Books like 'Devil in a Blue Dress'
Readers who enjoyed Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery 20th century action / adventure thriller crime noir historical-fiction law-enforcement classics
-
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAndy Dufresne, a banker, was convicted of killing his wife and her lover and sent to Shawshank Prison. He maintains his innocence over the decades he spends at Shawshank during which time he forms a friendship with "Red", a fellow inmate.Source: stephenking...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense university thriller -
![The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Peter Bart]()
The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Peter Bart
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe Godfather—the epic tale of crime and betrayal that became a global phenomenon.Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense -
![Five Decembers by James Kestrel]()
Five Decembers by James Kestrel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this novel of World War II, an American police detective trapped while trailing a killer overseas struggles to survive with only the help of a total stranger and his daughter, who risk their lives to protect him. December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever... -
![The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Angus Wilson]()
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Angus Wilson
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 35 ratings'Holmes,' I cried. 'Is it really you? Can it indeed be that you are alive? Is it possible that you succeeded in climbing out of that awful abyss?'Missing, presumed dead, for three years, Sherlock Holmes returns triumphantly to his dear companion Dr Watson. And not before time! London has never been in more need of his extraordinary services: a murderous individual with an air gun stalks the city...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense thriller -
-
![Charm School by Nelson DeMille]()
Charm School by Nelson DeMille
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsRead by James NaughtonSomething very strange -- and sinister -- is going on in the Russian woods at Borodino. In a place called Mrs. Ivanova's Charm School, young KGB agents are being taught by American POW's how to be model citizens of the USA. The Soviet goal -- to infiltrate the United States undetected... -
![Complete Novels: Red Harvest / The Dain Curse / The Maltese Falcon / The Glass Key / The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett]()
Complete Novels: Red Harvest / The Dain Curse / The Maltese Falcon / The Glass Key / The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsComplete in one volume, the five books that created the modern American crime novelIn a few years of extraordinary creative energy, Dashiell Hammett invented the modern American crime novel... -
![Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Short Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle]()
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Short Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThey're among the most influential, enduring, and popular short stories in the English language; marvelous mysteries that feature the "most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has ever seen." Here are all 56 Sherlock Holmes tales in one very handsome collection, accompanied by the original artwork in facsimile reproduction... -
![Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty]()
Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBelfast 1988: A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
![Collected Stories by Raymond Chandler]()
Collected Stories by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)The only complete edition of stories by the undisputed master of detective literature, collected here for the first time in one volume, including some stories that have been unavailable for decades... -
![Black Cross by Greg Iles]()
Black Cross by Greg Iles
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt is January 1944 — and as Allied troops prepare for D-day, Nazi scientists develop a toxic nerve gas that will repel and wipe out any invasion force. To salvage the planned assault, two vastly different but equally determined men are sent to infiltrate the secret concentration camp where the poison gas is being perfected on human subjects...Categorized as:
crime drama historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
![Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer]()
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratings"Cometh the Hour" opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia.Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain...Categorized as:
crime drama historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century -
![The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie]()
The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFor the first ime in one volume are Agatha Christie's first two mysteries that introduced the world to Hercule Poirot and to Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, all sleuths who have starred in the PBS Mystery! series: with a sudden death as the initiation of his career, Hercule Poirot calls upon the sprawling estate of the Styles Court to identify the murderer of a wealthy heiress from a crowd of...Categorized as:
classics crime law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Sunset Express by Robert Crais]()
Sunset Express by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsProminent restaurateur Teddy Martin is facing charges in his wife’s brutal murder. But he’s not going down without spending a bundle of cash on his defense. So his hotshot attorney hires P.I. Elvis Cole to find proof that Detective Angela Rossi tampered with the evidence. Rossi needs a way back to the fast track after falling hard during an internal investigation five years ago... -
![Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille, Brian Murray]()
Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille, Brian Murray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHe is a good man, a brilliant corporate executive, an honest, handsome family man admired by men and desired by women. But a lifetime ago Ben Tyson was a lieutenant in Vietnam. There the men under his command committed a murderous atrocity--and together swore never to tell the world what they had done. Now the press, army justice, and the events he tried to forget have caught up with Ben Tyson...Categorized as:
crime drama historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
-
![L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy, David Strathairn]()
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy, David Strathairn
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsJames Ellroy's L.A. Confidential is film-noir crime fiction akin to Chinatown, Hollywood Babylon, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Jim Thompson. It's about three tortured souls in the 1950s L.A.P.D... -
![Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer]()
Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA bomb goes off, but how many passengers on the MV Buckingham have lost their lives? You will find out only if you read the opening chapter of Mightier than the Sword...Categorized as:
crime drama historical-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon]()
Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsOne of Sidney Sheldon's most popular and bestselling titles, repackaged and reissued for a new generation of fans. Kate Blackwell is one of the richest and most powerful women in the world. She is an enigma, a woman surrounded by a thousand unanswered questions. Her father was a diamond prospector who struck it rich beyond his wildest dreams...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller 20th-century -
![A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr]()
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr returns with his best-loved character, Bernie Gunther, in the fifth novel in what is now a series: a tight, twisting, compelling thriller that is firmly rooted in history.A Quiet Flame opens in 1950...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller -
![Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr]()
Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeptember 1941: Reinhard Heydrich is hosting a gathering to celebrate his appointment as Reichsprotector of Czechoslovakia. He has chosen his guests with care. All are high-ranking Party members and each is a suspect in a crime as yet to be committed: the murder of Heydrich himself...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction investigator law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense -
![Field Gray by Philip Kerr]()
Field Gray by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr delivers a novel with the noir sensibility of Raymond Chandler, the realpolitik of vintage John le Carré, and the dark moral vision of Graham Greene...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller 20th-century -
![Riiginõunik by Boris Akunin]()
Riiginõunik by Boris Akunin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSince the publication of The Winter Queen, a New York Times Notable Book and the first mystery featuring Erast Fandorin, Boris Akunin’s historical mystery series has become a worldwide sensation, selling millions of copies and propelling Akunin into the ranks of Russia’s most widely read contemporary novelists... -
![The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean]()
The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn entire navy had tried to silence the guns of Navarone and failed. Full-scale attacks had been driven back. Now they were sending in just five men, each one a specialist in dealing death...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century -
![Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers]()
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMystery novelist Harriet Vane knew all about poisons, and when her former lover died in the manner prescribed in one of her books, a jury of her peers had a hangman's noose in mind. But Lord Peter Wimsey was determined to find her innocent...Categorized as:
classics crime historical-fiction investigator law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense -
![The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré]()
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsIn this classic, John le Carre's third novel and the first to earn him international acclaim, he created a world unlike any previously experienced in suspense fiction...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense -
-
![Todo lo peor by César Pérez Gellida]()
Todo lo peor by César Pérez Gellida
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSigue la Guerra fría, sigue en pie el muro que divide Alemania en dos partes. Todo lo peor sucederá en estas circunstancias.Un asesino comienza a matar. Sus víctimas son homosexuales y sus crímenes parecen tener un componente religioso... -
![China Blues by Ki Longfellow]()
China Blues by Ki Longfellow
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Roaring Twenties, Chinatown, San Francisco: back-street blues and bathtub gin… hardball mobsters and hardheaded cops… seductive speakeasies and sizzling scandals. As the young Louis Armstrong blows his horn in the infamous Blue Canary, impetuous Nob Hill Socialite Elizabeth Stafford Hamilton plunges into a reckless affair with mysterious Li Kwan Won...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
![The Outfit by Richard Stark]()
The Outfit by Richard Stark
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen the Outfit tries to kill him, Parker declares war. Ripping off the syndicate is easy, but going one-on-one with Bronson, the Outfit's big boss, is the hard part. Hard for anyone but Parker, because the entire underworld understands that whatever Parker does -- he does for keep... -
![Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze]()
Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe had the face of a madonna and a heart made of dollar bills.She was sitting on the floor, naked, in a skitter of green bills. Beyond her was the custodian, still simpering in death. She was scooping up handfuls of the green money and dropping it on top of her head so that it came sliding down along the cream-colored hair, slipping down along her shoulders and body... -
![The One from the Other by Philip Kerr]()
The One from the Other by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPhilip Kerr’s Berlin Noir trilogy—featuring the tough, fast-talking, noirish detective Bernie Gunther—is a publishing phenomenon that continues to win new fans more than fifteen years after its initial publication. Kerr has brought Bernie back in a highly anticipated thriller that will delight fans of the original books and attract new attention to the backlist...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller -
![Dark Star by Alan Furst]()
Dark Star by Alan Furst
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe acclaimed author of Night Soldiers offers a dramatic and exciting spy thriller of Eastern Europe on the brink of World War II. In the back alleys and glittering salons of Europe, there is a thin line between survival and betrayal, as Soviet NKVD agents and the Nazi Gestapo confront each other in a brilliant duel of espionage. Like watching Casablanca for the first time.--Time...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller 20th-century -
![To the Grave by Steve Robinson]()
To the Grave by Steve Robinson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA curiously dated child’s suitcase arrives, unannounced and unexplained, in a modern-day Washington suburb. A week later, American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is sitting in an English hotel room, staring at the wrong end of a loaded gun.In his latest journey into the past, Tayte lands in wartime Leicestershire, England... -
![Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler]()
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsMarlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard...Categorized as:
classics crime hard-boiled historical-fiction investigator law-enforcement literary-fiction noir -
![The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories by Otto Penzler]()
The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories by Otto Penzler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn unstoppable anthology of crime stories culled from Black Mask magazine the legendary publication that turned a pulp phenomenon into literary mainstream. Black Mask was the apotheosis of noir. It was the magazine where the first hardboiled detective story, which was written by Carroll John Daly appeared... -
![The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins]()
The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom a foxhole on Guadalcanal (shared with Barney Ross) to the glitzy underworld of Hollywood in the '40s, Nate Heller fights his memories and the Mob.Something happened at the Canal, something Heller's blocking out. What he can't block, though, is the wound he received--the "million-dollar wound," the one that got him home...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement noir suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
-
![Queen of Clubs by Beezy Marsh]()
Queen of Clubs by Beezy Marsh
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLondon, 1957: After rising up against gangland’s queen, Alice Diamond, formerly downtrodden Nell is living the perfect life of crime. Far from the East End slums where she was raised, she’s now an accomplished professional thief by day—lifting luxury goods from high-end department stores—and a glamorous nightclub owner after dark... -
![The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven]()
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA CULT MASTERPIECE—THE ADVENTURE NOVEL THAT INSPIRED JOHN HUSTON'S CLASSIC FILM, BY THE ELUSIVE AUTHOR WHO WAS A MODEL FOR THE HERO OF ROBERTO BOLAÑO'S 2666 Little is known for certain about B. Traven. Evidence suggests that he was born Otto Feige in Schlewsig-Holstein and that he escaped a death sentence for his involvement with the anarchist underground in Bavaria...Categorized as:
classics crime historical-fiction literary-fiction noir 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald]()
Bright Orange for the Shroud by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTravis McGee is looking forward to a "slob summer," spending his days as far away from danger as possible. But trouble has a way of finding him, no matter where he hides. An old friend, conned out of his life savings by his ex-wife, has tracked him down and is desperate for help... -
![A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald]()
A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeing accused at gunpoint of hiding another man's wife is a rude shock. But it's an even bigger shock when Travis McGee discovers that the woman in question is Mary Broll, a dear old friend. Now she's disappeared, vanished without a word to anyone... -
![The Iron Hand of Mars: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery by Lindsey Davis]()
The Iron Hand of Mars: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery by Lindsey Davis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Germanic troops in the service of the Empire begin to rebel, and a Roman general disappears, Emperor Vespasian turns to the one man he can trust: Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer whose rates are low enough that even the stingy Vespasian is willing to pay them.To Falco, an undercover tour of Germania is an assignment from Hades...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller 20th-century -
![The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper by John D. MacDonald]()
The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith an introduction by CARL HIAASENJOHN D. MacDONALD."..the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." --STEPHEN KING."..a master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer."--MARY HIGGINS CLARK."..a dominant influence on writers crafting the continuing series character."--SUE GRAFTON."..my favorite novelist of all time."--DEAN KOONTZ.". -
![If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr]()
If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn instant classic in the Bernie Gunther series, with storytelling that is fresher and more vivid than ever. Berlin, 1934: The Nazis have secured the 1936 Olympiad for the city but are facing foreign resistance. Hitler and Avery Brundage, the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, have connived to soft-pedal Nazi anti- Semitism and convince America to participate...Categorized as:
crime hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir suspense thriller -
![Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke]()
Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA sprawling thriller drenched with atmosphere and intrigue that takes a young boy from a chance encounter with Bonnie and Clyde to the trenches of World War II and the oil fields along the Texas-Louisiana coast... -
![A Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith]()
A Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA Falcon Flies by Wilbur SmithIn 1860, a man and woman approach the coast of Africa aboard a swift clipper--in the command of an American who knows no law. Robyn Ballantyne and her brother Morris have waited years for this moment: to return to Africa, to search for their missionary father who had disappeared somewhere in the wilderness...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Polish Officer by Alan Furst]()
The Polish Officer by Alan Furst
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeptember 1939. As Warsaw falls to Hitler's Wehrmacht, Captain Alexander de Milja is recruited by the intelligence service of the Polish underground. His mission: to transport the national gold reserve to safety, hidden on a refugee train to Bucharest...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction literary-fiction noir suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
-
![The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy]()
The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratings1950s Los Angeles: The City of Angels has become the city of the Angel of Death. Communist witch-hunts and insanely violent killings are terrorising the community. Three men are plunged into a maelstrom of violence and deceit when their lives become inextricably linked as each one confronts his own personal darkness...Categorized as:
classics crime drama hard-boiled historical-fiction law-enforcement literary-fiction noir -
![Cape Fear by John D. MacDonald]()
Cape Fear by John D. MacDonald
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHow far would you go to save your family? In John D. MacDonald's iconic masterwork of suspense, the inspiration for not one but two Hollywood hits, a mild-mannered family is tormented by an obsessed criminal--and with the authorities powerless to protect them, they must take the law into their own hands... -
![The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler]()
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA beautiful, historically accurate edition of the modern classic first published in 1943 reproduces the original and offers an alternative for those who love great old books and want to relive Philip Marlowe's strange and puzzling search for the missing woman...Categorized as:
classics crime hard-boiled historical-fiction investigator law-enforcement literary-fiction noir -
![The Sicilian by Mario Puzo]()
The Sicilian by Mario Puzo
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAfter Mario Puzo wrote his internationally acclaimed The Godfather, he has often been imitated but never equaled. Puzo's classic novel, The Sicilian, stands as a cornerstone of his work--a lushly romantic, unforgettable tale of bloodshed, justice, and treachery. . . .The year is 1950. Michael Corleone is nearing the end of his exile in Sicily...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier]()
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBy chance, John and Jean--one English, the other French--meet in a provincial railway station. Their resemblance to each other is uncanny, and they spend the next few hours talking and drinking - until at last John falls into a drunken stupor. It's to be his last carefree moment, for when he wakes, Jean has stolen his identity and disappeared...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense thriller 20th-century -
![The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey]()
The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn sick leave from Scotland Yard, Inspector Alan Grant is planning a quiet holiday with an old school chum to recover from overwork and mental fatigue...Categorized as:
classics crime historical-fiction investigator law-enforcement noir suspense thriller
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
