torment

I like this series because it is well written and the author – J.K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith – always features clever plot twists.

The Cormoran Strike series features an on again, off again romance between private investigator Cormoran Strike and his partner, Robin Ellacott. In the latest installment, The Running Grave, Cormoran and Robin are hired by a wealthy man whose son has joined a cult.

Robin joins the cult and moves into its rural Norfolk headquarters. The chapters devoted to her cult experience are well-written and creepy. Too bad there’s not more sex.

Great plot line and great characters. Although this murder mystery novel is serious, the author also introduces a humorous angle to the reader, which I found to be refreshing. The interplay between Joe Pike and Elvis Cole, the two private investigators in the story, is priceless. Good action scenes and crisp dialogue.  

John Connolly is simply a terrific writer. In this Detective Charlie Parker novel, the Maine woods are a character in themselves—sinister, overbearing, and almost certainly harbouring—you guessed it—real evil. Connolly’s Charlie Parker is haunted—literally—and dangerous. He’s a complex and darkly charismatic figure that I find compelling. The Wrath of Angels has at its core the battle between Good and Evil, but it is played out by imperfect characters in a very spooky atmosphere. It has all the ingredients of a horror novel, doesn’t it? But John Connolly manages darker themes believably and again, for me, it mixes genres beautifully—and believe me, that’s not easy.

Connolly weaves taut crime thrillers that I have great trouble putting down once I start reading. Charlie Parker and the rest of the regular cast are beautifully rich characters I care about, which explains the 19 books in this series on my shelf. What sets Connolly apart is an undercurrent of supernatural evil that arcs through these crime stories. In The Black Angel, the shroud that conceals what the reader likely sensed in the early novels is pulled back a little to reveal an underworld of darkness beneath the stories. Charlie Parker is the detective you want on the case when there is more than just a crime and The Black Angel is a milestone in the series.

I loved this book because of the relationship of the villain to the protagonist. In fact, as I was writing my own novel, I used Connolly’s as a model. Oh, that I could write like John Connolly. The twists and turns, the little truths about life revealed.

I like layers in my mysteries and writing that is more lyrical. Flawed protagonists appeal to me, and Charlie Parker with his wife and daughter haunting him fit that need. And then there are Angel and Louis, the bad-good guys and loyal friends of Charlie. Every detective needs loyal friends who look out for them.

Connolly’s mysteries are dark, and the level of evil disturbing, but I like that.

Ok, fine…you caught me. I admit it: I’ve got a ginormous sweet tooth and gooey caramel is my downfall…so, you can see why I’d naturally gravitate to a cozy mystery that features a small-town cookie shop owner and amateur sleuth like Hannah Swenson. In this book, Hannah gets asked for her help in baking pastries at the local inn for a flashy fishing competition with big prizes and even bigger names. While at the fishing tournament, Hannah spots a runaway boat on the local lake and, on board, the lifeless body of the event’s renowned celebrity spokesperson. Hannah joins forces with her younger sister and sidekick, Andrea, to catch a clever culprit before another unsuspecting victim goes belly up. The two sisters are like night and day. I love how their differences not only help solve the murder, but are the spice that adds zing to the plot.

Pelecanos creates a helluva crime story set in Washington, DC. Not so different of a place, right? Ah, but there is the backdrop of the Martin Luther King riots in 1968 and the cops are overwhelmed. Derek Strange is a Black rookie cop and with a white detective Frank Vaughan goes on a manhunt for his brother’s killer. The combination of the two is a great dynamic. Derek’s pretty sure he knows who the drug dealer is who killed his brother and won’t be put off by the riots. Trying to find the killer in the chaos is gripping. A lot of grit in here and tension. This is one story you

What attracts me to the series is the relationship between the main character, Cormoran Strike and his sundry accomplices, especially his one-time secretary and now partner, Robin Ellacott.

A wonderful aspect of book four in the series is that we find out more about what motivates Robin to continue taking on dangerous tasks. The parallel storyline of her fraught relationship with her new husband adds to the tension as she, Strike, and their various collaborators work furiously to unmask a killer.

Recommended if you enjoy character-driven series.

Peter Temple wasn’t just a good crime writer; he was a master storyteller. He’s my crime writing hero and I strongly recommend all his books, but as a ‘flawed detective’ it’s hard to go past his series starring Jack Irish and set in Melbourne, Australia. A former attorney, Irish went to pieces after the murder of his wife and now makes a living doing odd jobs like recovering debts. 

In Bad Debts, the first in the series, one of Irish’s clients calls him for help and by the time he answers, the client’s been murdered. Irish is emotionally damaged, an outsider. It’s hard-boiled crime, full of black humour, and featuring a wonderful array of Australian characters.

I love comic worlds that make unlikely families from the impoverished, slightly crazy, and the unlucky. Here is a study of friendship, affection, suspects, and oddballs washed up at the well-named Last Ditch Motel. Scottish therapist Lexy Campbell is stranded in small-town California by a faithless husband. She won’t desert her one client accused of murder by exploding toilet. Flummoxed America and California, this fish-out-of-water hooks up with Kathi, the allergic laundry operator, and her wife, Noleen, the Motel receptionist who hates people. Add perfectionist gay Todd trying to get Lexy into California grooming while too phobic to live with his beloved, stir in single mother Della, tiny Diego, and nerd Devin. Lexy’s car crash detecting needs them all. Last Ditch is a surefire series. I pre-order every one.