Can anyone recommend good mystery authors?

Question

I like Harlan Coben, James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Dean Koontz etc. but I've read everything by all of the bestselling authors. Can anyone recommend some new authors I might like?

Answer 1

Michael Connelly is one of my favorites too. I love his Hieronymous Bosch detective. You might like Jonathan Kellerman. His main character is a child psychologist named Alex Delaware. The settings for his books, like Connelly's, is usually Los Angeles. Some of his book titles:

The Murder Book
Dr. Death
Bad Love
When the Bough Breaks

If you're interested, here's a link to his Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Kellerman

Happy reading! :-)

Answer 2

If you like James Patterson and Michael Connelly, you might like...
Robert Crais
James Lee Burke
Jeffery Deaver
Jonathan Kellerman
Dennis Lehane
John Sandford

Some of my fav mystery authors, in no particular order:
Lilian Jackson Braun
Carole Nelson Douglas
Camille Minichino
M. R. Sellars
Karen Irving
Jasper Fforde
Sandra Tooley
Lee Driver
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Agatha Christie
Harry Kemelman
Margaret Truman
P. D. James
Matthew Pearl
Martha C. Lawrence
Ellery Queen
Ralph McInery
Tony Hillerman
Erle Stanley Gardner
Susan Wittig Albert

Answer 3

I think you'll find that most of the best books, whether mystery or any other genre, never make the best seller lists. If you want real mystery writers, try starting with the classics like Dashiell Hammett. If you want something more recent I love PD James (she's British and she is actually a bestseller) With PD James it's good to start with first books as a lot of her characters are the same throughout and it will make more sense if you read them chronologically.
Patricia Highsmith's Ripley books are great and different from the movie. If you've seen The Talented Mr. Ripley, I thought it was good, but the books aren't really anything like it, so don't go by that.

Enjoy. I wish I hadn't read all the above, so I could read them for the first time again!

Answer 4

I gravitate toward the more cerebral protagonists such as Morse in the novels of Colin Dexter. One of my favorite contemporary authors is John Le Carre, who's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy" is an intense mystery in the context of espionage. Now, if you're a serious reader with a love of history, One of my all time favorites is "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. The first 100 pages are a rite of passage for the reader, but once digested make the rest of the novel a fantastic read.

Let's not forget "The DaVinci Code" or "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown.

If you like crime stories that are somewhat comical I think you might enjoy some of Carl Hiaasen's books such as "Native Tongue", "Skinny Dip" or "Skin Tight".

I believe you will find almost all of these in your local library. The Carl Hiaasen books can frequently be found on remainder tables or in the $1.00 carts in front of bookstores. Amazon is also a great source of not only new, but used books.

Happy reading!

Answer 5

You might try some of the older authors. I still enjoy the Sherlock Holmes stories. Agatha Christie is easy to read, and Dashiel Hammett creates a wonderful atmosphere in his stories. Robert Parker has been writing for awhile, but he's a very good mystery writer who's still putting out books. If you like horses, you would like Dick Francis.

Answer 6

Try out Jeffery Deaver, he had written The Bone Collector series regarding about Licoln Rhym... like CSI type of books.

Answer 7

Mary Higgins Clark!

Answer 8

J. K. Rowling

Answer 9

dorothy gilman, earlene fowler

Answer 10

Yeah...I agree......J.K Rowling