Books like Junkie — picked by fans

I was interested that the book was set in Mexico and with a female protagonist, so I was happy to give a new-to-me author a chance.

From the very first description of the detectives’ office in Acapulco police station, there was a level of detail that made me think, ‘this author is writing from real life’. Carmen Amato was a CIA analyst who lived in Mexico for many years. She knows what she’s talking about, from police corruption to cartel crime, and the blatant misogyny of people who should be on the same side. 

I had no idea where the story was going; nothing was telegraphed, and it was as raw and real as you could wish.

Beautifully written, I wanted more, more, more. I chomped through the next 8 books in the series, and eagerly await book 10.

Another strong series is the Joe Pickett books by C.J. Box.

I think you can tell I like to read in series and by author. There are 26 books in this series! I hope to write as many… This is mystery and murder at times, and although not in, on, or around American Indian lands, these books have almost the same feel, starting with this one.

Rather than a cop, he’s a game warden. Almost the same thing, but dealing with laws around fish & game. Now, Joe has some issues that I liked. Not his emotional drama, but the showing of them. It made him more human. Who doesn’t have issues? I know I do. 

There are two main characters in this 9-book series, a traditional US detective and his girlfriend, who is a graphologist – someone who studies handwriting.

I’ve learned a lot about the techniques used to determine whether a signature on a will is a forgery, and that several medical insurance fraud cases have been prosecuted in the US based on the testimony of a graphologist. In the case cited, someone had filled out a number of forms all in one go, with the $ claims put in later – but because the forms had all been signed at the same time, there was ‘drift’ as the signatures migrated in the direction of the writer.

I tried this at home, and it’s true. Try writing your name over and over again in a list: if you’re right-handed, you’ll drift to the right side of the margin, and if you’re left-handed, towards the… show more.

A seriously underrated series set in Australia with the mysterious Heller, who is from a Nordic country (although it takes several books to find out more about him), and a young woman who becomes part of his chaotic family of misfits who run a security business, possibly with ties to the government and international espionage.

Every personal detail of Heller is grudgingly given, which makes it so much more intriguing. Each book is a standalone, but each adds more to the overall picture.

I wish I could tell you what happened to this talented author, but she disappeared mysteriously over ten years ago and has never written another book since. A true-life mystery.

The characters always pull me back for the next book in the series. Trudy Loveday is a WPC—Woman Police Constable—in the 1960s. She’s a young woman clawing her way up in a man’s world. Her favorite sidekick is Dr. Clement Ryder, the local coroner. He’s nearing retirement, and he has secrets he’d rather not reveal—like the reason he quit being a surgeon and signed on as coroner. Together these two solve murders faster than the local police detectives, inspiring jealousy and suspicion. Trudy and Clement make an ideal sleuthing team. I pre-order these books as soon as I learn there’s another one coming out, I love them so much.

This book is a comprehensive guide to US regulations regarding money laundering; it also mentions some international organisms that fight against this crime. By including real-life cases in which it is specified how money laundering was carried out, I learned a lot because money laundering is a complex crime, believe me! It’s ideal for those who also want to know how a financial investigation is carried out since it takes you by the hand to understand what to do. Without a doubt a very complete guide.

I love the fact that Le Carre’s books are written by a man who was actually a member of MI6, if only for a short while. He takes real-world scenarios and writes a compelling story around them.

This book is about a Russian mafia moneyman who wants out and the interest that arises from British intelligence. Le Carre can be a slow-burner type of author, but he’s always compulsive, and this particular book was made into an excellent movie.

This book reads like a fictional suspense novel, but it’s not! It was engaging from the beginning where the opening lines seemed like the author was staging a murder mystery in a small town. However, the familiar characters from sports agents to owners to players in the 1980s quickly piqued my interest, and soon it was apparent that the story was about the mafia’s unsuccessful attempt to infiltrate the NFL in the eighties through money laundering, racketeering, bribery, wire fraud, and more.

I was intrigued by the political gamesmanship of the NFL, which was determined to eradicate the mafia’s takeover attempt, but was almost equally caught off guard by the previously untold story of its vulnerability to corruption, especially from an almost equally powerful organized crime affiliate.

The story-telling was especially compelling and read like a legal drama. Conspiracy was at its finest, and this book was exceptional for its… show more.

If you want to know why money laundering is so appealing, in this book, you will find out why. The author, through his experience as an investigator, includes a chapter on the motivations that lead people to get involved in money laundering. It helped me a lot to understand why people do it; maybe you get surprised like I did. He also includes different mechanisms with which criminals move money and intertwines the relationship between fraud and money laundering, giving a useful perspective to minimize these risks in any company.

Neal Stephenson is my favorite living author largely because of his remarkable ability to weave compellingly rich tales in a variety of genres. This is a straight up action-adventure novel set in the modern world with multiple characters getting into epic adventures all over the world.

It’s so detailed and engaging it might inspire you want to visit some of the locations. It did for me. I detoured out of my way on several trips to see how accurate Stephenson’s portrayal was (it was spot on).